Boca Raton Premises Liability Attorney

Why choose Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath?

In many premises cases, one of the central questions is what the owner or operator knew about the hazard and when they knew it. That proof sits in places you can’t reach on your own: incident reports, inspection logs, prior complaints about the same spot, and the sweep sheets that show how often anyone looked. Most of it is in the owner’s possession, and some of it is overwritten on a schedule.

For more than 40 years, Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath has represented injured people across South Florida. Our legal team includes more than 20 attorneys, more than 70 support professionals, 18 paralegal investigators, and two registered nurse paralegals who review medical records in-house. We also have our own trial support department.

That matters because premises defendants are usually businesses with insurance companies and counsel already involved. Our paralegal investigators go after the video before it cycles, and our Boca Raton premises liability lawyers send preservation letters early, while the store still has the footage and the sweep log.

Premises liability case results

• $4.6 million verdict, premises liability, Brandon Arzabe
• $3 million, premises liability, Gabriel Zambrano
• $1.75 million, premises liability, Nicholas Maniotis and Nicholas C. Maniotis
• $600,000, premises liability, William S. Williams

Every case turns on its own facts and its own insurance coverage. Past results don’t predict what another case is worth.

What our clients say

“They did their job professionally and cordially. Listened to and respected all of my concerns and represented me as if I was family. Could not recommend them enough.”
— Everett, Google review

“I highly recommend Mr. William Williams and his team. Their expertise and dedication were truly impressive. The outcome has brought me great relief, and I know it wouldn’t have been possible without their efforts.”
— Myra, Google review

What are the types of premises liability cases? 

Premises liability covers injuries caused by an unsafe condition on property somebody else controls. Any personal injury law firm Boca Raton residents call should be able to say quickly whether a situation fits. The premises liability cases we see most in Palm Beach County:

• Slip and fall accidents: Wet tile at a grocery entrance, a leaking cooler case, produce misting onto the floor, or a mopped aisle with no sign out.
• Trip and fall hazards: Broken sidewalk, uneven parking lot transitions, loose mats, poor lighting on a stairwell.
• Negligent security. An assault in a parking garage, a hotel corridor, a shopping plaza, or an apartment complex where the locks, gates, cameras, or lighting weren’t working.
• Swimming pool accidents. Under the Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act, a covered new pool needs at least one approved safety feature: a compliant barrier, a safety cover, an exit alarm, qualifying self-closing doors, or a pool alarm. A barrier, where that’s the option used, generally has to be four feet high with gates that open away from the pool and self-latch. Condominium and short-term rental pools fall outside the statute’s definition of residential, so those claims run on ordinary premises rules.
• Other property-related injuries. Falling objects, elevator and escalator failures, dog attacks, and toxic exposures can also lead to claims, though the rules vary by cause. Dog bites have their own statute, where an owner can be liable regardless of whether the dog ever bit anyone before.

Some cases are both. If a defective heater or a failed railing caused the injury, there may be a separate claim against the manufacturer, and the product liability attorneys Boca Raton clients need for that claim work in this same office.

Does the property owner owe you a duty? 

That depends on why you were there. Florida sorts visitors into categories, and the category sets the duty.

Invitees include customers, hotel guests, patients, and others who enter by express or reasonably implied invitation. Florida also generally treats an invited social guest as an invitee. Owners and occupiers have to use reasonable care to keep the property reasonably safe and warn invitees about concealed dangers they know or should know about.

Uninvited licensees enter for their own convenience rather than by invitation. The duty owed to them is narrower. The owner generally has to avoid willful or wanton misconduct and intentionally exposing them to danger, and may have to warn about known dangerous conditions that aren’t open to ordinary observation.

And trespassers get the least. Under Fla. Stat. § 768.075, an owner generally owes an undiscovered trespasser only the duty to avoid intentional harm. If the owner detected the person within the previous 24 hours, or was alerted to their presence by a reliable source, that’s a discovered trespasser, and the owner must avoid gross negligence and warn about known hidden dangers.

The category sometimes decides the case. A delivery driver, a contractor, a tenant’s visitor, and a person cutting across a lot can all be hurt on the same property and be owed different things, which is why a Boca Raton personal injury attorney checks the lease before deciding who to name.

What do you have to prove in a slip and fall? 

That the business knew, or should have known, about a slip and fall hazard. Florida Statutes § 768.0755 says that when someone slips on a transitory foreign substance in a business establishment, the injured person has to prove the business had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition and should have taken action.

Constructive knowledge is the part most cases turn on, and the statute gives two ways to show it. Either the condition was there long enough that the business should have caught it using ordinary care, or it happened regularly enough to be foreseeable.

That’s why the evidence matters more than the fall does. A puddle that sat for 40 minutes is a different case from one that appeared 30 seconds earlier, and the difference usually lives in surveillance video and sweep logs. It’s why a premises liability lawyer Boca Raton residents hire asks for the video first.

Can you sue for an assault that happened on the property? 

Sometimes, through a negligent security claim. The theory is that the owner knew the area carried a real risk of crime and didn’t take reasonable steps, so a foreseeable attack happened.

Florida narrowed this in 2023. Under Fla. Stat. § 768.0706, an apartment or other multifamily residential property that substantially implements a specific list of measures gets a presumption against liability for crimes committed by third parties. The list runs to cameras that keep footage for at least 30 days, lit lots and walkways from dusk to dawn, one-inch deadbolts, window and sliding door locks, a locked pool gate, and peepholes, plus a crime prevention environmental design assessment and employee safety training since January 1, 2025.

Florida’s 2023 reforms also require the judge or jury to consider the fault of everyone who contributed to the injury, which reaches the person who committed the crime. The presumption can be rebutted, and it applies to qualifying multifamily residential property rather than every business. Whether a complex actually met the list is a factual question, and usually the first thing worth checking.

How long do you have to file a premises liability claim in Florida? 

For most premises claims based on ordinary negligence, two years. Under Florida Statutes § 95.11(5)(a), a negligence claim accruing after March 24, 2023 generally has to be filed within two years, and wrongful death gets two years under § 95.11(5)(e). That’s down from four, which is why older pages still say four. Not every claim from an injury on property runs on that clock. Certain statutory claims, and claims founded on the design or construction of an improvement to real property, carry longer deadlines.

Claims against a city, a county, a school board, or another government body carry an extra step. Those require written notice before suit under Fla. Stat. § 768.28, which matters for a fall in a public park, a county building, a transit shelter, or on a municipal sidewalk.

Evidence disappears long before the deadline does. Surveillance video is often overwritten in 14 to 30 days, and the employee who filled out the incident report tends to move on.

What if you were partly at fault?

In a negligence-based premises claim, you can generally still recover as long as your share of fault stays at 50% or below. Under Fla. Stat. § 768.81(6), anyone found more than 50% at fault for their own harm recovers nothing. Below that line, your award drops by your percentage. If a jury values the case at $300,000 and assigns you 20% of the fault, you collect $240,000.

Expect this argument in every premises case. The adjuster will say the hazard was open and obvious, that you were on your phone, that you were wearing the wrong shoes, or that you were somewhere you shouldn’t have been. Those are arguments, not findings. Boca Raton premises liability attorneys answer them with the same records that prove notice in the first place.

What compensation can you get for a premises liability claim? 

Premises liability accidents produce the same damage categories as any other personal injury case.

Economic damages are the losses with a paper trail:

• Emergency care, imaging, surgery, and hospital stays
• Medical expenses, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, and future rehabilitation
• Home modifications or in-home help after a serious fall

Non-economic damages cover what the injury did to your life: pain and suffering, permanent limitation, scarring, and the loss of things you used to do without thinking. If the injury results in death, the decedent’s personal representative brings a wrongful death action for the benefit of eligible survivors and the estate.

Premises liability FAQs

How much does a premises liability attorney cost?

Nothing up front. Our attorneys handle these cases on a contingency fee basis, so the fee comes out of a recovery, and you pay no attorney’s fees unless compensation is recovered. Case costs are advanced and explained in writing before you sign.

What if the hazard was obvious?

Not necessarily. An open and obvious condition can eliminate the owner’s duty to warn, and in some circumstances it can defeat a claim altogether. The owner may still have a duty to maintain the property safely where it should reasonably anticipate someone getting hurt despite how obvious the condition was. Your own knowledge and conduct can also affect comparative fault.

Do I have a claim if I fell at a friend’s house?

Possibly. An invited social guest is generally treated as an invitee under Florida law, so the homeowner owes a duty to use reasonable care to maintain the property and to warn about concealed dangers they knew or should have known about. Homeowners insurance may provide liability coverage, depending on the policy and the circumstances.

What should I do right after a fall on someone else’s property?

Report it before you leave, in writing if you can, and ask for a copy of the incident report. Photograph the hazard the same day, because it will likely be fixed by the next one. Then get checked out. Boca Raton personal injury lawyers will tell you the same, because the gap between a fall and the first medical visit is something insurance companies use.

Who is responsible if I fell in a rented space?

It depends largely on who owned or controlled the area and who was responsible for maintaining it. A landlord may remain responsible for common areas like stairwells, lots, walkways, and laundry rooms, while a commercial tenant may be responsible for conditions inside its leased space. The lease, maintenance agreements, applicable statutes, and actual control of the space can all affect liability, and more than one party may be responsible.

Talk to a Boca Raton premises liability lawyer today

If you were hurt on someone else’s property, our premises liability attorney in Boca Raton, FL, can pull the records that show what the owner knew and tell you honestly whether there’s a claim worth bringing. Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath has done that work in Palm Beach County since 1985.

Call (561) 655-1990 or contact us online for a free case review. We work on a contingency fee basis, and you pay no attorney’s fees unless compensation is recovered.