You’re having lunch by the water in Miami, and the next thing you know you’re down on a wet restaurant floor. Miami slip and fall lawyers know how quickly a scene disappears: someone mops up the spill, someone moves whatever tripped you, and you’re still on the ground trying to work out where it hurts.
Falls are common, particularly among older adults. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than one in four U.S. adults aged 65 and older falls each year.
Step 1: What to Do After a Slip and Fall in Miami
Safety comes before evidence
Your health comes first. Deal with that before you think about evidence. If moving could make the pain worse, don’t. Ask for help, and call 911 in an emergency.
Getting checked out promptly serves two purposes. You get treated, and you generate a medical record of when your symptoms were first reported. If the property owner later disputes when you were hurt, that record matters.
To give a sense of scale: the CDC counts roughly 4.5 million emergency-department visits a year for older-adult falls, about 1.4 million hospitalizations, and more than 43,000 deaths among adults 65 and older in 2024.
Step 2: Report the Fall Before Leaving
How to report a slip and fall accident
Find the manager or a security officer and tell them what happened. Give the date, the approximate time, the location, and the condition you noticed. Describe your injuries, but don’t start assigning blame.
Then get practical. Ask for a report number and a copy, and write down the name and title of the person who took the report. Don’t sign anything that’s inaccurate or unclear.
If the property manager withholds the report
You may not get a copy at all. If the request is refused, note calmly who refused, when, and what they said. Then follow up with a dated email confirming the incident and asking that relevant records be preserved.
Step 3: What Evidence to Collect After a Slip and Fall
Capture the hazard and its setting
Photograph the hazard up close and in context: the walking route, any warning signs, the lighting, floor transitions. If it’s safe, record a short video too. Scenes change fast. Once the spill is mopped or the obstruction cleared, the scene you fell in may be gone within minutes.
If you can’t take photographs yourself
Ask a companion or witness to take them, if they can do so safely. An employee or an emergency responder might be willing to help. Failing that, dictate the details into your phone and note any nearby cameras. You can document the location later, without recreating the fall.
Preserve the original files
Keep originals unedited, with their timestamps and metadata, and back them up. Ask the property in writing to preserve surveillance footage along with maintenance and inspection records.
Step 4: Collect Witness Details While Memories Are Fresh
Ask for observations, not conclusions
Get witnesses’ full names and reliable contact details. Ask what they personally saw before the fall or during cleanup, without suggesting anyone was at fault. If they’re rushed, take a phone number or email address plus one sentence about what they observed. Note employees separately from bystanders.
Step 5: Keep Every Relevant Record Together
Build a dated file
Keep everything in one dated folder.
| Record category | What to preserve | Useful detail |
|---|---|---|
| Incident materials | Report number and correspondence; photographs and original video | Save dates and metadata |
| Medical care | Visit summaries and instructions; invoices and pharmacy receipts | Keep chronological order |
| Financial effects | Expense receipts and employment records | Record amounts and reasons |
| Personal notes | Symptoms and appointments; important conversations | Date each entry |
How long to keep slip and fall records
Keep originals and backups until insurance matters and any dispute are fully resolved. Deadlines vary, so get case-specific advice before destroying anything.
A Florida Rule That Can Affect a Claim
Florida’s 51 percent rule
Under Florida Statutes § 768.81, a party more than 50 percent responsible generally cannot recover in covered negligence actions. At 50 percent or less, damages decrease proportionally. Exceptions require individual review.
Leave With a Record, Not a Guess
Immediate care protects your health. Prompt reporting and careful preservation create a reliable account of what happened. Stay calm and factual, and never risk another injury to gather evidence. Your job at the scene is to record what you observed, not to decide fault.
