Lebanon Premises Liability Lawyer

A wet floor at a Lebanon restaurant, a cracked walkway outside a shopping center, a stairwell with a dead light bulb: the fall takes a second, and the recovery can take a year. Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette is a Tennessee personal injury firm that represents people hurt by unsafe property, and a Lebanon premises liability lawyer from our team can look at who controlled the place where you were hurt and what they knew about the hazard. We serve injured people in Lebanon and Wilson County, and throughout Tennessee.

Premises liability is different from a car wreck claim. There is no at-fault driver and no police report that assigns blame. The case turns on the property itself: who owned it, who maintained it, how long the danger existed, and whether anyone bothered to fix it or warn visitors. Those facts often live in maintenance logs, inspection schedules, surveillance video, and the memories of employees, and all of them fade quickly.

The injuries tend to be serious. Falls cause broken hips, torn rotator cuffs, fractured wrists, and head injuries that change how a person works and lives. Our attorneys handle slip and fall claims and the full range of premises cases, from grocery stores and restaurants to hotels, parking lots, and rental properties.

What to Do After You Are Hurt on Someone Else’s Property

Get medical care first, even if you think you only twisted something. Adrenaline hides pain, and a gap between the fall and your first doctor’s visit gives an insurance company room to argue that something else caused your injury. Tell the provider exactly how you were hurt so the record ties the injury to the incident.

Report the fall to the business or property manager before you leave if you can, and ask that an incident report be written. Do not sign anything or give a recorded statement to the owner’s insurer. Adjusters are friendly early on, and their questions are designed to collect admissions about what you were wearing, whether you were looking down, and whether you saw the hazard.

Photograph everything while it is still there: the spill, the broken step, the missing handrail, the lighting, the warning signs or lack of them. Get names and numbers of anyone who saw it happen. Keep the shoes you were wearing. If you can, write down what you remember the same day, including the time and the exact spot.

The clock matters more than most people realize. Tennessee gives most injury plaintiffs one year from the date of the injury to file suit. That period can stretch to two years in limited situations where the person who caused the harm faces criminal charges and you sue that same person, but a premises case rarely fits that exception. If the property belongs to a city, county, or other government body, the Governmental Tort Liability Act requires suit within twelve months, and its damages are capped at $300,000 per person and $700,000 per occurrence. Property damage claims run on a separate three-year deadline. When the injured person is a child, the limitations period is tolled until the child turns 18, and then the one-year period begins.

Cases in Lebanon are generally filed in Wilson County courts, and the amount at stake and the type of claim decide which court hears it. Early on, the real work happens outside any courtroom: sending preservation letters so video and records are not overwritten, identifying every party with responsibility, and documenting your medical costs.

Common Premises Liability Situations We Handle

• Wet and Slick Floors: Rain tracked into entrances, freshly mopped aisles with no sign, leaking coolers, and spilled drinks in grocery stores, restaurants, and big-box retailers. The question is how long the hazard sat there and whether employees were checking.
• Broken Pavement and Parking Lot Defects: Potholes, cracked asphalt, raised curbs, and missing wheel stops at shopping centers and businesses along Lebanon’s commercial corridors. Owners and the management companies they hire can both be responsible.
• Stairs, Railings, and Poor Lighting: Loose handrails, uneven risers, and burned-out lights at apartments, hotels, medical offices, and rental properties. Building code violations can be strong evidence that the owner was careless.
• Icy and Snowy Walkways: Winter weather brings frozen entrances and unsalted lots. Owners are expected to respond within a reasonable time, and what counts as reasonable depends on the facts.
• Hot Tub, Spa, and Pool Injuries: Bacterial infections such as Legionnaires’ disease, drain entrapment, electrical faults, and drowning at hotels, resorts, and rental cabins.
• Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: Gas fireplaces, furnaces, water heaters, and generators in rentals and lodging with no working detectors. These cases can sicken or kill a whole household, and responsibility may reach the owner, a management company, or a maintenance contractor.
• Inadequate Security: Assaults in poorly lit lots or buildings where the owner ignored known crime problems or failed to repair locks, gates, or cameras.
• Construction and Worksite Hazards: Unprotected openings, falling objects, and unsafe conditions created by a property owner or subcontractor. A worker hurt this way may have a claim against someone other than the employer, which is how our workplace injury practice approaches these cases.

Why Choose Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette for a Lebanon Property Injury Case

People come to us after falls and hazards at stores, hotels, rentals, and apartment complexes because these cases are rarely simple, and the property owner’s insurer will have a plan for defending them before you have finished physical therapy. Our attorneys bring more than 170 years of combined experience to injury cases, and we have recovered over $100 million for clients. Two of our partners spent the early part of their careers defending insurance companies, trucking companies, and businesses, so they know how a premises claim is evaluated, picked apart, and valued from the other side of the table.

Trial experience matters when an owner insists the hazard was open and obvious or blames you for not watching your step. Bruce D. Fox, co-founder, has tried more than 125 jury trials in state and federal court, belongs to the American Board of Trial Advocates, and has been named to Mid-South Super Lawyers 17 times. He is a past president of the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association and received its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025. Partner Brad C. Burnette holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell and serves on the association’s Board of Governors, as does partner John Willis. Our attorneys are regularly voted among Knoxville’s Top Attorneys by CityView Magazine.

The results reflect serious injury work, including $1.5 million for a roofer who suffered a traumatic brain injury when his safety harness failed, and recoveries of $1.6 million to $3.4 million in cases involving death and catastrophic harm. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome in your case, because every case rests on its own facts.

There is no attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you, and consultations are free. If your injuries make travel hard, we can meet you at home or in the hospital. Michael C. Beehan is fluent in Spanish, and hablamos español.

How Tennessee Law Decides Who Pays for an Unsafe Property

A property owner in Tennessee must keep the premises reasonably safe and deal with hazards they know about or should have discovered through reasonable inspection. Your status on the property and the facts around the hazard shape the claim. A customer inside a store is owed a high level of care. The real fight is usually over notice: did the owner or an employee create the hazard, did they actually know about it, or did it exist long enough that they should have found it? Inspection logs, cleaning schedules, staffing records, and camera footage answer that question, which is why we move quickly to preserve them.

Owners often respond that the danger was obvious and you should have avoided it, or that you were distracted or wearing the wrong shoes. Tennessee follows modified comparative fault. You can recover as long as you are less than 50 percent at fault, and your award is reduced by your percentage. At 50 percent or more, the claim is barred. Fault can also be assigned to people who are not parties to the lawsuit, such as a contractor who left the hazard behind, so identifying every responsible party early protects the value of your claim.

Compensation can include medical bills, future treatment, lost income, and reduced earning capacity, none of which is capped in Tennessee. Noneconomic damages for pain and suffering are generally limited to $750,000, rising to $1 million for a defined catastrophic injury such as paraplegia or quadriplegia, amputation of two limbs, or severe burns. The jury does not hear about the cap; the court applies it afterward. The caps do not apply when the defendant acted intentionally, was intoxicated, destroyed evidence, or was convicted of a related felony. Punitive damages, when allowed, are limited to the greater of two times compensatory damages or $500,000.

If a loved one died because of a dangerous property, the right to bring a wrongful death action passes first to the surviving spouse, then to children or next of kin, or to a personal representative. The one-year period runs from the date of the injury, not the date of death, so a family cannot wait for a long hospitalization to end before acting.

Questions About Premises Liability Claims in Lebanon

How long do I have to sue after a fall in Lebanon?

Most Tennessee injury lawsuits must be filed within one year of the date you were hurt. Claims against government property owners follow the Governmental Tort Liability Act and must be filed within twelve months. Because evidence disappears fast, you should not use the whole year before talking to a lawyer.

Do I have a case if the store says it did not know about the spill?

Possibly. Owners are responsible for hazards they should have discovered with reasonable inspections, not only ones they saw. Cleaning logs, employee schedules, and video can show whether the hazard sat there long enough to be found.

What if I was partly at fault for my fall?

You can still recover if you are less than 50 percent at fault, but your compensation is reduced by your share. Insurers often point to footwear, distraction, or an obvious hazard to push that number up, so how fault gets measured can change the outcome.

Who can be held responsible besides the business owner?

Landlords, property management companies, maintenance contractors, security firms, and equipment manufacturers can all share responsibility depending on who controlled the hazard. Tennessee allows fault to be assigned to nonparties, so naming the right defendants matters.

How much does it cost to hire your firm?

Nothing up front. We handle premises cases on a contingency basis, so there is no attorney fee unless we recover compensation, and the first consultation is free.

Should I give the property owner’s insurance company a statement?

Speak with a lawyer first. Adjusters collect statements to find admissions they can use to reduce or deny the claim, and anything you say about your footing or attention can be used against you.

What happens if the business throws out the video or repairs the hazard?

Fixing a hazard after an injury is normal, but your photos and witness accounts preserve the original condition. If a defendant destroys evidence, that can lift the noneconomic damages cap and support a stronger case. A prompt preservation letter reduces the risk of losing records.

Can I bring a claim if I was hurt while working on someone else’s property?

Often yes. Workers’ compensation is generally your only remedy against your own employer, but a property owner, subcontractor, or equipment maker is a separate party. A third-party claim can include pain and suffering and the full value of lost earning capacity, though the employer or its insurer may be entitled to reimbursement from the recovery.

Will my health insurance cover treatment while the claim is pending?

Many people use health insurance for treatment during a claim, and the insurer may later seek reimbursement from a settlement. Coordinating those liens from the start keeps you from losing more of your recovery than necessary.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer for a fall that did not seem that serious?

It can be. Injuries like hip fractures and shoulder tears sometimes show their true cost weeks later, and early settlement offers rarely account for surgery or lost work. A free consultation lets you learn where your case stands before you sign anything.

How long will my case take?

It depends on your recovery and how the owner’s insurer responds. We usually wait until your treatment is far enough along to value the claim. If the insurer will not pay what the case is worth, our trial lawyers are prepared to take it before a jury.

Serving Lebanon and Wilson County Premises Liability Clients

We represent injured people in Lebanon and across Wilson County, including residents of Mount Juliet, Watertown, and the communities around them. Premises claims arise anywhere people shop, eat, stay, or work, and we also serve clients in neighboring Rutherford, Smith, Trousdale, and Davidson counties, along with Nashville and surrounding Middle Tennessee.

Our reach extends across East Tennessee, from Knoxville, Clinton, Maryville, Sevierville, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and LaFollette to Knox, Anderson, Blount, Sevier, Roane, Campbell, Claiborne, Morgan, Jefferson, and Monroe counties. We also take cases from Johnson City to Memphis. If you were hurt on property here and you live elsewhere, we can handle the investigation, insurance negotiations, and court filings while keeping you informed wherever you are.

Talk With a Lebanon Premises Liability Attorney Today

Evidence in a property injury case disappears quickly, and Tennessee’s one-year filing deadline leaves little room to wait. A Lebanon premises liability attorney at Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette can review what happened, identify who was responsible for the hazard, and explain what your claim may be worth. Call to schedule a free consultation. You pay nothing unless we recover compensation, and we can come to you if you are recovering at home or in the hospital.