Swimming Pool Accident Lawyer in Richmond, VA
If your child drowned, or you were seriously hurt at a pool in Richmond or Central Virginia, Collier & Collier can find out what failed and who was responsible for it. Case reviews are free.
No Recovery,
No Fee
80+ Years Combined
Attorney Experience
4.7 Stars
on Google
Practicing Personal Injury Law
Since 1973
If Your Family Was Hurt at a Pool
Someone has probably already told you this was just an accident. That children are fast. That you can’t watch them every second.
Every pool owner in Virginia owes a duty to keep the property reasonably safe, and apartment, hotel, and community pools carry specific legal requirements on top of that. Whether the property met them can be checked, and checking early is how these cases get proven.
Types of Swimming Pool Accidents We Handle
Drowning. Usually a barrier failure: a fence under four feet, a gate propped open, a latch that stopped working and was never fixed. If a drowning took the life of someone you love, we also handle wrongful death claims under Virginia’s Wrongful Death Act.
Near-drowning and submersion injuries. Even a short submersion can cause permanent brain damage and lifelong care needs, which is why an early settlement offer often falls far short of what a child will need.
Diving injuries. Public pools are required to have depth and no-diving markings. Faded, painted over, or never updated, and a swimmer has no way to judge the depth.
Drain entrapment. A flat or broken drain cover can generate enough suction to hold a swimmer against the bottom. The federal Virginia Graeme Baker Act requires public pools to use anti-entrapment covers and, on single-drain pools, a backup shutoff.
Chemical injuries. Virginia requires public pools to post daily water quality test results. The gaps in those records say a great deal about how a pool was run.
Defective equipment. Ladders, handrails, slides, diving boards, and filtration systems. Responsibility may sit with the property owner, the maintenance company, or the manufacturer.
Slip and falls on pool decks. Broken concrete, missing nonslip surfacing, and standing water. More on our Richmond slip and fall claims page.
Who Can Be Held Responsible
- Apartment complexes and HOA pools. Liability can reach the property owner, the management company, and the third-party pool service company, often all three under separate policies.
- Hotels and short-term rentals. Subject to the same state health requirements as any public pool. Short-term rental hosts usually carry platform-provided liability coverage.
- Municipal and school pools. Cities, counties, and public schools can be held responsible, but the deadline is much shorter.
- Private residential pools. These claims are paid by homeowner’s insurance, which the homeowner carries for exactly this. Pursuing one doesn’t mean a neighbor or relative writes a check.
Property owners often respond to a child drowning by calling the child a trespasser. Owners owe a heightened duty where a hazard is likely to attract children, and a pool a child could reach is usually a pool that wasn’t adequately secured.
Two Virginia Rules That Decide These Cases
Contributory negligence. In Virginia, being found even one percent at fault lets an insurer deny your claim entirely. In child drowning cases, that argument almost always takes the form of blaming a parent’s supervision, and you may hear it in the first call from the adjuster. It gets answered with facts: the condition of the gate, the state of the water, the equipment on the deck, what the property knew and when.
Government notice deadlines. Virginia generally allows two years from the date of injury under Virginia Code § 8.01-243. But if the pool was run by a city, town, county, or public school, Virginia Code § 15.2-209 requires written notice within six months. Miss that window and the two-year deadline stops mattering.
How Our Pool Accident Attorneys Build These Claims
Gate hardware gets replaced and water gets treated, so photographs from that day are sometimes the only proof of what the property looked like. We move early to preserve them.
We request the maintenance, inspection, and staffing records before they’re gone.
We identify every party involved, because in apartment and HOA cases the insurance available across owner, management company, and pool service determines what a serious claim can recover.
And we handle the communication, so you’re not taking adjuster calls while dealing with a hospital, a funeral, or a child’s rehabilitation.
No Recovery, No Fee
We handle swimming pool accident claims on a contingency-fee basis: no upfront cost to hire us, no hourly bill while your case is pending, and no fee unless we recover money for you.
What a claim is worth depends on the severity of the injury, the long-term care required, lost income, and the insurance available, so we won’t guess at a number here. What we can promise is a straightforward answer once we’ve reviewed and fully investigated what happened.
Related Premises Liability Claims
Serving Families Across Richmond and Central Virginia
Our Virginia swimming pool accident and drowning lawyers represent clients throughout Richmond, Chesterfield County, Henrico County, Hanover County, Mechanicsville, Midlothian, Glen Allen, Short Pump, Ashland, Bon Air, Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Petersburg, Powhatan, Prince George, and New Kent.
We know the Richmond-area courts that hear these cases and the adjusters and management companies that handle them.
Reviews
Why Choose Collier & Collier
Our attorneys bring more than 80 years of combined experience to every case, and we’ve been practicing personal injury law in Virginia since 1973. We’re still a small, family-operated firm, so you’ll talk directly with the attorneys and staff handling your case.
Families come to us carrying guilt they don’t deserve and questions nobody has answered honestly. Getting those answers is part of the work.
Talk to Us Before the Evidence Is Gone
If your child drowned or was hurt at a pool in the Richmond area, we can tell you whether there’s a claim and what it would take to prove it. The review is free and there’s no obligation.
Contact Us/Legal Questions
Contact form for the sidebar of the web site