Slip and fall cases span a wide range of accidents. You may be injured from defective stairs, slipping on snow or ice, a porch or roof collapse, or falling into a city pothole. Whenever the accident occurs on someone else’s property, the owner may be liable for your injuries.

In order to hold the property owner liable, you’ll generally need to prove three things:

1. A latent defect existed.

2. The property owner caused the defect, or he knew or should have reasonably known about the defect and he did nothing about it.

3. You could not have discovered the defect through a reasonable examination.

You may also be able to establish liability in other situations if you can show that:

• The owner fraudulently concealed a dangerous condition from you.

• The owner promised that he would repair the defect and then later failed to repair it.

• The owner voluntarily undertook to make repairs or improvements on his property and failed to use reasonable care in doing so.

A property owner can only be held liable for slip and fall injuries if he was responsible for maintaining the property, he failed to take reasonable steps to avoid the injury, fixing the problem or giving adequate warnings would not have been unreasonably costly or difficult, it was likely that a serious injury would occur, the owner’s negligence was the cause of the injury, and the victim was actually hurt.

A very common instance of slip and fall injuries is ice and snow on someone else’s property. The law in Illinois for removal of snow and ice is based on "natural accumulation." Generally, property owners are not required to shovel snow or remove ice from walkways and stairs because anything that naturally accumulates due to weather is not the owner’s responsibility. The law views this more as an "act of God." However, if an owner does a poor job shoveling snow (negligence) or allows ice to accumulate because of a leaky gutter (negligence), then he may be liable for slip and fall injuries that occur as a result.

While not mandatory in Illinois, property owners should definitely carry some insurance to protect themselves against slip and fall injury lawsuits (they also need insurance to obtain a mortgage). Liability insurance which covers any injuries suffered due to defective conditions, as well as attorneys’ fees, is provided under a comprehensive general liability policy.

One important thing to keep in mind is that if you slip and fall, injuring yourself on public or government-owned property, such as a pothole, most states require that you notify the appropriate governmental agency (e.g., the city) promptly, in some cases as quickly as within one month of your injury. If you fail to report your injury before the time limit expires, you may lose your right to recover damages forever. It is a good idea to contact a lawyer as soon as possible after you are injured in any slip and fall case. Most attorneys will quickly investigate the scene of the accident to preserve any evidence before it is lost. If possible, if you get hurt from a slip and fall you should take pictures of the area where you fell and document everything that happened.

About the author: Michael Helfand is a Chicago lawyer who runs the referral website www.findgreatlawyers.com. For more information about Illinois slip and fall law he recommends that you visit http://www.findgreatlawyers.com/2SlipandFall.htm.