Premises Liability Attorney in Charleston, SC
165 Years of Combined Experience. Trial-Ready Representation for Injured Visitors in Charleston County.
Premises liability is the branch of personal injury law that holds property owners and occupiers accountable when unsafe conditions injure the people who enter their property. It covers far more than slip and fall incidents: negligent security, swimming pool accidents, elevator failures, dog bites, stairwell collapses, parking lot injuries, and toxic chemical exposure all fall within this category. When a property owner knew or should have known about a dangerous condition and failed to correct it or warn visitors, an injured person may have a claim.
Pierce, Sloan, Kennedy & Early LLC is a boutique Charleston trial firm handling premises liability claims for injured people throughout Charleston, SC and the surrounding area, including North Charleston. Our team brings 165 years of combined legal experience to these cases, and our record in complex, multi-party litigation directly informs how we build and pursue each claim. We’ve been named among the Top 100 Trial Lawyers by the National Trial Lawyers, hold an AV Preeminent rating, and are listed in Best Lawyers in America.
If you’ve been injured on someone else’s property, call us at (843) 968-0886 for a free, confidential consultation. We can help you understand what happened and what your options may be.
How South Carolina Law Determines Your Rights
The strength of a premises liability claim depends significantly on your legal status as a visitor. South Carolina recognizes four classifications, each carrying a different standard of care from the property owner.
Invitees are individuals who enter a property at the owner’s invitation, most often customers at a business. Property owners owe invitees the highest duty: an active obligation to inspect for hazards, correct dangerous conditions, and warn visitors of risks that can’t be fixed immediately.
Licensees are people who enter with the owner’s consent, such as social guests. Owners must warn licensees of known hazards but aren’t required to conduct ongoing inspections.
Adult trespassers are generally owed no duty beyond protection from willful or wanton injury. Children, however, are held to a higher standard regardless of invitation status. Under the attractive nuisance doctrine, owners may be liable for conditions like unfenced pools or accessible machinery that a child is foreseeably drawn to explore.
Liability can also arise when a property owner created the hazard, knew about it and failed to act, or should have discovered it through reasonable inspection. That last standard, called constructive knowledge, is often central to commercial premises cases.
Where Charleston Premises Liability Claims Arise
Charleston’s historic downtown corridors, waterfront commercial properties, high-density residential developments, and multi-level parking structures each present distinct hazard profiles. The range of settings where these injuries occur is broad.
- Negligent security: Assaults in poorly lit parking areas or inadequately secured commercial buildings where foreseeable criminal acts weren’t prevented
- Swimming pool accidents: Missing drain covers, inadequate fencing, or lack of posted depth markers at hotel, residential, or commercial pools
- Elevator and escalator failures: Mechanical malfunctions, improper maintenance, or inadequate inspections
- Dog bites and animal attacks: Injuries on residential or commercial property where an animal’s presence wasn’t controlled
- Stairwell and ramp accidents: Broken handrails, uneven surfaces, inadequate lighting
- Fires, flooding, and toxic exposure: Carbon monoxide, chemical leaks, and water damage in residential or commercial settings
Business owners who invite customers onto their property carry the highest duty of care. Property management companies, landlords, and corporate ownership entities may also share liability depending on who controlled the condition that caused the injury.
Damages in a Charleston Premises Liability Claim
South Carolina law allows injured victims to pursue both economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages cover medical bills, hospital stays, rehabilitation, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, and the projected cost of future care. Non-economic damages address pain and suffering, physical impairment or disfigurement, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life. Where clear and convincing evidence shows the property owner acted willfully, wantonly, or recklessly, punitive damages may also be available.
South Carolina follows a modified comparative fault rule. If you bear some responsibility for the injury, your compensation is reduced proportionally by your percentage of fault. A plaintiff found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing, which is why how fault is framed from the start of a case matters.
The statute of limitations for personal injury claims in South Carolina is generally three years from the date of injury. Acting quickly also protects the evidence: surveillance footage, incident reports, maintenance logs, and witness statements can disappear or be destroyed if not secured promptly.
Why a Trial Firm Changes How Your Case Is Valued
Premises liability cases frequently involve multiple defendants: a property owner, a management company, a corporate parent, and one or more insurers. Navigating that structure requires attorneys with experience in multi-defendant civil litigation, not just settlement negotiation.
Our litigation identity shapes how opposing counsel and insurance carriers evaluate every case we handle. When insurers know a firm prepares cases for trial in Charleston County rather than defaulting to early settlement, they may assess exposure differently. Our results in complex, multi-party cases reflect that approach. We secured a $15,000,000 settlement in a sexual assault case involving negligent security theories, and an $8,200,000 settlement against an event organizer, promoter, and parking company for patrons injured at a music festival. Past results don’t guarantee future outcomes, and every case turns on its own facts, but these results demonstrate the depth we bring to high-stakes premises claims.
We develop creative, low-risk strategies tailored to each client’s situation, addressing both the broad legal questions and the details that affect how a case performs at trial or in settlement.
Talk to a Charleston Premises Liability Lawyer for Free
If you were injured on someone else’s property, you deserve a clear-eyed assessment of your claim from a team that handles these cases at the trial level. Contact Pierce, Sloan, Kennedy & Early LLC today by calling (843) 968-0886 or reaching out through our online contact form.
We offer a free consultation with no obligation to move forward. Call (843) 968-0886 or use our online form to reach a Charleston premises liability attorney today.
