Personal Injury
Slip and Fall / Premises Liability
Injuries at stores, restaurants, apartment complexes, and commercial properties.
Slip and fall and premises liability cases are some of the most contested injury claims insurance companies handle. The defense playbook is consistent: blame the customer, claim the hazard was "open and obvious," or argue the store had "no notice" of the spill. Each of those defenses can be answered, but it takes early evidence work.
Under Texas law, a property owner generally owes a customer (an "invitee") a duty to make the premises reasonably safe, to warn of known hazards, and to inspect for hazards a reasonable inspection would discover. The duty is different for licensees (social guests) and lower still for trespassers. Most of our cases involve invitees - shoppers, restaurant patrons, apartment tenants and their guests.
The critical question is almost always "notice." Did the store know, or should it have known, about the wet floor, the broken handrail, the inadequate parking lot lighting, or the unsecured rug? Stores have policies on sweep logs, incident reports, and surveillance retention - all of which we request immediately so they are not "lost" by the time we are retained.
These cases require a serious investigation: scene photos, surveillance preservation, sweep log requests, incident report production, and witness interviews. Done right, the claim resolves on its merits. Skipped, it gets dismissed on summary judgment.
Common scenarios
Situations we see often
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Slip on a spilled liquid in a grocery store aisle
You step into a clear puddle that has no warning cone. You go down on your tailbone and wrist. Store surveillance shows the spill sat for over an hour with employees walking past.
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Fall down poorly maintained apartment stairs
A loose handrail and worn tread give way. Your knee twists, your shoulder dislocates, and maintenance had a work order open for the stairs for three months.
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Trip in a restaurant on raised flooring or a curled mat
A floor mat has been curling at the corner all week. A server stepped on it just before you walked past and an edge flipped up. You face-plant into a hard floor.
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Parking lot pothole or inadequate lighting
You step into an unmarked, unlit hole in a poorly maintained commercial lot at night. Ankle fracture, ER, surgery.
What to do
If this happens to you
Report the fall to the manager on duty immediately and ask for a written incident report. Get a copy. Photograph the hazard from multiple angles before anything is cleaned up or repaired. Identify any witnesses and get their names and phone numbers - employees and customers alike.
Get medical attention the same day. Soft-tissue injuries from a fall can take days to fully present. Do not give a recorded statement to the store's insurance carrier or sign anything until you have spoken with a lawyer.
How we help
How our firm can help
We send same-day preservation letters demanding the surveillance footage, sweep logs, incident reports, and maintenance records be retained. Most stores rotate surveillance on 30 to 60 day cycles - without a preservation letter, the most important evidence in the case disappears before the claim is even filed.
We build the notice case: time-stamped video showing how long the hazard existed, sweep logs (or the absence of them), prior similar incidents, and any pattern of inadequate response. Where the defense is "open and obvious," we work with experts on lighting, signage, and store layout. Where comparative fault is asserted, we document what a reasonable person could and could not have seen.
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8 million
ER visits each year in the U.S. for falls
CDC Injury Center
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1 million
Americans suffer a slip-and-fall injury serious enough to be treated each year
National Floor Safety Institute
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#1
cause of TBI for older adults is falls
CDC, 2021
Common questions
Questions about Slip and Fall / Premises Liability
The store says it is my fault for not watching where I was walking. Is that true?
Stores almost always argue that. Texas comparative fault means you can still recover unless you were more than 50 percent at fault. The store's duty to keep the floor safe does not disappear because the customer should also pay attention.
I did not file an incident report at the store. Does that hurt my case?
It makes the case harder, not impossible. We work to reconstruct the timeline with medical records, photos, and witness statements. Always file an incident report when you can.
How do you prove the store knew about the hazard?
Through surveillance showing how long the hazard sat, sweep logs (or gaps in them), prior incident reports for similar hazards, and employee testimony. "Constructive notice" - what the store should have known with reasonable inspection - is also a basis for liability.
What kind of damages can I recover?
Past and future medical care, lost wages and lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, physical impairment, and disfigurement. Recovery depends on the severity of injuries and how clearly the store's notice is established.
Related topics
More under Personal Injury
Direct consultation
Ready to talk about your case?
Call the firm or schedule a consultation. We speak Spanish and English. Initial consultations are confidential.