After a slip, trip or fall on someone else's property in Illinois, you generally must show that a condition on the property presented an unreasonable risk of harm, that the owner created it, knew about it or should have discovered it, and that the owner's negligence caused your injury (IPI Civil 120.08). A fall alone does not prove negligence. Evidence disappears quickly, and most lawsuits must be filed within two years (735 ILCS 5/13-202). Stavros Law Offices offers a free consultation. Call (847) 520-4810.
General information, not legal advice. Last reviewed: October 2026.
This guide focuses on slip, trip and fall injuries. For other unsafe-property claims, including inadequate security, swimming pools and falling objects, see our Illinois premises liability page.
Common Causes of Slip, Trip and Fall Injuries
- Spills, leaks, produce or debris on store and restaurant floors
- Wet floors without warning, or floors that are slippery because of the surface or cleaning products
- Torn carpet, loose mats, uneven flooring or broken tiles
- Cracked or uneven sidewalks and parking lots, potholes and wheel stops
- Broken stairs, missing handrails and poorly lit stairways or hallways
- Cords, boxes, pallets or merchandise left in aisles
- Ice formed from leaking downspouts, poor drainage or improper snow piling
What You Generally Need to Prove
The Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions for premises cases list what a plaintiff generally must prove (IPI Civil 120.08):
- There was a condition on the property that presented an unreasonable risk of harm to people on the property.
- The defendant knew, or in the exercise of ordinary care should have known, of both the condition and the risk.
- The defendant could reasonably expect that people on the property would not discover or realize the danger, or would fail to protect themselves against it.
- The defendant was negligent.
- The plaintiff was injured.
- The defendant's negligence was a proximate cause of the injury.
These elements reflect the Premises Liability Act's duty of reasonable care under the circumstances to people lawfully on the premises (740 ILCS 130/2).
A fall alone does not prove negligence. The injured person must show that the business created the hazard, knew about it, or should have discovered it because it had been there long enough (Donoho v. O'Connell's, Inc., 13 Ill. 2d 113 (1958); Olinger v. Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., 21 Ill. 2d 469 (1961)).
Notice: Did the Owner Know, or Should They Have Known?
Notice is often the central issue in a fall case. In general terms, it can be shown in two ways:
- Actual notice: the owner or its employees knew about the hazard, for example because a customer reported a spill or an employee caused it.
- Constructive notice: the owner should have known about it in the exercise of ordinary care, for example because the condition existed long enough that a reasonable inspection would have found it.
Evidence about notice can include video showing how long a spill was on the floor, inspection and cleaning logs, prior complaints, repair records, and what employees saw. When a business created the hazard itself, such as by stacking merchandise unsafely or mopping without a warning, the injured person does not have to prove the business knew about it (Donoho). For falls on public property, the Tort Immunity Act has its own notice rule (745 ILCS 10/3-102).
The Open-and-Obvious Doctrine
An owner generally has no duty to protect against a danger that is open and obvious, but that is not an automatic bar. A duty can still exist where the owner should expect a visitor to be distracted or to have no reasonable choice but to encounter the hazard (Ward v. K Mart Corp., 136 Ill. 2d 132 (1990); LaFever v. Kemlite Co., 185 Ill. 2d 380 (1998); Bruns v. City of Centralia, 2014 IL 116998). Whether a condition is open and obvious is decided by the judge when its physical nature is undisputed and by the jury when it is disputed.
- Distraction: there must be evidence that the person was actually distracted; simply looking elsewhere is not by itself a distraction (Bruns; IPI Civil 120.08).
- Deliberate encounter: the owner may reasonably expect a person to proceed despite the danger because the advantages of doing so outweigh the apparent risk (LaFever; IPI Civil 120.09).
How these rules apply depends on the facts.
Falls in Stores and Other Businesses
Businesses that invite the public in should inspect, clean and warn as reasonable care requires. After a fall in a store, restaurant or other business:
- Report the fall to a manager and ask for the incident report number. You do not have to sign a written statement on the spot.
- Photograph the hazard before it is cleaned up, including any lack of warning signs.
- Note the names of employees who responded and any customers who saw the fall.
- Ask in writing that the business preserve its video. Many systems record over footage in a short time.
Water tracked in from outside is treated differently. Tracked-in water or snow is treated as a natural accumulation, so a business generally has no duty to remove it, while a slippery floor surface or an unnatural accumulation can support a claim (IPI Civil 125.00 introduction; Lohan v. Walgreens Co., 140 Ill. App. 3d 171 (1986)).
Snow and Ice Falls
Illinois owners generally have no duty to remove natural accumulations of snow and ice, but they can be liable for unnatural accumulations they cause, for example through defective drainage, downspouts or grading. For residential property, the Snow and Ice Removal Act protects people who shovel or salt the abutting sidewalk from liability for those efforts unless their conduct was willful or wanton (745 ILCS 75/2). It does not protect against a claim that negligent maintenance of the property created the ice (Murphy-Hylton v. Lieberman Management Services, Inc., 2016 IL 120394). Our premises liability page explains these rules and the immunity for weather conditions on public ways.
Evidence to Gather After a Fall
- Medical care right away, with an accurate description of how the fall happened
- Photographs and video of the hazard, the area, lighting and warning signs
- The shoes and clothing you were wearing
- Names and phone numbers of witnesses and employees
- The incident report number and the name of the person who took the report
- Medical records, bills, pay stubs and a short journal of pain and limits
Comparative Fault in Fall Cases
If you were partly at fault, your damages are reduced by your share of the fault. If you were more than 50% at fault, you cannot recover (735 ILCS 5/2-1116). Different rules apply to some statutory claims. In fall cases, insurers often point to footwear, phone use or not watching the ground. Those arguments do not erase the owner's duties; fault is decided on the facts. See comparative fault in Illinois.
Falls on Public Property and Deadlines
Claims against cities, park districts, schools and other local governments are governed by the Tort Immunity Act. The entity must have had actual or constructive notice of the unsafe condition in time to fix it (745 ILCS 10/3-102). It is not liable for the effect of weather as such on streets and sidewalks (10/3-105), and injuries from the condition of parks, playgrounds and other recreational property require willful and wanton conduct (10/3-106). Suit generally must be filed within one year (10/8-101).
Most Illinois personal injury lawsuits must be filed within two years of the injury (735 ILCS 5/13-202). A child injured by a private person or business generally has until two years after turning 18 (735 ILCS 5/13-211). Claims against physicians, dentists, registered nurses and hospitals follow a separate statute: two years from when the injury was or should have been discovered and never more than four years after the treatment; for a child, eight years after the treatment but never past the 22nd birthday (735 ILCS 5/13-212).
Claims against a city, village, county, township, school district, park district or other local public body, or its employees, generally must be filed within one year (745 ILCS 10/8-101(a)). For a child's ordinary injury claim, that year generally runs from the 18th birthday, so the lawsuit must be filed before the child turns 19, not 20. Claims arising out of patient care at a public hospital or clinic follow a different rule: two years from when the injury was or should have been discovered, and never more than four years after the care (745 ILCS 10/8-101(b)).
Claims against the State of Illinois are brought in the Illinois Court of Claims under separate rules. An injury claim generally requires written notice to the Attorney General and the Clerk of the Court of Claims within one year, unless the claim itself is filed within that year, and the claim must be filed within two years (705 ILCS 505/22-1, 22(h)). A missed notice deadline bars the claim (705 ILCS 505/22-2).
Our guide to Illinois personal injury deadlines explains the exceptions, and our Illinois injury deadlines at a glance table summarizes them. Fall claims are handled on a contingency fee: no fee unless we win. If we do not recover money for you, you owe nothing: no attorney fee and no case costs. See attorney fees, how much an injury case is worth and our injury case timeline.
Our county pages explain where injury cases are filed: Cook County, Lake County, DuPage County, Kane County and McHenry County.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do I have to prove in an Illinois slip and fall case
?
Generally, that a condition on the property presented an unreasonable risk of harm, the owner knew or should have known of the condition and the risk, the owner could expect people would not discover or protect themselves against it, the owner was negligent, and that negligence caused your injury (IPI Civil 120.08). A fall alone does not prove negligence, but if the business created the hazard, you do not have to prove it knew about it (Donoho v. O'Connell's, Inc., 13 Ill. 2d 113 (1958)).
What if the hazard was obvious?
An open and obvious danger is not an automatic bar in Illinois. A duty can still exist where the owner should expect a visitor to be distracted or to have no reasonable choice but to encounter the hazard (Ward v. K Mart Corp., 136 Ill. 2d 132 (1990); LaFever v. Kemlite Co., 185 Ill. 2d 380 (1998); Bruns v. City of Centralia, 2014 IL 116998). The judge decides the question when the physical nature of the condition is undisputed, and the jury decides it when it is disputed.
The store says it did not know about the spill. Can I still have a claim?
Possibly. A claim can be based on what the owner knew or should have known in the exercise of ordinary care. Video, inspection logs and witness statements can show how long a hazard was there. If the business created the hazard, the analysis can be different.
Can I recover if I was partly at fault for my fall?
If you were partly at fault, your damages are reduced by your share of the fault. If you were more than 50% at fault, you cannot recover (735 ILCS 5/2-1116). Different rules apply to some statutory claims. Fault is decided on the facts.
How long do I have to file a slip and fall lawsuit in Illinois?
Most Illinois personal injury lawsuits must be filed within two years of the injury (735 ILCS 5/13-202). A child injured by a private person or business generally has until two years after turning 18 (735 ILCS 5/13-211). Claims against a local public body generally must be filed within one year (745 ILCS 10/8-101(a)); for a child, that generally means before the 19th birthday. Claims against the State require written notice within one year unless the claim is filed within that year (705 ILCS 505/22-1). Medical claims follow 735 ILCS 5/13-212.
Talk to Our Team
Stavros Law Offices is one team handling criminal defense and DUI, personal injury and civil litigation. We handle slip, trip and fall claims for clients in our service area from our Wheeling office. Call (847) 520-4810 or request a free consultation online. Available 24/7 by phone at (847) 520-4810. Leave a message after hours and calls are returned promptly. Our bilingual staff can assist. Se habla español.
Stavros Law Offices
433 N. Milwaukee Ave, Wheeling, IL 60090
(847) 520-4810
Monday–Friday 9–5; closed Saturday
Free consultation. Serving clients in Cook, Lake, McHenry, Kane and DuPage Counties.
General information, not legal advice; no attorney-client relationship is formed until the firm is engaged. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Laws, deadlines and court procedures change and every case is different. Last reviewed: October 2026.
