Slip and fall with a splash of gross negligence

[Mack1481]

The responsibilities of the landlord and the responsibilities of the tenants should be spelled out in the lease agreements.

For example, in the lease agreements I use for my rentals, there is a clause saying that the resident is responsible for promptly notifying the landlord of any condition that is in need of the landlord’s attention and the landlord, in turn, agrees to keep the premises in reasonable condition and repair.

If a resident violates the pet requirements (e.g., following the leash law, removing pet waste), it is considered a breach of the lease agreement and the resident can be fined or the lease can be terminated.

Any legal action your fiancée might have seems better aimed at the tenant who failed to deposit their pet’s waste in the proper container. A responsible pet owner carries waste bags with them in case all of the bags provided for free by the landlord are used up.

You can always ask an attorney in your area to read over the lease agreement to see if there is any cause of action worth pursuing against the landlord or the dog owner. Without compensable damages, I think your fiancée will discover that the answer is that there isn’t. In other words, I agree with the previous responses.


(thanks for the kind words, Just Blue )

Thank you Quincy. Although I have never taken the bar, a large part of my professional role for the past 20 years is to work with our corporate attorneys on crafting large RFX responses to government contract opportunities. So while I may not be formally licensed myself, I am well beyond day one orientation in this space. I have reviewed each word of the lease that we signed. Researched the legal meanings of the terms their attorneys used to draft the agreement. Analyzed the structure and buckets and overall framework of the agreement we signed. I then weighed that against the Gwinnett County landlord tenant handbook, Gwinnett County ordinances, and tort laws regarding safety and responsibilities on behalf of my landlord and ourselves. I took that information and socialized it with a few of those corporate attorney colleagues of mine. Who, respectfully, agree with my instincts that there are punitive and civil opportunities here but otherwise concede that an attorney who works in these specific areas will be able to provide specific nomenclature references to similar experiences and circumstances within the playing field. Hence why I decided to take the first step in reaching out to this legal community for additional perspectives. Fair?

 

[Just Blue]

That is the nicest thing you have said CBG, thank you. JB - if he wanted his name or alias to be visible then he wouldn't have messaged me privately, would he? Guess what, I won't offer it for the same reasons he didn't - he's avoiding the trolls. Can't say I blame him. As for your comment about not knowing what a username is...lol I design the platforms we are communicating on so the comments you're sitting over there patting yourself on the back for are pretty lame and frankly, charitably painful to read. You should really consider learning your opponent before you engage them. Again, are there any inputs from ANY SUCCESSFUL and EDUCATED folks that can connect with me here please? This board game is mildly entertaining but even I can only take so much of Will Ferrell's intelligence scale for so long.

What are you talking about? When did I say I didn't know what a username was? And why should I consider you an "opponent"? Why are you so adversarial? Frankly, I have been nothing but polite to you and you are nothing but rude and combative.

 

[cbg]

I took that information and socialized it with a few of those corporate attorney colleagues of mine. Who, respectfully, agree with my instincts that there are punitive and civil opportunities here but otherwise concede that an attorney who works in these specific areas will be able to provide specific nomenclature references to similar experiences and circumstances within the playing field.

In case you don't know it, that is code for "You've got nothing, but I don't want to have an argument so I will agree with you to be polite and ease out of the conversation as best I can, leaving someone else to do the dirty work".

Yes, I know I said I was out of the conversation. I lied.

 

[quincy]

... Fair?

Fair? Possibly.

To me, and based strictly on what you have described of the incident, it seems more like overkill for a rather benign slip and fall on dog poop.

But your fiancée certainly has the option of consulting with an attorney in your area to see if there is anything resembling a legal action worth the costs of pursuing. I have been surprised in the past by damages awarded in slip and fall accidents.

Good luck.

 

[Taxing Matters]

Ultimately, that's the solution we are after. Education, understanding of rights and someone to teach them that next time someone slips and falls on a pile of dog mess, they might not be so fortunate for that person to be someone who can hit the chiropractor drive thru for a few visits and be fine. It could be an 80 year old elderly woman who might require several thousands of dollars in repair costs. Do you see where we are now? The motivation here is about others and ourselves.

The problem is that all your fiancée can do is sue for the actual damages suffered for the actual accident she had. A court cannot force the landlord to change its practices, cannot require education for the landlord, and cannot do anything about setting up protection against future incidents. It can only award compensation for this one incident. And if your fiancée does not have much in damages then the costs to sue may well exceed what she could get even if she can prove the landlord liable.

Does it feel like enough to you guys for an attorney to step and pay for their time with the story?

Most personal injury lawyers will give a free initial consultation. So your fiancée can make an appointment with one of those attorneys, lay out what happened, and see if the lawyer thinks it is a case worth pursuing.

 

[Mack1481]

The problem is that all your fiancée can do is sue for the actual damages suffered for the actual accident she had. A court cannot force the landlord to change its practices, cannot require education for the landlord, and cannot do anything about setting up protection against future incidents. It can only award compensation for this one incident. And if your fiancée does not have much in damages then the costs to sue may well exceed what she could get even if she can prove the landlord liable.



Most personal injury lawyers will give a free initial consultation. So your fiancée can make an appointment with one of those attorneys, lay out what happened, and see if the lawyer thinks it is a case worth pursuing.

So the logical math I'm doing is telling me that while, informally, compensatory damages must equal x to trigger a valid, punitive discussion. So if she was permanently disabled and her compensatory expenses were say $100k then that figure makes the punitive soil more fertile. Loosely translated from your descriptions but that's what it feels like you're illustrating?

 

[quincy]

So the logical math I'm doing is telling me that while, informally, compensatory damages must equal x to trigger a valid, punitive discussion. So if she was permanently disabled and her compensatory expenses were say $100k then that figure makes the punitive soil more fertile. Loosely translated from your descriptions but that's what it feels like you're illustrating?

A personal injury attorney (generally) will not invest his own money and time into any case where he cannot see that his costs will be recovered.

I doubt that your fiancée will find any attorney willing to work on a contingency basis. She might find an attorney who will work if paid a retainer and the attorney’s hourly rates.

All your fiancée can do is call some attorneys, make some appointments, and see what the attorneys say. Your fiancée should ask in advance of the appointments about free consultations. Some attorneys will offer a free 15 minutes or 30 minutes. Your fiancée should take a notepad with bullet points and a watch.

 

[Mack1481]

A personal injury attorney (generally) will not invest his own money and time into any case where he cannot see that his costs will be recovered.

I doubt that your fiancée will find any attorney willing to work on a contingency basis. She might find an attorney who will work if paid a retainer and the attorney’s hourly rates.

All your fiancée can do is call some attorneys, make some appointments, and see what the attorneys say. Your fiancée should ask in advance of the appointments about free consultations. Some attorneys will offer a free 15 minutes or 30 minutes. Your fiancée should take a notepad with bullet points and a watch.

And based on what I've learned from this thread today, a more refined talk track that can fit within a 5-15 minute window so the attorney has an opportunity to understand, assess, digest and get prescriptive. Which we will work on after I have the opportunity to walk her through what I have learned here from this. Thank you Quincy and thank you JB. @cbg, normally I provide feedback in private but since you are publicly soliciting it, I will accommodate and you might even get lucky with additional information from the other participants here. My feedback for your question of why is simple and you can learn a lot from it, should be more than I have here today. Review the tone and delivery of all your responses to my questions and inputs and compare those to Quincy and the other individual I have been able to civilly engage with here. That's where you will find a lot of answers to your question. Additionally, take the time to understand your audience and their social style. Right, wrong, or indifferent; my default style is to pay in spades and not back down. This thread provides a lot of information between the lines all of the responses are written in. Don't use a sledgehammer for finishing nails. Thank you all for your help today, we appreciate. Have a good evening and merry Christmas

 

[quincy]

And based on what I've learned from this thread today, a more refined talk track that can fit within a 5-15 minute window so the attorney has an opportunity to understand, assess, digest and get prescriptive. Which we will work on after I have the opportunity to walk her through what I have learned here from this. Thank you Quincy and thank you JB. @cbg, normally I provide feedback in private but since you are publicly soliciting it, I will accommodate and you might even get lucky with additional information from the other participants here. My feedback for your question of why is simple and you can learn a lot from it, should be more than I have here today. Review the tone and delivery of all your responses to my questions and inputs and compare those to Quincy and the other individual I have been able to civilly engage with here. That's where you will find a lot of answers to your question. Additionally, take the time to understand your audience and their social style. Right, wrong, or indifferent; my default style is to pay in spades and not back down. This thread provides a lot of information between the lines all of the responses are written in. Don't use a sledgehammer for finishing nails. Thank you all for your help today, we appreciate. Have a good evening and merry Christmas

Regarding what I bolded of your post, you are exactly right. Present only the facts and the attorney will ask for additional information if needed.

We all appreciate the thanks, Mack, so thank you. I hope you and your fiancée have a good evening and a happy holiday season, as well.

Good luck.

 

[Just Blue]

And based on what I've learned from this thread today, a more refined talk track that can fit within a 5-15 minute window so the attorney has an opportunity to understand, assess, digest and get prescriptive. Which we will work on after I have the opportunity to walk her through what I have learned here from this. Thank you Quincy and thank you JB. @cbg, normally I provide feedback in private but since you are publicly soliciting it, I will accommodate and you might even get lucky with additional information from the other participants here. My feedback for your question of why is simple and you can learn a lot from it, should be more than I have here today. Review the tone and delivery of all your responses to my questions and inputs and compare those to Quincy and the other individual I have been able to civilly engage with here. That's where you will find a lot of answers to your question. Additionally, take the time to understand your audience and their social style. Right, wrong, or indifferent; my default style is to pay in spades and not back down. This thread provides a lot of information between the lines all of the responses are written in. Don't use a sledgehammer for finishing nails. Thank you all for your help today, we appreciate. Have a good evening and merry Christmas

There is no "tone" to the written word. My postings were polite and no offense was intended. Yours, on the other hand, were strangely combative.

 

[Mack1481]

Feedback was for CBG, JB, not you. If you slow down and reread what I wrote for you, it was a thank you. More specifically for bringing Quincy and company into the discussion. Have you considered decaf?

 

[adjusterjack]

Why is everybody still feeding this troll who appears to suffer from lastworditis?

Mack, you may say whatever you like now. You have my permission.

 

[cbg]

I don't recall asking you a question. Are you perhaps referring to the questions asked by Just Blue?

 

[HighwayMan]

Thank you very much for your response, a conversation and understanding is all I have been asking for here.

You legal question(s) has been answered. If you're looking for conversation give Reddit a try. Or you can hire companions on as as-needed basis if you want someone to converse with in person.

 

[Just Blue]

You legal question(s) has been answered. If you're looking for conversation give Reddit a try. Or you can hire companions on as as-needed basis if you want someone to converse with in person.

Where I live there a whole phone book dedicated for people that want to pay for "conversation".