Wisconsin slip & fall on ice laws, settlements, & lawyers Attorneys can get higher settlement amount offered if they've won in court.

If you decide to file a lawsuit to recover from out-of-pocket medical costs and time lost at work, you’ll have to prove one of the following:

1. The property owner/possessor created the condition or caused it to come about
2. The property owner/possessor was aware of the condition and negligently failed to correct it
3. The condition existed for long enough that the property owner/possessor should have found out about it and taken steps to avoid the slip and fall incident which took place

Slip & fall settlement amounts depend on your total damages (lost wages, medical bills, pain, suffering, and more) along with the quality of your personal injury lawyer. In Wisconsin, slip & fall cases over $5000 are not handled in small claims court.

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Personal injury attorneys win the highest settlement for injuries sustained in a fall on icy property

Our personal injury attorneys have extensive experience with slip and fall accidents. Based in snowy Milwaukee, they understand the many gray areas these cases often involve. Every winter, we field hundreds of calls all across the country from people who believe their falls were caused by a property owner failing to keep the sidewalks and steps safe. We know what it takes to help our clients get compensation for medical expenses & lost salary.

Snowy winters are a part of life. Along with the snow and ice comes the expectation that businesses & homeowners have an obligation to clear the snow and salt the ice within a reasonable timeframe. When they don’t, the potential for slip & fall accidents skyrockets. Read on for an overview of what’s involved in slip and fall injury suits. If you still have questions or want to know if we can represent you, contact us to arrange a free, no-obligation consultation with one of our experienced slip and fall attorneys.

Proving liability in a slip and fall accident on residential property

Imagine you go to a neighbor’s house to watch the big game, and as you walk on their sidewalk you slip on a thin layer of ice and break your right elbow in the fall. What now? Landlords can also be held liable to tenants or third parties for slip and fall injuries that occur on their rental property. In such cases, the tenant or other injured party has to show that:

• The landlord had control over the condition that caused the slip and fall
• Correcting the condition would not have been unreasonably expensive or difficult
• The foreseeable consequence of doing nothing to correct the condition was a fall that caused serious injury
• The landlord's failure to take reasonable steps to address the condition caused the tenant's slip and fall injury

Slip and fall accidents governed by premises liability law

Slip and fall accidents generally fall into the category of premises liability claims. In order to file a suit, the fall must have caused you some injury, however minor. Claiming you were embarrassed by the fall doesn’t count as an injury.

Under the guidelines of premises liability law, the injured party has to prove the accident was caused by a “dangerous condition” the owner of the property knew about. The dangerous condition has to present an unreasonable risk to someone on the property and one which the injured person should have had no reason to anticipate. The law makes this stipulation to clarify that people must be aware of and avoid obvious dangers. Failure to do so will not engender any sympathy from the court.

Establishing liability for a slip and fall accident on commercial property

In cases involving accidents at a business or other commercial property, the standard for proving liability is quite similar to what is required to prove liability of a private property owner.

To prove liability on commercial property, one of the following circumstances must be shown:

• The property owner/possessor caused the slippery or dangerous surface to be underfoot
• The property owner/possessor knew of the slippery surface but took no corrective action
• The property owner/possessor should have known the surface was slippery because any reasonable person taking care of the property would have taken action to fix it

Of these three requirements, the third is the most common but also the one most open to debate. In such cases, it comes down to determining whether the property owner or renter took reasonable steps to keep the property safe.

When it comes to slip and fall accidents on the premises of stores, restaurants and other businesses, there are often several people or entities responsible. Besides the owner of the establishment, who may not even be on-site, there is the manager, the employees, the snow removal company hired to clear their sidewalks and driveways, or the maintenance company hired to handle snow removal.