Michigan Slip and Fall Lawyers

Can I still sue after Kandil-Elsayed if the hazard was open and obvious? Yes, depending on the facts. The Michigan Supreme Court's Kandil-Elsayed decision generally moved open-and-obvious issues into breach and comparative fault for invitees rather than treating obviousness as an automatic no-duty bar. The case still depends on visitor status, notice, inspection, maintenance, warnings, causation, and comparative fault.

Hazards And Evidence That Matter

Michigan Premises Liability Attorneys Who Hold Property Owners Accountable

Falls don't happen by accident. They happen because a grocery store didn't clean up a spill, a landlord ignored a broken staircase, a parking lot owner let ice accumulate without salting, or a municipality let a sidewalk crack go unrepaired for years. The negligence is real. The injuries are real. And the property owner's first response is almost always to deny it.

Christopher Trainor & Associates has spent more than 35 years representing Michigan slip and fall victims. We know how these cases are defended, and we know how to counter it. Property owners still argue that a hazard was so apparent you should have seen it, but after Kandil-Elsayed v F & E Oil, that argument no longer eliminates duty by itself. Our attorneys focus on the full negligence picture: what the owner knew, what inspection and maintenance were done, whether warnings were reasonable, and how the defense is trying to shift fault to the injured person.

We investigate quickly because the evidence in these cases disappears fast. Surveillance footage gets overwritten within days. Maintenance logs get sanitized. Incident reports vanish. The sooner we're involved, the more of that record we can preserve.

Every case is on contingency. Nothing upfront and no fee unless we win.

Types of Slip and Fall Accidents We Handle

Our Michigan premises liability attorneys represent victims injured across a wide range of hazardous conditions.

• Wet floor accidents
• Snow and ice falls
• Uneven surfaces and sidewalks
• Broken stairs and handrails
• Poorly lit areas
• Parking lot hazards
• Grocery store falls
• Nursing home falls
• Restaurant accidents
• Construction site slip and falls

Whether your fall happened in a retail store, an apartment building, a hospital hallway, or an icy parking lot, we investigate thoroughly — reviewing surveillance footage, maintenance logs, prior complaints, weather records, and building code compliance to establish exactly how the property owner's negligence caused your injuries.

Michigan Premises Liability Law: What You Need to Know

Michigan's slip and fall law has several specific rules that determine whether a property owner can be held responsible. Understanding them explains why these cases are harder to win than they look — and why who you hire matters.

The Duty Property Owners Owe You

Under MCL 554.139, landlords of residential property must keep premises and common areas fit for their intended use and in reasonable repair. For commercial properties, Michigan common law requires possessors of land to maintain reasonably safe conditions and to warn invitees of known hazards that aren't readily apparent. The level of protection you're owed depends on your legal status as a visitor: invitees receive the highest protection, licensees less so, and trespassers the least.

The Open and Obvious Defense After Kandil-Elsayed

In nearly every slip and fall case, the property owner's insurer argues that the hazardous condition was "open and obvious," meaning an ordinary person would have noticed and avoided it. Before 2023, that argument often ended cases at the duty stage. In Kandil-Elsayed v F & E Oil, the Michigan Supreme Court changed that framework. A land possessor still owes invitees a duty of reasonable care, and the open and obvious nature of a condition is generally considered as part of breach and comparative fault, not as an automatic duty bar.

That does not make every fall case easy. Defendants still argue that the condition was visible, that the property owner acted reasonably, and that the injured person shares fault. The difference is that the analysis is now more fact-specific. We investigate inspection routines, prior complaints, maintenance logs, lighting, weather conditions, warnings, and whether safer alternatives were available.

Snow and Ice Claims After Kandil-Elsayed

Snow and ice claims remain challenging, but they should not be reduced to a blanket rule that winter conditions automatically defeat liability. The facts matter: how long the condition existed, whether the owner had notice, whether salting or plowing was reasonable, whether drainage or refreezing made the hazard worse, whether a landlord had statutory repair duties, and whether the injured person is alleged to share fault. We build winter fall cases around that evidence from the beginning.

Comparative Fault

If you are found partially at fault for your fall, your damages are reduced by your percentage of responsibility. If your fault is greater than the combined fault of everyone else, economic damages are still reduced by your percentage of fault, but noneconomic damages are not awarded. Insurers routinely try to blame victim footwear, distraction, or "failure to watch where you were going." We push back on that.

The Three-Year Deadline

Under MCL 600.5805, you have three years from the date of the fall to file a personal injury lawsuit. Evidence degrades long before then — act early.

Notice Rules for Government Property

This is one of the most commonly missed issues in Michigan premises liability law. If your fall happened on property owned or maintained by a government entity — a public sidewalk, city building, public park, school, or municipal parking area — special notice rules, immunity defenses, and claim-specific deadlines may apply. Some government-property claims require notice far earlier than the normal three-year lawsuit deadline. If your fall happened on public property, call us the same day.

How Property Owner Negligence Causes Slip and Fall Injuries

These falls are preventable. They happen because someone chose not to act on a known problem, and the most common forms of that negligence follow predictable patterns.

Failing to clean spills is one of the most frequent in retail and restaurant settings. Grocery stores, restaurants, and shops have a duty to inspect for hazards regularly and address them immediately or mark them clearly. A spill that sits unattended for twenty minutes with no warning sign is negligence, and surveillance footage often proves exactly how long it was there.

Neglecting ice and snow removal is the most common cause of winter falls on commercial property. Owners who fail to salt walkways, treat parking lots, or address known ice buildup at building entrances create foreseeable dangers for every person who approaches their property.

Ignoring structural defects — cracked sidewalks, broken stairs, loose carpet, missing handrails, uneven flooring — represents a choice to leave a known hazard in place. These conditions are often documented in prior complaints or maintenance requests that we obtain through discovery.

Inadequate lighting in stairwells, parking garages, and hallways prevents people from seeing hazards that would otherwise be avoidable. It is both a code violation and evidence of negligence.

Failure to warn is its own form of liability. Even when a hazard cannot be repaired immediately, a property owner must provide adequate notice — signs, cones, barriers — to alert visitors to the danger. The absence of any warning is often the clearest evidence of negligence we have.

Compensation Available to Michigan Slip and Fall Victims

Serious fall injuries carry costs that extend well beyond the initial emergency room visit. Michigan law allows injured victims to pursue full compensation for what the fall has actually cost them.

That includes medical expenses — emergency care, surgeries, rehabilitation, medications, and projected future treatment. Lost wages and any long-term reduction in earning capacity. Pain and suffering, including physical pain, emotional distress, and the diminished quality of life that follows a serious injury. Loss of consortium if your injuries have affected your marriage or family relationships. And the cost of assistive devices and home modifications if your injuries require them.

We work with medical experts, life-care planners, and economists to calculate what your injuries will cost over the long term — not just what you've spent so far.

Michigan Slip and Fall Case Results

Every case is different and past results don't guarantee a future outcome.

• $475,000 — Verdict for a client who suffered multiple fractures after slipping on an unmarked wet floor in a Michigan commercial building
• $475,000 — Recovery for a victim who sustained serious injuries from a fall caused by a poorly maintained walkway on commercial property
• $957,000 — Negligence case involving brain damage caused by a property owner's failure to maintain safe conditions

What to Do After a Slip and Fall in Michigan

The steps you take in the hours after a fall have a direct impact on your case.

Get medical attention right away, even if you feel okay. Head injuries and spinal damage don't always announce themselves immediately, and a gap between your fall and your first medical visit becomes an argument against your claim.

Report the fall to the property owner, manager, or landlord before you leave and request that a written incident report be created. Ask for a copy if they'll provide one.

Photograph everything you can — the hazardous condition, the surrounding area, any warning signs or the absence of them, and your visible injuries. If it was a wet floor, photograph whether there was a sign. If it was ice, photograph the condition of the walkway.

Get the names and contact information of anyone who witnessed the fall. Witness accounts are often decisive in these cases.

Keep the shoes and clothing you were wearing. Defense attorneys frequently argue that the victim's footwear caused or contributed to the fall. Your shoes are evidence.

Do not give a recorded statement to the property owner's insurance company before speaking with an attorney. That call will come quickly, and it is not a formality.

Then call us at (248) 886-8650. The sooner we're involved, the better our chances of securing the surveillance footage, maintenance records, and incident reports that make the difference.

Serving Slip and Fall Victims Across Michigan

Michigan Legal Center represents premises liability victims statewide, from Metro Detroit and West Michigan to Mid-Michigan, Northern Michigan, and the Upper Peninsula. Our 10-office Michigan footprint helps us move quickly on local property records, maintenance evidence, surveillance footage, weather data, medical proof, and court filings wherever the fall happened.

Call (248) 886-8650 any time for a free consultation. You pay nothing unless we win.