Premises liability Claims in Providence
Providence carries the highest crash volume in Rhode Island. The I-95 corridor through the city and the Thurbers Avenue curve are recurring sites of multi-vehicle collisions.
- Where your case is filedProvidence County Superior Court
- Local high-risk roadsI-95, Route 6, North Main Street and the Thurbers Avenue curve
- Where victims are treatedRhode Island Hospital and The Miriam Hospital
Records from Rhode Island Hospital and The Miriam Hospital are frequently central evidence in Providence premises liability claims, and we obtain and organise them for you at no upfront cost. Rhode Island gives you three years from the date of injury to file suit — see the Rhode Island court system for filing details, and national crash context from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Read more about Rhode Island premises liability claims, or call (401) 288-3888 for a free consultation. No fee unless we win.
Premises Liability in Providence: What Changed in 2019, and Why It Matters to Your Claim
Rhode Island property owners spent decades winning cases with four words: the danger was obvious. That defense is gone. In 2019 the General Assembly amended the state’s comparative negligence statute, and the change rewrote how premises cases are argued in Providence County Superior Court.
The “open and obvious” defense no longer ends your case
Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-20-4, the fact that you may not have been exercising due care — or that the hazard was open and obvious — does not bar recovery. It only reduces your damages in proportion to your share of fault. Before the amendment, an insurer could argue you should have seen the broken step and walk away paying nothing. Today that same argument, at best, trims a percentage off your award.
Rhode Island uses pure comparative negligence
Rhode Island is a pure comparative negligence state. You can be found 90 percent responsible and still recover the remaining 10 percent. Most states cut you off at 50 or 51 percent. Rhode Island does not. This is one of the most claimant-friendly standards in New England, and it is the reason cases other firms call hopeless are often still worth pursuing.
What the property owner owed you depends on why you were there
Rhode Island sorts visitors into three categories, and the duty owed climbs with each one. As an invitee — a store customer, a hotel guest, a tenant — you are owed the most: the owner must inspect the property, discover hazards, and either fix them or warn you. A licensee, typically a social guest, is owed a warning about known dangers. A trespasser is owed very little, though children are treated differently. Establishing which category applies to you is usually the first fight in the case.
Providence’s building stock creates its own hazards
Providence has one of the oldest housing inventories in the country, and the city’s triple-deckers, converted mill buildings and century-old commercial blocks generate a specific pattern of claims: unlit interior stairwells, loose or non-compliant handrails, deferred roof and gutter repair that turns walkways into ice sheets, and porch structures that fail under ordinary use. When we take a Providence premises case, we pull the maintenance and inspection history early — violation records and repair requests often show the owner knew about the defect long before you were hurt.
- Statute of limitations3 years — R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-14(b)
- Fault rulePure comparative — § 9-20-4
- Open & obviousNo longer a complete bar (2019)
- Where filedProvidence County Superior Court
Every case turns on its own facts. If you were hurt, call (401) 288-3888 for a free consultation. You pay nothing unless we win.