Mindell Law Firm

Slip and Fall Told No Case

Slip and Fall No Case

I was badly injured in a slip and fall and I am being told I have no case because of Michigan’s open and obvious law.  Why?

To make a long story short back in 2001 a case came out by the name of Lugo v Ameritech.  In that case a woman was in the parking lot of a store and fell in a pothole trying to get out of the way of a car coming towards her.  Even though the owners were negligent in not repairing the pothole, the court said that she could not be compensated for her pain and suffering because in their opinion the pothole was an open and obvious condition an ordinary person could see and avoid.  Since then the courts have ruled things such as snow, ice and even snow covered ice are open and obvious conditions making many slip, trip and fall cases difficult to pursue in Michigan.

Now as to whether you have a case; that depends on many questions that we need answered to give a good opinion.  Things such as where did you fall?  What did you fall on?  How long had this been known to the property owner?  Was it visible or difficult to see?  Did you know it was there or not?

There are a lot of things that factor into our determination as to whether there is a viable fall case in Michigan.  That said, we often take on and fight on difficult fall cases that other attorneys don’t like to handle – often with great success.

Please call, we are always more than happy to discuss these matters free of charge.

For more general information regarding personal injury law please check out this information provided by the American Bar Association.  Please keep in mind that every state has very specific laws that may be quite different.  Please contact an attorney as soon as possible who works in your area and knows personal injury to get all the correct information regarding your case.  If you contact our firm all consultations are completely free.

http://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/resources/law_issues_for_consumers/personalinjury.html