What Georgia law requires a property owner to do
Under Georgia law, an owner or occupier who invites the public onto a property owes a duty of ordinary care to keep the premises and approaches safe. That covers stores, restaurants, hotels, office buildings, apartment complexes, parking lots and sidewalks the owner controls.
To recover, you generally must show that the owner knew or should have known about the hazard and that you did not, despite exercising ordinary care for your own safety. Georgia courts call this the “superior knowledge” standard. The fight in almost every case is over what the owner knew and when, which is why evidence has to be secured immediately.
Evidence that wins or loses a fall case
Most of it belongs to the property owner and most of it is routinely erased unless someone demands it be kept. We send a preservation letter at the start of every case for:
- 1
Surveillance video. Many systems overwrite footage within days. The video shows how long the hazard was there and whether employees walked past it.
- 2
Inspection and sweep logs. Stores are supposed to inspect regularly. A gap in the log, or a log filled in after the fact, is powerful evidence.
- 3
Incident reports. What the manager wrote down that day, before anyone had a lawyer.
- 4
Prior complaints and prior falls. A hazard that has injured someone before is a hazard the owner knew about.
- 5
Maintenance and repair records. Broken stairs, loose handrails, burned-out lights and uneven pavement all leave a paper trail.
- 6
Your own photos. If you can, photograph the hazard, your footwear and the surrounding area before anything is cleaned up.
Premises cases we handle
Wet floors, spills, freshly mopped areas without signage, leaking coolers, tracked-in rain at entrances.
Uneven pavement, broken stairs, missing handrails, torn carpet, cords and merchandise in walkways, poor lighting.
Assaults and robberies at apartment complexes, hotels, gas stations and parking decks where the owner knew of prior crime and failed to act.
Falling merchandise, collapsing fixtures, dog attacks on a property, swimming pool injuries and elevator or escalator failures.
What your claim can include
Medical expenses past and future, lost income and reduced earning capacity, and compensation for pain, suffering and the loss of the things you used to do. Falls disproportionately injure older adults, and a hip fracture or head injury at 70 can change the course of a life. We make sure the claim reflects that reality rather than the insurer’s template.
Deadlines are shorter than you think
Georgia’s general limit for personal injury claims is two years. But if the fall happened on property owned by a city, county, school district or state agency, you may be required to give formal written notice within six months to a year, and a missed notice can end the claim no matter how strong it is. If there is any chance a government entity is involved, call right away.
Common questions
The store manager said it was my fault for not looking. Is that the end of it?
No. Georgia uses modified comparative negligence. Even if you are found partly at fault, you can recover as long as your share is less than 50%. And whether you should have seen the hazard depends on lighting, distractions the store created, and how visible it actually was.
I didn’t file an incident report at the time. Can I still make a claim?
Yes. Report it to the property owner as soon as you can, in writing, and seek medical care so your injuries are documented. Then contact us so we can preserve the video before it is overwritten.
Do I need to have been seriously hurt?
You need a real injury with medical treatment. Bruises that heal in a week are rarely worth pursuing; a fracture, torn ligament, concussion or back injury is a different matter. We will tell you plainly which category you are in.