Injured in a Slip and Fall in Memphis?

Even if you feel embarrassed or think the injury is minor, get medical treatment as soon as possible. Falls can cause fractures, head injuries, back and spinal injuries, and soft tissue damage that may not produce immediate symptoms.

Call 911 if the injury is serious. Otherwise, visit an emergency room, urgent care, or your doctor within 24 to 48 hours. In Memphis, Regional One Health, Baptist Memorial Hospital, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, and St. Francis Hospital all have emergency departments. Urgent care clinics throughout Shelby County can handle less severe injuries.

A medical evaluation immediately after the fall creates a documented connection between the incident and your injuries — without it, the property owner's insurance company will try to argue your injuries came from something else.

Report the fall to the property owner, manager, or person in charge immediately. If it happened in a store, restaurant, or commercial property, ask to speak with a manager and request that an incident report be created. Ask for a copy — if they won't give you one, note the name and title of the person you reported to, along with the date and time.

If the fall happened on government-owned property — a Memphis city sidewalk, a Shelby County park, or a state building — there are special notice requirements under the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act (Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-20-101 et seq.) that your attorney will need to handle.

This is critically important and time-sensitive. The dangerous condition that caused your fall — a wet floor, torn carpet, broken step, ice patch, uneven sidewalk, poor lighting, or missing handrail — may be cleaned up or repaired within hours.

Use your phone to photograph and video the exact spot where you fell, including the hazard that caused it. Get wide shots showing the area and close-ups of the specific condition. Note whether there were any warning signs (or lack of them), whether the area was adequately lit, and whether other people were present.

If there were witnesses, get their names and phone numbers. Witness testimony about the condition of the property can be decisive in premises liability cases.

Keep the shoes and clothing you were wearing at the time of the fall — don't wash or discard them. The defense may argue that your shoes were inappropriate or that the fall was caused by something you were wearing. Your actual clothing and footwear can counter that argument.

Also keep all medical records, bills, receipts, prescription records, and any written communications with the property owner or their insurance company.

The property owner's insurance company will likely contact you. They may seem sympathetic, but their goal is to settle for as little as possible — or deny your claim entirely. Common tactics include asking leading questions about what you were doing at the time (implying you were distracted or careless), requesting unnecessary medical authorizations, and offering a quick, lowball settlement.

You are not legally required to give them a recorded statement. Decline politely and consult an attorney first.

In Tennessee, property owners have a legal duty to keep their premises reasonably safe for visitors. To win a slip and fall claim, you generally need to show that a dangerous condition existed on the property, the property owner knew or should have known about the condition, the owner failed to fix it or warn you about it, and you were injured as a direct result.

Tennessee classifies visitors into categories that affect the property owner's duty of care. If you were an invitee (a customer, client, or member of the public on the property for business purposes), you receive the highest level of protection. Social guests (licensees) receive a somewhat lower standard. Trespassers receive the least protection under the law.

Tennessee's modified comparative fault rule (Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-11-103) applies to slip and fall cases. If you are found to be 50% or more at fault for the fall — for example, by texting while walking or ignoring a visible warning sign — you cannot recover any compensation. If you're less than 50% at fault, your damages are reduced proportionally.

Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104, you have only one year from the date of the fall to file a personal injury lawsuit. This is one of the shortest deadlines in the country. If the fall occurred on government property, additional notice requirements with even shorter deadlines may apply under the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act.

Do not wait. Evidence disappears, surveillance footage gets overwritten, and witnesses forget details. Starting the process early is essential.

Slip and fall cases can be difficult to prove because the property owner's insurance company will aggressively argue that the condition was obvious, that you weren't paying attention, or that they didn't know about the hazard. An experienced attorney can investigate the property's maintenance history, obtain surveillance footage before it's deleted, interview witnesses, and build the evidence you need.

Most premises liability attorneys offer free consultations and work on contingency — you pay nothing unless they recover compensation for you.