Premises Liability Update 2023—No More “Open and Obvious” Defense

Dec 5, 2023 | General Interest, Personal Injury Case

In a very important case issued in July of 2023, the Michigan Supreme Court reversed almost 25 years of Michigan premises liability law that used to highly favor store owners. No longer will cases be routinely tossed out of court because a customer fell on some substance or liquid in a store that the judge deemed to be “open and obvious.”

The case is called Kandil-Elsayed v F&E Oil, Inc. Now, the issue of whether and to what extent an alleged defective condition on a store’s premises was readily discoverable to a customer is up to a jury to decide, not a judge.

This is a very important change to Michigan law and should help many injured customers recover from a store’s insurance company, including cases involving slip and falls on ice and snow.

If you’ve tripped or fallen in a store or a store’s parking lot or sidewalk, be sure to contact the attorneys at Atkinson Petruska Kozma Hart & Couture for free consultation. No one northern Michigan knows personal injury law better than the attorneys at APKH&C, who have been representing injured people for over 50 years. Contact us at need-lawyer.com.