Detroit Slip and Fall Lawyer: Premises Liability After Kandil-Elsayed

Detroit Slip and Fall Lawyer: Premises Liability After Kandil-Elsayed

Short answer: Detroit slip-and-fall cases changed fundamentally on July 28, 2023, when the Michigan Supreme Court decided Kandil-Elsayed v. F&E Oil, Inc., 504 Mich. 132 (2023). The "open and obvious" doctrine — which for two decades dismissed Detroit premises cases at summary judgment whenever a hazard was visible — no longer bars these claims. The visibility of an icy walkway, a wet floor, a defective stair, or a cracked sidewalk is now a comparative-fault factor for the jury, not a duty-eliminator for the judge. The substantive change is profound: cases that would have been thrown out in 2022 are winnable in 2026. Koussan Law's $6 million slip-and-fall settlement stood as Michigan's largest known of its kind under the former open-and-obvious doctrine; the post-Kandil-Elsayed ceiling is higher.

This guide covers the Michigan premises liability framework as it operates today, the categories of Detroit slip-and-fall cases that resolve well, the 120-day government-property trap that catches Detroit residents off guard, the evidence that must be preserved within hours, and the damages model that drives top-tier outcomes.

The Post-Kandil-Elsayed Framework

Before Kandil-Elsayed, the Michigan Supreme Court's Lugo v. Ameritech Corp., 464 Mich. 512 (2001) framework controlled. A hazard visible to a reasonable person was deemed "open and obvious" and the property owner generally owed no duty. The plaintiff's case ended at summary judgment unless the hazard was "effectively unavoidable" or had "special aspects" rendering it unreasonably dangerous despite visibility. The doctrine became increasingly mechanical and increasingly hostile to plaintiffs.

Kandil-Elsayed overruled Lugo. The court held that the visibility of a hazard does not eliminate the property owner's duty of reasonable care. Instead, comparative fault under MCL § 600.2959 applies: the plaintiff's recovery is reduced by the percentage of their own fault, including any fault attributable to their failure to recognize or avoid an obvious hazard. If the plaintiff is more than 50% at fault, non-economic damages are barred — but the case is no longer dismissed at the threshold. The jury decides.

Practically, this means:

• Detroit ice cases proceed. A fall on visible ice in a Meijer parking lot, on a downtown sidewalk, on a Detroit Receiving Hospital walkway, or at any commercial property is no longer summarily dismissed.
• Detroit defective-stair cases proceed. Worn risers, missing handrails, inadequate lighting — visibility of the defect does not end the case.
• Wet floor / spill cases proceed. Even when warning signs are present, the case advances on the duty/breach/causation analysis with comparative-fault adjustment.
• Sidewalk and walkway defect cases proceed — particularly where landlord-tenant duties under MCL § 554.139 apply or where commercial property owners failed to maintain reasonable conditions.

The shift is the most consequential change in Michigan premises liability in a generation. Detroit is one of the densest commercial environments in Michigan, with extensive winter ice events, aging infrastructure, and high pedestrian volume — meaning the post-Kandil-Elsayed impact concentrates here.

Categories of Detroit Slip-and-Fall Cases

• Snow and ice cases. Detroit winters generate 30-40 inches of snow annually plus extended freeze-thaw cycles. Commercial property owners owe a duty to take reasonable steps within a reasonable time after a storm. See our snow-and-ice premises liability guide for the full timing framework.
• Apartment and rental property cases. Landlords have a statutory duty under MCL § 554.139 to keep leased premises and common areas "fit for the use intended." Common areas include sidewalks, parking lots, building entrances, exterior stairs, laundry rooms, and shared corridors. Snow and ice on a path to a tenant's apartment, an unmaintained stairway, or a broken handrail can render the common area not fit for use — a statutory breach independent of common-law negligence.
• Retail and grocery store cases. Wet floors, spills, debris, ice in produce sections. These cases turn on whether the property had actual or constructive notice of the hazard. Notice is established through prior incident reports, surveillance footage, employee testimony, and inspection logs.
• Restaurant and bar cases. Slippery floors, defective fixtures, inadequate lighting, parking-lot ice. Dram-shop liability under MCL § 436.1801 can also apply where alcohol service contributed.
• Hotel and lodging cases. Defective bathroom floors, balcony hazards, swimming pool premises issues, inadequate lighting in corridors and parking structures.
• Hospital, clinic, and medical office cases. Wet floors in lobbies, exterior approach hazards, parking-structure defects. These do NOT become medical-malpractice cases — they remain ordinary premises liability claims subject to the three-year statute of limitations.
• Government property cases — the 120-day trap. Detroit sidewalks, Detroit Department of Transportation properties, Detroit People Mover stations, Wayne County buildings, Detroit Public Schools properties. These require a written notice within 120 days of the incident under MCL § 691.1404, separate from and earlier than the three-year tort deadline. Governmental immunity exceptions (highway exception MCL § 691.1402, public-building exception MCL § 691.1406) layer additional technical requirements.
• Construction site and trench cases. Third-party negligence claims against general contractors and other subcontractors are not barred by workers' compensation exclusivity. See our Michigan construction accident lawyer guide.

Detroit-Specific Slip-and-Fall Geography

• Downtown Detroit (CBD) — The dense pedestrian network around Campus Martius, the Fox Theatre district, Comerica Park, Ford Field, and Little Caesars Arena generates concentrated case volume during event nights and during winter weather.
• Midtown and the New Center — Hospital and university foot traffic. Wayne State University, Detroit Medical Center, Henry Ford Health, and the Henry Ford Hospital campus create continuous pedestrian flow with attendant property-maintenance issues.
• The Riverwalk and Hart Plaza — Tourist and event traffic combined with seasonal weather. Government-property notice issues apply.
• Eastern Market — Weekend traffic peaks plus uneven historic walking surfaces.
• The QLINE corridor along Woodward — Construction-related sidewalk disruptions, ongoing maintenance.
• Detroit Metropolitan Airport (Romulus, Wayne County) — One of the highest-volume slip-and-fall venues in the state. Walkways, parking structures, terminal floors. Federal-property defendants in some cases.
• Detroit neighborhood retail nodes — Gratiot, Grand River, Woodward, Eight Mile, Mack, Jefferson commercial corridors. Aging commercial buildings, deferred maintenance, frequent sidewalk-defect cases.
• The Coleman A. Young Municipal Center and other government buildings — winter ice and approach-hazard incidents trigger 120-day notice requirements.

What a Detroit Slip-and-Fall Lawyer Does Differently

Routine premises cases fail because the evidence base degrades within hours. Top-tier cases preserve and prove on a tight timeline:

1. Surveillance footage preservation. Commercial properties typically have surveillance covering the fall location. Most systems overwrite within 30-90 days. A spoliation letter within the first week is mandatory. Independent inspection of the recording capability before footage is destroyed is even better.
2. Incident report retrieval. Most commercial properties require staff to document falls. Get the report. If staff refuses to provide one, document the refusal.
3. Photograph the hazard before it changes. Ice melts. Spills get cleaned. Defective stairs get repaired. The photographs taken in the first 10 minutes after the fall are the most valuable single piece of evidence in many cases.
4. Weather data preservation. For ice cases, the National Weather Service hourly observations from Detroit Metro Airport (KDTW) or Coleman A. Young International Airport (KDET) establish when the storm ended, the temperature trajectory, and whether the property had reasonable time to address the hazard. This data is free and authoritative; we pull it on every winter case.
5. Witness contact information. Bystanders, other customers, employees. Their accounts often differ from the property's official version of events.
6. Medical-care continuity. Same-day ER or urgent care visit. Continuous treatment without gaps. Treatment gaps are the leading reason premises cases under-resolve.
7. 120-day notice for government defendants. Detroit, Wayne County, MDOT, DDOT, DPS, the Michigan State Police, federal entities — each has notice requirements that vary by statute. Generic late-arriving notices get challenged. The notice has to be drafted by counsel familiar with the entity and the controlling statute.
8. Premises inspection by qualified expert. Construction-defect expert for stair or floor failures. Snow-and-ice operations expert for winter weather cases. Building-code expert for handrail, lighting, and ADA compliance issues.

Damages: Detroit Slip-and-Fall Settlement Ranges

Highly variable, driven by injury severity, age of the plaintiff, available insurance coverage, and the strength of liability evidence. Approximate ranges in the post-Kandil-Elsayed Michigan landscape:

• Soft-tissue injury, full recovery within 6 months: $15,000-$100,000.
• Wrist or ankle fracture requiring surgery, return to work without restrictions: $75,000-$300,000.
• Hip fracture (particularly in adults 65+ where one-year mortality is 20-30%): $250,000-$1,000,000+.
• Traumatic brain injury from striking pavement or fixed object: $300,000-$3,000,000+.
• Spinal cord injury or paralysis: $1,000,000-$10,000,000+.
• Catastrophic permanent injury: Frequently seven to eight figures.
• Wrongful death (e.g., elderly resident dying from complications of hip fracture): Variable by decedent's age and family circumstances; no statutory cap outside medical malpractice context.

Koussan Law's $6 million slip-and-fall settlement illustrates the high end and stood as Michigan's largest known of its kind under the former open-and-obvious doctrine. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

The 120-Day Government-Property Trap

This deserves a dedicated section because it kills more Detroit slip-and-fall cases than any other procedural issue. Under MCL § 691.1404, written notice must be served on the responsible governmental entity within 120 days of the incident. Miss the window and the claim is barred — even if the broader three-year statute of limitations has not run.

The trap catches Detroit residents constantly. A fall on a Detroit sidewalk seems like an ordinary slip-and-fall case. The injured person treats medically, the bills mount, they look for an attorney at month four — and the 120-day notice deadline has already expired against the City of Detroit. The case is gone.

Governmental immunity exceptions add technical requirements on top:

• The highway exception (MCL § 691.1402) requires the defect to be in the "improved portion" of the highway designed for vehicular travel. Sidewalk falls may or may not qualify depending on the exact location and the configuration relative to the road.
• The public building exception (MCL § 691.1406) covers dangerous or defective conditions on or in a government building. Approach walkways, lobbies, restrooms, stairs.
• Sidewalk-defect statutes (MCL § 691.1402a) impose specific elevation and depression thresholds (typically two inches) below which the municipality is not liable.

The practical rule: if your Detroit slip-and-fall might involve any government property, contact counsel within weeks, not months.

Frequently Asked Questions — Detroit Slip and Fall Lawyer

Q: Can I sue if the hazard was open and obvious? Yes, in most cases. Kandil-Elsayed v. F&E Oil, Inc. (2023) overruled the open-and-obvious doctrine as a complete bar to liability. Visibility of the hazard is now a comparative-fault factor under MCL § 600.2959, not a duty-eliminator. Your case proceeds; your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault; if you are 50% or less at fault you recover non-economic damages.

Q: How long do I have to file a Detroit slip-and-fall lawsuit? Three years from the incident under MCL § 600.5805 for the general personal injury claim. 120 days for written notice to government entities under MCL § 691.1404 — this is the deadline that catches most people off guard. Two years for medical malpractice cases under MCL § 600.5838a (rare in pure slip-and-fall context).

Q: What if I fell on a Detroit sidewalk? Detroit sidewalk-fall liability runs through the City of Detroit (notice required within 120 days) and depends on the highway exception under MCL § 691.1402 plus the two-inch elevation threshold under MCL § 691.1402a. These cases require fast attorney involvement and careful pre-suit investigation.

Q: What if I fell on a private property in Detroit? The general personal-injury statute of limitations applies (three years under MCL § 600.5805). Notice requirements do not apply to private defendants. The case follows the standard post-Kandil-Elsayed premises-liability framework.

Q: Does my health insurance pay for the fall medical bills? Initially, yes. Your health insurance is the primary payer for medical care. The personal injury recovery later reimburses your health insurer (the "subrogation lien") in many cases. A Detroit slip-and-fall lawyer negotiates this lien to maximize your net recovery.

Q: What if the property owner says I was wearing the wrong shoes? Defense counsel raises this argument constantly. Footwear choice can be a comparative-fault factor but it does not eliminate the property owner's duty to maintain reasonably safe premises. The jury — not defense counsel — assesses comparative fault.

Q: How much does a Detroit slip and fall lawyer cost? Standard Michigan contingency fee: 33⅓% of the recovery pre-trial, sometimes 40% if the case goes to trial. Costs reimbursed from the recovery. No upfront cost. No fee if no recovery.

Q: What if my slip and fall happened at Detroit Metro Airport? Federal-property defendants (TSA, certain airport authorities) and state defendants (Wayne County Airport Authority) layer their own procedural rules including specific notice and claim-form requirements. These cases require fast specialized counsel.

Speak With a Detroit Slip and Fall Lawyer

If you've been injured in a Detroit slip-and-fall, contact Koussan Law for a free, confidential consultation. The 120-day government-notice clock starts immediately — don't lose your case to a deadline you didn't know about. We accept Michigan premises liability cases on contingency. Our trial record includes a $6 million slip-and-fall settlement that stood as Michigan's largest known of its kind under the former open-and-obvious doctrine, a $14.95 million jury verdict, and arguments before the Michigan Supreme Court. Call (313) 800-0000, request a consultation online, or use our free case calculator.

Related Resources

• Slip and Fall — service page
• Snow & Ice Slip and Fall
• Premises Liability
• Staircase & Stairwell Falls
• Sidewalk Trip and Fall
• Detroit Personal Injury Lawyer
• Wayne County Personal Injury Lawyer
• Michigan Snow & Ice Slip-and-Fall Guide
• Sidewalk Slip and Fall in Michigan: City vs. Property Owner
• Michigan Personal Injury Case Value Guide

Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Every premises liability case is fact-specific and depends on the property type, the available evidence, the applicable notice requirements, comparative fault, and qualified expert review. This article is for general informational purposes and is not legal advice. Reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship with Koussan Law.