Memphis Injury Lawyer Blog

Personal Injury in a Tent

Many people are injured in stores, auditoriums, restaurants and the like. Often times the cause of the personal injury results from a "slip and fall". However, many people are hurt in unusual ways. Regardless of the cause, for an owner or occupier of a building to be held liable for the negligent injury of a visitor, certain things must be proven.

An owner must either remove or warn against any hidden dangerous condition on the premises which the owner knows about or should have known about by exercising reasonable care. In other words, an owner is not an insuror against an accident or an injury that is caused by a condition of his or her premises. So, if an owner is not aware of a concealed danger that results from ordinary wear and tear of house then the owner can not (all things being equal) be held responsible. To illustrate this point, let's look at an extreme example.

Gail and Larry Allen, were injured while attending the Saturn Automotive Homecoming on June 25, 1994. In a violent thunderstorm, the Allens took refuge in a tent displaying various Saturn automobiles. They subsequently took cover in one of the automobiles. The tent collapsed due to an accumulation of water on top of the tent, which caused a tent pole to hit the passenger's side of the automobile. The Allens were both injured as a result of the incident.Allen vs. Saturn Corp.

There was no proof that Saturn knew or should have known that there was any defect in the tent. In fact, the Allens never showed that there was any defect nor what the defect was. The Allens argued that because the tent collapsed in a thunderstorm, Saturn violated a duty of care to them. The Allens, in essence, wanted the Court to hold Saturn liable simply because there was an injury.

So, by failing to show what the defect in the tent was, if any, and what notice Saturn had of the defect, the Allens did not show (carry the burden of proof) that Saturn violated a duty of care (negligence) to them. In any injury case, the injured party (the Plaintiff) must show that the party at fault (the Defendant) owed him a duty of care; that this duty of care was violated; that this violation was the cause of the incident; and that the incident was the direct cause of any injuries that the Plaintiff suffered. If any one of these elements is not proven, the the injured person can not recover from the owner or occupier of a building. For these reasons, anyone who is hurt in an accident must have the matter carefully investigated and analyzed by an experienced civil trial lawyer. Without this professional approach, you can't protect what matters most after you are hurt: your future,