The Illinois Slip and Fall Law Explained

Slip and fall accidents happen everywhere, with 14 million people 65 or older suffering a fall accident every year. If you were injured on someone else’s property, Illinois law allows you to seek compensation in certain instances. Our slip and fall accident lawyers can help you navigate Illinois’s premises liability law to ensure you receive fair compensation for your injuries.

What Is the Illinois Premises Liability Act?

The Illinois Premises Liability Act (740 ILCS 130/1) outlines the circumstances under which injured parties can file personal injury claims for accidents that occur on someone else’s property. The law explains that property owners must take reasonable steps to prevent dangerous conditions on their property.

If a reasonable person would identify something as a hazardous condition, and the property owner knew about the issue, they can be liable if an injury occurs to an invited guest. An injured party can also sue if the property owner failed to maintain their property, leading to unsafe conditions.

What Slip and Fall Injuries Can You Recover Compensation for by Law?

Fall accident victims often suffer severe injuries, sometimes resulting in death. Slip and fall incidents are a leading cause of death amongst senior citizens, but even younger people can suffer serious injuries from short falls.

You can recover compensation in a fall claim for injuries such as:

• Spinal cord injuries
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Soft tissue injuries
• Fractures and broken bones
• Dislocations
• Back and neck injuries
• Sprains and strains

Does Visitor Status Affect Eligibility to File a Slip and Fall Lawsuit?

Yes, visitor status will impact whether you can pursue damages for injuries sustained on someone else’s property.

Invitees and licensees are the first category. An invitee is someone who is present at the property owner’s express or implied invitation, typically to fulfill a business contract or other commercial purpose. For example, a contractor at a Magnificent Mile construction site would be an invitee.

A licensee is someone who has permission to be on the property for non-commercial purposes. Someone visiting your Streeterville brownstone would be a licensee. The Illinois Premises Liability Act has abolished the difference between these two (740 ILCS 130/2), so both types of visitors could have a valid personal injury claim.

In contrast, property owners do not owe any reasonable care to adult trespassers under the law. However, they do have a duty of care toward child trespassers, as the law presumes that children cannot fully recognize the risks of hazardous conditions (740 ILCS 130/3).

What Do I Need to Prove in an Illinois Slip and Fall Case?

Four key factors must be proven in a successful premises liability claim: duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damages.

Duty of Care: Property owners are responsible for preventing slip and fall accidents by maintaining their property. For example, they should post “wet floor” signs and ensure that stairs are free from hazards.

Breach of Duty: The property owner failed to maintain their property, increasing the risk of slip and fall incidents. This could be something like not fixing a cracked pavement or not fixing broken lights that made it hard to see the floor.

Causation: Your slip and fall accident case is directly related to this breach of duty, such as falling down a flight of poorly-lit stairs or slipping on an oil spill.

Damages: You suffered financial and emotional losses as a result of the slip and fall incident, including medical bills, lost wages, and physical pain and suffering.

What Unsafe Conditions Make Property Owners Liable for Injuries?

A variety of hazardous conditions may lead to slip and fall claims under the Illinois Premises Liability Act. These include the following.

Poor Lighting: If the property owner failed to ensure that stairwells, balconies, porches, and other uneven areas are adequately lit, they can be liable.

Wet or Slick Floors: Many slip and fall claims arise from issues such as freshly mopped floors or spills on the floor. Property owners are responsible for ensuring that floors and stairs are dry.

Broken or Missing Railings: Stairwells, balconies, roofs, platforms, catwalks, and other areas should have safe and secure railings to prevent falls. Property owners can be held liable under premises liability laws if they fail to check that railings and handrails are safe.

Missing Warning Signs or Cordoning: In some areas, such as construction sites, there may be openings in the floor, including elevator shafts and trap doors. These areas should always be properly cordoned off, or a sign should be posted reminding visitors to exercise caution around the shaft.

Defective Decks and Balconies: Chicago has a history of balcony collapses, such as the tragic 2003 case when 13 people died on a Lincoln Park balcony. Balconies should have warning signs that state the maximum occupancy and must always be properly maintained.

Broken Stairsteps: Missing or broken stairs are an especially dangerous condition that could lead to severe injuries, including spinal cord damage or traumatic brain injuries. Stairs should always be scrupulously maintained to prevent injury.

Snow and Ice: The Snow and Ice Removal Act means that property owners are not liable for naturally accumulating snow and ice (745 ILCS 75/0.01). However, they can be liable if defects in the property caused additional risks of slip and fall accidents, as was found in Murphy-Hylton v. Lieberman Management Services, Inc.

What Constitutes Reasonable Care?

In a premises liability case, a property owner’s negligence can be characterized by a failure to exercise reasonable care. This refers to the level of care that a reasonable person would take in similar circumstances to prevent injuries to others.

For example, assume a slip-and-fall accident occurred on a dry, secure stairwell that has been properly maintained. The railings are securely bolted to the floor, and the stair steps have non-slip tread. There is adequate lighting to ensure that guests can clearly see where they are going.

In this instance, the property owner has taken every precaution to prevent slip and fall injuries. If a person were to fall because they were wearing high heels and not paying attention to their surroundings, it may be difficult to prove negligence.

On the other hand, assume that the injured party fell through a termite-infested stairway, and they could not see the damage because the lighting was low. In this case, the property owner breached reasonable care and could be held liable.

Can I File a Slip and Fall Claim if I Was Partially to Blame for the Accident?

Yes, it’s possible to file a claim for a slip and fall incident, even if you were partially to blame. Illinois law follows the modified comparative negligence rule, which states that an injured party can seek compensation as long as they are not more than 50% responsible for the accident.

Insurance companies will often argue that the victim is primarily responsible for the slip and fall claim, even if hazardous conditions were known to exist on the premises. To make a successful claim, you must work with a skilled personal injury attorney who can gather evidence proving the property owner’s negligence.

For example, our attorneys can collect witness statements, medical records, photographs of the accident scene, and expert testimony to support your argument.

How Long Do I Have to File a Premises Liability Claim in Illinois?

In most cases, you have two years to file a personal injury claim (735 ILCS 5/13-202). You may be able to secure additional time if it was not immediately apparent that the injuries sustained were due to the slip and fall accident, called the delayed discovery rule.

Additionally, the statute of limitations is tolled, or paused, for slip and fall accident victims who were under 18 at the time of the incident.

You should always contact a slip and fall attorney as soon as possible, ensuring that we have time to gather evidence and start an insurance claim before the statute of limitations runs out. Call us today for a free consultation about your legal rights.

How Does a Slip and Fall Attorney Help?

Securing legal representation gives you the best possible chance of gaining fair compensation under the law. We will assist in all aspects of your case, from investigation to trial representation. Here is what you can expect when you work with our skilled premises liability lawyers.

Consultation: We will determine whether we believe you have a valid slip and fall claim under the law. This involves considering factors like whether you were an invited guest and whether the accident was caused by a foreseeable hazardous condition, such as cracked pavement.

Case Evaluation: Our attorneys will examine the facts and determine what type of case you have. We’ll assess your overall damages, like medical expenses and time off work, then determine who is liable based on the facts of the case. This ensures that we can pursue action against the responsible parties and ask for fair compensation.

Gathering Evidence: To develop a strong case against a property owner, we must be able to demonstrate the connection between your injuries and unsafe conditions on the premises. We can do this by reviewing medical records, examining photos of the scene, taking witness statements, and talking to experts like structural engineers or doctors.

Filing Paperwork: We will file a complaint with the Cook County Circuit Court on your behalf with all relevant information. This must be filed in a timely manner so that we can negotiate with insurance or pursue a lawsuit if necessary.

Negotiation: Our lawyers will file a slip-and-fall claim with the property owner’s insurance. This could be homeowners’ insurance in the case of private property, or it may be business liability insurance. This begins with a demand letter, where we summarize your damages and explain why you deserve maximum compensation. The insurance agent will come back with a counteroffer, and we will continue negotiating until you are satisfied.

Trial Representation: Many slip and fall lawsuits settle out of court, but sometimes we must represent you at trial. This involves filing motions, attending hearings, taking depositions, and presenting your case in front of a judge and jury.

How to Strengthen Your Slip and Fall Case Under Illinois Law

Seek Medical Treatment

To ensure you can get fair compensation for injuries sustained in a slip and fall incident, always go to the hospital as soon as possible for a thorough examination. Emergency rooms like Northwestern Memorial Hospital and UChicago Medicine can provide the documentation needed for your slip-and-fall lawyer to pursue a claim.

Report the Incident Right Away

Speak to the property owner about your slip-and-fall accident. This provides contemporaneous evidence and can also indicate that the owner acknowledges partial responsibility for your injuries. You may also wish to report the incident to the police simply to provide further documentation.

Document the Scene

Take photos and videos of the accident scene, especially any hazardous conditions that contributed to your injuries. For example, you can show broken lights, slick floors, rickety stair railings, or missing stairs.

Get Witness Information

If anyone else was there during the slip-and-fall accident, you should get their name and contact information. Our attorneys can then record an interview with them, called a deposition, that can be used as evidence in your slip-and-fall case.

Preserve Your Clothing and Footwear

Sometimes, the property owner will claim that you were mostly responsible for the accident due to what you were wearing. Keeping your clothing and footwear can prove that your attire was not solely or primarily responsible for your accident.

Avoid Speaking to Insurance Companies

Insurance adjusters will do everything possible to diminish their responsibility so that they do not have to pay out a claim. In many cases, they will do this by encouraging you to settle with them for less than you deserve or asking leading questions that can be used to demonstrate your fault.

Our attorneys can protect you from this, but only if you refuse to speak to insurance adjusters without your lawyer present. We will ensure that nothing you say is used as proof that you were responsible for the accident.

Consult a Chicago Slip and Fall Lawyer Early

Accident victims should contact a slip-and-fall lawyer as soon as possible so that we can begin the negotiation and litigation process. This also means that we can keep track of your expenses, like medical bills and lost wages, throughout the process, giving us a better estimation of your overall damages.

Illinois Slip and Fall Law FAQs

Do you need a police report for a slip and fall?

You do not typically need a police report for a slip-and-fall accident. However, this may be helpful evidence to prove that you were injured and that the property owner’s negligence was the primary cause of your injuries.

What evidence strengthens a slip and fall case in Illinois?

To make a successful claim, you must clearly connect your injuries to the accident and demonstrate that you suffered financial losses. Evidence such as photos and videos of the scene, documentation of lost income, medical bills, witness statements, and personal narratives can all help your personal injury attorney establish liability.

What role does insurance play in slip and fall lawsuits?

Property owners typically have homeowners’ insurance or business liability insurance that covers accidents that occur on their property. This can be used to settle slip-and-fall accident claims. We will file a demand letter with the relevant insurance agency, then negotiate with them to ensure that you receive a fair settlement based on your damages and the clarity of liability.

What happens if the property owner fixes the hazard after the fall?

In some cases, the property owner will fix the issue after the accident, making it hard to prove that it was responsible for your injuries. Our attorneys can subpoena maintenance records, showing a connection between the sudden repair and your accident.

If you take photos and videos of the accident scene, we can also demonstrate that the repairs were made after you were hurt, which implies liability.

What are common defenses in Illinois slip and fall cases?

Property owners and their insurance agents will do everything possible to prevent you from securing compensation, including using these common defenses.

• Comparative Negligence: This defense asserts that the victim was partially responsible for their injuries, such as by using a cell phone while descending the stairs or failing to pay attention to their surroundings. Because of the modified comparative negligence rule, we do not need to prove that you were entirely blameless, just that your actions were not the primary factor in your accident.
• Open and Obvious Hazard: The defendant may insist that the hazardous conditions were readily apparent and therefore they cannot be held responsible for injuries that occur. However, this can be disproven through the distraction rule, which states that property owners must take care to warn individuals of potential hazards if they can reasonably expect the person to be distracted by something else.
• Lack of Notice: A person cannot be held responsible for an issue that they were not aware of. For example, if there were structural defects with a stairwell that were never disclosed to the owner, they may not be responsible. We must demonstrate that the hazard was known and should have been rectified.
• Assumption of Risk: While more common in situations like recreational sports, this defense could also be used in premises liability, such as if someone states that anyone should know there is a danger of a fall accident in icy conditions. Our lawyers will argue that your injuries were disproportionate to the level of assumed risk.
• Trivial Defects: Another common argument was that the known defects were not serious enough to have caused the harm you suffered. For example, a loose stair railing may not be considered enough to cause a person to suffer fall injuries. By working with expert witnesses, we can demonstrate that the defect was serious enough to cause your injuries.
• Procedural Defenses: One key reason you need legal representation is to guard against procedural defenses. These are not arguments that you are in the wrong, but rather the use of legal guidelines and regulations to dismiss your claim. For example, the defendant’s attorneys could claim that you did not bring your lawsuit in a timely manner. Due to our extensive knowledge of Chicago and Illinois law, we can safeguard you against these procedural missteps.

Can I sue a government agency for a slip and fall in Illinois?

It is possible to sue a government agency, like the Chicago Parks and Recreation Department, for slip-and-fall injuries. However, this can be harder due to the Tort Immunity Act (745 ILCS 10/1-101). The Tort Immunity Act protects government agencies from lawsuits by reducing the statute of limitations and placing restrictions on what types of claims you can make.

If you want to sue a government department, you must work with a law firm that is experienced with these types of claims, as there are additional restrictions on what can be claimed.

Expert Legal Representation for Slip and Fall Incidents in Illinois!

Our law firm holds an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and is a Super Lawyers-ranked firm, indicating that our peers have recognized us as excellent attorneys. As a member of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, we have a strong record of trial representation, regularly winning millions of dollars for our clients.

Over the past 25 years, we have secured over $490 million in compensation for accident victims, including those injured through slip and fall accidents. We work on a contingency fee basis, so you owe us nothing unless we are able to earn you compensation. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation.