Ogden Slip and Fall Lawyer

Reviewed by Kara H. North, Managing Attorney at Moxie Law Group. Reviewed September 2026.

Ogden gets more snow than almost any city its size in the country, and the benches above Harrison Boulevard get the most. Between November and April, an uncleared sidewalk, a store entrance with no mat, or an apartment stairway glazed with ice is the most common way people in Weber County end up with a broken wrist, hip, or head injury. Summer brings its own hazards: wet floors at the grocery store, broken pavement on Washington Boulevard, poor lighting in parking lots. Utah law requires property owners and businesses to keep their premises reasonably safe, and Moxie Law Group holds them to it. We work on contingency, so you pay nothing unless we win.

A slip and fall claim is a negligence claim against the person who controlled the property. These are the rules that decide it.

• The owner must know, or should have known. You have to show the hazard existed long enough that a reasonable owner would have found and fixed it, or that the owner created it. A spill on the floor for two minutes is a hard case; ice that has been on the walkway for three days after a storm is not.
• “Open and obvious” is not an automatic defense in Utah. The Utah Supreme Court held in Hale v. Beckstead (2005) that an obvious hazard does not end the claim by itself; it is weighed as part of comparative fault.
• Comparative fault applies. Under Utah Code 78B-5-818, you can recover as long as you were less than 50 percent responsible, and your award is reduced by your share. Expect the insurer to argue you were looking at your phone or wearing the wrong shoes.
• Snow and ice. Ogden’s municipal code requires property owners to clear the public sidewalk adjoining their property after a snowfall, and businesses must keep entrances and parking lots reasonably safe. A photo of the uncleared walk, and the date of the last storm, are the two most important pieces of evidence in a winter fall.
• Government property has a one-year deadline. A fall on a city sidewalk, at Weber State, at a UTA FrontRunner platform, or in a county building requires a written notice of claim within one year under Utah Code 63G-7-402. Everyone else gets four years under 78B-2-307.

Report the fall to the manager or owner before you leave and ask for a copy of the incident report. Photograph the hazard immediately; ice melts and spills get mopped, and the condition that hurt you may be gone within the hour. Get names and numbers from anyone who saw it. Keep the shoes you were wearing. Get checked at McKay-Dee Hospital, Ogden Regional Medical Center, or an urgent care the same day, even if you think you only bruised something; hip and head injuries in falls often show up later. Do not give a recorded statement to the property owner’s insurer. Because Ogden is in Weber County, a lawsuit is filed in the Second Judicial District Court in Ogden.

I fell on ice outside a business. Is the business responsible?
Often, yes. The question is whether the business knew or should have known about the ice and had a reasonable chance to clear or treat it. We look at when the storm ended, what the business did about it, and whether other customers had complained.

I fell in my apartment complex. Can I sue my landlord?
Landlords are responsible for common areas such as stairs, walkways, and parking lots. If the hazard was in a common area or something the lease made the landlord responsible for, you likely have a claim. The store says I should have seen the hazard. That is a comparative fault argument, not a bar to your claim. Utah rejected the idea that an obvious hazard automatically defeats a case in 2005.

What is my case worth?
It depends on the injury and its effect on your work and daily life. Falls in older adults, in particular, can lead to surgery and long recovery, and we account for future care.

What will a lawyer cost me?
Nothing up front. We work on contingency.

We send a preservation letter for surveillance video the day we are hired, because most stores overwrite footage within weeks. We get the incident report, maintenance and snow-removal logs, and weather records, and we document your injury and its long-term cost. Then we deal with the insurer so you can focus on recovery.

If you were hurt in a fall in Ogden, Roy, Riverdale, South Ogden, North Ogden, or anywhere in Weber County, call Moxie Law Group for a free case review. For the statewide rules, see our Utah slip and fall lawyer and Utah premises liability lawyer pages, and for other injuries our Ogden personal injury lawyer page.