Brockton Premises Liability Lawyer

When you enter a grocery store on Crescent Street, visit a friend’s apartment near D.W. Field Park, or stop by the Westgate Mall after work, you can expect the property to be reasonably safe. Premises liability law is Massachusetts tort law that enforces this right by holding owners and occupiers responsible when preventable hazards cause injuries. This page explains everything Massachusetts residents need to know, from the legal standards that govern slip-and-fall and other premises claims to the strategic advantages of hiring a Brockton personal injury attorney.

Premises liability is the umbrella term for any injury claim that arises from a dangerous condition on property, public or private, located in the Commonwealth. Unlike some states that still divide visitors into “invitees,” “licensees,” and “trespassers,” Massachusetts imposes a single duty of reasonable care to all lawful visitors. That duty was firmly established in Mounsey v. Ellard, 363 Mass. 693 (1973), and its progeny, which rejected the old classifications.

Key consequences of this modern standard include:

• Reasonable inspections are required: owners must take sensible steps to discover hazards, such as regular floor checks or ice-removal protocols.
• Prompt remediation or warning: Once a hazard is known or should have been known through a reasonable inspection, corrective action or clear warnings must follow.
• There is no blanket “open and obvious” defense: even if a danger is visible, the owner can still be liable when they should anticipate that lawful visitors will encounter the hazard despite noticing it.

Massachusetts also follows modified comparative negligence under G.L. c. 231 § 85. You may recover damages so long as you are not more than 50 percent at fault, but your share of fault reduces any award.

Brockton’s climate, aging housing stock, and busy retail corridors create a variety of dangerous conditions that repeatedly give rise to claims handled by our firm, such as:

• Ice-covered parking lots and sidewalks after Nor’easters or freeze-thaw cycles
• Liquids or produce on supermarket floors that staff fail to wipe up on time
• Broken stair treads, loose railings, or missing handrails in multi-family homes on North Main or Montello Streets
• Poorly lit common areas in apartment buildings create trip hazards
• Electrical cords or merchandise displays protruding into aisles at big-box stores on Campanelli Drive
• Swimming pool incidents in hotel or condo facilities that lack required self-latching gates or depth markers
• Negligent security leading to assaults in parking garages or nightclubs, where owners ignored a history of prior crimes

Slip-and-falls alone account for roughly 960,000 emergency-room visits nationwide yearly, and older adults are hit hardest. With a median age of nearly 37 and snowy winters, Brockton sees its share of these incidents.

To win a premises liability case, Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers must prove four core elements:

• Duty of Care. Lawful visitors are owed reasonable care; the duty is lower for trespassers unless children are involved (the “attractive nuisance” doctrine).
• Breach. We show the owner either created the hazard, knew about it, or should have discovered it through routine inspection, but failed to act.
• Causation. The unsafe condition was a substantial factor in causing your harm, supported by incident reports, witness statements, surveillance video, and medical testimony.
• Damages. Economic losses (medical bills, lost wages) and non-economic losses (pain, loss of life’s enjoyment) must be documented and quantified.

Other statutory and common-law rules we leverage include:

• Statute of Limitations: three years for personal-injury actions under G.L. c. 260 § 2A. Delays can permanently bar a claim.
• Building and Sanitary Codes: violations of 780 CMR (state building code) or 105 CMR (sanitary code) can establish negligence per se.
• Ice-and-Snow Doctrine: Since Papadopoulos v. Target Corp., 457 Mass. 368 (2010), property owners must treat natural and unnatural snow and ice accumulations by removing or sanding them within a reasonable time.

For more than 30 years, our firm has recovered millions for victims throughout Plymouth County and Greater Boston. We approach each Brockton premises case with a meticulous, evidence-driven plan:

• Rapid scene preservation. We send preservation letters within 24 hours demanding that the property owner preserve surveillance footage, cleaning logs, and maintenance contracts.
• Independent investigations. Our investigators photograph and measure the scene, interview witnesses, and secure weather data from NOAA when snow or ice is involved.
• Expert collaboration. Engineers, building code specialists, and biomechanical experts help us show how the defect violated safety standards and caused your injuries.
• Medical-legal coordination. We work closely with treating physicians at Good Samaritan Medical Center or Brockton Hospital to create clear causation narratives and future-care plans.
• Aggressive negotiation. Detailed demand packages leverage medical specials, lost-earning calculations, and life-care-plan projections to prove full damages. Insurance carriers know we will file suit in Plymouth Superior Court if they lowball our clients.
• Trial-ready advocacy. Our attorneys have litigated through verdicts, and we maintain a network of focus-group partners to test themes before stepping into the courtroom.

Your actions in the hours and days following an accident can make or break your claim. Keep these best practices in mind:

• Seek medical attention right away, even if the pain seems minor. Gaps in treatment are red flags for insurers.
• Report the incident to the manager, landlord, or security supervisor and request a copy of any incident form.
• Document the hazard with photographs or video before conditions change or are cleaned up.
• Collect witness contacts, names, phone numbers, and brief statements if possible.
• Preserve physical evidence, such as your shoes or clothing (do not wash them).
• Avoid giving formal statements to the property’s insurance adjuster until you obtain legal counsel.
• Contact Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers as soon as practicable so we can secure evidence and handle all communications.

Choosing the right advocate is critical when medical bills are mounting and wages are lost. Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers offers:

• Local Insight. Headquarters in Boston and deep case experience in Brockton mean we know the judges, mediators, and defense firms you will likely
• No-Fee Promise. You pay nothing unless we win. Our contingent-fee structure aligns our interests entirely with yours.
• Personalized Attention. Each client has a dedicated attorney and a paralegal point of contact, ensuring your calls are returned and your questions answered.
• Cutting-edge resources. We present persuasive evidence using advanced 3-D laser scanning, accident-reconstruction software, and medical-animation exhibits.
• Proven Results. Recent outcomes include a $575,000 settlement for a stair collapse victim in a Brockton triple-decker and $350,000 for an icy-lot ankle fracture after a South Shore snowstorm (past results do not guarantee future success).

Hazardous conditions can turn a routine errand or social visit into a life-altering ordeal. If you or a loved one has been injured on someone else’s property in Brockton, do not navigate the legal minefield alone. The sooner Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers steps in, the stronger your claim will be.

• Free Consultation: Call (617) 777-7777 or complete our online form 24/7.
• Home or Hospital Visits: If your injuries make travel difficult, we come to you.
• Se Habla Español: Our bilingual staff serves the diverse Brockton community.

Put an experienced premises liability team in your corner today, and let us fight for the compensation you deserve.