Austin Premises Liability Lawyers

Property Owner Duties & Visitor Rights in Texas

Texas premises liability law doesn’t impose the same duty in every case. The reason for your visit helps determine what duty the property owner or occupier owed you.

Texas law generally classifies visitors on premises as one of three types:

• An Invitee: An invitee is someone whom the property owner has invited to the property for business reasons. This would be the case for a retail store, bank, or another such establishment. Property owners generally must address dangerous conditions they know about or should discover through reasonable inspection.
• A Licensee: Those who enter a property for social purposes, such as friends and family members, are licensees. Property owners generally must warn licensees about known dangers that the licensees don’t know about and address hazards under circumstances required by Texas law.
• A Trespasser: A trespasser isn’t authorized to be on a property. The duties owed to a trespasser are limited, although different considerations may apply when the owner knows people frequently enter the property or when a child is injured by a hazardous condition.

Your visitor category depends on the circumstances of your visit and determines the duties the property owner owed you at the time of the accident. Claims involving government-owned property can also involve separate notice requirements and governmental-liability rules under the Texas Tort Claims Act.

Premises Liability Cases We Handle

An injury on someone else’s property doesn’t automatically establish a premises liability case. You have a burden of proof to connect a dangerous property condition to the accident and show why the owner or occupier was responsible. Consult our premises liability lawyers in Austin to discuss the condition, notice, causation, and evidence affecting your potential claim.

Our attorneys at Briggle & Polan, PLLC handle premises liability cases involving:

• Slips, trips, and falls
• Inadequate premises maintenance
• Defective or dangerous conditions on the premises
• Insufficient building security
• Escalator and elevator accidents
• Swimming pool injuries
• Dog bites
• Amusement park accidents
• Water leaks, flooding, and fires
• Toxic chemicals or fumes

What to Do After an Injury on Someone Else’s Property in Austin

After a fall or other injury on dangerous property, the steps you take in the first few days can affect both your health and your legal options. Getting medical care right away is important, even if you think you’ll recover with rest, because prompt treatment documents your injuries and can identify serious conditions. When it’s safe to do so, you should also report the incident to the property owner, manager, or security personnel so there is a written record of what happened and when it occurred.

If you’re able, photograph or record the hazard, your injuries, and the surrounding area before conditions are repaired or cleaned up. Ask for the names and contact information of any witnesses who saw what happened or who can describe how long the dangerous condition had been present.

Keep copies of medical bills, discharge instructions, incident reports, and communications you receive from insurance companies. Before giving a recorded statement or signing an insurer’s document, it can be wise to speak with an Austin premises liability attorney so you understand how the request may affect your claim. Incidents on government property should be evaluated promptly because separate notice deadlines may apply.

Compensation in Texas Premises Liability Claims

Compensation may cover immediate expenses and long-term needs caused by a dangerous property condition.

Depending on the facts of your case, recoverable damages may include:

• Past and future medical expenses
• Lost wages
• Reduced earning capacity
• Physical pain
• Limitations on daily activities

In more severe cases, claimed losses may also include necessary home modifications, mobility devices, or in-home assistance.

The value of a claim is influenced by many factors, including the severity of the injury, the available evidence, insurance coverage, and whether the defense argues that you share responsibility. We analyze the full scope of your losses and consult with medical and economic professionals when appropriate. Our firm has secured millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts for injury victims, and we prepare cases for negotiation or trial.

Because Texas follows proportionate responsibility rules, compensation can be reduced by a claimant’s percentage of fault. Recovery is barred when the claimant is found more than 50 percent responsible. Clear evidence about how the hazard arose, how long it existed, and what the property owner did or failed to do can be central to addressing those arguments.

How to Prove Fault in an Austin Premises Liability Claim

Proving fault requires connecting the dangerous property condition to the injury and showing why the property owner or occupier had a duty to address it. Our investigation focuses on the condition, the responsible parties, notice, causation, and the resulting losses. A different negligence theory may apply when an injury arises from an ongoing activity rather than a property condition.

Evidence used to evaluate fault may include:

• Visitor status: Evidence showing why you entered the property and whether you were an invitee, licensee, or trespasser.
• Hazard documentation: Accident reports, photographs, surveillance footage, lighting, warning signs, and the layout of the accident area.
• Notice records: Maintenance records, prior complaints, repair requests, inspection documents, and witness accounts showing what the owner knew or should have known.
• Injury documentation: Medical records, bills, treatment information, and witness accounts connecting the condition to your injuries and losses.

Actual notice means the owner or occupier knew about the hazard, such as through a prior complaint or incident report. Constructive notice means the surrounding facts may show the condition existed long enough that a reasonably careful owner could have discovered and addressed it. Evidence preservation is especially important because surveillance footage can be overwritten, witnesses can become difficult to locate, and the condition itself may be repaired or removed.

Negligent security claims may require evidence about inadequate lighting, access controls, prior incidents, or other circumstances relevant to the property owner’s notice and duty. Every claim depends on its facts, so the presence of an injury on another person’s property doesn’t by itself establish liability.

Get a Clear Assessment of Your Premises Liability Claim

Start with a free consultation and learn how the condition, available evidence, and Texas law may affect your claim. There are no upfront costs, and we receive a fee under the contingency arrangement only if we recover compensation.