Georgia premises liability lawyer

Premises liability covers everything an unsafe property can do to a lawful visitor — falls, falling merchandise, defective stairs and railings, pool and burn injuries, and negligent security. The duty is the same in each: ordinary care to keep the premises safe for people invited onto them.

Reviewed by Omar A. Cooper, Esq. · Last updated September 3, 2026

Who is usually responsible

More than one party is often liable for an injury caused by an unsafe property, and finding the second one is frequently what changes the value of a claim:

• the owner or occupier of the property;
• a management or security company responsible for the condition or for keeping people safe;
• a contractor whose work created the hazard;
• in negligent-security cases, an owner who knew the property had a history of violent crime and did nothing.

The evidence that decides these cases

In rough order of how quickly it disappears:

• the condition itself, photographed before repair;
• maintenance, inspection and repair records;
• prior complaints or prior incidents at the same location;
• for negligent security, the crime history of the address and what security measures existed;
• surveillance footage, on the usual short clock.

Negligent-security claims deserve a word of their own. Where an apartment complex, hotel or parking deck has a documented history of violent crime and the owner did nothing — broken gates, dead cameras, no lighting, no patrol — Georgia law can hold the owner responsible for a foreseeable attack. Those cases are built from police call histories, not from the incident alone.

What can be recovered

• Economic lossMedical treatment already received and reasonably expected in future, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, and property damage.
• Non-economic lossPain, suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement and the loss of the things you used to be able to do.
• Punitive damagesAvailable in the narrower set of Georgia cases involving wilful misconduct or conscious indifference to consequences — drunk driving being the clearest example. They are not part of an ordinary negligence claim.

Every case is different and no outcome can be promised. What we can commit to is that the claim will be documented properly before anyone is asked to put a number on it.

What to do now

If an injury caused by an unsafe property has just happened, the order of these matters more than people expect:

• Get medical attention, and keep going. Your health comes first, and a documented, continuous treatment record is also what makes the injury provable later. Gaps are the argument insurers make most often.
• Report it. A police report, an incident report or an animal-control report creates a contemporaneous record that cannot be reconstructed afterwards.
• Preserve what will disappear. Photograph the scene, the vehicles or the hazard, and your injuries. Video is usually overwritten within days — a written request to preserve it has to go out early. Georgia crash reports are released through BuyCrash a few business days later.
• Do not give the other side a recorded statement before you have spoken to a lawyer and know the extent of your injuries. You are not required to.
• Get a free review. Call (470) 852-6328 and Omar will tell you honestly whether there is a claim.

Sources: O.C.G.A. § 51-3-1 — duty of an owner or occupier to invitees · O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33 — injuries to the person: two years · O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33 — apportionment and comparative fault · Georgia crash reports — BuyCrash

Questions people ask about these claims