I think the whole matter of legal action would depend on the specific state/local laws which is where consulting a lawyer would help.

I know in many places (residential) that you may pay taxes to the middle of the street, however you are not responsible for clearing snow etc from the street but you ARE responsible for clearing your sidewalk in front of your home and leading up to your front door. If someone were to slip on those and you had not properly cleared them you could be legaly sued even though it's property you pay for, it still has public access. If someone cut through your yard, or went around back where it was not public access then you get into the whole 'attractive nuciance' issue.

I'm not sure where businesses fall into that catagory which is why a lawyer should be consulted for advice if nothing else.


Whether or not the stumbler should have been watching where they are going or not is a mute point where the law is concerned. In a perfect world all the walkways would be snow/ice/hole/heave free and everyone would have perfect balance and never misstep. That's just not how things work in reality. I do agree it's a sue happy society though.