Roden Law represents people injured on unsafe property in Charleston, South Carolina and throughout the Lowcountry — Mount Pleasant, Summerville, Goose Creek, and West Ashley. Premises liability is far broader than a slip-and-fall: it covers negligent security and assaults, poorly maintained stairwells and parking garages, pool and apartment hazards, and more. We handle every case on a contingency fee basis: you pay nothing unless we win. Roden Law has recovered more than $300 million for injured clients across Georgia and South Carolina and holds a 4.9-star average from hundreds of client reviews. Call (843) 790-8999 for a free, confidential case review.
Why Choose Roden Law for a Charleston Premises Liability Claim
Property owners and their insurers fight these cases hard, usually by arguing they had no notice of the hazard or that you were careless. What separates Roden Law is direct attorney involvement — you work with your attorney, not a rotating desk of case managers — and the investigation needed to prove the owner knew or should have known about the danger. Our office at 127 King Street sits on the peninsula minutes from the Charleston County Circuit Court.
- No fee unless we win — free consultation and no out-of-pocket cost to start your claim.
- We prove notice — maintenance records, prior-incident reports, and security history that show the owner should have acted.
- Full range of premises claims — slip-and-falls, negligent security, stairwell and garage hazards, and pool injuries.
Charleston Premises Hazards We Handle
Charleston’s dense mix of tourism, hospitality, and historic properties creates recurring dangers our attorneys see across the Lowcountry:
- Hotel, restaurant, and King Street retail falls from wet floors, uneven historic walkways, and poor lighting.
- Negligent security — assaults in hotels, bars, parking garages, and apartment complexes where the owner ignored known risks.
- Parking-garage and stairwell injuries from broken railings, poor lighting, and unrepaired surfaces.
- Pool and short-term-rental hazards at resorts and vacation properties.
- Store and grocery falls from spills and merchandise left in aisles.
South Carolina Premises Liability Law You Should Know
Two questions decide most South Carolina premises cases. The first is your status on the property: an invitee (such as a customer) is owed ordinary care, while a licensee and a trespasser are owed less — the framework comes from Sims v. Giles. The second is notice: you generally must show the owner knew, or should have known, about the hazard and failed to fix it. For negligent security claims, South Carolina applies the balancing test from Bass v. Gopal to decide whether a crime was foreseeable. One critical wrinkle: if the property owner is a government entity — a city, county, SCDOT, or public housing — the South Carolina Tort Claims Act caps damages ($300,000 per person / $600,000 per occurrence) and bars punitive damages. Against a private owner there is no cap on compensatory damages, the injury statute of limitations is three years (S.C. Code § 15-3-530), and the 51% comparative-fault rule applies. Learn more from our premises liability overview, our SC premises liability settlement value guide, and our SC slip-and-fall settlement value guide.
