Temecula Premises Liability Lawyers & Personal Injury Attorneys Serving Riverside County

Experienced Legal Representation

Property owners have a legal duty to maintain reasonably safe premises. When they fail in this duty and someone gets injured, they can be held liable. At The Baum Law Firm, our premises liability attorneys handle slip and fall cases, inadequate security claims, and all types of property-related injuries.

Premises Liability Accidents

The Promenade Mall, Old Town Temecula's historic shopping district, Pechanga Resort Casino, and dozens of Temecula Valley wineries attract millions of visitors annually. Unfortunately, serious injuries can occur at bars and restaurants, retail stores, parking structures, stairwells, sidewalks, grocery stores, tourist heavy wine country venues, apartment complexes, residences, and other commercial properties.

Property owners and managers in Temecula and throughout Riverside County have a legal duty under California Civil Code Section 1714 to maintain reasonably safe conditions and warn visitors of known hazards. When a property owner or manager breaches this duty, and a dangerous condition of their property causes injury, they may be subject to a premises liability claim. Common injury scenarios include slip and fall injuries, trip and fall injuries, falling objects, or even a criminal assault enabled by failure to provide adequate security.

The Baum Law Firm has decades of experience handling a wide variety of premises liability claims, securing millions in compensation for clients injured at retail stores, restaurants, swimming pools, hotels, apartment complexes and other commercial properties. Put our experience to work for you today!

Injury Types from Slip and Fall and Premises Accidents

Premises liability accidents produce a distinctive injury profile, with certain trauma types appearing far more frequently than in motor vehicle collisions. Hip fractures dominate slip and fall cases involving elderly victims, with victims over 65 suffering hip fractures in approximately 40% of falls on commercial properties. These injuries require surgical intervention costing $40,000 to $100,000, followed by months of rehabilitation, and often result in permanent mobility limitations. Medical literature establishes that 20-30% of hip fracture patients never regain pre-injury function, with many requiring long-term assisted living. When property owner negligence causes hip fractures in elderly victims, compensation typically ranges from $150,000 to $650,000 depending on age, pre-injury health, and quality of life impacts.

Traumatic brain injuries from slip and fall accidents differ from motor vehicle TBIs but can be equally devastating. When victims fall backward, striking their heads on hard surfaces like concrete, tile, or pavement, the brain impacts the rear of the skull causing contusions, bleeding, and swelling. Unlike car accident TBIs that often result from rapid deceleration, fall-related TBIs typically involve direct impact trauma. Older adults and those taking blood thinners face heightened risk of severe brain bleeding from falls that might cause only minor injuries in younger victims. Emergency room evaluation at Temecula Valley Hospital or Rancho Springs Medical Center must include CT scans for anyone who struck their head during a fall, as symptoms including confusion, headache, or loss of consciousness indicate potentially life-threatening brain injuries requiring immediate intervention.

Wrist and arm fractures occur when victims instinctively extend arms to break their falls, resulting in Colles' fractures, radial fractures, and shoulder injuries including rotator cuff tears and shoulder dislocations. Spinal compression fractures appear in elderly victims with osteoporosis who suffer even moderate falls, causing chronic pain and decreased height. Knee injuries including torn meniscus, ACL tears, and patellar fractures result from falls on stairs or uneven surfaces. Facial injuries and dental trauma occur when victims fall forward, striking faces on floors, stairs, or fixtures, causing broken noses, jaw fractures, lost teeth, and permanent scarring. Each injury type requires specific medical specialists, treatment protocols, and damages calculations to ensure full compensation.

Property Owner Duties and Liability Standards Under California Law

Generally, under Civil Code Section 1714, property owners are liable for injuries resulting from unreasonably dangerous conditions they created, knew about, or should have discovered through reasonable inspection.

Documenting Dangerous Conditions and Preserving Critical Evidence

The first hours after a premises liability accident represent a critical window for evidence preservation. Immediately photograph the exact hazard that caused your fall from multiple angles and distances, capturing the overall area and close-up details. If you slipped on a liquid, photograph the substance, its extent, and whether any warning signs were present. If you tripped on a defect, photograph the crack, hole, or height differential with a ruler or coin showing scale. Document lighting conditions, especially for accidents in parking lots or stairwells where inadequate illumination may have contributed to the fall.

Demand that the property owner or manager create an incident report immediately, and insist on receiving a copy before leaving the property. Incident reports document the property owner's contemporaneous knowledge of the accident. If the property refuses to provide a copy, note the name and contact information of the person who took your report and the time you reported it. Identify every witness who saw your fall or the hazardous condition, obtaining names, phone numbers, and email addresses.

Preserve the clothing and shoes you wore during the accident. Your shoes may show scuff marks, substance transfer, or damage patterns that help explain how the accident occurred.

Medical Treatment Considerations for Fall-Related Injuries

Premises liability injuries often appear minor initially but worsen over hours or days, making immediate medical evaluation essential for health and legal purposes.

Many slip and fall victims feel embarrassed and decline immediate medical attention, telling themselves they'll 'be fine' or that the pain will resolve with rest. This decision jeopardizes both health and legal claims. Traumatic brain injuries may not produce obvious symptoms for hours or days, but delayed treatment can result in permanent damage or death. Hip fractures in elderly patients sometimes present as hip pain and difficulty walking rather than obvious deformity, leading victims to delay treatment until the fracture displaces and requires more extensive surgery. Internal bleeding, organ damage, and spinal fractures can exist without immediate severe symptoms, discovered only through emergency department imaging.

Visit the emergency room at Temecula Valley Hospital or Rancho Springs Medical Center within 24 hours of any fall where you struck your head, experienced loss of consciousness, suffer severe pain, or cannot bear weight on an injured limb. Emergency physicians will document your injuries in medical records that link them directly to the accident, order X-rays or CT scans to identify fractures or internal injuries, and provide baseline documentation of your condition. This immediate medical evidence proves critical when insurance companies later argue your injuries weren't serious or resulted from a different incident. Even if emergency evaluation finds no fractures, soft tissue injuries including sprains, contusions, and muscle strains require documentation and treatment to prevent long-term complications.

Follow up with your primary care physician within 3-5 days, then pursue specialist referrals as needed: orthopedic surgeons for bone and joint injuries, neurologists for head trauma or cognitive symptoms, pain management specialists for chronic pain, and physical therapists for rehabilitation. Elderly fall victims often benefit from comprehensive geriatric assessment to address fall risk factors and prevent future accidents. Document every symptom, limitation, and life impact in a daily journal—insurance companies scrutinize treatment gaps and argue that missing appointments or delayed care proves injuries weren't serious. Treatment on a lien basis (where providers await payment from your settlement) remains available through our network of Temecula-area physicians, ensuring financial concerns don't prevent you from receiving necessary medical care.

How Property Owners and Insurers Defend Premises Liability Claims

Commercial liability insurers defending premises claims can employ various tactics to minimize or deny compensation.

Property owners and their insurers may challenge notice—claiming they didn't know about the dangerous condition and couldn't have discovered it through reasonable inspection. Stores might claim liquid spills occurred moments before your fall, providing no time for discovery and cleanup.

Defense attorneys may also argue the hazard was 'open and obvious,' claiming you should have seen and avoided it. However, California law recognizes that even obvious hazards can cause injuries when property owners negligently create unreasonable risks.

Compensation Values in Premises Liability Cases

Premises liability settlements vary dramatically based on injury severity, victim age, property type, any resulting work disabilities, availability of insurance, liability clarity, and issues of comparative negligence. Settlement values range from $5,000.00 in minor injury cases to several hundreds of thousands of dollars in cases of more serious injuries, such as broken wrists or ankles, shoulder injuries, or concussions. Catastrophic injuries can command settlements exceeding $1,000,000.00 or more, particularly when significant insurance coverage is available.

Why Choose The Baum Law Firm for Your Temecula Premises Liability Case

Premises liability cases require different investigative techniques, expert witnesses, and legal strategies than motor vehicle accidents. Since 1959, The Baum Law Firm has successfully handled numerous premises liability cases, including swimming pool deaths resulting from owner negligence, apartment complex deaths resulting from inadequate security and reckless management conduct, assaults at bars and restaurants, slip and falls, trip and falls, and brain injuries caused by falling objects.

All premises liability cases are handled on a contingent fee basis, and you pay no fees or costs unless we recover money in your case. Contact The Baum Law Firm today for a free initial phone consultation with an experienced Temecula Premises Liability Attorney. We look forward to speaking with you.