We successfully obtained a $712,500 on behalf of our client who was injured in a deck collapse. She suffered 2 fractures of her leg when a deck attached to a trailer gave way. This premises liability case occurred in Milledgeville, Baldwin County, Georgia. Our client was at a Thanksgiving gathering when this completely preventable event occurred. There are a couple of key takeaways from this case:
Immediate actions to take after a deck collapse
There are some critical steps that should be taken by your personal injury attorney or you following a deck collapse:
- Take pictures as soon after the incident occurred as possible are critical. Within 2 days, we had pictures of the collapsed deck. As discussed below, this was vital because the insurance company instructed the owner to remove the deck within a week. If the pictures had not been taken quickly, the difficulty of this case would have increased dramatically.
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- A tenant may be liable for the injuries of a visitor, but we are generally going to recover from the owner of the property in residential premises liability cases. In this case, our client was visiting a family member when she was injured in the deck collapse. Our client would not do anything to cause difficulty for her family member, and she wanted to make sure that any claim would be made solely against the property owner and that is who we ultimately recovered from.
- Spoliation letters must be sent immediately. The same day that we were retained, we mailed spoliation letters to the owner of the property requesting an opportunity to photograph and inspect the collapsed deck before any changes were made to it. He disregarded our letters and destroyed the evidence. This created a lot of leverage for our case and increased our client’s total recovery. Document the letter. Send it by certified mail.
- 2-year statute of limitations. There is a 2-year statute of limitations applicable to a personal injury case arising from a deck collapse in Georgia. This is the outer limit for the initiation of a lawsuit for a personal injury case in Georgia. However, it is critical that work begin on your case development for a deck collapse injury as soon after the event as possible.
- Identify all parties that are potentially responsible for the deck collapse. One of problems that people frequently run into in deck collapse cases is that they wait too long and are in a rush to file to file a lawsuit. As a result of this delay, they miss potential parties that could be responsible for the injuries.
If you would like to discuss a premises liability case, such as a deck collapse, call Sessions & Fleischman today for a free consultation. We’ll come to you!
