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Like a veteran NFL quarterback who has faced every defensive scheme imaginable and uses that information to prepare for an important game, a diligent attorney is constantly relying on his or her past experience when litigating a new case. Whether it’s a keen understanding of legal precedents, past involvement with similar circumstances or expertise in a certain practice area, it all goes into providing the best representation possible for each client.
“It’s like studying film,” says attorney Jeffrey S. Simons, continuing the football analogy. “The more times you see a certain issue, the more you’re able to effectively analyze your case to see what the strengths and weaknesses are.
“I think being a good lawyer has a couple of components. One, every factual case is different, so you have to be able to identify the issues and research them in order to make winning arguments under the law. But the other aspect is that everything you learn on one case becomes part of your experience. You gain more knowledge on every case and you use that to make your next case stronger.”
In the nearly 50 years since its founding, Jacobs, Schwalbe & Petruzzelli, P.C., has assembled a team of such seasoned lawyers, including Simons, who heads up the firm’s personal injury division. While the majority of plaintiffs he represents were injured in motor vehicle accidents, the second-largest category of personal injury claims involves premises liability, in which owners/occupiers of residential or commercial properties are held responsible for injuries that occur on their premises due to unsafe or defective conditions.
With winter approaching, there is unfortunately a rise in claims due to falls on snow or ice. Premises liability cases also include slips on wet floors or tripping on damaged porches/sidewalks. But as Simons explains, there are several misconceptions from the general public.
“People think if you fall or are injured on someone else’s property, you automatically have a claim, but that’s not how the law works in New Jersey,” he says. “It’s based on a negligence standard, meaning that you have to prove that the party you’re bringing the claim against was negligent or did something wrong. If I’m walking in a store and I trip and injure myself, the store would only be responsible if it caused the injury.”
Tort law evolved in this country with the aim of deterring dangerous or harmful conduct by parties. If there was no accountability under the law, parties would have no motivation to keep their premises safe from harm, and ultimately to prevent future injuries. It is therefore important to hold parties accountable who do not hold up their side of the bargain.
Simons is happy to offer a consultation to anyone who believes they may have a potential claim, and encourages them to begin the process as quickly as possible. If the injury happened in a store, for example, the preservation of video evidence must be addressed in a timely manner. He advises anyone who is injured to seek the appropriate medical care first, but if they can then file an incident report with the store, take any pictures or secure witnesses, it is beneficial to the case.
One of the key pieces of any premises liability case is the notice requirement, meaning the plaintiff must prove that the property owner or property manager had notice of the defect. This could either be actual notice (direct knowledge of the defect) or constructive notice (they should have known about the defect). For example, if a customer spills water on the floor of a grocery store and someone else slips on that water a moment later, there is no way the store should have had knowledge of it. But if the spill had existed for an hour and no employees moved to clean it up, that would probably meet the notice requirement.
Determining notice can often make or break a case, and this is where an experienced attorney can help. Simons represented a client a few years ago who slipped and fell on a wet floor in their hotel bathroom, which was the result of a leak from the floor above. Although the hotel had no direct knowledge of the leak because it hadn’t been reported, Simons learned through depositions with the maintenance staff that leaking had been an ongoing problem at the hotel for some time.
“The defense’s argument was based on the notice requirement—they had no notice of it, there was nothing they could have possibly done—and that was a good-faith argument,” he says. “But I researched the specific facts and I found a previous case which held that the defendant does not necessarily have to be aware of the specific instance—if they were aware that there was an ongoing problem, that could be enough to establish constructive notice. As a result of that research and arguing that point of law, we were able to overcome the defense’s summary judgment motion (a motion to dismiss the claims) and ultimately get our client a wonderful settlement.”
As far as damages are concerned, many premises liability cases result in fractures and require surgery, particularly when involving the elderly. These can be higher-value claims, especially when dealing with commercial insurance policies.
Besides trip and falls or slip and falls on snow or ice, other incidents that may fall under the premises liability umbrella are dog bites or assaults resulting from negligent security. No matter what the situation, the team at Jacobs, Schwalbe & Petruzzelli is sure to take a compassionate approach and make sure the client is kept in the loop throughout the legal process.
“I always ask my clients after I give a legal explanation if it makes sense,” Simons says. “Sometimes it may make perfect sense to me as the lawyer, but through no fault of my client’s, he or she didn’t understand what I was saying. If I give my client information, I want to make sure they understand it so we’re always on the same page and I can best represent him or her.”
Jacobs, Schwalbe & Petruzzelli, P.C.
Cherry Hill
(856) 484-4229
JacobsLawOffice.com
