Almost every fall case comes down to one question the insurance company is hoping you cannot answer: was the floor unreasonably slippery? Most lawyers treat that as something to argue about. It is not. Slipperiness is measurable, the methods are well established, and there are published standards for what a safe walking surface has to do. Measuring it is the difference between your word against theirs and a number on the table.
Proving that a floor was unreasonably dangerous is premises work I take on directly, and as a member of the National Association of Premises Liability Attorneys I bring a heavy premises trial background to it. I represent injured people, not insurance companies. I am a trial lawyer whose foundation was built in the courtroom as a public defender, where I tried case after case and cross-examined witnesses constantly, and that skill matters when the fight is over what the property knew and how it kept its floors. An insurer tends to pay fair value once it sees I will take the case to a jury, and I will. I stay on your case personally, from the first call through trial.
Slipperiness is a number, not an argument
Slip resistance is expressed as a coefficient of friction, a value that runs from roughly 0 to 1 and describes how hard it is for a foot to slide across a surface. The lower the number, the more dangerous the floor. The widely recognized guideline in the United States is 0.50: a walking surface that measures below it is generally treated as unsafe (ANSI/ASSE A1264.2). That 0.50 figure is a guideline, not a statute, so it does not create automatic liability, but a floor that tests under it is powerful evidence the surface was unreasonably dangerous. There is also an important distinction the defense likes to blur: dynamic coefficient of friction, measured while the foot is moving, predicts real slip risk better than a static reading, so the right measurement matters as much as the number.
I began my career as an Assistant Public Defender in Tampa, and I am one of a small number of Florida attorneys trained as a forensic lawyer-scientist. Most injury lawyers argue that a floor was slippery. I measure it. I know how slip resistance is tested, what the walkway standards require, and how the defense tries to pick the testing apart, because reading physical and scientific evidence is the core of how I have worked for years. The insurance company is hoping for a lawyer who folds at the first lowball. I read the records line by line, I am not afraid to try a case, and I go the distance for the people I represent. I am a member of the National Association of Premises Liability Attorneys, a national group of attorneys focused on these cases. Learn more about my background.
Measuring the floor the right way
The measurement is taken with a calibrated instrument designed to read the available friction of a surface, used in the field so the floor can be tested in the condition that caused the fall, wet or contaminated rather than clean and dry. What matters is that the testing is done correctly, by a qualified expert, using accepted methods and a properly calibrated instrument, on the surface in the condition it was in. Done that way, the measurement holds up. Done sloppily, it hands the defense an opening, and knowing the difference is part of the value I bring to these cases.
The standards a safe walkway has to meet
Walking surfaces are not governed by guesswork. Consensus standards, chiefly ASTM F1637 (Safe Walking Surfaces) and ANSI/ASSE A1264.2 (slip resistance on walking and working surfaces), set out what a reasonably careful owner should provide, and OSHA standards apply when the fall happened at work. These are industry standards rather than statutes, so a violation is not automatic liability, but it is strong evidence of the standard of care, and juries understand the difference between a floor that met the recognized rules and one that did not. Accessibility standards add another layer: the ADA 2010 Standards for Accessible Design and the matching ANSI A117.1 set firm requirements for ramps, slopes, thresholds, handrails, and detectable warnings in places open to the public. The ADA is accessibility law rather than a general safety code, so a violation is not automatic liability, but a ramp built too steep or a missing handrail is strong evidence the condition was unreasonably dangerous, and in some public settings it can support a separate accessibility claim.
Why people fall: the biomechanics
Walking is a controlled fall, and the body manages it by predicting the next step from the last one. A pedestrian unconsciously calibrates how much grip to expect from the surface they were just on and sets their footing accordingly. When the floor abruptly changes, the prediction is wrong and there is no time to correct, which is why the transition from a dry entrance mat onto wet tile is such a common and such a dangerous spot. The risk climbs with age: older adults plant the heel faster and demand more friction, and they recover from a slip more slowly, which is one reason falls injure Florida’s large senior population so severely. This is why a fall is rarely just carelessness. It is the floor defeating the way human walking works.
What this does to your case
Measured slip resistance changes the conversation. The notice fight under Fla. Stat. 768.0755 is still there, but instead of describing a slippery floor you are showing a number that fell below the recognized line, against a published standard, explained by the biomechanics of why you went down. The defense’s favorite move, that you simply were not careful, shrinks into a comparative-fault sideshow once the floor’s own measurements are on the table. It is the same approach I take to forensic evidence in every case: do not argue what can be proven.
The deadline
For a fall on or after March 24, 2023, Florida gives you two years to file suit under Fla. Stat. 95.11(5)(a). Slip-resistance evidence is perishable: floors get refinished, mats get replaced, and the surface you fell on may not exist in a few months. The sooner the testing happens, the stronger it is. See the premises liability overview for how the rest of the case fits together.
Common Questions
How do you prove a floor was too slippery?
You measure it. Slip resistance is expressed as a coefficient of friction, and 0.50 is the generally accepted guideline below which a walking surface is treated as unsafe. A trained examiner tests the actual floor, in the condition it was in, with a calibrated instrument, and a reading below the guideline is strong evidence that the surface was unreasonably dangerous.
What is a coefficient of friction?
It is a number, generally from 0 to 1, that describes how much a surface resists a foot sliding across it. The lower the number, the more slippery the surface. Dynamic coefficient of friction, measured while the test foot is moving, tracks real-world slip risk better than a static measurement, which is why it carries more weight.
What standards apply to a safe walkway?
Consensus standards such as ASTM F1637 and ANSI/ASSE A1264.2 set how walking surfaces should be built and maintained, including slip resistance, step geometry, and handrails. They are not automatic liability, but they are strong evidence of what a reasonably careful property owner should have done, and a clear violation is hard for the defense to wave away.
The store says I just was not watching where I was going. Does that end my case?
No, it makes it a comparative-fault argument, and that argument gets much weaker once the floor is measured. People set their footing from the surface they were just on, so a floor that suddenly loses traction, such as wet tile right after an entrance mat, can drop a careful person before they can react. The science explains the fall in a way that watching your step would not have prevented.
Do I need an expert for a slip-and-fall?
Not always, but in a contested case, slip-resistance testing and a biomechanics or human-factors expert can be the difference. Part of what I bring is knowing how that testing is done, when it will hold up, and how to keep the defense from attacking the method before it ever reaches a jury.
Related: Premises liability overview, Slip and fall, Trip and fall, Retail and grocery store falls, Inadequate maintenance, and About Rory Safir.
This page is general information about Florida premises liability law, not legal advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. The governing authorities include Fla. Stat. 768.0755 (the notice burden for transitory substances in a business), 768.81 (comparative negligence), and 95.11(5)(a) (the two-year limitations period). Standards such as ASTM F1637 and ANSI/ASSE A1264.2, and the 0.50 coefficient-of-friction guideline, are consensus industry standards used as evidence of the standard of care, not statutes that impose automatic liability. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely on advertisements.
