Florida Slip and Fall Lawyer

A fall case is won or lost on what the owner knew, and when

Kemp Law Group represents people hurt in falls on someone else’s property across Florida, and in Georgia through our Georgia-admitted attorney: grocery and big-box stores, restaurants, hotels and resorts, apartment and condominium complexes, parking lots and garages, office buildings, hospitals, pool decks and the sidewalks and stairs between them. The firm was founded in 2008 by Stacy Kemp Ferrari, has recovered more than $400 million for injured clients, and holds a 4.9-star rating across more than 950 Google reviews. The CDC counts falls as the leading cause of injury for adults over 65 and produce the fractures, hip and shoulder injuries, spinal injuries and head injuries that change a life in a second. The law that governs these claims is specific, insurers know it well, and this page explains it.

Call (727) 847-4878 or contact us online for a free case review. We answer 24/7, and you pay no fee unless we win.

What a Florida property owner owes you

A business that invites the public in, and a landlord that rents homes, owes an invitee two duties: to keep the premises reasonably safe, and to warn of dangers the owner knows or should know about that are not obvious to the visitor. A claim has to prove that a dangerous condition existed, that the owner knew of it or should have, that the owner failed to fix it or warn of it, and that the failure caused the fall. The second of those elements, the owner’s knowledge, is where nearly every fall case is fought.

Section 768.0755: the rule for slips on something on the floor

Since 2010, a person who slips on a “transitory foreign substance” in a business, a spilled drink, a wet floor, produce, grease, a tracked-in puddle, must prove that the business had actual or constructive knowledge of it and should have cleaned it up. Constructive knowledge can be shown with circumstantial evidence that the substance was there long enough that the business, exercising ordinary care, should have found it (a dried or dirty spill, footprints and cart tracks through it, an employee who walked past it), or that the condition happened with regularity and was therefore foreseeable (the freezer aisle that always leaks, the entrance that floods every time it rains). The statute reversed the rule in place from 2002 to 2010, under which a person who slipped did not have to prove the business knew about the substance; since 2010 the burden of proving the business’s knowledge rests on the person who fell, which is why a fall at a grocery store is no longer a case a lawyer can take on the injury alone.

Everything else: the common-law rule

Section 768.0755 applies only to transitory substances in business establishments. Trips on broken pavement, raised sidewalk slabs and parking lot potholes; falls on stairs with bad lighting, missing handrails or uneven risers; loose mats and carpet; pool deck and dock surfaces; construction debris; and falls in apartment common areas are judged under the ordinary premises liability rules, where the owner’s duty to inspect and maintain, and building and safety codes, do most of the work.

The defenses you will hear

Owners and their insurers answer with the same arguments in nearly every file: the hazard was open and obvious, so no warning was owed; the owner had no way to know; the fall was the visitor’s own fault for not looking, for the shoes worn, for carrying a child or a phone. Under Florida’s modified comparative negligence rule in section 768.81, a visitor found more than 50 percent at fault recovers nothing and a smaller share reduces the award, so the fault argument is made for money, and it is answered with evidence.

The evidence, and how quickly it is gone

Fall cases are built from the owner’s own records, and most of them have a short life.

• Surveillance video. Nearly every store, restaurant, hotel and complex records its floors and entrances, and most systems overwrite within days. The video shows the substance, how long it was there, who walked past it, and the fall itself. Our preservation letter goes out the day we are retained, and a business that overwrites footage after receiving it answers for that in court.
• The incident report. Written by the manager within minutes, before the lawyers were involved, and often the most honest account the defense will ever produce.
• Inspection and sweep logs, maintenance records and work orders, which show whether the floor was checked, how often, and whether the leak or the broken step had been reported before.
• Prior incident reports and complaints for the same location, which prove the “regularity” prong of the statute.
• Witnesses, including the employees on duty, whose names are in the schedule and the report.
• The scene itself, photographed before it is cleaned, repaired or repainted, and measured by an expert when the case calls for it: slip resistance of the floor surface, stair geometry, lighting levels, handrail height, and compliance with the Florida Building Code and the accessibility standards.

What to do after a fall

• Report it before you leave, to a manager, and ask that an incident report be made. Give the facts, not an apology; “I should have been looking” becomes the defense’s first exhibit.
• Photograph the hazard and the surrounding area before it is cleaned, including anything that shows how long it had been there, and the absence of warning signs or cones.
• Get the names of employees and witnesses, and keep the shoes you were wearing.
• See a doctor that day, and tell the provider how you were hurt. A fall produces injuries that worsen over days, and the medical record is the proof.
• Do not give the owner’s insurer a recorded statement, sign a release, or accept a check. Early offers are made before anyone knows what the injury is.
• Call a lawyer within days, not weeks, because the video will not wait.

Who is responsible

The property owner, the business that operates on it, and the management company are the usual defendants, and often a maintenance, janitorial or security contractor shares fault. In apartment and condominium complexes the landlord’s duties under Chapter 83 and the association’s duties over common areas apply. When the property belongs to a city, county, school district or state agency, section 768.28 requires written notice before suit and caps recovery at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident unless the Legislature passes a claims bill.

Damages and deadlines

A fall is not a motor vehicle claim, so Florida’s no-fault system and its permanent-injury threshold do not apply: there is no PIP to pay first, and pain and suffering is recoverable from the first dollar. Medical bills past and future, lost wages and earning capacity, household help, pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement and loss of enjoyment of life are recoverable, and a spouse may claim loss of consortium. Since 2023, section 768.0427 limits evidence of medical bills to amounts actually paid or owed and requires disclosure of treatment under a letter of protection. A negligence lawsuit must be filed within two years of the fall under section 95.11, and a wrongful death claim within two years of the death.

Where we handle fall cases

Kemp Law Group represents fall victims throughout Florida and in Georgia, from our office at 11567 Trinity Boulevard in Trinity. See our pages for Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties; for Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, New Port Richey, Spring Hill and Wesley Chapel; for South Florida, Central Florida, Southwest Florida and North Florida; and for Georgia. See our case results.

Frequently asked questions about Florida slip and fall claims

I fell on a wet floor at a store. Do I have a case?

If the store knew or should have known the floor was wet and did nothing. Under section 768.0755 that is proven by how long the hazard was there or how often it recurred, with the store’s video, logs and prior reports. Whether a case exists depends on that evidence, which is why calling within days matters more in a fall than in almost any other kind of claim.

The store says the hazard was obvious and I should have seen it. Is that a defense?

It is an argument. An open and obvious hazard can reduce the duty to warn, but it does not excuse the duty to keep the premises reasonably safe, and the jury decides whether a reasonable person would have seen and avoided it. Under section 768.81 your share of fault reduces the recovery and bars it above 50 percent, so the argument is answered with the facts, not conceded.

Does Florida’s no-fault threshold apply to a fall?

No. The permanent-injury threshold applies to motor vehicle claims. In a fall, pain and suffering is recoverable without proving a permanent injury.

There’s no video. Can I still win?

Often, yes. The incident report, the employees’ own statements, the inspection logs, prior incidents at the same spot, and the condition of the hazard (a spill that had dried, a leak that had been reported) prove knowledge without footage. And a business that had video and let it be overwritten after a preservation letter faces consequences for that.

I fell at an apartment complex where I live. Can I sue my landlord?

Yes, for a hazard in a common area or a defect the landlord was responsible for maintaining and knew or should have known about. The lease, Chapter 83 and the complex’s work-order history define the duty.

How long do I have to file?

Two years from the fall under section 95.11, and two years from the death in a fatal case, with earlier written-notice requirements for government-owned property. The video disappears in days.

What does a slip and fall lawyer cost?

Nothing up front. We work on a contingency fee within the Florida Bar’s maximum percentages, paid only from a recovery, and we advance the costs of the case. If there is no recovery, you owe no fee.

If you were hurt in a fall on someone else’s property anywhere in Florida or Georgia, call (727) 847-4878 or request a free case review online. We answer 24 hours a day, and you pay nothing unless we win.