Get Ahead in Your Personal Injury Case

Ways For A Contractor To Prove That He/She Was Lawfully On A Person's Property In A Dog Bite Case

4 October 2018 by Kenneth Pierce

If you're a contractor who has been bitten by a dog at a home at which you're working, you might think about hiring a personal injury attorney. A serious dog bite can lead to extensive medical expenses, as well as keep you from earning a living for a period of time as you recover. Additionally, you may go through significant emotional trauma from this injury. In an effort to deny culpability, an unscrupulous dog owner may state that you weren't on his or her property legally, and thus the dog bit you because you were trespassing. In order to disprove this argument, you may need to rely on these things.

Conversation Records

A dishonest person will look to discredit you, but you can quickly fight back by providing your personal injury attorney with copies of any conversations that you've had with the homeowner/dog owner. For example, if you're an independent contractor — perhaps a painter, landscaper, or plumber — who is doing work for the person, emails or text messages that have the person consenting to you being on his or her property will dramatically strengthen your case and discredit the person's argument that you were trespassing.

Work Orders

It's possible that you might not have conversation records with the homeowner. This is often the case if you work for a company and your boss simply tells you where to go to work. However, you'll be able to consult your employer to get records that prove that you were legally on the person's property at the time of the dog bite. A work order that your company has with the customer will be advantageous, as well as a written statement from your employer specifying that the homeowner is indeed a customer.

Proof Of Previous Work

It never hurts to get photos of the work that you've done for the customer to help show that you had a legal right to be on his or her property. For example, if you're an exterior painter or landscaper, you can easily snap some shots of the work without once again going on the person's property. Obviously, no contractor would do work without the property owner agreeing to it, so these photos will further help to support your personal injury case. Your personal injury attorney can then demand a settlement from the negligent party or, depending on the specific circumstances of the case, consider going to court.

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