Mississippi's Premises Liability Laws

Mississippi has personal injury laws that require the property owner to maintain their premises in a safe condition. This protects visitors and tenants from suffering harm due to hazardous conditions on the property. Understanding Mississippi’s premises liability laws can help personal injury attorneys prove who’s at fault and secure full compensation for their clients. These laws can also help property owners against false or misleading claims.

Overview of Mississippi’s Premises Liability Laws

In Mississippi, personal injury plaintiffs must show that an owner or occupier of land was negligent in order to recover damages for injuries sustained on the property. The general standard of care is based upon the status of the plaintiff—whether a trespasser, licensee, or invitee. It will have to be proven in a court of law that the property owner had actual knowledge of any dangerous condition or failure to warn of such a condition to others who enter the property.

Visitors Based Under the Law

Categories of Visitors

When considering premises liability cases, personal injury attorneys must first understand which category the plaintiff falls into. The three legal categories are trespassers, licensees, and invitees. A trespasser is an individual who enters upon another’s land without invitation or permission from the landowner. Licensees are visitors who enter onto the property for personal reasons with either implied or express consent from the landowner. An invitee is someone who has been expressly invited by the landowner onto their property for business or commercial purposes only.

Limited Liability for Trespassers

In personal injury cases, property owners are not liable to trespassers who are injured while on someone’s property except in very limited circumstances. For instance, an injured person’s attorney could argue that the landowner acted recklessly by setting up a trap or otherwise engaged in actions that could foreseeably cause harm to the trespasser.

Duty of Care to Licensees / Invitees

The duty of care owed to licensees and invitees is much higher than it is towards trespassers. Property owners must use reasonable care to identify potential hazards on their land and warn visitors of any dangerous conditions that they know about or ought to be aware of. Injury attorneys will often try to show that a landowner failed to satisfy this duty of care, leading to the injury sustained by their client.

The Bottom Line about Premises Liability

If you are a landowner you should perform regular inspections of your property for any hazards that may be a danger to visitors. Any hazards that are discovered should be repaired promptly or warning given to visitors to avoid the hazardous area.

If you are a visitor to someone’s property and were severely injured while visiting that property, you should seek medical care and then talk to an attorney to help you get compensated for your loss and suffering.