Understanding Premises Liability in Apartment Complex Injuries in New Jersey

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Welcome to Jersey Justice, a

civil law podcast that shares

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practical tips and stories about

personal and workplace injuries.

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Join two of the brightest New Jersey

injury attorneys, Gerald Clark and Mark

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Morris of Clark Law Firm, as they take

you behind the scenes of justice and civil

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law, but first, a quick disclaimer, the

information shared on this podcast is

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for general information purposes only.

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Nothing on this site should be

taken as legal advice for any

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individual case or situation.

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This information is not intended

to create and does not constitute

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an attorney client relationship.

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What happens when someone gets

injured in their apartment

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building our apartment complex?

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So i'm here with mark and jerry And

I want to talk to them and see What

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their thoughts are on this, because

I think there's a lot of injuries

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that happen in apartment complexes.

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And when you think about it, it's the

responsibility of the property management

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company or the landlord to create a

safe environment for all the residents.

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But as we know, that

doesn't always happen.

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So I'd love to hear some stories

from you guys, or maybe any cases

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that you've heard about or worked on

where the apartment complexes were

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at fault and people got injured.

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Like what happened?

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Well, the thing with apartment

complexes is so it's no different than

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any other premises liability case.

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A premises liability case is where

someone gets hurt on someone's

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property, whether it's at like a

restaurant, a business, someone's home.

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So basically anyone one.

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That owns property.

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Generally speaking, it's supposed to

make sure that the property is reasonably

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safe for anyone that comes on there.

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So premises liability cases are

basically where there's a property owner.

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Anyone that owns property, whether

it's a business or a house or

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an apartment complex is supposed

to keep the property reasonably

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safe for anyone that comes on it.

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And it's basically a public

policy thing to make sure that

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people aren't needlessly injured.

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So, you know, if you're a business

owner or a homeowner, Um, you have

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to keep it reasonably safe and

there's like different levels of

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safety depending on who's on there.

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And, uh, one way, uh, I can talk

about the different levels of safety

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or the different level of care that's

required is that movie Liar Liar.

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I, I don't like the idea of the movie,

like Liar Liar, like lawyers are liars.

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Definitely, we've experienced a lot of,

uh, lawyers that lie in, in litigation

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or in cases and they twist reality so

much that it rises to the level of a lie.

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But I, it's the funniest thing

because it's like, you're not

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allowed to call someone a liar.

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It's like a super harsh thing.

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I don't know.

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You have to use other words like, Oh,

misrepresented or not based in the record.

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Generally, if you call someone

a liar, it's kind of a turnoff.

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But anyway, there's that movie liar, liar.

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And there's that funny part in it

where, um, the secretary is like

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mad at him and he can't lie anymore.

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And the secretary, the secretary's

mad because someone broke into her

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apartment and got injured and sued

her, the secretary, the guy that

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broke in that was trying to rob her.

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And, um, and I forget what man is like,

it's like I had to pay him 20, 000

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and, and, uh, um, Jim Carrey and Liar

Liar is like, I would've got him 50.

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It's kind of a funny thing.

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Um, but what that relates to apartment

comp, first of all, in that movie, like

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I think she said, I had to pay him money.

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The way that works is she

wouldn't have had to pay anything.

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It's always, not always, but almost always

on the list or something unusual happens.

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It's almost always the insurance.

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So.

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If you own a home, it's a homeowner's

insurance would pay the case and

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pay for the lawyers and renters

should get renter's insurance.

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But anyway, the reason that relates

to it is because different people

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on the property, depending on

their status on the property, and

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depending on what state it happens

in, there's a different level of care.

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So business invitees, which are people

that go onto a property, meaning

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go to a store to buy something,

they're called business invitees.

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Or if you go to a show, you go

to a concert, you'd be like a

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business invitee because you're...

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There is part of business.

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You're paying something.

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They're owed the highest level of care.

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And then you have people called invitees

were Licensees where you're allowed

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to come on the premises, but you're

not paying anything for it And then

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the people that get the lowest level

of care meeting the case would be the

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hardest to prove is trespassers So in

liar liar in that situation the guy that

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was robbing it would would be called

the trespasser But in reality the guy

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who was robbing Her apartment complex

where she lived, no lawyer would take

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that case, at least not any lawyers I

know, because it would be super hard.

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That's good.

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I like that story.

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I think the audience will like that story.

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Yeah, so, you know, it's not terribly

unique for apartment complexes.

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Um, one thing that can get kind of

edgy about it is if there's a community

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association that runs it, like if

there's a management association.

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So what happens is if

you're a member of like a.

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condo association, there would be like

a condominium association that runs it.

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Right.

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Then they may have, um, they have

what's called bylaws and all this stuff.

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And that document is super important

to look at that, to determine what

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the rights are and the liabilities are

of the people that live in the condo

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as against the condo association.

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But it's all important stuff

because people have died from.

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Businesses not keeping a safe

premises and got really injured.

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And when people get injured, like

I had a call with a woman yesterday

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on a case, a potential case.

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And she's like, I'm a single

mom, you know, I teach.

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Now I have this, you know, horrible

pulmonary injury from what happened.

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And I'm the only breadwinner in the house.

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And you know, they, they go on and on.

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I'm like, listen, I get it.

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I understand.

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I've been doing these cases a long time.

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I really understand how this

affects your life and everything.

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So you could joke and say, Oh, it's not

really terribly exciting or who cares

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about this, unless it happens to you.

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Um, but I know Mark has an interesting,

uh, story in terms of, it's not so

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much an apartment complex, but it's

very similar because it dealt with,

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um, like a negligent security thing

and connection with a mall in Marlton.

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And there's this interesting story

Mark probably has about that if he

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remembers where the person got mugged

by, I think it was like a meth addict

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or a heroin addict or something.

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Yeah, it was, it was two heroin addicts

that were like casing out an area.

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Jerry's right, like we could try

pretty hard to make apartment

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complex cases sound interesting.

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I, you know, personally found the

classification of trespasser versus

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invitee, you know, breathtaking.

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But that, that really is the law.

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Sometimes there's aspects

of it that are really dry.

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Then there's aspects like the story

aspects that are, that can be fascinating.

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I did an apartment case where a nice

young lady tripped and fell down a

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stairwell that didn't have proper

lighting and the stairway was too steep.

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She hurt her ankle.

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Like that's kind of about as exciting

as a apartment complex case can get.

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Um, unless it's one, I think that Jerry's

kind of mentioning segwaying into,

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which is more like negligent security.

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Cases, which is like a fancy way of

saying something really bad happened,

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almost with like a criminal, criminal

element to it, uh, to someone

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and they got hurt like real bad.

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Well, bingo.

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I'll give you guys some examples

and you guys can give me your, you

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know, professional legal opinion.

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Like what if you live in an apartment

complex and it's like a luxury

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complex and then there's like door

doors that go into the garage and

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there's plenty of doors in these

doors because they are key fob access.

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And they've been broken for

weeks because the company says,

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Oh, we have to order a part.

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We don't have the part in

stock, blah, blah, blah.

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And then while meanwhile, the people

who live in the apartment complex

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are complaining, complaining because

they're worried for their safety.

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Now, hypothetically, if somebody happened

to come into the building and do something

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and someone got injured, Wouldn't that

be a pretty big liability on part of the

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management, property management company

for not fixing that in a timely manner.

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So one of the things that you

said in there, I think would kind

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of be key to a case like that.

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A lot of times we have to worry

about notice and knowledge.

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Like basically, was it

foreseeable that something bad.

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Could have happened and then was there

complaints or were there complaints about

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the condition that made it potential

for this dangerous thing to happen?

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So if there's records, if people

have documented, if it's, you know,

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comes out in discovery that there's

been complaints like, hey, we're

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concerned about this, can you fix this?

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It doesn't get fixed.

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Um, that that can be a pretty good case.

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But a lot of times what the law looks

for is like, what's fair, what's.

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What's like foreseeable?

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Like, would it be foreseeable that if

those locks are broken that someone could

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break into the complex and hurt someone?

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So, if there's been complaints and

people saying, hey, we're concerned

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for our safety, like, that's a plus.

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That's definitely something

that's really helpful.

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If there have been other violent crimes in

the area, like that's extremely helpful.

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And then the most helpful is all of

all would be like if something similar

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had happened before to that complex,

and they haven't changed anything

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or done anything different about it.

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And so that a lot of times, like.

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You know, in the law, like there's

different things like New Jersey with

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dog bites, you don't get like one free

bite before the owner of the dog's

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responsible, like if the dog bites someone

and they get injured, that's a case,

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it's strict liability with like products.

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If somebody gets hurt using a product,

it's not like, well, you know, we didn't

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know that someone could gotten hurt

because no one's gotten hurt before.

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Like, you don't get 1 free injury before

there's a, there's a case, but with

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negligent security, it's a little bit.

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Touchier because like if I'm in the

nicest neighborhood in the world and you

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know, that's where my apartment is and

there's been no issues before and I walk

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outside and someone mugs me and I break

my collarbone and, you know, I have to

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get surgery that could be a really tough

case if there's no prior records, if there

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was anything, if there's no complaints

about dangerous things, like if there's

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the big thing is in a lot of these

negative security cases is we want to get

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like the records of criminal activity.

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Okay.

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So like the case Jerry's talking about, it

was this really nice, like open air mall.

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It was high end stores.

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Um, you know, it was like an Apple

store, probably like American Eagle,

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whatever you think of when you

think of like higher end stores.

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And it's like particular night, they were

putting on a summer concert event series.

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And it's not like they've got

like Metallica or some huge band.

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It was like.

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Probably a little band

there for like kids.

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And, um, it brought on like a few

more people to watch this event.

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And so this mall knew that like,

by putting this event on, that

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they'd get more guests, um, and all

this, and that's why they did it.

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So they get more guests,

they can make more money.

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And so we, you know, we took the

deposition and I asked like, okay, so

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you guys put this event on, like, what

steps did you make sure that like this.

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Heightened influx of people

were, were going to be safe.

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And they're like, well, you

know, we didn't really do much.

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We just talked to the, the two

security guards that were on duty.

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We told him just to patrol the perimeter.

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So I'm like, all right, great.

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Is that written anymore?

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Anywhere?

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Are there post orders?

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Like, how is that communicated?

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They're like, Oh, we just,

uh, we just told him.

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We're like, okay.

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So I took the security guards

step and the guy's like, how much

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longer am I going to be here?

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Like, you know, I thought he was going

to topple over during the deposition.

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So this is the security company

that he got out and hired.

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Um, so with that case,

there were two targets.

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Is it that the guy that would drive

around in the maintenance truck or

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something, a maintenance man doubling

as the security guard for the place?

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They literally had a maintenance truck

and they just take this like Amber light

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and stick it on top and drive around.

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And that was supposed to be security.

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And, uh, there were two targets,

like two main sets of defendants.

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In that case, it was like the mall itself.

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Because they're the premise that

like the property owner, they have a

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duty similar to an apartment complex

to keep the property safe from

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unreasonably dangerous conditions.

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Um, and then they're the security

guards themselves since they'd gone out,

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they've been brought in to do a service.

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They have to follow the standards

in their field, make sure they don't

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deviate from the standards and they're

doing what they're supposed to be

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doing, which is providing security.

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So it turned out for this, um, this

summer concert event, these two security

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guards there, their orders from the

general manager, whose experience was

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like she had worked at a banana Republic

for a couple of years before the, like,

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general manager said, all right, I

want you guys to patrol the perimeter.

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So these guys, what they were doing

is it came out through the deposition.

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Um, I was like, all right, where

were you when the event occurred?

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They were like, Oh, we're standing.

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You know, watching the concert and I

was like, so what was your back to that?

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Well, our back was,

was to everything else.

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And then the other guy, I was like,

all right, well, what was your role?

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He's like, well, we were supposed

to be going like opposite ways.

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So we had the perimeter covered.

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The whole time.

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And it's like, all right, was

your attention supposed to be

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on the crowd at the concert?

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No, it was to patrol the perimeter.

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Where were you at the time of the event?

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I was watching the concert.

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Where was the other security guard?

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Oh, he was right next to me.

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How long were you guys in that position?

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And they were there for

like 15 or 20 minutes.

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Tell them the event though.

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What happened?

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Everyone wants to know what

actually, what was the story?

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It's pretty bad.

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This is the, this is the, the long buildup

to, so you've got these two security

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guards standing, watching this concert.

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They're back to the mall.

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That they're supposed to be patrolling

and this very, very lovely, I

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don't want to do her disservice.

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I think she was 80 years old.

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And if not, she's pretty close.

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This 80 year old, a woman had gone

out to dinner with her friend.

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Friend's name was probably like

Dorothy or Gertrude or something.

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It really, I think was one of those names.

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She was just this adorable lady.

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Yeah, I think it was Mildred.

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Yeah.

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Like it, honestly, it's one of those,

one of those names that when you hear

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your friend name their daughter, you

know, Gertrude or something, you're

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like, is that name coming back?

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It could have been Mil,

it could have been.

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Um, yeah, it could have been

Mildred or, yeah, . Yeah.

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It's like Eleanor.

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I don't know.

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And she sounds like such a sweet lady.

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She was.

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She, honestly, it was, and again.

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Like a lot of times in this job, like you

have to put yourself in the client's shoes

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and be able to like empathize with them.

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This was not difficult.

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It, this was the sweetest old lady.

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Her husband cared for her so much.

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Like, but so this woman's out

to dinner with her friend.

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They, I forget where they had gone,

but they're leaving the restaurant.

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She's got her purse around her arm.

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And these, they were

like, like heroin addicts.

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They had been on this like crime spree and

they were casing out the area for a while.

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And they were casing the area.

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A couple people around the mall had

noticed them suspicious characters.

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They made note of it, but the

security guards are supposed to

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be patrolling, never saw them

because they weren't patrolling.

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So these heroin addicts that have like

been casing out the area, see this

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little old lady leaving the mall or

leaving the restaurant, like sprint up.

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One guy goes to grab her purse

and it's like attached to her arm.

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So when he pulls her down, her

shoulder breaks, her hip breaks.

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She's getting dragged along while

this guy's trying to steal her, uh,

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steal her purse, eventually gets

it, gets free, uh, and runs away.

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She was in the hospital

for, I think it was weeks.

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She ended up getting MRSA, like.

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Multiple infections.

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Um, it was, it was horrible, but so

she ended up with a broken shoulder.

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: 00:15:23

Remember she had grip issues.

307

: 00:15:25

She then had all these

different ways to open things.

308

: 00:15:28

Her husband had to help her

like Cook her hip being broken.

309

: 00:15:31

I didn't even realize that this is the

it's like medieval the the treatment for

310

: 00:15:35

a broken hip Is they essentially put you

in like traction with a pulley system?

311

: 00:15:40

Like essentially pulling your like

leg back into place like back into

312

: 00:15:44

the socket It's it's wild but so you

can imagine for an 80 year old woman

313

: 00:15:48

having broken shoulder broken hip

Um, multiple, multiple infections.

314

: 00:15:53

It was a horrible, horrible ordeal.

315

: 00:15:55

Um, hurt really, really bad.

316

: 00:15:57

And the tough thing in a case like that is

like, like, what's your instinct to blame?

317

: 00:16:03

Like, I've talked a lot about the

security guards in the mall, but

318

: 00:16:05

like, it's your instinct to be

like, well, who, who did what wrong?

319

: 00:16:09

It's like the criminal, the guy that

grabbed her purse and pulled her down

320

: 00:16:12

and broke her arm and like her hip.

321

: 00:16:15

So in negligent security cases, it's like

that a lot of times is the main defense.

322

: 00:16:19

They'll be like, Oh, it's

the criminal's fault.

323

: 00:16:21

Like, what were we supposed to do?

324

: 00:16:23

And that's where it kind of ties back

into the things like, like foreseeability

325

: 00:16:27

and what's the standard of care.

326

: 00:16:29

And we did, it was an Oprah request

for anything relating to like

327

: 00:16:33

crime in the area, and I'm pretty

positive that I got two things.

328

: 00:16:37

One of them was that there was graffiti.

329

: 00:16:40

Like, on certain areas of the mall,

um, I, I got them to admit that,

330

: 00:16:44

like, you know, graffiti were like,

signs of like, criminal activity.

331

: 00:16:46

It's like a broken windows theory,

um, and they were like, yeah, so

332

: 00:16:50

we're aware that that was going on.

333

: 00:16:51

And there was like a theft at an

apple store, like somebody like

334

: 00:16:54

shoplifted and like those 2 events,

the defendants filed a motion to get

335

: 00:16:59

out of the case to dismiss the thing.

336

: 00:17:01

Like, those 2 events were enough for the

judge to say that it was foreseeable that

337

: 00:17:05

something like that could have happened.

338

: 00:17:06

that's it.

339

: 00:17:07

So the case survived this summary judgment

motion to have the thing thrown out.

340

: 00:17:11

And actually, I remember Jerry

and I split the arbitration.

341

: 00:17:14

I think I did liability.

342

: 00:17:15

He did damages and it ended up

being, I don't want to misquote it.

343

: 00:17:19

What was it like?

344

: 00:17:20

It's like a 2, 000, 000 or something,

like 2, 000, 000 plus like ARB award.

345

: 00:17:23

Um, I've been one, I'm confusing my

millions these days, but, uh, it ended up

346

: 00:17:29

being like a really, really good award.

347

: 00:17:32

I think Jerry's pulling something up.

348

: 00:17:34

Yeah.

349

: 00:17:36

Yeah.

350

: 00:17:36

So these are the, these are the two perks.

351

: 00:17:39

Can you zoom into that a little bit

for the audience so they can see

352

: 00:17:43

what these characters look like?

353

: 00:17:45

Okay, perfect.

354

: 00:17:47

And they were, you could see.

355

: 00:17:50

They appear to be, they're all like

withdrawing from the drugs they were on.

356

: 00:17:57

So yeah, and that like our whole theory

in the case too, is like, so if you

357

: 00:18:03

go out and hire a security firm, like

you have to, you've taken the step,

358

: 00:18:08

you recognize that there's something

potentially dangerous that could happen

359

: 00:18:12

on your property, but that's not enough.

360

: 00:18:14

You can't just go out and

hire a security company.

361

: 00:18:16

You have to communicate to

them what they should be doing.

362

: 00:18:19

That's not to say that they need

to be like an expert in security

363

: 00:18:22

or what, but, you know, there

were no written protocols there.

364

: 00:18:26

Like, I think the operations manual

for the security company itself

365

: 00:18:29

said, like, we never want two

people standing next to each other.

366

: 00:18:33

That doesn't accomplish like our goals.

367

: 00:18:34

Um, and then for the security

company itself, it's like, well,

368

: 00:18:38

there's a standard of care,

like they were told what to do.

369

: 00:18:41

They didn't follow it.

370

: 00:18:43

So they ended up splitting it.

371

: 00:18:44

I think it was actually, it was a million.

372

: 00:18:46

I think they split it like 500,

000 each, if I recall correctly.

373

: 00:18:50

Um, to pay it out, which for, you know,

someone in their 80s who went through

374

: 00:18:54

something pretty horrible, like that,

that was pretty, uh, that was pretty good

375

: 00:18:57

compensation, especially given the case

had gone to trial and the defendant, the

376

: 00:19:02

actual criminals had gone on the verdict

sheet, you know, a jury could have put 100

377

: 00:19:06

percent liability on them or 80 percent

liability on them, whatever it may be.

378

: 00:19:11

And there we wouldn't be

able to collect on that.

379

: 00:19:13

There would be no assets.

380

: 00:19:14

There would be no, like nothing

to collect, but that's like

381

: 00:19:18

for apartment complexes.

382

: 00:19:19

It's the same thing.

383

: 00:19:20

So with liability, they have to have

reasonable security and all that stuff.

384

: 00:19:24

So I don't know if that's if

that is in any way making.

385

: 00:19:30

Well, yeah apartment apartment complex

discussions anyway interesting but I

386

: 00:19:35

think mark's story was very interesting

and i'm laughing on the inside because

387

: 00:19:39

whatever he Described as an actual real

life scenario partially in the sense

388

: 00:19:43

where when mark when you said They knew

that there was going to be a concert

389

: 00:19:46

across the streets They knew that there

would be increased traffic in the area.

390

: 00:19:50

So the real life story like Where I live,

there's literally a concert place, I

391

: 00:19:54

can see it from my office right now, out

the window, and, and we've been saying,

392

: 00:19:58

get more security, get more security,

and they did get security, right?

393

: 00:20:02

I don't know if it's going to be there

all the time, but doors not being fixed

394

: 00:20:06

and all that, because you know, It's when

you have a large venue that attracts a

395

: 00:20:11

lot of people from all over a city to

come to one place and there's a parking

396

: 00:20:16

structure attached to apartment complex

where people are going to try to park

397

: 00:20:19

and go into so we did our little own

snooping around we went to go talk to the

398

: 00:20:23

security officer to see because we want

to know if we Or being kept safe or not.

399

: 00:20:28

So the security officer was like not

letting, she was doing a good job, right?

400

: 00:20:32

But was she there the whole,

the next time there was there?

401

: 00:20:36

She wasn't there.

402

: 00:20:37

So what happened to the

building hiring people?

403

: 00:20:40

Right?

404

: 00:20:41

Um, another scenario, an older lady, she

was walking her dog on the premises of

405

: 00:20:46

the building in the back where they have

like a walking area, but it's part of the

406

: 00:20:50

property owned by the apartment complex.

407

: 00:20:53

Well, the grass was really high.

408

: 00:20:55

Because there's a ton of

construction around and there's

409

: 00:20:57

like, like a hole in the ground.

410

: 00:21:00

So her foot, when she stepped, because

she couldn't see it, she stepped in the

411

: 00:21:03

hole, she fell, she broke her wrist.

412

: 00:21:06

I actually took her to the

emergency room and helped her out.

413

: 00:21:10

And in my opinion, and of course, I'm

going to think in lawyer terms, right?

414

: 00:21:15

She literally could sue them if she

wanted to, but she's like, no, but like

415

: 00:21:19

what's your thought on that liability?

416

: 00:21:21

It's not never clear cut, right?

417

: 00:21:22

Like we can say did she fall because

a dog pulled the leash too hard.

418

: 00:21:26

Now, there's cameras around, but

what do you guys think of that?

419

: 00:21:29

Because I'm just curious now how do

you like, things are never cut and dry.

420

: 00:21:33

Like last time we talked about the

automobile accidents and the camera,

421

: 00:21:37

the dash cam, they're never cut and dry.

422

: 00:21:39

Says lawyers.

423

: 00:21:40

For the audience, how do you guys

go and determine who's really at

424

: 00:21:45

fault and proving like, hey, they,

they were liable department complex.

425

: 00:21:52

Yeah, so I think we touched on

this before to the only wrinkle

426

: 00:21:57

kind of, or not only, but a wrinkle

with department complex cases.

427

: 00:22:01

I know for a fact with the condo.

428

: 00:22:03

Potential condo association cases.

429

: 00:22:05

Is those bylaws, like it depends a

lot of times, like what those bylaws

430

: 00:22:10

say, like in New Jersey, sometimes

it could say like gross negligence,

431

: 00:22:14

which is a slightly higher standard

of care than the negligence, um, that

432

: 00:22:18

you could sue for it all depends.

433

: 00:22:20

Like, I hate to give the politician,

like lawyer answer of like, it

434

: 00:22:23

depends, but it really does like,

like saying someone fell in a hole

435

: 00:22:27

that was obscured by like tall grass.

436

: 00:22:29

There's so many different little variables

was that hole on the apartment complex,

437

: 00:22:33

like property, whose responsibility

is it to maintain the grass?

438

: 00:22:36

Um, is there like an outside,

you know, is there like a, uh,

439

: 00:22:40

agreement between like a maintenance

company and the apartment complex?

440

: 00:22:44

Is the whole itself, does that

constitute like an unreasonably dangerous

441

: 00:22:47

condition or like a dangerous condition?

442

: 00:22:50

And then, yeah, you're right.

443

: 00:22:51

If she's walking along in broad daylight

and like trips and falls in this whole.

444

: 00:22:56

Not carrying anything like that's one

set of facts if it's nighttime she falls

445

: 00:23:00

It's a different set of facts like her

dog pulling her because what happens

446

: 00:23:03

is even if you then have like say it's

cut and dry That hole's dangerous.

447

: 00:23:07

It shouldn't be there.

448

: 00:23:08

We know who put it there.

449

: 00:23:10

Um, and they didn't do anything about it.

450

: 00:23:12

It's like, all right, that's great.

451

: 00:23:13

And then what about the plaintiff?

452

: 00:23:15

Did the plaintiff do anything wrong?

453

: 00:23:16

Should the person that's suing, should

they have been doing anything different?

454

: 00:23:19

Were they carrying too much

stuff, like walking their dog?

455

: 00:23:22

Because then sometimes that can poke

away at potential liability there.

456

: 00:23:25

Again, it like really depends.

457

: 00:23:27

That's like the classic, give

the example like being at a bar.

458

: 00:23:30

Someone comes up and like,

hey, my friend's got this case.

459

: 00:23:32

And it's like, well, what happened?

460

: 00:23:33

And they're like, they fell in a hole.

461

: 00:23:35

Outside their apartment complex.

462

: 00:23:36

Like, is that a case?

463

: 00:23:37

And it's like, I don't know.

464

: 00:23:39

Tell him to give us a call.

465

: 00:23:40

We'll take a look at it and figure it out.

466

: 00:23:41

But there's just, there's so much to it.

467

: 00:23:43

That's a great answer, Mark,

because that's what people can see.

468

: 00:23:46

There's a lot that goes into, you

know, handling cases behind the scenes.

469

: 00:23:49

It's never cut and dry.

470

: 00:23:50

There's like a million

factors to consider.

471

: 00:23:52

So I think that's what the audience

can take away from From this, you know,

472

: 00:23:56

this comment that we're talking about

and different attorneys to different

473

: 00:24:01

law firms will have different views on

cases, like, even internally, we'll talk

474

: 00:24:04

through cases like one person might see

it one way another, you know, another way.

475

: 00:24:08

And there's all these little different.

476

: 00:24:10

Nuances to it that there there

really is no just cut and dry.

477

: 00:24:14

Yeah, Mark.

478

: 00:24:15

Thanks so much for sharing that.

479

: 00:24:16

I think that's a great, you know, scenario

and example for people to understand.

480

: 00:24:20

Um, 1 final question and then

we'll kind of wrap this thing up.

481

: 00:24:24

What happens if someone is injured

outside of their apartment complex,

482

: 00:24:28

but within a few, let's say, 500

feet, does that still count as.

483

: 00:24:33

Being on the property or not, and I'm

sure you're going to say the same thing.

484

: 00:24:37

There's probably many different factors,

but what are some of those factors?

485

: 00:24:40

So under it, it depends.

486

: 00:24:43

It all depends on the law of the state.

487

: 00:24:45

Um, it just depends.

488

: 00:24:47

And like Mark said, there's so

many different variables and stuff.

489

: 00:24:50

But one of the biggest variables

to prevailing on a case like this

490

: 00:24:54

is to get the right lawyer that

knows how to do these cases and has

491

: 00:24:57

experience and experience in trying

cases and getting verdicts and stuff.

492

: 00:25:02

That's that's a enormous factor.

493

: 00:25:05

Um, there's only so much the lawyer

can do, and it's a big, it's a big

494

: 00:25:08

factor, but it's not everything.

495

: 00:25:10

Um, But anyway, under New

Jersey law, it, it depends.

496

: 00:25:14

So for example, if generally with an

apartment complex, it would be hard to

497

: 00:25:20

envision a scenario where someone injured

off the premises of the apartment of

498

: 00:25:25

the apartment would have a claim against

the apartment, but there are cases.

499

: 00:25:29

So, for example.

500

: 00:25:31

If there's a dedicated parking area

across the street from the apartment,

501

: 00:25:36

and let's say it's not on the apartment's

premises, but the apartment knows that

502

: 00:25:41

visitors always park there, let's say

it's some open lot or something or some

503

: 00:25:45

somewhat abandoned lot, for example,

and the apartment knows that their

504

: 00:25:53

invitees or their vacationers park there.

505

: 00:25:55

People that visit the apartment will park

there a lot, but there's not a safe way to

506

: 00:25:59

get from the parking lot to the apartment.

507

: 00:26:01

Then there could be liability if the

person gets hurt crossing the street or

508

: 00:26:06

if there's like an adjacent parking lot

and then there's a pathway to get to the

509

: 00:26:10

apartment and same scenario they know.

510

: 00:26:13

But there's like a dangerous pathway

or jagged rebar sticking up, then

511

: 00:26:18

that's a scenario where off premises

they could potentially be responsible.

512

: 00:26:23

But I think as far as like a closing

thought, um, I would say that if,

513

: 00:26:29

if you, um, you know, if you own

an apartment complex, keep it safe.

514

: 00:26:35

You know, do use common sense, be

reasonable, get proper security,

515

: 00:26:40

especially depending on if

you're in a more crime area.

516

: 00:26:44

And if you're living in an apartment

complex, you know, get renter's

517

: 00:26:48

insurance, or if you own an apartment

in an apartment complex, make

518

: 00:26:51

sure you have liability insurance.

519

: 00:26:53

And everyone should just, uh, be

safe, you know, to try to prevent

520

: 00:26:58

getting involved in a lawsuit.

521

: 00:27:00

Yeah.

522

: 00:27:00

Thank you, Jerry.

523

: 00:27:01

Mark, any, any last thoughts?

524

: 00:27:03

No.

525

: 00:27:04

And if, if there are dangerous conditions

or things going on in your apartment

526

: 00:27:08

complex, like document it, report it,

um, because that can be really helpful

527

: 00:27:13

down the road, like saying, oh, hey,

there was this dangerous thing for a

528

: 00:27:16

long time is way different than saying,

hey, there was this dangerous condition.

529

: 00:27:20

Here's this email that I sent

to the apartment complex owner.

530

: 00:27:23

They didn't do anything about it.

531

: 00:27:25

Um, cause like Jay said, yeah,

that's a great, that's a great point.

532

: 00:27:28

If you know something's going on in

your apartment complex, send an email,

533

: 00:27:32

document it because if something happens,

like that's huge evidence, like Mark

534

: 00:27:36

said, yeah, that's a really great tip.

535

: 00:27:39

Mark.

536

: 00:27:39

Absolutely.

537

: 00:27:40

Thank you guys so much.

538

: 00:27:41

We will see you next time.

539

: 00:27:42

And if you guys have questions

for us, do not forget to go to

540

: 00:27:45

questions at Jersey justice podcast.

541

: 00:27:47

com and we may answer them live.

542

: 00:27:52

And there you have it, folks.

543

: 00:27:53

Another episode of Jersey Justice Podcast.

544

: 00:27:56

If you're loving what you're hearing,

it's time to hit that subscribe button

545

: 00:27:59

on Apple, YouTube, and Spotify podcasts.

546

: 00:28:03

And don't forget to

leave us a review online.

547

: 00:28:05

Share this podcast with your

friends and become their legal hero.

548

: 00:28:09

Dive into more episodes

at Jersey justice podcast.

549

: 00:28:13

com are Clark law and j.

550

: 00:28:16

com.

551

: 00:28:17

And check out our show

notes for more information.

552

: 00:28:20

If you're navigating legal issues and

need a guiding light, or just a phone

553

: 00:28:23

call away, call us at 1 877 841 8855.

554

: 00:28:29

Again, 1 877 841 8855.

555

: 00:28:34

Until next time, Jersey justice

warriors stay empowered and informed.

556

: 00:28:38

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