The Michigan slip and fall statute of limitations gives accident victims and their families up to three (3) years from the date of injury or death to bring a lawsuit. A lawsuit can be brought against the property owners and can include other responsible parties, such as a maintenance company, for pain and suffering compensation, economic damages to cover medical bills and lost wages, and/or wrongful death damages.
The Michigan slip and fall statute of limitations is a strict but very straight-forward rule for when a lawsuit must be filed. It is extremely important that a lawsuit of this nature be brought within the appropriate time limit, as the consequences for not complying with it are severe.
For instance, although there is never a guarantee that you will win your lawsuit, by not complying with the 3-year slip and fall statute of limitations filing requirement in Michigan, you are guaranteed to lose it. If you don’t sue within the three-year deadline, your lawsuit will be dismissed.
Failure to file a lawsuit on time will cause you to forfeit your legal rights to sue for compensation and damages, both economic (medical bills, wage loss, and future lost earnings) and non-economic (pain and suffering). It will result in the immediate dismissal of any lawsuit you do attempt to file after the statute of limitations has passed.
What is the statute of limitations for suing after a slip and fall accident in Michigan?
In Michigan, the statute of limitations for suing after a slip and fall is 3 years from the date a person was injured or was killed from the fall. (MCL 600.5805(2)) If your accident occurred on government property, you may also be required to file a notice of intent to sue as early as 60 days after your fall.
What happens if you don’t file your lawsuit within the slip and fall statute of limitations in Michigan?
Your claim will be time-barred and you will have lost your legal right to sue for your injuries if you do not file your lawsuit within the 3-year slip and fall statute of limitations in Michigan. If you try to sue after the 3 years have run out, the negligent property owner will easily get your case dismissed.
These consequences for not filing your lawsuit within the legal time limit are consistent with the language of the Michigan slip and fall statute of limitation which provides that a injured victim or his or her family “shall not bring or maintain an action to recover damages for injuries to persons” unless “the action is commenced within” the 3-year statute of limitations. (MCL 600.5805(1))
Should I wait to sue until the end of the 3-year time limit?
Even though the Michigan slip and fall statute of limitations gives victims up to 3 years to sue, you should file your premises liability lawsuit as soon as your lawyer can have your case ready. In general, most of the work in slip and fall cases is done in the beginning with the investigation. Time is always of the essence in slip and fall cases because you and your lawyer need to act fast to document the scene and preserve critical evidence for your case to show how the dangerous condition existed at the time of your injury.
In this regard, slip and fall cases are not like most other types of personal injury cases. Vital legal discovery must begin as soon as possible to preserve and document the hazardous or dangerous conditions under which your injury occurred.
This evidence is crucial to your case. Your lawyer must be able to show the dangerous condition or hazard as it existed at the time of your slip and fall accident, and if too much time passes, it will likely be fixed, crucial evidence will disappear (or the negligent property owners and managers may choose to destroy it to prevent a successful lawsuit). Without legal discovery, spoliation letters, and immediate investigation, it is too easy for evidence of a dangerous hazard or condition to be lost, which can be fatal to any successful slip and fall lawsuit.
How can a lawyer help me comply with the time limits on filing a lawsuit?
An experienced slip and fall lawyer can help you comply with the statute of limitations by: (1) including all possible legal causes of action in your lawsuit; (2) naming all responsible defendants; (3) complying with important notice requirements which may shorten the statute of limitations; and (4) getting your lawsuit filed and served within the allotted three (3) year statute of limitations in Michigan.
As crucial as it is that you file your lawsuit within the three (3) years permitted by the Michigan slip and fall statute of limitations, for your lawsuit to proceed and not be dismissed out of court, you will need to hire an experienced slip and fall lawyer to help ensure that you have complied with all applicable notice and filing requirements.
Under Michigan law, if a person is going to bring a lawsuit and sue for an injury that occurred on certain governmental property he or she must also file a written “notice of intent to sue” within a statutorily prescribed time period.
The notice requirements that may apply to your slip and fall claim on governmental property in Michigan include:
- For an accident that occurs on a county road as a result of “a defective county road, bridge, or culvert under the jurisdiction of the board of county road commissioners,” your notice of intent to sue must be filed within 60 days of your injury. (MCL 224.21(3))
- For an accident that occurs as a result of a defective highway, your notice of intent to sue must be filed within 120 days of your injury. (MCL 691.1404(1))
- For an accident that occurs as a result of “any dangerous or defective public building,” your notice of intent to sue must be filed within 120 days of your injury. (MCL 691.1406)
- For an accident where you will be suing the State of Michigan as a defendant, your notice of intent to sue must be filed within 6 months of the accident that caused your injuries. (MCL 600.6431(1) and (4))
Have questions? Michigan Slip and Fall Lawyers has answers. Call us now.
The stakes are high for you and your family if you’ve been seriously injured in a slip and fall or trip and fall accident. Knowing the Michigan slip and fall statute of limitation and how to file a lawsuit can be confusing and can feel overwhelming. Our premises liability attorneys are here to help.
Attorney Tim Holland and the attorneys at Michigan Slip and Fall Lawyers are here to help you and your family fight to get the best possible legal settlement in your lawsuit. Whatever your questions are, we can answer them now for free. Call now for a no-cost, no obligation, free consultation with one of our experienced lawyers to hear about your legal rights to pain and suffering compensation and to money damages to help you and your family pay your medical bills and make up for the wages you’ve lost because your injuries have disabled you from working. To speak with us about your injury, call us now, or fill out our contact form for a free consultation.