Michigan Elevator Accident Lawyer

An elevator injury catches people off guard because riding one is supposed to be the safe part of the day. A car that stops a few inches below the floor, doors that close on a passenger, a sudden drop or a jarring stop, a stalled car that traps riders, each can cause real harm, and each usually traces back to maintenance or inspection that was skipped, rushed, or ignored.

Vahdat Weisman Law premises liability attorneys represent people hurt in elevator accidents in Livonia and across Michigan. Winning one of these cases means knowing who had a duty to keep that elevator safe, the building owner, the maintenance company, and sometimes the manufacturer, and getting to the records that show whether they met it.

How Elevators Actually Injure People

Dramatic free-falls are rare. The common injuries are more ordinary and just as serious. The most frequent is mis-leveling, when the car stops above or below the floor, and a passenger trips stepping in or out. Doors that fail to detect a person and close on them, or a failed door restrictor that lets someone fall into the shaft, cause crush and fall injuries. Abrupt stops and short drops throw passengers into the walls. And a stalled car can trap riders for a frightening stretch, sometimes leading to injuries during an attempted escape and to real anxiety that lingers long after. Behind most of these is the same story: a safety system meant to prevent exactly this was not maintained.

When the Malfunction Points to Negligence

An elevator should not mislevel, drop, or close its doors on a passenger if it is properly maintained. Michigan does not use the old Latin label for it, but the law does allow a jury to infer negligence from the circumstances when a machine fails in a way it normally would not without someone’s carelessness. That inference is not automatic. It depends on showing the equipment was under the defendant’s control and ruling out other explanations, which is harder than it sounds because control is usually split between the building and the service company. This is why these cases are built on records and, often, an elevator engineer who can explain what failed, rather than on the bare fact that something went wrong.

Who Is Responsible: Owner, Service Company, or Manufacturer

Elevator cases often have more than one defendant, and the theory against each is different. Against the building owner, an injury caused by the elevator’s condition is a premises liability claim, which means the owner’s knowledge of the problem matters. Against the maintenance company, often a national contractor like Otis, KONE, Schindler, or TK Elevator, the claim is ordinary negligence. Still, Michigan law adds a hurdle: a service company is not liable to a passenger just for failing to live up to its contract with the owner. The injured person must show the company owed a duty separate from that contract, typically by performing its work negligently and creating or leaving a hazard. And the manufacturer can be liable when a design or component defect caused the failure. Sorting out which party is responsible under which theory is much of the work.

The Maintenance Rules That Matter

Michigan does not leave elevator upkeep to chance. Under the state’s elevator rules, most power elevators must be maintained at least once every 90 days by a Michigan-licensed elevator journeyperson, and the units are also inspected at least once a year by the Bureau of Construction Codes within LARA. They must comply with the national safety code ASME A17.1, which Michigan has adopted with its own modifications, and the code requires a documented maintenance control program for each elevator. The records tell the story: skipped 90-day maintenance, a missing or generic maintenance control program, a string of callbacks with no real repair, or overdue annual and five-year safety testing are the kinds of failures that prove negligence, which is why we move to obtain the full maintenance and inspection file early.

What Changed for Premises Claims in 2023

For years, a building owner could defeat a case by arguing the hazard was open and obvious, that a mis-leveled car or a known problem was something the passenger should have seen. In plain terms, the insurer could get the case thrown out by saying you should have looked down. In Kandil-Elsayed v. F&E Oil (2023), the Michigan Supreme Court ended that automatic defense. An obvious hazard no longer wipes out a premises claim; instead, it turns on whether the owner was careless and on the injured person’s share of fault. Two points keep this honest: the change applies to the premises claim against the owner, since the maintenance company and manufacturer were never protected by that defense anyway, and notice, causation, and proof of the failure still have to be established.

Proving the Owner Knew

In a premises claim, the owner is generally responsible when they created the hazard, actually knew about it, or should have known because the problem existed long enough that reasonable care would have caught it. Elevators leave a paper trail that speaks directly to this: service tickets, callback logs showing how many times the unit failed, inspection certificates, and prior complaints. A car that mis-levels repeatedly before your fall, or a repair deferred for months, is the kind of notice the law looks for.

Public Buildings Carry a Short Deadline

If your injury happened in a government building, a courthouse, public university, school, or transit station, the public-building exception in MCL 691.1406 allows a claim for a dangerous condition the agency knew about and failed to fix. The deadline is the trap: written notice must be served within 120 days and must specify the location, the nature of the defect, the injury, and the known witnesses. A missing piece can sink the claim, so spotting a public defendant early is essential.

The Evidence That Has to Be Preserved

These cases turn on records and conditions that do not last. The elevator’s controller and fault logs, the maintenance and callback history, inspection certificates, surveillance video, and the physical state of the car can all change the moment the service company resets the unit or makes a repair. Once we are retained, we send preservation demands for the service records and the video, and work to document the elevator’s condition before it is altered. If a building or its contractor destroys evidence it was asked to preserve, Michigan law may allow the jury to infer that the missing records would have hurt their defense. However, that is not automatic and depends on the circumstances.

Fault, Deadlines, and Compensation

The defense will often argue that you were not paying attention as you stepped in or out. Michigan handles that through comparative fault: your recovery is reduced by your share of the blame, and only being found more than 50% at fault bars compensation for pain and suffering, with economic losses like medical bills and lost wages still recoverable in reduced form. We pursue every responsible party for the full range of harm, fractures, head and spine injuries, crush injuries, and the lasting fear that entrapment can cause. Most claims carry a three-year deadline, and when a child is hurt, the time to sue is generally extended, but the evidence must be preserved now, regardless.

How Vahdat Weisman Law Handles Your Case

We move first on what decides these cases: preserve the elevator’s records and condition, identify the owner, the service company, and any manufacturer, line up the right expert, and apply the current premises rules rather than the outdated ones. From our Livonia office, attorneys Jordan S. Vahdat and Kara E. Weisman handle elevator injury claims for clients across Metro Detroit and the rest of Michigan on a contingency-fee basis, so there is no attorney fee unless we recover for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is responsible for an elevator injury, the building or the elevator company? Often both, and sometimes the manufacturer. The owner has a premises duty to keep the elevator safe, the maintenance company can be liable when its negligent work creates a hazard, and a defect can put the manufacturer on the hook. We identify each and pursue all available coverage.
• Do I have a case if I just tripped where the elevator stopped unevenly? Possibly. Mis-leveling is one of the most common elevator hazards and usually points to a maintenance or adjustment failure. Since the 2023 change in Michigan law, the argument that you should have noticed the uneven floor no longer automatically ends a claim against the building.
• My injury happened in a public building. Is it different? Yes, and the deadline is short. Claims against government buildings require written notice of the injury and the defect within 120 days, and the notice has to include specific details, so acting quickly matters.
• Why do I need to act fast? The service company can reset or repair the elevator within hours, and surveillance video is often erased within days. The sooner the records and video are preserved, the more proof survives.
• What does it cost to hire you? Nothing upfront. We handle these claims on a contingency-fee basis, so you owe no attorney’s fee unless we recover compensation for you.

Why Injured Michiganders Trust Vahdat Weisman Law

Vahdat Weisman Law is a personal injury firm based in Livonia, Michigan, representing injury victims and their families throughout the state. Our attorneys, Jordan S. Vahdat and Kara E. Weisman, bring courtroom experience, a record of meaningful results, and a hands-on approach to investigation and case strategy. We prepare every matter as if it will go to trial, positioning clients for stronger settlements and protecting their rights if litigation becomes necessary.

We handle elevator injury claims on a contingency-fee basis, which means there is no attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you. From our Livonia office, we serve clients across Metro Detroit and the rest of Michigan, and we explain every step in plain language so you can make informed decisions about your case.

Speak With a Michigan Personal Injury Lawyer

If you were hurt in an elevator, contact Vahdat Weisman Law in Livonia today at (734) 469-4994 4 for a free, confidential consultation. The sooner we hear from you, the sooner the maintenance records and video on which your claim depends can be preserved, and any short deadline can be protected. Reach out via our contact page to let us know what happened and learn about your options. There is no cost to speak with us about your potential claim.

Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every case is unique, and prior results do not guarantee future success.