Reviewed by Larry "Jimmy" Peters, Abogado — licenciado en TN, MS, AR, TX, KY & GA · Actualizado junio 2026

Memphis Slip and Fall Lawyer

What is premises liability under Tennessee law?

“Premises liability” is the area of law that holds property owners and occupiers responsible when an unsafe condition on their property injures a lawful visitor. A Memphis grocery store, apartment complex, restaurant, hotel, or shopping center has a legal duty of reasonable care to keep the premises safe for the people it invites in. When a manager ignores a leaking refrigerator case, lets a parking lot pothole go unrepaired for months, or fails to salt an icy entrance, and someone falls and is hurt, that owner can be liable for the resulting medical bills, lost wages, and pain.

A slip-and-fall claim is no automatic, though. Tennessee law does not make a property owner the insurer of everyone who walks through the door. You have to prove that the owner was negligente — that a reasonable owner would have found and fixed (or warned about) the hazard, and that the failure to do so caused your injury. That is exactly the kind of case our firm is built to prove, and the evidence that wins it starts disappearing within days of your fall.

Does my status on the property affect my claim?

Yes. Tennessee historically sorted visitors into categories — invitee, licensee, and trespasser — and the duty an owner owes depends in part on which you are.

• Invitee: someone on the property for the owner’s business benefit — a shopper at a Memphis Kroger, a tenant in an apartment complex, a customer at a restaurant. Invitees are owed the highest duty: reasonable care to keep the premises safe y to inspect for hidden dangers.
• Licensee: a social guest or someone present with permission but not for business. The owner must warn of known dangers but has a lesser duty to inspect.
• Trespasser: someone with no permission to be there. Owners generally owe only a duty not to willfully injure them (with special rules protecting children).

Most Memphis slip-and-fall victims are invitees — customers and tenants — which is the strongest position to be in. Owners and their insurers sometimes argue you were somewhere you “shouldn’t have been” to downgrade your status. Establishing that you were a lawful invitee is an early, important step we handle for you.

Do I have to prove the owner knew about the hazard?

This is the heart of most Tennessee slip-and-fall cases. Generally, you must prove the property owner had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition before your fall.

Aviso real means the owner or an employee genuinely knew about the hazard — for example, an employee saw the spill or a tenant had complained about the broken stair. Aviso constructivo means the hazard existed long enough that a reasonable owner debería have discovered and addressed it through routine inspection. In Blair v. West Town Mall, the Tennessee Supreme Court confirmed that a plaintiff can also establish liability by showing the dangerous condition was created by the owner’s own pattern of conduct, recurring incident, or general method of operation — you do not always have to prove how long a single spill sat on the floor.

Proving notice is where cases are won or lost, and it is highly fact-specific: how long was the spill there, did the store have an inspection log, were there prior complaints, did the design of the display make spills predictable? We move quickly to lock down inspection records, incident reports, and employee testimony before memories fade and documents are “lost.”

Why is surveillance video so important after a fall?

Surveillance footage is often the single most powerful piece of evidence in a Memphis slip-and-fall case. It can show the hazard existed, how long it was there, whether employees walked past it, and exactly how you fell — cutting through the store’s later claim that “the floor was dry” or “you weren’t watching where you were going.”

The problem is timing. Many stores and apartment complexes overwrite their video automatically within 7 to 30 days. Once it is gone, it is gone. That is why one of the first things we do is send a spoliation (evidence-preservation) letter demanding the owner retain all footage, incident reports, and inspection logs. If a property destroys evidence after being warned, Tennessee courts can sanction them — sometimes by instructing the jury to assume the lost video would have helped you. The faster you call a lawyer, the more likely that video still exists.

Does an “open and obvious” hazard defeat my claim?

Not by itself. Property owners and insurers love to argue that a hazard was so “open and obvious” that you should have avoided it, ending their responsibility. Tennessee rejects that as an automatic bar. In Coln v. City of Savannah, the Tennessee Supreme Court held that the open-and-obvious nature of a danger is just one factor in the analysis — courts balance the foreseeability and gravity of the potential harm against the burden on the owner of removing the danger.

In plain terms: if it was foreseeable that a customer might be distracted by displays and step in a puddle, the store can still be liable even if the puddle was visible. An obvious hazard may reduce your recovery through comparative fault (below), but it does not end your case. Do not let an insurance adjuster talk you out of a valid claim by telling you “you should have seen it.”

What if I was partly at fault for my fall?

You can still recover. Tennessee follows falla comparativa modificada under the 50% bar rule, established in McIntyre v. Balentine (1992). A jury assigns each party a percentage of fault. As long as you are found menos del 50% de culpa, you recover — but your award is reduced by your share. If you are 50% or more at fault, you recover nothing.

For example, if your damages are $100,000 and you are found 20% at fault (perhaps you were looking at your phone), you would recover $80,000. Insurers routinely inflate your share of fault to push you over the 50% line or shrink the payout. We push back with the evidence — the video, the inspection log, the prior complaints — that puts the responsibility where it belongs: on the owner who let the hazard exist.

Where do most Memphis slip-and-fall accidents happen?

We see premises injuries across every part of Shelby County. The most common settings include:

• Grocery and big-box stores — spills in aisles, leaking freezer cases, recently mopped floors with no warning cones, produce on the floor.
• Complejos de apartamento — broken or poorly lit stairwells, cracked sidewalks, unrepaired handrails, and icy walkways (a frequent issue for Memphis landlords).
• Aparcamientos y garajes — potholes, wheel stops, crumbling curbs, and inadequate lighting.
• Restaurantes y bares — greasy kitchens-adjacent floors, spilled drinks, and slick entryways during rain.
• Hotels, gas stations, and retail centers — wet lobbies, transition mats, and uneven thresholds.

Serious falls in Memphis often require trauma care at Regional One Health, and disputed cases are litigated in Shelby County Circuit Court. Knowing the local stores, complexes, insurers, and venue is part of how we value and pursue your claim.

What injuries do slip-and-fall victims commonly suffer?

People underestimate falls until they experience one. A fall onto a hard tile or concrete surface can cause life-altering injuries, including:

• Huesos rotos — wrists, hips, ankles, and arms, often requiring surgery and hardware.
• Head and brain injuries — concussions and traumatic brain injuries, even without losing consciousness.
• Spine and back injuries — herniated discs, fractured vertebrae, and nerve damage.
• Shoulder and rotator cuff tears from bracing against the fall.
• Soft-tissue injuries and lasting chronic pain.

For older adults especially, a broken hip can mean permanent loss of independence. We make sure your medical record fully documents the injury, the treatment, and the long-term effects — because the value of your claim rises and falls on how thoroughly the harm is proven.

How dangerous are falls for older adults?

Falls are the leading cause of injury death for adults 65 and older, and the risk is rising sharply. According to the CDC, the older-adult fall death rate climbed about 21% — from 64.7 to 78.4 deaths per 100,000 — between 2018 and 2024. Roughly one in four older adults falls each year, and falls send about 3 million older Americans to emergency rooms annually.

Source: CDC, Unintentional Fall Deaths in Adults Age 65 and Older (NCHS Data Brief) and CDC Older Adult Falls data.

These are not just statistics — they are the parents and grandparents of Memphis families, hurt in falls that better property maintenance could have prevented. When negligence by a landlord, store, or care facility causes a senior’s fall, we hold them accountable.

How long do I have to file a slip-and-fall claim in Tennessee?

Generally one year from the date of the fall, under Tennessee’s personal-injury statute of limitations, Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104. This is one of the shortest deadlines in the nation — many states allow two or three years. If you miss it, the court will almost always dismiss your case no matter how strong it was.

A few situations can change the clock — claims involving a government property owner have their own notice rules and timelines, and limited exceptions can apply for minors or incapacity. Because the deadline is so short and the evidence (especially video) disappears so fast, the safest move is to call a lawyer within days, not months, of your fall. Waiting is the single most common reason a good claim becomes impossible to pursue.

How much is my Memphis slip-and-fall case worth?

Every case is different, but the value generally reflects the full extent of your losses:

• Daños económicos — medical bills (past and future), lost wages, reduced earning capacity, and out-of-pocket costs. These are uncapped in Tennessee.
• Daños no económicos — pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and disfigurement. Tennessee caps these at $750,000, rising to $1,000,000 for catastrophic injuries such as severe burns, spinal cord injury, or loss of a limb (Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-39-102).

Beware of early “nuisance value” offers from insurers before you know the full scope of your injury. Once you accept and sign a release, you cannot reopen the claim if your condition worsens. We value your case based on a complete medical picture and the strength of the liability evidence — not the adjuster’s opening number.

What should I do after a slip-and-fall in Memphis?

• Report it to the store manager or property owner and ask for a written incident report — get a copy or the report number.
• Fotografía todo — the hazard, the surrounding area, lack of warning signs, your footwear, and your injuries, before anything is cleaned up.
• Get names of employees and any witnesses, with phone numbers.
• Seek medical care promptly — both for your health and to document that the injury came from the fall. Gaps in treatment are used against you.
• Do not give a recorded statement to the property’s insurer or sign anything before talking to a lawyer.
• Preserve your evidence — keep the shoes and clothing you were wearing, and write down what happened while it is fresh.
• Call a lawyer quickly so a preservation letter goes out before the surveillance video is erased.

How does our firm build your slip-and-fall case?

From day one, we work to preserve and develop the evidence that wins premises cases:

• We send evidence-preservation letters immediately to stop surveillance video and inspection logs from being destroyed.
• We obtain the store’s incident reports, inspection/sweep records, and maintenance history to establish notice.
• We interview witnesses and employees and document the scene while conditions can still be verified.
• We work with medical and safety experts — including building-code and human-factors experts where needed — to prove how the hazard caused your injury.
• We fully document your daños, including future care and lost earning capacity, so no part of your loss is left on the table.
• We handle every conversation with the insurer and are ready to try your case in Shelby County Circuit Court if they refuse to pay fairly.

Why choose Southern Injury Attorneys?

Southern Injury Attorneys is a Memphis-based personal injury firm representing accident and premises-liability victims across Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, Kentucky, and Georgia. We focus on maximizing the compensation our clients recover — not on fast, low settlements. Our slip-and-fall clients pay sin cargo a menos que ganemos, the consultation is free and available 24/7, and we front the costs of investigation and experts. With a 4.8-star rating across 96 Google reviews, we are proud of the trust Memphis families place in us.

Call 800-224-5546 or contact us online for a free, no-obligation review of your Memphis slip-and-fall case. Our office is at 5865 Ridgeway Center Pkwy, Suite 390, Memphis, TN 38120.

Frequently asked questions

Do you handle slip-and-fall cases throughout Memphis?

Yes. We represent slip-and-fall and premises-liability victims across Memphis and all of Shelby County, including Cordova, Germantown, Bartlett, and Collierville, as well as statewide in Tennessee. The consultation is free and there is no fee unless we win.

What do I have to prove in a Tennessee slip-and-fall case?

You generally must prove the property owner owed you a duty of care, had actual or constructive notice of a dangerous condition, breached that duty by failing to fix it or warn you, and that the breach caused your injury and damages.

The store says the hazard was obvious. Does that end my claim?

No. Under Coln v. City of Savannah, an open-and-obvious danger is not an automatic bar in Tennessee. Courts weigh the foreseeability and seriousness of the harm against the burden of removing the hazard, so you may still recover.

Why is surveillance video so important?

Video can prove the hazard existed, how long it was there, and how you fell. Because many properties erase footage within 7 to 30 days, calling a lawyer quickly so a preservation letter goes out is often critical to saving it.

What if I was partly at fault for my fall?

Tennessee uses modified comparative fault. As long as you are less than 50% at fault you can recover, though your award is reduced by your percentage of fault. At 50% or more, you cannot recover.

How long do I have to file a slip-and-fall lawsuit in Tennessee?

Generally one year from the date of the fall (Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104). It is one of the shortest deadlines in the country, so do not wait to get advice.

¿Cuánto cuesta contratar a Fiscales del Sur?

Nothing upfront. We work on a contingency fee, which means you pay no attorney fee unless we recover money for you, and the initial consultation is always free.

What is my Memphis slip-and-fall case worth?

It depends on your medical bills, lost income, and the severity and permanence of your injury. Economic damages are uncapped in Tennessee; non-economic damages are capped at $750,000 ($1,000,000 for catastrophic injuries) under § 29-39-102.

About the author

Larry “Jimmy” Peters — Personal Injury Attorney & Founder, Southern Injury Attorneys

Licensed in Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, Kentucky & Georgia · 4.8★ / 96 Google reviews

Jimmy Peters founded Southern Injury Attorneys to help accident and premises-liability victims across the South recover the full compensation they are owed. He and his team handle slip-and-fall, auto, and truck cases from intake through trial, with a focus on Memphis and Shelby County. This article is for general information and is not legal advice; for guidance on your specific case, call 800-224-5546 for a free consultation.