Premises liability is a type of liability that property owners face if someone is injured while on their property.
Accident attorneys represent many of the 8 million or more individuals injured in these accidents yearly.
To win these cases in Texas, premises liability lawyers must prove that the property owner was somehow negligent and that their negligence resulted in a person’s injuries.
As simple as that may sound, doing so can often be challenging.
What Accidents Does Premises Liability Encompass?
Premises liability law applies to the types of injuries people can have when visiting someone else’s property, whether it is their home or business.
The types of accidents that fall under this category of liability include:
- Slip-and-Fall Accidents - The most common types of premises liability cases that attorneys oversee, these accidents involve someone falling due to something causing them to slip or trip.
- Premises Defect Accidents - A hazard or obstruction on the property that causes someone to be injured in some fashion.
- Building Code Infractions - Injuries caused by negligence due to a property owner’s failure to keep their property compliant with local building safety codes.
- Swimming Pool Accidents - When someone is hurt in a swimming pool because access is not controlled with the required gates or fences.
- Dog Bites - Premises liability attorneys also find that dog bites that occur due to a property owner’s negligence to contain a dangerous dog with proper fencing and gates may be a liability as well.
How Does Visitor Status Impact Texas Premises Liability?
An important factor that attorneys must consider when interpreting Texas premises liability is what the injured party’s “visitor status” was when they were on the property.
The duty owed or liability a property owner has to visitors to a property depends on that status.
Property owners must protect invitees or licensees, as those individuals have permission to be on the property.
In most cases, they do not have a duty owed to trespassers, as they do not have permission to be there.
Yet if a premises liability lawyer can make a valid case of negligence that would apply even to a trespasser, they could still be liable.
How Is Owner Negligence Proven?
At the base of every successful premises liability injury case, there must be some type of provable negligence.
In this case, there must be 4 distinct element:
- A duty of care.
- Breach of a duty of care.
- Causation, if not for a breach of duty, incident wouldn't have happened.
- Damages related to the involved incident.
Premises liability attorneys must establish who the property owners are and then prove that a client’s injuries were caused by an accident that resulted from their negligence in the maintenance of their property.
Attorneys must prove that the property owner knew of the problem or should have known of it and did not take steps to remedy it.
Then it must cleared be proven how that negligence caused a client’s injuries.
Discuss With An Experienced Premises Liability Lawyer
Accidents happen, but premises liability attorneys also know that at times, those accidents could and should have been prevented with correct property security and/or safety.
Proving negligence in a premises liability injury case can be challenging; however, an experienced attorney can help.
A lawyer who handles premises liability cases has the knowledge and skills to help Texas residents who are injured due to a property owner’s failure to maintain the safety and/or security of their property.
