From the polished marble floors of Brickell City Centre to the wet pool decks of Miami Beach hotels, slippery and poorly maintained surfaces injure thousands of people in Miami-Dade every year. Florida's premises-liability law places a legal duty on property owners and operators to maintain safe conditions for lawful visitors. When that duty is breached, the consequences, fractured hips, torn ligaments, traumatic brain injuries, can follow victims for life.

Why Gold & Gold in Miami

Philip A. Gold and David H. Gold know that the most valuable evidence in a Miami slip-and-fall case, surveillance video, incident reports, and maintenance logs, can disappear within days. We send preservation demands to property owners and their management companies the moment we are retained, and we retain premises-safety experts who can document Florida Building Code violations and industry-standard maintenance failures. Our track record in Miami-Dade gives insurance adjusters reason to resolve cases fairly rather than risk a South Florida jury verdict.

Miami courts, deadlines & Florida rules

Florida's general negligence statute of limitations is two years under the HB 837 amendments effective March 24, 2023. For slip-and-fall claims in commercial establishments, Florida Statutes Section 768.0755 requires the plaintiff to prove that the property owner had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition. Constructive knowledge can be shown by the condition's duration or by evidence of a recurring hazard, a standard that rewards early evidence gathering. Cases in Miami-Dade are litigated in the 11th Judicial Circuit; Brickell and South Beach venues have specific property management chains whose inspection practices our attorneys know well.

Common slip & fall cases we see in Miami

  • Wet-floor falls in Miami International Airport concourses and retail concessions
  • Hotel pool-deck and spa injuries at Miami Beach and Brickell properties
  • Parking-garage trip-and-fall due to broken pavement or inadequate lighting in Coral Gables and Coconut Grove
  • Grocery-store and big-box retail spill injuries in Miami-Dade shopping centers
  • Sidewalk trip-and-fall on defective public walkways maintained by Miami-Dade County
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

The store manager made me sign an incident report. Does that hurt my case?
An incident report is actually helpful, it documents the date, time, and location of your fall and creates a record before memories fade. However, you are not required to give a recorded statement to the property owner's insurer, and you should not do so before speaking with an attorney. Call us before responding to any insurer's questions.
I fell on a Miami-Dade County sidewalk. Can I sue the county?
Yes, but sovereign immunity rules apply. Under Fla. Stat. Section 768.28, claims against Miami-Dade County require written notice to the county within three years of the incident and are subject to a $200,000 per-claimant damages cap absent a legislative claims bill. The standard two-year negligence deadline also applies, so act promptly.
What if I was partly at fault for the fall, maybe I was looking at my phone?
Florida adopted modified comparative negligence under HB 837. As long as your share of fault is 50% or less, you may still recover damages reduced by your percentage of fault. If a jury finds you 51% or more at fault, you recover nothing. We build the strongest possible case for placing primary responsibility on the property owner.