The importance of the attractive nuisance doctrine is that if the plaintiff is successful in establishing its elements then the ordinary defenses of property owners or occupiers with regard to trespassers do not apply. As you may expect, proving all of these elements can be challenging in that considerable factual investigation will be required, which is something that an experienced personal injury attorney can help you with.
Children are by nature curious, and sometimes their curious nature can get the better of them, in the form of their going to places and doing things that an adult would know better not to. As a public policy the law only holds minors to adult standards in a few circumstances, such as when they commit certain types of violent crimes. One area in which New York law establishes a separate standard for children is in premises liability via the attractive nuisance” doctrine.”
The attractive nuisance doctrine holds property owners and occupiers to a standard of care to protect children from dangerous conditions, even if those children are trespassing onto the property. It consists of the following elements:
