Slip & fall / premises liability

A slip-and-fall is the single most common type of premises liability claim I see—the everyday result of a wet floor in a grocery store, a patch of ice on an apartment sidewalk, a pothole in a parking lot, or a dim stairwell with no warning sign. This page focuses on those specific, familiar scenarios — for the broader legal framework governing a property owner's duty of care, see my premises liability page, which covers claims involving invitees, licensees, and dangerous conditions beyond falls alone.

What happens in the minutes and days after a fall often shapes the rest of the claim. I encourage clients to photograph the hazard before it's cleaned up or repaired, request a copy of any incident report filed with the property, get the names and contact information of anyone who saw the fall, and see a doctor promptly—even if the injury seems minor at first. Gaps in medical care are one of the first things an insurance adjuster will point to when disputing a claim, and thin or missing documentation makes it harder to reconstruct what actually happened on the ground.

Kansas follows a modified comparative fault rule under K.S.A. 60-258a, and it comes up in nearly every slip-and-fall case I handle. A property owner or its insurer will often argue that you weren't watching where you were walking, or that the hazard was open and obvious. Under Kansas law, your recovery is reduced by your own percentage of fault, and if you're found 50% or more at fault, you're barred from recovering at all. That makes an honest, early look at the facts—lighting, warning signs, foot traffic, weather conditions—an important part of evaluating any slip-and-fall claim.

These claims can be brought against a range of property owners and occupiers — retail stores and restaurants, apartment complexes and landlords, and, for falls on public sidewalks or municipal property, cities and counties. Claims against a Kansas city or county involve additional notice requirements under the Kansas Tort Claims Act, and general personal injury claims are subject to Kansas's two-year statute of limitations under K.S.A. 60-513—so timing matters. I practice with Smith Law Firm in Topeka and work with slip-and-fall clients throughout Kansas, including Topeka, Junction City, and Manhattan.

How I approach slip-and-fall claims

• Move quickly to preserve evidence—photos, incident reports, and witness names tend to disappear fast.
• Look closely at the hazard itself — how long it existed, whether it was marked, and whether the property followed its own safety practices.
• Walk you through how Kansas comparative fault could apply to your specific facts, in plain language, before you decide anything.

No attorney can promise a result, and every slip-and-fall case turns on its own facts. This page is general information, not legal advice, and past results of any attorney do not guarantee a similar outcome.