A Guide to Michigan Slip and Fall Claims and Lawsuits

Slip and fall accidents are a favorite target of television sitcoms and late night talk shows. But in the real world, they're no laughing matter. If you were hurt in a Michigan slip and fall or trip and fall, you might be thinking about an insurance claim or a slip and fall lawsuit to recover compensation ("damages") for your injuries. If so, you've come to the right place.

Most slip and fall claims are grounded in the law of negligence. Landowners, tenants, contractors, property managers, easement owners, and others who own or control real estate—we'll call them all "owners" or "landowners" for the sake of convenience—have a legal duty to use reasonable care to keep their property safe for most visitors. A landowner who fails to meet that duty is negligent.

As we'll see, though, duty is a two-way street. The defendant (the party you're suing) will argue that you were negligent, too. This is a legal defense called "comparative negligence," and it's almost always an issue in slip and fall cases.

We walk you through the elements of a Michigan slip and fall claim, focusing most of our attention on the issue of fault—meaning who's legally responsible for your injuries. We'll also touch on the statute of limitations, defenses the landowner might raise, and much more.

The Elements of a Michigan Slip and Fall Case

To prove that a Michigan landowner is legally responsible for your slip and fall injury, you must show that:

• the landowner owed you a duty of care
• the landowner breached, or failed to meet, that duty of care
• you suffered an injury, and
• your injury was caused by the landowner's failure to meet the duty of care.

The first two elements—duty of care and breach of that duty—are what the law calls negligence. In a typical case, legal responsibility comes down to whose negligence caused the accident.

(Learn more about slip and fall claims on government property, at a business, and at a private residence.)

What Is a Duty of Care?

The duty of care is a legal standard—a rule that explains what a landowner should do to be reasonably sure their property is safe for visitors. It's a way of saying to a landowner: "This is the least you must do to avoid legal responsibility for injuries that happen on your property." It's up to the judge to decide whether a duty of care exists.

In Michigan slip and fall cases, a landowner's duty of care arises when:

• there's a dangerous condition on the property that poses an unreasonable risk of harm to others, and
• the landowner knows (or in some cases, the landowner should know) about the danger.

Relationships Define the Duty of Care

A Michigan landowner's duty of care usually depends on the relationship, if any, between the landowner and the visitor. Michigan premises liability law—the legal rules covering (among other things) slip and fall claims—recognizes three categories of visitors: Trespassers, invitees, and licensees.

Trespassers. A trespasser is someone who's on a property without permission, or after permission to be there expired or was revoked.

Duty owed to trespassers. As a general rule, Michigan landowners must refrain from willful or wanton misconduct that might injure a trespasser. In addition, these special rules apply when a landowner knows about trespassers on their land.

• Known trespassers. When the landowner knows or should know there's a trespasser on the land, they must use ordinary care to protect the trespasser from dangerous conditions the landowner actively created.
• Constant trespassers. If the landowner knows or should know that trespassers "constantly intrude" upon a part of the land, they must take reasonable care to avoid activities that create a risk of death or serious injury.

(See Mich. Comp. Laws § 554.583(2)(a)-(c) (2024).)

Like many states, Michigan also has a special rule to protect child trespassers. The state's "attractive nuisance" rule makes a landowner liable for injuries to children who are drawn to a property by a condition that kids often find irresistible. Examples include things like pools, trampolines, and abandoned vehicles. When a property presents an attractive nuisance, the landowner must take reasonable steps—fencing the property, for instance—to keep trespassing kids safe.

(See Mich. Comp. Laws § 554.583(2)(d) (2024).)

Invitees. An invitee (also known as a "business invitee") enters a property with the owner's permission. Both the invitee and the landowner might benefit from the invitee's presence. But the landowner usually derives a financial or other valuable benefit from an invitee's visit. Store customers, for example, are invitees. So are patients at a medical building, hotel guests, and nightclub patrons.

Duty owed to invitees. When an owner has actual or constructive knowledge of a dangerous condition creating an unreasonable risk of harm that's unknown to an invitee, the landowner must exercise reasonable care for the invitee's safety. Reasonable care requires the landowner to either warn of the condition or fix it.

Constructive knowledge means the danger was there long enough that the owner should have discovered it, had they made a reasonable effort to inspect the property. Stated more directly, landowners have a duty to inspect their property for hidden dangers an invitee isn't likely to see. If a reasonable inspection would have made the landowner aware of the hazard, the landowner will be treated as having knowledge of it.

Licensees. You're a licensee when you come to a property with the owner's permission, but for a purpose that mostly benefits you. Social guests and visiting family members are examples of licensees. So are appliance repair technicians and package delivery persons.

Duty owed to licensees. As with trespassers, landowners must avoid willfully or wantonly causing injury to a licensee. Also, an owner who has actual knowledge of a dangerous condition posing an unreasonable risk of harm that's unknown to a licensee must either warn about the danger or remedy it.

Constructive knowledge isn't enough to impose liability in the case of a licensee. In other words, landowners aren't required to inspect their property to find dangers that are likely to be hidden from licensees.

Dangerous Conditions and Landowner Notice

To prove that a landowner was negligent, you start by showing there was a dangerous condition on the property that created an unreasonable risk of harm. Next, you must show that the landowner knew (or in the case of invitees, knew or should have known) about the danger.

Examples of dangerous conditions. Here are some examples of dangerous property conditions that often create an unreasonable risk of harm:

• uneven surfaces caused, for example, by something like a crack or break in the pavement or walk
• loose or easily movable surface material such as gravel, rocks, or sand
• wet, slushy, snowy, or icy walkways
• stair runs or risers that are larger or smaller than what's typically required by building or safety codes
• torn, frayed, or unsecured carpets or rugs
• accumulations—natural or artificial—of water, snow, or ice
• foreign substances like liquids, foods, or other slipping or tripping hazards on floors
• aisles or walkways occupied or partially blocked by product displays
• tools or equipment left in aisles or walkways
• products spilled on store aisles
• inadequate lighting
• missing or defective railings, handrails, or guardrails, and
• things hanging from shelves or ceilings.

The landowner knew of the danger. A landowner can't be expected to warn about or fix dangerous conditions when the landowner isn't aware of them. Proving that the landowner had notice of the condition is critical to a slip and fall claim. Without it, the landowner has no duty of care. In most cases, expect the landowner to deny having had notice of the danger.

For invitees and licensees, a landowner's actual knowledge of a dangerous condition will suffice. Proving what a landowner actually knew can be difficult. Here are examples of the kinds of evidence you might look for.

• Prior incident reports and complaints, documenting earlier encounters with the condition.
• Maintenance records, showing prior efforts to deal with the condition.
• Inspection reports from government agencies, recording prior infractions or safety violations related to the condition.
• Surveillance photos or videos, to prove how the condition came to be and how long it had existed.
• Testimony from others who saw the dangerous condition, to find out what they saw and what, if anything, they reported to the landowner.
• Emails, text messages, and other communications indicating that the dangerous condition was known to the landowner or its agents.
• Testimony from the landowner and the landowner's agents, to find out what they knew about the condition and when they knew it.
• Expert witness testimony, which can help to establish, for example, how long a substance likely had been on the floor before you fell on it.

When an invitee is injured, the landowner's constructive notice of the danger can be enough to establish a duty of care. You'll need to rely on the landowner's constructive knowledge of a dangerous condition when—as often will be the case—the landowner denies having actually known of it.

The key to constructive notice is proving how long the dangerous condition existed before it injured you. From there, you can argue that had the landowner been reasonably careful, they would have inspected the property, discovered the danger, and fixed it or warned you about it.

(Learn more about proving fault for slip and fall accidents.)

Landowner Defenses: Shifting the Blame to You

In addition to lack of notice, landowners can raise a number of defenses to a slip and fall claim. Three of the most common are:

• you were partly or completely to blame for your injuries
• the danger was open and obvious, and
• you assumed the risk of a known hazard.

You Were to Blame

Your own negligence is a defense to the landowner's legal responsibility. If the accident happened in a contributory fault state, any negligence on your part—even 1% of the total—defeats your claim entirely. When the accident happened in a comparative fault state, your share of the negligence reduces the damages you can collect. Some comparative fault states, including Michigan, bar you from collecting damages if you're mostly to blame for what happened.

Michigan is a "modified" comparative negligence state. In a "modified" comparative negligence state, your percentage share of the fault simply reduces your personal injury damages by that amount. But only to a point. Once your share of the blame reaches 51% or more:

• you can still recover damages for your medical bills, lost wages, and other out-of-pocket losses, reduced by your share of the blame, but
• you're not allowed to collect noneconomic damages for losses like pain and suffering or emotional distress.

(Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.2959 (2024).)

What did you do that was negligent? Expect the defendant to look for ways to blame you for the fall. Here are a few of the most common claims.

• You were on a part of the property where visitors aren't allowed, or aren't expected to be.
• You weren't paying attention to where you were walking.
• You were distracted by a child, or your phone, or something else.
• You were wearing footwear that was inappropriate or even unsafe for the situation.
• You were warned of the dangerous condition, or the owner took reasonable steps to protect visitors.
• The dangerous condition was open and obvious.

Open and Obvious Dangers

In many states, landowners aren't responsible or face reduced liability for injuries caused by open and obvious dangers. An open and obvious danger is a condition that's clearly visible and that should be seen by a reasonable person exercising ordinary care for their own safety. Common examples include accumulations of snow or ice, large objects, and darkness.

In Michigan, the fact that a dangerous condition is open and obvious isn't an automatic, complete defense to liability. Instead, the open and obvious nature of the condition is simply one factor to be considered in deciding whether the landowner was reasonably careful and whether the visitor was partly at fault.

Visitors must take reasonable steps to protect themselves from open and obvious dangers. But if the landowner should anticipate that visitors might be distracted and not perceive the danger, or if a visitor can't avoid the hazard even with reasonable care, then the landowner still must take reasonable steps to protect visitors from harm.

You Assumed the Risk

When you voluntarily and knowingly assume the risk of a known danger, injuries resulting from that danger ordinarily aren't the responsibility of the landowner. Classic examples include recreational activities like bungee jumping, base jumping, skydiving, and other high-risk adventures.

The Slip and Fall Statute of Limitations

A "statute of limitations" is a law that limits your time to file a lawsuit in court. For most Michigan slip and fall claims, you have three years from the date you were injured to sue. Different rules might apply when:

• you don't know right away you've been hurt
• the defendant intentionally caused your injuries
• you were injured on government property
• you were legally disabled at the time you fell
• the defendant conceals your lawsuit from you, or
• the defendant leaves Michigan to avoid being sued.

If you think one of these situations applies to your case or you're not sure how much time you have to file a slip and fall lawsuit, speak to a Michigan personal injury lawyer right away. Miss the filing deadline and, absent an extension that gives you more time to sue, your slip and fall claim is legally dead. You've lost the right to recover damages for your injuries.

(Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5805(2) (2024); Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5805(3) (2024); Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5851 (2024); Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5853 (2024); Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5855 (2024). )

Do You Need a Lawyer for Your Slip and Fall Claim?

To answer that question, ask yourself these questions.

• Are the case facts simple and mostly uncontested? If so, that's a point in favor of giving it a try on your own. On the other hand, when the facts are complicated or murky or the defendant disputes your version of the story, think about hiring legal counsel. A lawyer can help you find and organize the facts into a coherent, compelling narrative that puts you in the best possible light.
• Are there difficult legal issues involved? Here, we're speaking of legal issues that might sink, or do serious damage to, your case. The statute of limitations is a prime example. So is comparative or contributory negligence, as discussed above. Because comparative negligence is almost guaranteed to be in play in a slip and fall case, your best bet will be to have legal help in your corner.

The defendant will be represented by an insurance company and its attorneys. It won't be a fair fight unless you have legal counsel, too. Here's how you can find a lawyer who's right for you.

Michigan Slip and Fall FAQ

Here are some other questions you might have about your slip and fall case.

Where Will Your Slip and Fall Lawsuit Be Filed?

Your lawyer will file your case in the appropriate Michigan circuit court (for damages of more than $25,000) or district court (for damages of $25,000 or less). Either of these courts can hear your case. The proper "venue," or location, is likely nearest to where the defendant lives or has its main place of business, or where you fell and were injured.

Will Your Case Settle or Will It Go to Trial?

Most personal injury cases settle without a trial. Yours probably will, too, unless the defendant feels confident a jury will find you were mostly to blame, you weren't badly hurt, or your injuries weren't caused by the fall. You should discuss negotiation and settlement strategies with your lawyer.

How Long Will It Take to Resolve Your Case?

That depends. If the facts aren't disputed, it's clear the landowner was to blame, you've gathered the evidence to support your claim, and your injuries and damages are well documented, your case might settle in several weeks to a few months. If it goes to trial, expect the process to take a year or more, and even longer if there's an appeal. A case can settle at any time during trial preparation or trial.

What Kinds of Damages Can You Collect?

If you win your case, you'll recover what the law calls "compensatory damages." These are meant to compensate you for:

• out-of-pocket losses like medical bills, lost wages, and amounts you pay for replacement household services, and
• things that don't come directly out of your pocket, like pain and suffering, emotional distress, and disability.

(Learn more about how insurance companies value injury cases.)

Find Out About Michigan Personal Injury Laws

Your slip and fall claim is a type of personal injury case. You can learn more about the laws we've covered here, as well as other Michigan personal injury laws that might impact your claim.