Suppose you’ve been injured at an individual’s house or place of business. Under Texas premises liability law, the owner or occupier of the property could be responsible for your injuries. Whether you have a right to compensation or not may depend on why you were on their property and why exactly the accident occurred.

Unfortunately, premises liability law in Texas is legally complex and has many variables that can either help or hinder your demand for compensation. Within the last few years, the Texas Supreme Court has made critical decisions regarding the state’s premises liability laws. Recently, Texas premises liability law has been evolving, and only with the knowledgeable and professional help of a skilled San Antonio premises accident lawyer can you be sure to learn all the facts you need to know to win your case.

A Texas landowner or occupier has a legal duty to maintain their premises and keep them in a safe condition. A “safe condition” means many things and depends on many variables. Any parcel of land, corporate building, or any type of property does not have to be in pristine condition. There can and usually will be defects and some disrepair.

One of the main factors is that a defect is hidden and not noticeable to the casual eye. The owner is responsible for fixing it swiftly, posting a warning, or blocking access to the damaged area. If you were injured because the owner (or occupier) did not uphold this legal duty after their property fell into disrepair, then you may have a premises liability case.

However, property owners in Texas are not responsible for all individuals who set foot on their land and may not owe them the same legal duty.

When you enter another’s home or are on their land, you are classified as an invitee, licensee, or trespasser.

Examples of these classifications are:

  • You are an invitee if the owner had knowledge of your coming onto the land and your presence was expected or requested or mutually beneficial to you both.
  • You usually would be a licensee if you entered and stayed on the land with the owner’s permission, but you were there for yourself or someone else’s benefit. Social gatherings commonly fall into this category.
  • You are a trespasser if you were on the owner’s property without their implicit permission. This could mean remaining in a business after hours or being in their home or on their land without consent.

If you’re an invitee or licensee, the owner owes you a duty and may be held responsible if they fail to uphold that duty and you are injured. However, the owner may owe you nothing if you are a trespasser. If you were on any owner’s property without permission, it is far less likely that they will be held responsible for compensating you for any injuries you incur.

How Do Premises Liability Laws Work In Texas?

Premises liability can be a difficult topic to fully grasp. On the one hand, it is pretty easy to understand that premises liability deals with personal injuries and their relationship to the location, or premise, whereupon they occured.

But premises liability is far more complicated than simply identifying the premises where the injury occured. In order to win a premises liability case there are hoops that need to be jumped through and fault that needs to be addressed and, as it turns out, proving fault in a premises liability case isn’t as straightforward as you might think.

Why is it So Difficult to Prove Fault for Premises Liability?

Premises liability is difficult to prove because it doesn’t simply require that you be injured on another person’s premises. You do have to be able to prove that you were injured, yes, and that’s honestly the easiest part of the ordeal. But you also need to show that you were hurt due to a hazard of some kind on the premises that is there due to the negligence of the owner of the property.

Other circumstances that are extremely important to a premises liability is what the property is used for, or intended to be used for at least, how the accident that injured you happened, how you happened to be on the premises and if the accident could have been seen ahead of time. These are just a few of the elements that go into a premises liability case but there are many more that are relevant depending on the specifics of the premise itself. For example, an office building and a construction site will each be handled slightly differently from one another.

What Has to be Proven to Win a Texas Premises Liability Case?

Proving fault in a premises liability case lawsuit might be difficult but it is far from impossible.

There are three key elements which need to be proved:

  • The Duty of Care: You have to show that the defendant had a duty to care for the property in question. This care covers the basic minimum requirements necessary to prevent any possible dangers that could lead to harm. The defendant has to be shown to be the individual in charge of this. This could be shown in a multitude of ways but it must be shown. If you were injured in a slip and fall in a supermarket’s parking lot then you wouldn’t go after the baker. The defendant must be the one that had the duty to care for the premises.
  • That the Duty was Breached: Once you have proven that the defendant did indeed have a duty of care then you must also prove that they breached that duty in their actions. This could be due to carelessness or negligence. Carelessness is when the defendant’s actions created a dangerous situation such as forgetting to put out a wet floor sign after washing. Negligence is when the defendant knew about a dangerous situation on the premises but didn’t do anything about it. Negligence is generally much worse than carelessness because carelessness tends to be short-term while negligence happens over a long period.
  • That the Breach Caused Your Injury: Finally, you need to prove that it was just this situation that the defendant allowed for that caused your injury. The defense will want to convince the court that your personal injury was unrelated to the breach of duty. You need to be able to prove that it is if you want to win.

Also important is the status you had while on the premises. This will directly affect your case and can be divided into:

  • Invitee: These are people who are invited either by a business or in a public manner to be on the premises. Going out to get groceries is one example of how you could be an invitee to a premise. Places which are open to the public have a high standard of reasonable care for the people on the premises.
  • Licensee: These are people who are friends or family members of the property owner who have been given permission to be on the premises. While friends and family members seem like they wouldn’t be an issue to have over, it is still the owner of the premises job to warn them about any possible dangers. If they haven’t warned a licensee then they have breached their duty of care.
  • Trespasser: If you are trespassing on a piece of property then the owner of the property owes you nothing. If you are trespassing on the property in question then you may as well not bother trying to win a premises liability case because it is very difficult. But even so, there is a chance because a property owner should still have signs up about potential danger, especially if they are aware that the property is trespassed on regularly. If the trespasser is a child then attractive nuisances come into play, such as if the property had a slide on it that was unguard or not secured. This is attractive to a child and if they then hurt themselves on the slide they may have a case even though trespassing was involved.

What’s the Best Evidence for a Premises Liability Case?

Gathering evidence is an important part of proving your premises liability case.

Evidence that can be quite useful is:

  • Pictures: Pictures of the hazard can help to prove that the conditions were unsafe. The closer to the accident the pictures are taken the better.
  • Accident Reports: In the case that you made a report about the injury with the police, or even to the property owner, that report can be great evidence about the event.
  • Lease Agreements: Lease agreements are useful to show who owned the property and thus who had a duty to uphold in its care.
  • Insurance Policies: It is useful to have the insurance policy of the property in question and can give a sense of how much coverage it provides.
  • Medical Records/Bills: Medical bills are important for showing the amount of compensation you’re looking for. Medical records are useful for proving your injury.
  • Pay Stubs: If you are no longer able to work because of your injury then you’ll want previous pay stubs to show how much money you’re losing due to the injury.
  • Witnesses: Witnesses help to give a sense of the conditions of the premise at the time and the sequence of events.
  • Experts: Experts can help to prove that the situation was dangerous or to help confirm that your injuries are consistent with the trauma you are claiming.

What Are Some Things That May Be Considered For the Owner to Provide a “Safe” Environment?

There are numerous injuries you can suffer in a premises liability injury. Legally proving fault for a premises liability lawsuit is a complicated legal process, which may involve witnesses, photos, medical documentation, and more. You and your lawyer must prove that you were injured (and to what extent, etc.). You also must validate that your injury was due to some hazard that existed (or still may exist) on someone else’s property.

You know that a property owner has a legal responsibility to maintain a safe place for visitors. There are several factors, however, that can determine the “reasonable level of care” standard, and proof of these items will affect your case and who is at fault.

Some of these factors are:

  • Could your accident have been foreseen?
  • What is the intended use of the property on which you were injured?
  • The circumstances that caused you to enter the property, and more.

In some instances, a property owner might be held liable, but the court may also find that you, as the injured party, were negligent as well.

So, many factors, documents, and testimony may come into play to make proving your case (no matter how clear you feel it may seem) challenging, but certainly possible. Consulting with an experienced San Antonio premises liability lawyer is the best way to find the answers you need and how to proceed to win your case.

What Is “Comparative Negligence” in a Texas Premises Liability Case?

After your injury, and before you file a premises liability lawsuit, you can be sure that the property owner will argue that you should share some blame for your accident. If this argument is successful, you could see a substantial chunk of any court award diminished, and any finding of a shared fault will reduce the value of your settlement.

For example, the property owner could argue that:

  • You were on the part of the property where visitors aren’t usually allowed or aren’t usually expected to be.
  • You weren’t paying attention to where you were walking (using your phone, etc.)
  • You were wearing footwear that was inappropriate or unsafe in the situation.
  • The dangerous condition was cordoned off by cones and signage, and reasonable precautions were taken to protect you from the area.
  • The dangerous condition should have been evident to you.

Comparative negligence is one of the prime legal battles you will usually come up against in most premises liability cases. It’s also a battle where your professional, knowledgeable premises liability lawyer will be vital to you in winning your case.

Is There a “Statute of Limitations” in Texas to File My Premises Liability Case?

The simple legal answer is that there commonly is a “Statute of Limitation,” or deadline to file your premises liability case. Typically, you must file on premises liability claims within two years from the date of your accident. There are exceptions though, for example, your injuries may not be evident at first but manifest themselves weeks or months after your accident. Often this is the case in head trauma injuries

So, what may seem like a firm “deadline” to file, and with the professional help and guidance of your lawyer, could be extended by the court and still allow you to file and receive the compensation you deserve.

I Do Need To File a Premises Liability Case, What Should I Do First?

Some of the first things you need to do are:

  • Get proper medical treatment and documentation immediately.
  • Do NOT admit fault at the scene.
  • Collect evidence.
  • File a police report (if necessary).

Most importantly, get the professional advice of a qualified San Antonio premises liability lawyer as soon as possible. The San Antonio Firm of Matthew Norris will professionally, aggressively, empathetically, and effectively help you file and win your case. Consult with them first, and legally receive the compensation you need to heal and move ahead with your life.