Last month, a group of people were playing soccer in a Pasadena park. You can imagine how surprised they were when a 15-foot tree branch fell on the bench their team had been sitting. The players were sitting on the bench to get out of the heat when they heard the tree start to fall. Thankfully, they were able to get out of the way without any serious injuries.
That said, some did suffer from scrapes and scratches. According to the Pasadena Fire Department, the accident was the result of a coupling of a wet winter and an intensely hot summer that created this situation. You may wonder: If any of the soccer players had suffered serious injuries, would they have had recourse? Is there someone who would have been held responsible? Let’s look closer at the situation.
Would the players have grounds to sue the manager of the park?
When Law Offices of Michael A. Kahn works with clients, there are a few things we must be able to do in order to recover damages. First, we must prove that the injuries that occurred were caused by the owner / manager / operator acting in a negligent way. Lawfully, negligence occurs when a person who has the duty to prevent harm on their property breaches that duty and injuries result.
For a park that’s privately owned, that means it must be kept safe for anyone who uses it legally. The owner of the park has the duty to ensure that there aren’t dangerous conditions in their park. In this case, a huge tree branch fell. If the soccer players had suffered, for example, a head injury, then their personal injury attorney would need to prove that the park either knew about the branch and did nothing about it, or that they should have reasonably known it would happen.
There are several ways they could have done this. They may have worked to show that there were other branches in the park that had fallen, which means that the owner should have known that falling branches was a possibility and that they didn’t take any steps to prevent it.
It’s different with a public park
On the other hand, filing a personal injury claim if the park was publicly owned would have been a different situation. While not impossible, it’s very hard to sue the government because they’re generally not reasonable for general negligence. Any claim against a government entity has to be brought using very specific statutes and laws. The timeframe is different too – a personal injury suit against a privately owned park can be filed within two years, while a claim against a public entity must be filed within six months.
If you’ve been injured as a result of another party acting negligently then you may have a valid personal injury case on your hands. Call Law Offices of Michael A. Kahn at (310) 209-1600 today to set up a free consultation. When you work with us, you don’t pay a fee unless we recover damages for you. There’s no risk to you so call us right away.
