The first thing that needs to be established in any premises liability or general slip-and-fall case is that there was a duty that was violated, is that there was a negligent act. And that can come up one way or another. It can either be something that was done by the property owner that should not have been done, or something that was not done that should have been done.

And, frankly, in many slip-and-fall cases, it’s the second that we see, which is failure to maintain a walkway. In Minnesota during the winter, an individual has 24 hours after a snow event or a winter weather event to remove or improve the condition, to make it safe. And in Minnesota, oftentimes the injuries that we see from slip-and-falls arise when a property owner isn’t attentive in maintaining their property and getting things into a proper condition following a winter weather event. 

The second thing that needs to be proved is that there is an injury, and that the individual suffered the injury as a result of that act or omission on the part of the property owner.