Legal Question in Personal Injury in Illinois

Re: Store liability

Yes. The most important question is your long term prognosis. If you do intend to retain an

attorney, you should cease contact with the store's insurer and explore your legal options. Please call me with further questions. Scott Blumenshine at 312-263-1000 ext 223

Stores are not liable for ALL harm occurring on their premises

Yes, you can sue for it, but can you win? No matter what your friends tell you, not every injury suffered by people in public places can be pinned on the owner or operator of the premises.

You have two possible causes of action here: premises liability and negligence.

To prevail on a premises liability claim, you would have to show actual or constructive notice to the store of a risk of harm from the thing which injured you (i.e., the spider or similar other vermin). Stated another way, the harm had to be reasonably foresseeable. Do you have evidence that the store knew or should have known that venomous spiders were on the premises under circumstances which posed a risk to shoppers? Knowledge of prior infestations on the premises or prior bites of customers/employees would be helpful. A known risk that the type of spider that bit you is sometimes found in lumber might be enough.

To prevail in an action for negligence, you would have to establish that the store had a duty of care under the circumstances and violated that duty. I have not heard of a general duty for shopkeepers to protect their patrons from bugs, absent actual or constructive notice of the risk. Again, you need evidence that the store knew (or should have known) that their shoppers were faced an unreasonable risk. The exceptions to the rule that the store would require prior actual or constructive notice of the risk of harm would be in cases where the instrumentality which caused the harm was related to the store�s business or in cases where evidence, either direct or circumstantial, can be presented to support the inference that it was more likely that the store or its employees, rather than a customer or third party, created the condition leading to the your injury.

Even if the store had a duty to exterminate for pests, you will need to show that the store did not act reasonably in light of this risk. The store is simply NOT a guarantor of safety. If they sprayed or hired an exterminator on a regular basis (a common practice for major retailers), and they had no reason to know that the extermination would be insufficient, they would seem to have acted reasonably whether on not you were bitten.

Re: Store liability

Yes. The store had a duty to keep its premises and goods reasonably free from poisonous critters. If it didn't, then you may be able to recover for all of y9our losses, including pain and suffering. The insurance company always refuses to admit liability, but you can press the matter by no longer communicating with them and hiring a lawyer. Call me if you want additional information. Larry Stein (630) 221-1755.