Florida's Slip and Fall Law — What F.S. 768.0755 Requires

Florida's commercial slip and fall cases are governed by Florida Statute 768.0755, which requires plaintiffs to prove that the business had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition and failed to take action to remedy it. This statute is the reason slip and fall cases in Florida are won or lost on investigation — not on the fall itself.

Actual Knowledge vs. Constructive Knowledge

Actual knowledge means the business directly knew about the hazard — an employee created the condition, a customer reported the spill before your fall, or a prior incident occurred at the same location. Constructive knowledge is proven by demonstrating either that the dangerous condition existed long enough that a reasonable business should have discovered it through ordinary care, or that the condition occurred with such regularity that it was foreseeable. Even 15 to 20 minutes of an unaddressed spill can establish constructive knowledge under Florida's standard — but only if the evidence exists to prove the timeline.

How CHG Lawyers Defeats the 'Regular Inspection' Defense

Miami businesses — particularly Publix, Winn-Dixie, Sedano's, Target, and major hotel chains — maintain cleaning logs specifically designed to defeat constructive knowledge claims. Their insurers' standard argument: 'We inspect every 15 minutes — there is no way we could have known about this spill.'

CHG Lawyers defeats this defense systematically: We subpoena all surveillance footage to establish precisely how long the hazardous condition existed before your fall. We obtain complete maintenance and incident logs to identify whether similar conditions occurred previously at the same location, which establishes that the business had constructive awareness of a recurring hazard. We retain Florida Building Code and premises safety experts to evaluate whether the surface coating, drainage, or lighting met code standards. We identify any prior written complaints or incident reports that establish the business's constructive awareness of a repeating condition.

Florida's 2023 Tort Reform — How It Changed Miami Slip and Fall Cases

The 51% Comparative Fault Bar

Under Florida's modified comparative negligence standard (HB 837, effective March 24, 2023), any plaintiff found more than 50% responsible for a fall recovers nothing. Property owners and their insurers now aggressively argue that you were looking at your phone, wearing inappropriate footwear, failed to notice a visible warning cone, or entered a restricted area — specifically to push your fault above 51% and eliminate all recovery. CHG Lawyers builds comparative fault defense from day one: documenting the specific defect, gathering witness accounts of your attentiveness, and retaining safety experts to establish that the property's failure created an unreasonably dangerous condition regardless of any contributory factor.

The 2-Year Filing Deadline

Falls occurring after March 24, 2023 have a 2-year statute of limitations under the amended Florida Statute 95.11. Falls occurring before that date may carry the prior 4-year deadline. The practical deadline is evidence — surveillance footage and cleaning logs do not wait for either statute. Call us immediately regardless of when your fall occurred.

Miami's Most Dangerous Slip and Fall Locations

Supermarkets, Retail Stores, and Shopping Centers

Miami's high-volume grocery stores — Publix throughout Brickell, Coconut Grove, and Coral Gables; Sedano's and Presidente Supermarkets serving Little Havana and Hialeah; Winn-Dixie and Target throughout Miami-Dade — generate consistent slip and fall claims from spilled liquids in produce aisles, freshly mopped floors without adequate wet floor signage, and deteriorating cart area surfaces. Brickell City Centre and Dadeland Mall produce high-foot-traffic hazards in common areas, escalators, and food court zones.

Hotels, Restaurants, and Entertainment Venues

Brickell and South Beach hotel pool decks, lobby marble floors, and exterior entry areas create wet surface falls from Miami's humidity, ocean spray, and frequent rain. Wynwood's converted warehouse restaurants and gallery spaces have uneven concrete floors, inadequate lighting, and surface transitions that violate Florida Building Code standards. Bayside Marketplace near PortMiami generates waterfront slip and fall incidents from marine moisture and inadequate slip-resistant surfaces.

Damages Available in Miami Slip and Fall Cases

Florida premises liability law allows recovery of all past and future medical expenses, lost wages and loss of earning capacity, pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and permanent impairment. For catastrophic slip and fall injuries — hip fractures, spinal cord damage, traumatic brain injury, shoulder tears — lifetime care calculations can produce multi-million-dollar valuations requiring specialized expert testimony. For wrongful death from a fatal fall, survivors recover under Florida's 2-year Wrongful Death Act deadline.

Why CHG Lawyers for Your Miami Slip and Fall Case

• Immediate evidence preservation from the first day of retention — formal litigation hold letters to the property, subpoenas for surveillance footage and cleaning logs before automatic deletion, and safety expert retention before the defense establishes its narrative.

• F.S. 768.0755 expertise — the subpoena strategy that defeats cleaning log defenses, the prior-incident investigation that establishes recurring hazards, and the expert testimony that shows code violations regardless of how many times the floor was 'inspected.'

• Bilingual English and Spanish representation — serving Miami's 69% Hispanic community with full legal advocacy by the attorneys on your case.

• Contingency fee — no upfront costs, no fees unless we win.