Bozeman, MontanaBozeman Premises Liability
Bozeman Premises Liability Lawyers: Slip and Fall, Icy Sidewalk and Negligent Security Injuries in Gallatin County
Boland Aarab PLLP.
If you fell on ice outside a Bozeman business, on a broken apartment stair, or in a hotel or rental condo at Big Sky, the owner or the company in control of the property may be responsible. Montana requires reasonable care, and ice being “natural” or visible is no longer a complete defense. Most claims must be filed within three years.
Hurt in a fall on someone else’s property in the Gallatin Valley? Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
Where do premises injuries happen around Bozeman?
Bozeman’s growth has put a lot of new property, and a lot of new people, in the same place. The falls and injuries we are asked about follow the way the valley lives:
- Winter entrances and parking lots. Snow, meltwater from roofs and downspouts that refreezes overnight, and parking lots that are plowed but never sanded. Grocery stores, big-box stores along North 19th Avenue and North 7th Avenue, and clinic and office parking lots are common places.
- Downtown sidewalks. Main Street’s older buildings have steps, cellar doors, uneven thresholds and narrow entryways. The City of Bozeman’s code requires owners to clear their sidewalks, with a shorter deadline in business districts than in residential areas; the city can clear a neglected walk and bill the owner.
- Apartments and student housing. New complexes on the west side and near Montana State University, and older rentals near campus, with exterior stairs, balconies, laundry rooms and poorly lit walkways.
- Resort and short-term lodging. Hotels, condos and vacation rentals in Big Sky, West Yellowstone and Bozeman, where guests are unfamiliar with the property and decks, hot-tub areas and outdoor stairs ice over.
- Bars and late-night venues. Downtown Bozeman’s bar district, where negligent security claims can arise from assaults that a venue should have anticipated.
What happens after a fall in Bozeman?
Report it and get care. Tell the manager, landlord or front desk, and ask for a copy of the incident report. Serious injuries, such as hip fractures and head injuries, typically go to Bozeman Health Deaconess Regional Medical Center at 915 Highland Boulevard, which the state lists as an ACS Level 3 / State Area Trauma Hospital (DPHHS trauma facility list, Nov. 2025). A fall at Big Sky may be seen first at Big Sky Medical Center, a trauma receiving facility.
Preserve the scene. Photograph the ice, the step or the spill before it changes. In a Bozeman winter, the evidence can melt, be scraped or be buried by the next storm within hours. Store and apartment cameras are often recorded over within days, so a written preservation demand should go out quickly.
Police reports for assaults. An assault inside city limits is investigated by the Bozeman Police Department; in the unincorporated county, by the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office. Reports for both are kept by Gallatin County Support Services/Records at 1709 West College Street (Gallatin County Records). Prior calls to the same address can help show a crime was foreseeable.
Public property. A fall on a city sidewalk, at a county building or on the Montana State University campus is a claim against a government entity. Those claims must first be presented in writing (§ 2-9-301, MCA), and different rules apply to them.
The court. A lawsuit over a Gallatin County fall is filed in the Eighteenth Judicial District Court, at the Gallatin County Law and Justice Center, 515 South 16th Avenue, Bozeman (§ 3-5-101, MCA; Montana Courts). When a national retailer or hotel company from another state is the defendant, it may remove the case to the U.S. District Court’s Butte Division (D. Mont. L.R. 1.2). Part of Big Sky, including the resort’s mountain base, lies in Madison County, which is in a different state judicial district.
Montana law that applies
Our Montana premises liability lawyer page covers the rules in depth. In brief:
Who may be responsible for a fall in the Gallatin Valley?
Often more than one company. In a growing town, the owner of a building is frequently not the one maintaining it:
- the property owner or landlord that controls common areas;
- the business tenant that runs the store or restaurant;
- a property management company, including the managers of rental condos at Big Sky;
- the snow-removal contractor hired to plow, shovel and sand;
- the builder of a new stair, deck or ramp that was not built to code; and
- the City, County or State, for public walks and buildings.
Each may blame the others. We identify every contract and every insurer early, because Montana apportions fault among everyone responsible.
Why hire a Great Falls firm for a Bozeman case?
Premises cases are won with prompt evidence, maintenance records, weather data and testimony from the people who were supposed to clear the ice. We are based in Great Falls and handle cases throughout Montana, and our attorneys travel to Bozeman and Big Sky for inspections, depositions, hearings and trial. We do not have a Bozeman office. What we offer is trial lawyers who prepare a fall case as if it will be tried, which is what changes an insurer’s view of a case it expected to settle cheaply.
The Boland Aarab Way
- Trial experience. Our attorneys have spent more than 4,000 hours in the courtroom, and our firm has tried more than a dozen jury trials in Cascade, Phillips, Meagher and Yellowstone Counties.
- Claims against public entities. A jury returned a $115,000 net verdict for our client in a municipal negligence case (Jack v. City of White Sulphur Springs).
- Verdicts protected on appeal. The Montana Supreme Court reinstated a $168,500 jury verdict for our client (Voegel v. Salsbery, 2023 MT 137).
- Federal court experience. More than 40 cases in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana over nine years.
We also handle dog bite cases in Bozeman and catastrophic injury cases in Bozeman. See our Bozeman personal injury page for more.
Frequently Asked Questions
I slipped on an icy sidewalk outside a Bozeman store. Who is responsible? Possibly the store, the building owner, a property manager or the snow-removal contractor, depending on who controlled and maintained that walk. Bozeman’s code puts the duty to clear sidewalks on the adjoining owner, and a lawyer can find out who actually had the job.
Does it matter that it had just snowed? It can. Montana asks whether the owner used reasonable care under the conditions, so how long the ice had been there and what the owner did about it both matter. Weather records for the day help answer that.
I fell at a vacation rental in Big Sky. Can I bring a claim? Often yes, against the owner, the management company or both. Where the property sits matters, because part of Big Sky is in Madison County rather than Gallatin County.
What if I fell on the MSU campus or a city sidewalk? Claims against the State, a county or a city must first be presented in writing (§ 2-9-301, MCA), and the rules differ from a claim against a private owner. Call promptly.
Can a downtown bar be responsible for an assault? It can, if the assault was reasonably foreseeable and the bar failed to take reasonable security measures. Prior police calls, staffing and the venue’s own policies are the key evidence.
Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
