New York City Slip & Fall Accident Lawyer

Wet floors without warning signs. Broken sidewalk slabs that the city or a property owner knew about for months. Icy building entrances left untreated after a storm. These are not freak accidents. They are the predictable result of someone choosing not to maintain a space they were responsible for. When you are hurt because of that choice, a New York City slip & fall accident lawyer is not just a resource. They are often the only reason victims see any accountability at all.

Cohan Law Firm has recovered over $100 million for accident victims across Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and beyond. Slip and fall cases are among the most contested personal injury matters in New York, and the firm’s attorneys know what it takes to move them forward.

Why Slip & Fall Cases in New York Are So Difficult to Win Without Legal Help

Property owners, municipalities, and their insurers rarely accept responsibility quickly. In New York, a property owner’s liability hinges on a specific legal question: did they know, or should they have known, about the dangerous condition? This is called notice, and fighting over it is where many slip and fall claims live or die.

Actual notice means the owner knew directly. Constructive notice means the condition existed long enough that a reasonable inspection would have caught it. Both require evidence, and that evidence does not preserve itself. Surveillance footage gets overwritten. Maintenance logs go missing. The wet floor that caused your injury has been mopped up and forgotten before you’ve even left the emergency room.

New York also has strict rules about suing government entities. If you were hurt on a public sidewalk, in a city-owned building, or on MTA property, you typically must file a Notice of Claim within 90 days of the accident. Miss that window and your claim may be gone entirely. That deadline alone is reason enough to get legal representation quickly.

Beyond notice and timing, insurers routinely argue that the injured person was equally or primarily at fault. New York follows a pure comparative negligence standard, meaning your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault. A slip and fall attorney builds the facts before the insurer gets to reshape them.

Where These Accidents Happen and Who Bears Responsibility

Slip and fall injuries happen in places New Yorkers navigate every single day. Grocery stores and bodegas with unmonitored produce areas. Restaurant entryways where water tracks in from the street. Apartment building lobbies with cracked tile or broken lighting. Office building lobbies where cleaning crews leave floors wet without cones. Subway stations where the MTA has ignored known drainage problems.

Outside, the picture is just as complicated. New York City has a patchwork of sidewalk ownership rules. Homeowners adjacent to residential properties are generally responsible for their sidewalks. Commercial property owners carry sidewalk liability too. The city itself is responsible for certain sidewalks, crosswalks, and parks, but claims against the city follow different procedural rules than private property claims.

Construction sites create another category. Scaffolding that directs pedestrian traffic into poorly maintained pathways. Temporary ground coverings that shift underfoot. Debris and material left where foot traffic flows. These incidents can involve multiple liable parties including contractors, subcontractors, and building owners, and they sometimes trigger additional protections under New York’s labor law framework.

Identifying the responsible party is not always obvious. In a commercial building with multiple tenants, the question of who controls the area where you fell matters enormously. Cohan Law Firm works through those layers to find where the obligation actually sat.

The Injuries That Follow a Bad Fall

People sometimes dismiss fall injuries as minor. They should not. The injuries that come from sudden, uncontrolled falls onto hard surfaces can be genuinely severe, and they often worsen over days rather than resolving quickly.

Fractures are common, particularly wrist fractures from instinctive bracing, hip fractures in older adults, and ankle fractures from twisting falls. Hip fractures carry serious long-term health consequences for many patients. Knee injuries including ligament tears frequently require surgery. Spinal injuries from falls can range from herniated discs producing chronic pain to more serious damage affecting mobility.

Head injuries are a particular concern. A fall that looks survivable from the outside can produce a traumatic brain injury if the head strikes the ground or a nearby object. Concussion symptoms sometimes do not fully present for hours or days. Anyone who loses consciousness or experiences confusion, persistent headaches, or cognitive changes after a fall should be evaluated thoroughly, and that evaluation should be documented as part of any future claim.

Compensation in a slip and fall case can include medical expenses, future medical costs, lost income during recovery, reduced earning capacity, and damages for pain and lasting limitations. What you actually recover depends on how thoroughly the injury and its consequences are documented, and how effectively liability is established.

Questions People Ask About Slip & Fall Claims in NYC

How long do I have to file a slip and fall lawsuit in New York?

For private property claims, New York’s statute of limitations for personal injury is generally three years from the date of the accident. For claims against government entities, including the city, MTA, or other public authorities, a Notice of Claim must typically be filed within 90 days. Missing that shorter deadline is very difficult to remedy. Start the process sooner rather than later.

What if I slipped on ice outside a building?

Winter falls account for a significant number of slip and fall claims in New York. Property owners have a legal obligation to address dangerous ice and snow accumulation within a reasonable time after a storm ends. If the storm was still actively ongoing when you fell, the analysis shifts somewhat, but conditions that develop or persist after precipitation stops are generally the owner’s responsibility. Photographs of the conditions as quickly as possible are important in these cases.

Can I still recover compensation if I was partly at fault?

Yes. New York’s pure comparative negligence rule allows recovery even if you were partially responsible for the accident. If you were 25 percent at fault, your compensation is reduced by 25 percent. The goal of opposing counsel is often to inflate your assigned share of fault as high as possible. Strong evidence from early in the case limits that argument.

Does it matter that I signed a liability waiver before entering a property?

Waivers can complicate cases but they do not automatically eliminate a property owner’s liability, particularly for gross negligence. The enforceability of a waiver depends on how it was presented, what it actually says, and the circumstances of the injury. An attorney should review any waiver before you assume your claim is barred.

How do I prove the property owner knew about the dangerous condition?

Evidence of constructive notice typically includes records showing how long the condition existed, prior complaints or incident reports involving the same area, maintenance and inspection logs (or the absence of them), and testimony from employees or regular visitors. Surveillance footage is often critical. Preservation letters sent quickly to the property owner can prevent that footage from being deleted.

What if the property where I fell is being managed by a third-party company?

Management companies can share liability with building owners depending on the terms of their contract and the specific condition that caused your fall. Cases involving commercial buildings, shopping centers, and apartment complexes often require examining management agreements and maintenance records to determine who was actually responsible for the area where the accident occurred.

How does Cohan Law Firm charge for slip and fall cases?

Cohan Law Firm handles personal injury claims on a contingency basis. There is no fee unless there is a recovery. That structure means injured people can pursue their claim regardless of their financial situation, and it aligns the firm’s interests with yours from the start.

Cohan Law Firm Handles Slip & Fall Cases Across New York City

The firm represents clients who have been hurt in falls throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and surrounding areas. Whether the accident happened in a midtown office building, a Bronx grocery store, a Brooklyn subway station, or on a Queens sidewalk, the legal analysis and the commitment to recovery are the same. Cohan Law Firm does not wait for updates to come from clients. The attorneys and staff keep clients informed throughout the process, from initial investigation through settlement or trial.

If you were hurt in a fall on someone else’s property in New York City, a consultation with a New York City slip and fall attorney can clarify what your claim is worth, what evidence needs to be preserved right now, and what steps need to happen before a deadline passes. Cohan Law Firm offers free consultations, and the firm handles cases in English and Spanish.