Premises Liability Attorneys in Livonia, MI 

At Vahdat Weisman Law, we represent people who are injured because a property owner or property manager failed to keep its property in a reasonably safe condition. Premises liability refers to the area of law that holds the people and companies that own or control land and buildings responsible when preventable hazards cause harm.

Our firm is based in Livonia, Michigan, and we handle cases throughout Michigan and across the United States. If you were hurt on someone else’s property, you probably have a lot of urgent questions about medical bills, lost wages, and how to prove what happened. Our Michigan premises liability attorneys provide clear guidance from day one, protect your rights at every step of the process, and pursue every penny Michigan law allows.

What Premises Liability Law Covers

In Michigan, premises liability claims arise in many settings, including retail stores, restaurants, apartment complexes, parking lots, office buildings, hotels, schools, construction sites, and private homes. Common cases include the following: 

• Slip and falls on wet or icy surfaces, 

• Trip and falls on broken pavement or defective stairs,

• Falling merchandise or equipment, 

• Inadequate lighting, 

• Faulty handrails, 

• Missing or noncompliant ramps, 

• Unsafe elevators or escalators, 

• Swimming pool incidents, 

• Fires caused by code violations, 

• Carbon monoxide or toxic exposure, and 

• Assaults that result from inadequate security.

No two premises liability cases are the same. But the core question in every premises liability case is the same. Did the person or company responsible for the property fail to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable injury?

Legal Standards Under Michigan Law

To win a premises liability case, the injured person must generally prove four elements, which are duty, breach, causation, and damages. In Michigan, the duty owed by a property owner depends on the property’s status.

Typically, most visitors are “invitees,” such as shoppers, tenants, or service providers. Invitees are owed the highest duty of care. Specifically, property owners and occupiers must use reasonable care to protect invitees from dangerous conditions that they know about or should have discovered through a reasonable inspection. To meet this duty, property owners must either fix the dangerous condition or warn invitees about it.

Licensees, such as social guests or church visitors, are owed a slightly different duty, and trespassers are afforded minimal protections (although landowners may not willfully or wantonly injure them and must address certain risks to vulnerable victims, such as children).

Complicating matters further, Michigan is a comparative fault state. This means that a jury can consider both the property owner’s conduct and your conduct in assigning blame. If you are found partially at fault for your injuries, your compensation can be reduced by your percentage of responsibility. But, unlike contributory negligence states, you are not automatically barred from recovery.

Snow, Ice, and Weather Hazards

Michigan’s weather creates risks that property owners must anticipate. Icy sidewalks, tracked-in slush on floors, black ice in parking lots, and refreezing surfaces after a thaw are foreseeable in our state.

Reasonable care typically requires removing snow and ice promptly, applying salt or sand, correcting drainage problems that cause refreezing, and placing warning signs when surfaces are slippery. Owners should implement inspection routines, document the steps they take, and address known trouble spots near entrances, curbs, ramps, and crosswalks. When these measures are skipped or delayed, serious injuries are common.

If you slipped and fell on snow or ice, preserve your footwear, take photos as soon as possible, and note the weather conditions and any signs (or lack of signs). Our lawyers for premises liability cases move quickly to secure weather records, surveillance footage, maintenance logs, and witness statements.

Notice and Proof of Dangerousness 

One of the most important issues in premises liability cases is notice. In other words, premises liability cases often come down to whether the property owner or manager knew or should have known of the hazard in time to prevent your injury.

We prove notice through evidence like incident reports, sweep logs, work orders, inspection schedules, prior complaints, emails or texts between staff, vendor records for snow and ice removal, and surveillance videos. This evidence is essential to show how long a spill, defect, or accumulation existed.

We also use expert analysis to show code violations, improper construction or maintenance, noncompliant handrails, stair tread variances, inadequate lighting levels, or non-slip deficiencies. Even when the direct notice of a dangerous condition is unclear, our premises liability attorneys can establish constructive notice if we show that a hazard existed long enough for a reasonable property owner or occupier to have discovered and addressed it.

Landlords, Property Managers, and Commercial Tenants

The responsibility for maintaining property in a reasonably safe condition often extends beyond the person or company that owns the property. Leases and management agreements frequently assign maintenance and safety obligations to property managers or commercial tenants who control the area where the injury occurred. For instance, a store may be responsible for keeping aisles clear and mats secure, while a landlord may be responsible for common areas, such as the sidewalks and parking lots.

Our attorneys analyze contracts, insurance policy provisions, indemnity clauses, and other evidence to determine who the responsible parties truly are. Naming every at-fault person and company protects your ability to recover full compensation and prevents those we sue from placing the blame on people who have nothing to do with your case.

Inadequate Security and Assaults

Property owners and occupiers must also take reasonable measures to protect invitees from the foreseeable criminal acts of others. Inadequate security cases arise when broken locks are ignored, lighting is poor, surveillance is not maintained, trespassing enforcement is hit-or-miss, or prior incidents have made it clear that there is a need for security staff or other measures.

Our team of Michigan personal injury attorneys analyzes crime data, police reports, incident logs, and insurance policies to show foreseeability and breach. Victims of assault, robbery, or sexual assault may have both a criminal case against the perpetrator and a civil premises liability claim against the property owner or manager who failed to provide reasonable security.

These cases are often complex and involve aggressive litigation. But, when successful, we can recover compensation for medical care, counseling, lost earnings, and pain and suffering. At the same time, we can also focus on preserving your privacy rights and dignity throughout the process.

Serious Injuries and Damages

The incidents involved in premises liability cases can cause fractures, torn ligaments, concussions, traumatic brain injuries, spinal injuries, burns, drowning, complex regional pain syndrome, and other serious physical injuries. Damages in these cases can include the following: 

• The cost of past and future medical treatment, rehabilitation, assistive devices, and home modifications, 

• Lost wages and the loss of future earning capacity, and

• Compensation for physical pain, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment, and loss of consortium.

In catastrophic injury cases, life care planning and economic experts may be used to project your long-term costs and explain to the court and the jury the impact the injury will have on your daily functioning and work. Our job is to prove both liability and the full measure of your losses, so that your recovery reflects what you have endured and what lies ahead.

What You Should Do After Getting Injured

If you suffer injuries on someone else’s property, your health comes first. Seek medical care promptly and follow your treatment plan. If you are able, we also frequently advise clients to take several steps to protect their rights.

• Report the incident to management.

• Ask for an incident report to be created and request a copy.

• Note the names of employees involved.

• Take photographs or videos of the hazard, the surrounding area, and any warning signs (or lack of signs).

• Get the names and phone numbers of witnesses.

• Save your shoes and clothing in a bag without washing them (they may be important evidence).

• Avoid providing statements to insurers before you speak with a lawyer.

Contact Vahdat Weisman Law as soon as possible. Getting us involved early helps us secure surveillance footage before it is overwritten and obtain records before they are altered, destroyed, or lost.

How We Build Your Premises Liability Case

We begin with a thorough intake process and immediately build a timeline. We use this information to send preservation letters to the property owner, property manager, and any contractors to stop the routine deletion of surveillance video and maintenance logs. We also obtain maintenance contracts, vendor schedules, weather and temperature data, store policies and procedures, and floor safety specifications.

In addition to obtaining these materials, we personally visit the scene as soon as possible to document conditions and take measurements. When helpful, we retain experts in engineering, human factors, code compliance, building safety, snow and ice maintenance, and security to evaluate the reasonableness of the property owner’s or occupier’s conduct. Finally, we depose managers, employees, and contractors to uncover gaps in training, inspection failures, prior similar incidents, and any other evidence that will help us prove our case.

Throughout the process we update you regularly, explain your options in a straightforward way, and prepare your case for negotiation, mediation, and, when appropriate, trial. Our preparation makes it clear to insurers that we will not accept an unfair offer on your claim.

Timelines, Insurance, and Special Rules

In Michigan, premises liability claims, like most negligence claims for personal injuries, are subject to a three-year statute of limitations. This means that, in most cases, they must be filed within three years from the date of your injury. 

There are exceptions to this general three-year rule, including when a governmental entity is involved. Claims against cities, counties, or state agencies often have shorter deadlines and additional requirements.

For instance, MCL 691.1406 provides that, “[a]s a condition to any recovery for injuries sustained by reason of any dangerous or defective public building, the injured person, within 120 days from the time the injury occurred, shall serve a notice on the responsible governmental agency of the occurrence of the injury and the defect.” This 120-day notice must specify the exact location and nature of the defect, the injury sustained, and the names of the witnesses known at the time by the claimant.

Because these rules are strict and a missed deadline can end your claim, prompt legal advice is essential. Insurance carriers often contact you early with questions and low settlement offers. But their goal is to minimize payouts, not fairly compensate you. Our team handles all communications with insurers, documents your medical treatment and wage loss, and positions your case to ensure that the full value of your losses is supported by evidence.

Frequently Litigated Issues

Defendants in premises liability cases may argue that a hazard was open and obvious, meaning that a reasonable person in your shoes would have recognized the danger and avoided it. They also might argue that they did not know it existed. We counter these defenses with evidence showing that the condition was not readily apparent to a reasonable person in the moment, that proper inspection and maintenance would have prevented the incident, and that lighting, weather, distractions, or design flaws concealed the danger. We also use comparative fault principles to show that any mistakes by a victim do not relieve the property owner of his obligation to provide a reasonably safe environment. And where multiple companies share responsibility for your injuries, we make sure each one pays its fair share.

Why Choose Vahdat Weisman Law

At Vahdat Weisman Law, our practice is built on meticulous investigations, aggressive advocacy, and compassionate client service. We have spent years studying binding Michigan precedent and know the unique details that apply to commercial properties, multifamily communities, public spaces, and private residences. We also have the resources to go toe-to-toe with national retail chains, corporate management companies, major insurance companies, and local and national defense firms. Clients choose Vahdat Weisman Law because we communicate clearly, pursue every avenue of recovery, and prepare every case as if it will go to trial before a jury. We are proud to be based in Livonia, and we fight for clients across Michigan and other states nationwide.

No Fee Unless We Win

Our law firm handles premises liability cases on a contingency fee basis. This means you pay no attorney’s fee unless we obtain a recovery for you. From the outset, we explain how litigation costs and our attorney fee structure impact your recovery. We also provide you with an anticipated timeline for your case. Finally, we help you coordinate medical billing and benefits to protect your recovery from improper liens or offsets. Our goal is to deliver meaningful results while reducing stress and uncertainty for you and your family.

Take the Next Step

If you or a loved one was injured on someone else’s property, contact Vahdat Weisman Law at (734) 469-4994 for a free consultation. The earlier you speak with one of the experienced attorneys at Vahdat Weisman Law, the better your chances of preserving critical evidence, protecting your rights, and getting one step closer to the compensation you deserve. We will listen to your side of the story, evaluate the circumstances involved, outline your options, and take immediate action to pursue the compensation you deserve. Reach out today so our team here in Livonia can begin building your case right away.

Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every case is unique, and prior results do not guarantee future success.