You were not doing anything wrong. You were shopping, visiting, working, or simply passing through. Someone owned that property, and they had a legal obligation to keep it reasonably safe. They did not. Now you are injured, facing medical bills, missing work, and dealing with an insurance company that is already building a case against you.
At Hamo Law, we represent people injured on someone else's property across the entire state of Michigan. We have taken on big-box retailers, corporate landlords, restaurants, municipalities, and property owners of every size. We know how these defendants and their insurers operate, and we know how to hold them accountable.
Consultations are free. No fee unless we win. Call us at 810-234-3667.
What Is Premises Liability?
Premises liability is the area of law that holds property owners and occupiers responsible for injuries caused by unsafe conditions on their property. When a property owner knows about a dangerous condition, or should have known about it through reasonable inspection, and fails to fix it or warn visitors, they can be held legally liable for the harm that results.
Michigan law distinguishes between categories of visitors, and the duty owed depends on the relationship between the injured person and the property:
- Invitees are people invited onto the property for a business purpose, such as customers in a store, diners in a restaurant, or tenants visiting a landlord's property. Property owners owe invitees the highest duty of care: they must regularly inspect the property, discover dangerous conditions, and either fix them or provide adequate warning.
- Licensees are social guests or others permitted on the property for non-business purposes. Property owners must warn licensees of known dangers that the licensee is unlikely to discover on their own.
- Trespassers are generally owed a lesser duty, though Michigan law still imposes certain obligations, particularly where children are involved.
The Notice Requirement
A critical element in most premises liability cases is notice. To hold a property owner liable, you generally must show that they knew about the dangerous condition, or that it existed long enough that they should have discovered it through reasonable inspection. A store that had a spill for thirty seconds before someone fell is in a very different position than one where the floor had been wet for two hours with no action taken.
Types of Premises Liability Cases We Handle
Slip and Fall Accidents
Slip and fall cases are the most common type of premises liability claim. They occur in retail stores, grocery stores, restaurants, parking lots, apartment buildings, and countless other settings. Common causes include wet floors without warning signs, recently mopped surfaces, spilled liquids, tracked-in rain or snow, and freshly waxed floors.
These cases are often more complex than they appear. Property owners and their insurers immediately begin investigating whether the hazard was open and obvious, whether you were watching where you were going, whether proper maintenance procedures were followed, and whether any prior incidents or complaints were documented.
Negligent Security
When a property owner fails to provide adequate security and a visitor is assaulted, robbed, or otherwise harmed as a result, they can be held liable under a negligent security theory. This often arises in apartment complexes, parking structures, hotels, and commercial properties in areas with known crime risks. The question is whether the owner knew or should have known that inadequate security created a foreseeable risk of harm to visitors.
Swimming Pool Accidents
Pool owners, whether private homeowners, hotels, or apartment complexes, have a duty to maintain safe conditions around their pools and to implement appropriate safety measures, including barriers, warnings, and supervision where required. Drownings, near-drownings, and pool deck injuries can give rise to serious premises liability claims.
Retail and Big-Box Store Accidents
We have resolved cases against some of the largest retailers in the country, including cases where customers were struck by falling merchandise, injured by defective shopping carts, hurt by malfunctioning automatic doors, or fell in poorly maintained areas of the store. Large retailers have risk management teams and defense attorneys ready to respond to injury claims.
Apartment and Rental Property Hazards
Landlords in Michigan owe their tenants and visitors a duty to maintain rental properties in a reasonably safe condition. Common hazards include broken steps and railings, defective flooring, inadequate lighting in hallways and parking areas, and failure to address known water or ice accumulation. Tenants who are injured due to a landlord's failure to maintain safe conditions have the right to pursue compensation.
Dog Bites and Animal Attacks
Michigan's dog bite statute holds owners strictly liable when their dog bites someone who was lawfully present on the property where the bite occurred. You do not need to prove the owner knew the dog was dangerous. If you were bitten on someone else's property or in a public space, the owner is responsible for your medical expenses, scarring, emotional distress, and other damages.
Michigan's Open and Obvious Doctrine
The single most common defense raised in Michigan premises liability cases is the open and obvious doctrine. Under this doctrine, a property owner is not liable for injuries caused by a condition that was open and obvious, meaning a reasonable person in the plaintiff's position would have seen and appreciated the danger.
Michigan law does recognize important exceptions to this doctrine, and those exceptions are where cases are often won. Even if a condition is open and obvious, a property owner can still be liable if the condition has what courts call "special aspects." Two key special aspects recognized by Michigan courts are:
- Unreasonable risk of severe harm. If a condition, even if visible, poses an unreasonably high risk of serious injury or death, the open and obvious doctrine may not shield the property owner.
- Effectively unavoidable. If the dangerous condition is one that an invitee cannot reasonably avoid in order to access the property, the owner cannot hide behind open and obvious.
Michigan courts have also held that in some circumstances, a property owner's duty to protect invitees from a foreseeable harm is not eliminated simply because the hazard is visible.
Proving a Premises Liability Claim
To succeed in a premises liability case in Michigan, you must establish four elements: that the property owner owed you a duty of care, that they breached that duty by failing to address or warn of a dangerous condition, that the breach caused your injury, and that you suffered real damages as a result.
Key evidence in premises liability cases includes:
- Incident reports filed at the scene, which should be requested and preserved immediately
- Surveillance footage from the property, which must be requested and preserved before it is routinely overwritten
- Photographs of the hazardous condition, your injuries, and the surrounding area taken as close to the time of the accident as possible
- Maintenance and inspection logs, which can show whether the property owner had a system in place and whether they followed it
- Prior complaints or incident records, which can establish that the owner had notice of a recurring hazard
- Witness statements from anyone who saw the condition or the accident
- Medical records documenting your injuries and their connection to the incident
What Compensation Can You Recover?
Michigan law allows premises liability victims to pursue full compensation for both the financial and personal impact of their injuries. Depending on the circumstances of your case, recoverable damages can include:
- Past and future medical expenses, including emergency treatment, surgery, rehabilitation, and ongoing care
- Lost wages for time missed from work during your recovery
- Loss of future earning capacity if your injuries permanently affect your ability to work
- Physical pain and suffering, both past and future
- Emotional distress and psychological impact
- Loss of enjoyment of life and the activities you can no longer participate in
- Permanent scarring or disfigurement
Talk to a Michigan Premises Liability Attorney Today
Property owners have insurance companies and defense attorneys protecting their interests the moment someone is injured on their property. You deserve the same level of advocacy on your side.
Hamo Law has been fighting for injured Michigan residents against property owners, corporations, and their insurers for over 40 years. We handle premises liability cases throughout the entire state. Your consultation is free, and there is no fee unless we recover for you.
Call us at 810-234-3667, email ahamo@hamolaw.com, or fill out our contact form and we will be in touch promptly.
Relentless Advocacy. Compassionate Counsel.
