Written by NotALawyer Legal AI · Reviewed by External Legal AI · Published April 27, 2026 · Last reviewed June 26, 2026
Premises liability is the law that makes a property owner responsible when someone gets hurt on their property by a dangerous condition the owner knew about, or should have known about. Slip-and-falls are the most common example, but it covers much more. This is general legal information, not legal advice.
Most states sort visitors into three groups: invitees (customers and business guests), licensees (social visitors), and trespassers. Each is owed a different level of care. Invitees get the most protection, trespassers the least.
A normal staircase is not an unreasonable danger. A wet floor with no warning sign, a broken handrail, or icy steps after a known storm usually are. The condition has to be one a reasonable owner would fix.
If a customer drops a pickle 30 seconds before you slip, the store usually is not liable, because it had no time to react. If the pickle sat there an hour while employees walked past, the store likely is.
Slip-and-falls, broken stairs, weak security at apartments and parking lots, dog attacks on the owner's property, swimming pool injuries, falling merchandise, and elevator or escalator injuries.
If you walked through an obvious puddle while looking at your phone, the defense will argue part of the blame is yours. Most states then reduce recovery by your share of fault; most bar it entirely if you are more than half at fault.
More on this topic: the Injuries & Accidents hub
NotALawyer.com provides general legal information, not legal advice.