What Do Slip-and-Fall Lawyers Do?
Legally Reviewed and Edited by: Terry Cochran

A slip, trip, or fall can become dangerous very quickly. If you slip-and-fall due to someone else’s negligence, you have the right to file a claim for financial compensation for your injuries. Seeking assistance from a Michigan slip-and-fall lawyer can significantly increase your settlement amount.
You may benefit from hiring an attorney when a slip-and-fall leads to devastating injuries. Explore the role of a slip-and-fall lawyer in Michigan and learn how the attorneys at the personal injury law firm Cochran, Kroll & Associates, P.C. can help you maximize your compensation.
What is Premises Liability?
Property owners owe a duty of care to visitors and must provide protection against dangerous conditions on the property. This includes cleaning or repairing hazards, making dangerous locations inaccessible, or warning visitors of the danger.
If they do not do this, and the hazardous conditions injure the visitor, they can file a premises liability claim against the property owner to recover damages.
For example, a business owner invites customers onto the property and therefore owes a duty of care to the customers. If the business owner does not salt the parking lot during the winter, leading a customer to slip on the ice and hit their head, the customer can file a claim against the business owner.
Not everyone on a property is owed a duty of care. For example, property owners generally do not owe a duty of care to trespassers. However, you are typically protected if you have permission to be on the property.
The Role of a Slip-and-Fall Attorney
The slip-and-fall attorney handles premises liability claims involving slip-and-fall injuries. A slip-and-fall attorney’s primary goal is to prove that:
- The property owner owed you a duty of care
- They did not provide the required duty of care
- You were seriously injured as a result
- You would not have been injured if the duty of care had been met
Once your attorney has established that the property owner was negligent in their duty of care, they will seek to recover compensation for your damages. This includes economic damages, like medical bills, and non-economic damages, like pain and suffering.
What Your Attorney May Do
To obtain a fair settlement, your attorney must establish a duty of care, prove the costs of your injuries, and argue that you did not injure yourself due to your own negligence. The slip-and-fall attorneys at Cochran, Kroll & Associates, P.C. may do the following to help you file a successful claim.
Document Your Damages
Intensive or long-term medical treatment for a slip-and-fall injury can quickly become costly. If your injuries leave you temporarily or permanently disabled, you may be unable to work, live independently, or engage in activities you enjoy. This can result in significant physical and mental pain.
Your attorney can help you collect proof of your financial, physical, and emotional damages. This may include medical bills, calculations of lost wages, or money spent adapting your home or car for a disability. They can also obtain journal entries, therapy notes, or testimony from loved ones about how the injury has affected you. All can be used as proof of your losses, which allows your attorney to argue for a higher settlement.
Show the Conditions Were Hazardous
If the hazard was quickly removed after you were injured, the property owner may claim that you injured yourself due to your own negligence, not the condition of the property. For example, they may argue that you slipped in the hallway because you were looking at your phone and not because there was a pool of water on the floor.
A slip-and-fall attorney can collect evidence of the hazardous condition resulting in your injury. They may be able to recover photos or security footage of the hazard or accident or collect witness testimony confirming the presence of the hazard.
Prove Negligence on Behalf of the Property Owners
In a premises liability claim, the property owner must have been aware of the hazard, or enough time must have elapsed that they should have been aware of it. They may take advantage of this and claim they were unaware of the danger. Your attorney can prove that the property owner should have been aware and was negligent in fixing the problem.
For example, at your apartment complex, you fell through a missing step in the staircase. Your attorney can obtain maintenance reports showing that you had reported the missing step several times before your injury. Since the complex’s management failed to repair the step or block off the stairway, these reports would be evidence of negligence.
Negotiate a Settlement with the Property Owner’s Insurance Company
Slip-and-fall claims are premises liability cases, so the property owner’s insurance company usually covers them. However, these insurance companies often offer a lowball settlement to the injured party and refuse to offer higher amounts. Many people are unfamiliar with appropriate settlement amounts and do not know how to negotiate with insurance, leading them to accept an offer that is too low.
A slip-and-fall injury lawyer knows what is considered fair compensation in a slip-and-fall case. They will review the settlement offer and negotiate with the insurance company on your behalf to help you recover the compensation you deserve.
Consult the Slip and Fall Lawyers at Cochran, Kroll & Associates, P.C.
While many people think of slips and falls as a mere inconvenience, the legal team at Cochran, Kroll & Associates, P.C. knows just how devastating they can be. Our attorneys have represented many victims of slip-and-fall accidents in Michigan and are dedicated to providing proper representation.
We will work closely with you to establish the facts of your case, prove the property owner was negligent, and obtain compensation for your injuries.
Our contingency fee basis means we only get paid if we win your case, so there is no financial risk to you to get started. Call our law firm today at 1-866-MICH-LAW and schedule your no-obligation, free case evaluation.
Disclaimer : The information provided is general and not for legal advice. The blogs are not intended to provide legal counsel and no attorney-client relationship is created nor intended.