February 1st, 2026 |

• Personal Injury
• Real Estate

By Attorney Mike Bertling

Reading Time: 4 minutes

People in Wisconsin are very used to cold and snowy winters. Many of us have grown up with them. Therefore, everyone knows, perhaps more than they would like, how difficult they can be. Outdoor activities and travel are affected. What would otherwise be a simple trip can turn into a major endeavor. It seems like either the current weather or the weather forecast is on everybody’s mind.

It is not surprising, therefore, that people can find themselves flat on the ground after slipping on snow or ice. Occasionally, these falls result in serious injury.

Common Questions After a Fall

One of the most common telephone calls we get at our office involves a recently injured fall victim. They are interested in determining whether they have legal recourse.

This is not surprising. Serious falls can result in considerable medical expense, medical treatment, loss of earnings, and significant, ongoing pain. Many people rightly conclude that the ice or snow they fell on should have been dealt with by the property owner. As in most states, Wisconsin has laws requiring property owners to address slippery conditions. However, Wisconsin law does not make a property owner absolutely responsible for all falls. Each situation is unique. Each situation has its own set of facts. These facts will determine the success of a slip-and-fall claim.

Who Owns the Property Matters

The first important rule to consider is who owns the property. There are different standards of care for private owners and commercial owners. Owners of businesses that are open to the public are held to a higher standard than the typical homeowner.

A typical homeowner is held to the ordinary negligence standards. This means that they must exercise that degree of care that would ordinarily be exercised by other private property owners under the same or similar circumstances. In other words, did the homeowner fail to do something that other homeowners would typically do under the circumstances?

A commercial owner is required to do what is necessary to keep their property as safe as its nature would reasonably permit. In other words, they are held to a standard asking whether they could have done something more to prevent or remove the slippery conditions.

Slip-and-Falls on Residential Property

Holding a homeowner liable for a slippery condition can prove difficult in Wisconsin. I have had experience with many juries that ultimately find a homeowner not at fault in a slip-and-fall case. It is difficult for a member of the jury to hold a homeowner responsible for slippery conditions caused by normal winter conditions in Wisconsin. Many of the jurors are homeowners. They put themselves into the position of the homeowner being sued. Invariably, many of them have done exactly what the homeowner involved in the case has done. They understand how difficult it is to clear their property of ice and snow completely in winter. Therefore, they look at a case and consider whether they could find themselves in a similar situation as the homeowner involved. If so, they are reluctant to find that homeowner responsible.

Slip-and-Falls on Business Property

It is a slightly different story with slip-and-falls on business property. They have a higher standard than an ordinary homeowner. This higher standard comes from the fact that they are inviting customers onto their property. They make money from customers. Therefore, the law places a higher standard on them. If they are in the business of inviting the public onto their property, part of that business is to make the property as safe as its nature would reasonably permit.

Business owners are required to conduct repeated inspections of their property’s safety during winter. Their inspections must be more frequent during and after snowfalls. They must do what they can to have the snow and ice removed. Failure to do what they can creates liability.

Artificial Accumulations of Ice or Snow

There is one common situation that creates liability for both homeowners and business owners. If they do something on their property that creates an artificial accumulation of ice or snow, they will likely be found responsible for injury. A good example would be installing a downspout that empties onto an area where pedestrians walk. It would surprise no one that this would create dangerous situations. The downspout funnels water away from the building. If the downspout funnels onto a sidewalk or parking lot, the likelihood of a dangerous condition is created. The thawing and refreezing cycle will go on throughout the winter months. Eventually, someone will encounter that patch of ice expectedly and probably fall.

The Injured Person’s Responsibility

Analyzing the property owner’s conduct is only one-half of the puzzle. The conduct of the individual who fell must also be analyzed.

A pedestrian in Wisconsin is required to exercise reasonable care for their own safety. This means they are to look around them to avoid dangerous conditions continually. This includes a condition caused by the accumulation of ice or snow. A pedestrian in Wisconsin is supposed to see the condition and either avoid it or walk carefully across it. If they fail to exercise this care for their own safety, they will be found negligent. Their negligence and the property owner’s negligence will then be compared. The total negligence causing the injury will be considered 100%, and each party will be assigned their own percentage. If the injured party’s percentage is 51% or more, there is no recovery. If the injured party’s negligence is 50% or less, they will recover damages. However, their damages will be reduced by their percentage of negligence.

How Slip-and-Fall Cases Are Decided

We have never seen a case in which the injured party was completely free of negligence. It is more likely that the property owner will be found free of negligence than the individual falling.

In most cases, however, both parties are found negligent. The primary question in most cases is whether the injured party will be found 51% or more responsible. That is the primary focus of all slip-and-fall cases. Who will be found more negligent?

Slip-and-fall cases in Wisconsin are very difficult. People in Wisconsin know that slippery conditions will exist. People in Wisconsin know that they need to be careful because they will encounter these conditions. They are unavoidable.

When considering whether to pursue a slip-and-fall claim, the injured person should carefully analyze what happened. If it can be argued that they could have seen the slippery condition and then done something to either avoid it or walk across it more carefully, a claim probably should not be pursued.