Slip, Trip & Fall
Property owners who ignore known hazards don't earn the benefit of the doubt. You were injured because someone chose not to fix what they knew was dangerous.
Slip, Trip & Fall (Premises Liability)
Property owners have a legal duty to maintain safe premises for visitors. When negligent maintenance, inadequate warning, or ignored hazards cause your injuries, you have the right to hold them accountable—but only if you act before the evidence disappears.
Michigan's premises liability law imposes a duty on property owners to inspect, maintain, and warn of dangerous conditions on their property. That duty is not unlimited—it varies based on your legal status as a visitor—but for business invitees, it is substantial. When a store owner, landlord, municipality, or commercial property fails that duty and you are injured as a result, the law provides a path to compensation. The challenge is navigating the defenses Michigan law gives defendants and building a case that survives them.
Michigan premises liability cases turn on three elements: the existence of a dangerous condition, the property owner's knowledge of that condition (actual or constructive), and the causal relationship between the condition and your injury. Defendants routinely contest all three—and they have an additional weapon in Michigan that most states do not: the "open and obvious" doctrine, which can bar recovery entirely if the court finds the hazard was visible and apparent to a reasonable person.
Our premises liability practice handles slip and fall, trip and fall, stairway collapse, inadequate lighting, and hazardous premises claims against commercial properties, residential landlords, government entities, and retail establishments. We investigate every case as if it is going to trial—because Michigan's "open and obvious" defense requires aggressive rebuttal at every stage from pre-suit demand through verdict.
The Premises Liability Reality
Michigan's premises liability law imposes a strict notice requirement and arms defendants with powerful defenses. Understanding both—before you file, before you speak to an adjuster, before evidence disappears—is what separates recoverable cases from lost ones.
The duty a Michigan property owner owes you depends on your legal status on the property. Business invitees—customers, clients, guests—are owed the highest duty: the owner must not only warn of known hazards but must inspect for and correct hazardous conditions. Licensees (social guests) are owed a lesser duty. Trespassers are owed almost none. Establishing your invitee status is the first battle in every premises liability case, and defendants routinely argue that status to reduce their exposure.
The notice requirement: A property owner is only liable for a dangerous condition they knew about—or should have known about through reasonable inspection. Actual notice means the owner knew the condition existed (an employee saw the spill, a prior complaint was filed, a repair was ordered and deferred). Constructive notice means the condition existed long enough that a reasonable inspection would have revealed it. Proving constructive notice requires documentation of when the condition arose—which is why immediate investigation and evidence preservation are critical.
Immediate steps that protect your claim: Report the incident to the property owner or manager and obtain a written incident report. Photograph the hazard, your injuries, your footwear, and the surrounding area before conditions change. Identify and preserve contact information for every witness. Seek medical treatment the same day—gaps in treatment become gaps in causation. And contact an attorney before providing any statement to the owner's insurance carrier, which will use your words to limit its liability.
Navigating the "Open and Obvious" Doctrine
Michigan's "open and obvious" doctrine is the most powerful defense available to premises liability defendants—and it is also the most overused. Knowing how to defeat it is what distinguishes outcomes in Michigan slip and fall cases.
Under Michigan law, a property owner has no duty to warn of or repair a hazardous condition that is "open and obvious"—meaning one that a reasonable person exercising ordinary intelligence would have discovered and avoided upon casual inspection. Michigan courts have applied this doctrine broadly, and defense counsel uses it as a first-line motion to dismiss in virtually every premises liability case.
The "special aspects" exception: The open and obvious doctrine is not absolute. A plaintiff can overcome it by demonstrating that the hazard had "special aspects" that made it unreasonably dangerous despite its visibility. Special aspects exist when a condition is effectively unavoidable (blocking the only entrance or exit), or when the risk of harm is so severe—the potential for death or serious injury—that it creates an unreasonable risk even if observed. Ice at an entrance that cannot be avoided, a broken stairway with no alternative path, and unmarked drop-offs on accessible walkways have all been found to constitute special aspects in the right factual record.
Distractedness and distraction exception: Courts have also found the open and obvious doctrine inapplicable where the property owner should have anticipated that invitees would be distracted from the hazard by the nature of the property or business—a grocery store's own displays drawing attention away from a floor hazard, for example. Building this argument requires detailed investigation of the property's layout, lighting, and the conditions of the visit.
Our tactical approach: We investigate every slip and fall case for special aspects and distraction arguments before any demand is made or filing is considered. Michigan's open and obvious doctrine requires that we build the factual record to defeat it—and that record must be created immediately, before the property is modified, the hazard is repaired, or the surveillance footage is overwritten. Waiting costs cases. Acting immediately preserves them.
The Evidence Checklist
Property owners have every incentive to make hazardous conditions disappear—and their lawyers begin building the defense before you've left the emergency room. The evidence you preserve in the first hours after an incident determines whether your case survives the open and obvious doctrine and the notice defense.
At the scene: Photograph the specific hazard from multiple angles and distances before it is corrected. Photograph the surrounding area to capture lighting conditions, warning signs (or the absence of them), and the general state of maintenance. Photograph your injuries and the footwear you were wearing. Document the exact location within the property. Identify every person who witnessed the fall or the condition that caused it and obtain their names and contact information before leaving.
The incident report: Request a written incident report from the property manager, store manager, or owner before leaving. Obtain a copy if possible. If they refuse to provide one, document that refusal. The incident report is often the first piece of evidence a property owner creates after an injury—and it frequently contains admissions about the condition's existence that cannot be walked back.
Surveillance footage: Most commercial properties have surveillance cameras. Video of the fall itself, and of the condition in the period before the fall, is frequently the most probative evidence in a premises liability case—establishing both the existence of the hazard and how long it existed before you were injured. Michigan law does not impose an automatic duty to preserve surveillance footage, but our office sends preservation demand letters immediately upon retention to prevent overwriting. Standard commercial surveillance systems overwrite footage in 30–72 hours.
Maintenance records: Property owners are required to maintain records of inspections, cleaning logs, repair requests, and prior incidents involving the same or similar hazards. These records—obtained through litigation discovery—frequently reveal that the owner knew about the condition, failed to repair it, and failed to warn. Prior incidents involving the same hazard are particularly powerful evidence of the owner's knowledge.
Medical records: Seek medical treatment the same day as the incident—emergency room, urgent care, or your primary care physician. Gaps between the incident and first treatment become causation arguments for the defense. Consistent medical records documenting the mechanism of injury, the nature of the injury, and your treatment course are essential to establishing both causation and damages.
Frequently Asked Questions
Michigan premises liability claims — what you need to know
Slip, Trip & Fall FAQ
To win a premises liability case in Michigan, you must establish four elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages.
As an invitee (someone who enters property for a business purpose), the property owner owes you a duty to inspect the premises, discover hazards, and either repair them or warn you of their presence. Proving breach requires showing that the owner knew or should have known about the dangerous condition and failed to act. Specifically:
- Actual notice: The owner knew about the hazard (e.g., an employee saw the spill and did nothing)
- Constructive notice: The hazard existed long enough that the owner should have discovered it through reasonable inspection
Causation ties the breach directly to your injury, and damages establish the physical, financial, and personal losses you suffered. Michigan's comparative fault rules can reduce your recovery if you share some responsibility — but a partial-fault case is still worth pursuing.
The open and obvious doctrine is Michigan's most-used defense in slip and fall cases — but it is not a complete bar to recovery.
Michigan law holds that property owners do not have a duty to warn of or repair conditions that are open and obvious — meaning conditions that a reasonable person would discover upon casual inspection. Insurance companies and defense attorneys invoke this doctrine aggressively to dismiss legitimate claims.
However, open and obvious conditions can still create liability when they involve "special aspects" — features that make the risk unreasonably high even for a visible hazard. Courts have recognized special aspects including:
- Effectively unavoidable hazards (no reasonable alternative path)
- Conditions presenting an unreasonably high risk of severe harm
- Distractions that cause reasonable people not to notice the hazard
Michigan follows a modified comparative fault rule — you can still recover damages as long as you are not more than 50% at fault.
Under MCL 600.2959, your recovery is reduced proportionally by your percentage of fault. For example, if your damages total $100,000 and you are found 25% at fault, you recover $75,000. If you are found 51% or more at fault, you are barred from recovery entirely.
Insurance companies routinely argue that injured claimants were distracted, wearing improper footwear, or failed to watch where they were walking — all aimed at pushing your fault percentage over 50%. Building the factual record early — witness statements, surveillance footage, maintenance logs — is the most effective counter to a comparative fault defense.
The standard statute of limitations for premises liability claims in Michigan is three years from the date of injury under MCL 600.5805.
However, shorter deadlines apply in several circumstances:
- Government property: Falls on government-owned property (city sidewalk, public school, government building) require a notice of intent to be filed within 120 days of the incident under MCL 691.1404. Missing this deadline is typically fatal to the claim.
- Wrongful death: If a fall results in a fatality, the wrongful death limitation period may apply separately.
- Minor claimants: The limitations period may be tolled for minors until they reach the age of majority.
The steps you take in the hours and days immediately after a fall directly affect the strength of your legal claim.
- Photograph everything: The hazard that caused your fall, the surrounding area, your injuries, and your footwear — before anything is moved or cleaned up
- Report the incident: Notify store management, a property employee, or the responsible party and request that a written incident report be completed. Ask for a copy.
- Get witness information: Names and phone numbers from anyone who saw the fall or the condition that caused it
- Seek medical treatment immediately: Even if you feel you can walk it off — some injuries present delayed symptoms. A gap in medical treatment is used by insurance companies to question injury severity.
- Preserve your footwear: Do not clean or discard the shoes you were wearing. They may become relevant evidence.
- Do not give recorded statements: Insurance adjusters will contact you quickly. Politely decline any recorded statement until you have spoken with an attorney.