Fort Lauderdale Premises Liability Lawyer

Premises Liability Cases We Handle Across Fort Lauderdale and Broward County

You slipped in a grocery store aisle, missed a step on a dark stairwell at a hotel, or got hurt at a Las Olas restaurant. Now medical bills are stacking up while an insurance adjuster will not call you back. Under Florida law, this is premises liability. When a property owner’s negligence creates a dangerous condition and it injures you, you can hold that owner responsible.

We handle:

• Slip, trip, and fall accidents
• Negligent security and assaults on someone else’s property
• Inadequate maintenance and falling objects
• Swimming pool and drowning injuries
• Hotel, resort, and short-term rental injuries
• Dog bites on another person’s property

Florida Cyclists Deserve Strong Representation.

Talk to an Attorney Before Accepting Any Settlement.

Schedule a Free Consultation

South Florida’s tourism draws visitors and residents to grocery stores, apartment complexes, and beachfront resorts across Broward County every year. Whether you live here year-round, come for the winter, or enjoy a short vacation, you have the right to contact a Fort Lauderdale premises liability lawyer to discuss your potential claim after an injury.

A Florida Property Owner’s Duty of Care: Invitees, Licensees, and Trespassers

Florida law does not treat every visitor the same. Instead, Florida law divides visitors into three categories:

• Invitee: someone on the property for the owner’s benefit. This could be a shopper in a store or a paying guest at a resort. Invitees are owed the highest duty of care: a reasonably safe property and a warning about hazards the owner knows or should know about. 
• Licensee: someone allowed onto the property for their own purposes rather than the owner’s benefit. This could be a social guest at a friend’s house or a neighbor cutting across a yard with permission. Licensees are owed a lower duty of care: a warning about known hazards that aren’t obvious, but no duty to inspect for hazards the owner doesn’t already know about.
• Trespasser: someone on the property without the owner’s permission. This could be someone who wanders onto private land or an unauthorized visitor on a closed job site. Trespassers are owed the least protection: the owner can’t willfully injure them or set traps. However, property owners do have an added duty to child trespassers under Florida’s attractive nuisance doctrine, which gives extra protection to children who might be drawn onto a property by something like a pool or a trampoline.

Guests checking into a beachfront hotel along A1A, shoppers on Las Olas Boulevard, and cruise passengers passing through Port Everglades are almost always invitees, which puts the property owner’s duty to them at its highest.

Proving the Property Owner Had Notice of the Hazard

Florida law does not make a property owner responsible just because you got hurt. You have to prove actual or constructive notice of the hazard. Actual notice means an employee already knew, like a Broward grocery store worker who saw a spill and walked past it. Constructive notice means the hazard sat long enough that a careful owner should have caught it.

For slip and falls involving something like a spilled drink in a Las Olas restaurant, Florida’s transitory foreign substance law (Fla. Stat. § 768.0755) requires you to prove the business knew or should have known about the danger. This raises the bar in these cases, which is why acting fast, before video and testimony disappear, matters.

Florida’s Injury Laws: Comparative Negligence and the Two-Year Deadline

Florida uses a modified comparative negligence rule. If you are more than 50% at fault for your own fall, you cannot recover. If you are 50% or less at fault, your compensation is reduced by your share. That is why proving the property owner’s negligence is the center of every case we build.

You also have a real deadline. Florida gives you two years from the date of your injury to file a premises liability claim (Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(a)). Miss it, and the case is over no matter how strong it was. If your claim doesn’t settle, you would file it at the Broward County Courthouse.

This reflects Florida law as of July 2026.

Evidence and What to Do After an Injury on Someone’s Property

Report what happened to the property owner or manager and ask for a written incident report. Get medical care right away, even if you feel like you can push through the pain. Photograph the hazard, the area, and your injuries before anyone cleans up or repairs the scene. Get names and phone numbers from anyone who saw it happen.

Surveillance footage, maintenance logs, and incident reports are what prove these cases, and hotels, resorts, and stores in Hollywood, Pompano Beach, and Plantation often overwrite that footage quickly. We send preservation letters fast to lock down evidence before it disappears, and we deal directly with the insurance company for you.

How Palaidis Law Proves Liability: Free Consultation Across South Florida

We build your case by establishing the duty the property owner owed you, proving they had notice of the hazard, documenting the dangerous condition, and calculating what your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering are worth. Our founding attorney, George Palaidis, spent five years as a Miami-Dade Assistant Public Defender trying more than 35 cases, has been named to the National Trial Lawyers Top 100, and belongs to the Broward County Bar Association. That courtroom background shapes every claim we prepare.

We represent injured people throughout South Florida, including in Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, and Pompano Beach. You pay nothing upfront, and we only get paid if we recover for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is responsible if I get hurt on someone else’s property in Fort Lauderdale?

Usually the property owner or manager, whether that is a store on Las Olas Boulevard, a beachfront resort, or a Broward County landlord, if they failed to keep the property reasonably safe. Responsibility is not automatic. You have to show the owner was negligent and that the negligence caused your injury. We investigate the property and the hazard before we ever file a claim.

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

You have two years from the date of your injury under Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(a), reduced from four years by a 2023 change in Florida law. Claims against a government property owner carry shorter notice deadlines, so the sooner you talk to us, the more options you keep open.

What do I have to prove to win a premises liability case?

You need to show the owner owed you a duty of care, a dangerous condition existed, the owner had actual or constructive notice of it, the hazard caused your injury, and losses like medical bills and lost wages. We gather the incident report, footage, and witness statements to prove each piece.

What should I do after a slip and fall at a store or hotel?

Report it to staff and ask for a written report, get medical care, and photograph the hazard and the scene right away. Get names and phone numbers from anyone who saw it happen. Acting fast protects evidence that businesses across Fort Lauderdale and Broward County often lose within days.

What happens if I was partly at fault for my fall?

Florida is a modified comparative negligence state. If you are 50% or less at fault, your compensation is reduced by your share. If you are more than 50% at fault, you cannot recover, which is exactly why proving the owner’s negligence is the center of your case.

How much does it cost to hire a premises liability lawyer?

We handle premises liability cases on contingency, so there is no upfront cost and no fee unless we recover for you. Your first consultation is free, and we will walk through what happened and what your options look like with no pressure to decide anything on the spot.

If you were hurt on someone else’s property in Fort Lauderdale or anywhere in Broward County, reach out and we will tell you plainly where you stand.

Talk to a Fort Lauderdale Premises Liability Lawyer Today

You do not have to sort out fault, deadlines, and insurance company tactics on your own. Contact Palaidis Law, PA for a free consultation, and we will tell you plainly what your case may be worth and how we would build it. There is no fee unless we recover for you.