Premises Accidents - Providing Alcohol Category Archives — Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorney Blog Published by Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorneys — Steven M. Sweat, Personal Injury Lawyers, APC

Published on: May 10, 2023

Los Angeles Apartment Accident Attorneys

Los Angeles is a densely populated city with a high concentration of apartment buildings. These apartment buildings can be home to thousands of people, and unfortunately, accidents can happen. When accidents do happen in apartments, they can result in serious injuries or even death. In this blog, we will be discussing Los Angeles apartment accident claims, including the common causes of apartment accidents, the types of injuries that can occur, and what steps to take if you or a loved one has been injured in an apartment accident.

Common Causes of Apartment Accidents

There are many potential causes of apartment accidents, some of which include:

Published on: May 1, 2023

Dog Bites Are Major Liability for Insurance Companies in California

by Steven M. Sweat

Many Americans count pets as valued members of their families, and dogs are among the most popular types of pets with 38.4% of U.S. households owning at least one dog. California reflects a similar trend with nearly 40% of households owning one or more dogs. In Los Angeles County, the percentage of dog owners reflects the state and national trends with 40.1% of households in the county owning dogs.

While dogs are popular types of pets, they also can cause serious injuries or deaths when they attack others. Unfortunately, any dog can bite. When someone is seriously injured or killed in a dog attack, the victim or family can pursue compensation by filing a dog bite claim against the dog’s owner. Dog bite claims are typically covered by the pet owner’s homeowner’s or renter’s insurance policy. Recent dog bite claims data demonstrates the severity of dog bite attacks and how costly they can be when someone is seriously injured by a dog.

Insurance Claims Data for Dog Bites

Published on: May 14, 2021

Woman Hit by Car At Fault for Jaywalking According the California Court

by Steven M. Sweat

In some situations, California property owners may be liable for injuries that happen to people located off of their property. However, that is not always the case. In Issakhani v. Shadow Glen Homeowners Association, Inc., Cal. Ct. App. Case No. B301746, the California Court of Appeal considered whether a condominium complex owed a duty of care to a plaintiff who jaywalked across a busy street to reach the complex to visit her friend because the complex did not have enough marked visitor spaces.[1]

Factual and procedural background

Anaeis Issakhani went to visit a friend who lived at the Shadow Glen condominium complex in Los Angeles on the night of June 10, 2014, after dark. When she arrived, she did not see any available visitor parking space in the complex’s lot, so she parked her vehicle across a five-lane street in front of the complex. When she crossed the street, she failed to walk a few hundred feet to a marked crosswalk and instead jaywalked. A car struck her, causing her to suffer multiple fractures and a traumatic brain injury. Issakhani filed a lawsuit against the Shadow Glen condominium complex with negligence and premises liability causes of action. She alleged that the company was negligent by failing to install enough visitor spaces in the complex’s parking lot in violation of a municipal ordinance.

Published on: September 15, 2020

Los Angeles Tenants Allowed to Sue Landlords for Personal Injury Despite Arbitration Agreement

by Steven M. Sweat

In urban areas of California like Los Angeles, slumlords take advantage of tenants by failing to keep their properties in a reasonably safe condition. When landlords fail to make repairs or to maintain their properties, tenants who are left to live in uninhabitable conditions may have grounds to file lawsuits. In Williams v. 3620 W. 102nd Street, Inc., Cal. Ct. App. Case No. B297824, the appeals court considered whether an arbitration clause contained in a residential lease should compel the parties to arbitration rather than allowing the tenants to pursue their rights through litigation.[1]

Factual and procedural background

Keisa Williams signed a lease in March 2014 to rent an apartment located at 3620 W. 102nd Street in Los Angeles with Rubin Womack. The two lived in the apartment with Williams’ two children and another person. In 2015, the lease was renewed. The tenants filed a lawsuit against the owners in Oct. 2016 claiming that they had violated the warranty of habitability and had engaged in negligence because of a lack of pest control in their apartment and in the building’s common areas. The tenants alleged that their apartment was infested with bed bugs and had several other problems that the owners had failed to correct. Because of the bed bugs, the tenants alleged that they had suffered personal injuries and property damages.