Texas Premises Liability Lawyer

Premises liability is a broad area of Texas personal injury law covering injuries that occur on someone else’s property due to unsafe conditions. It includes slip and fall, negligent security, swimming pool drowning, dog bite, elevator and escalator injuries, falling object incidents, construction site injuries to visitors, and similar cases. Each subtype has its own legal framework and evidence requirements. A Texas premises liability lawyer at McFarlane Law handles the full range, from routine grocery store falls to complex negligent security cases against apartment complexes, parking garages, and bars.

Categories of Texas Premises Liability Cases

Slip and fall cases involve dangerous conditions on walking surfaces — spills, uneven flooring, torn carpet, ice, or debris. Negligent security cases involve criminal attacks on premises where the owner failed to take reasonable steps (adequate lighting, working door locks, security guards, functional CCTV) in the face of foreseeable crime. Swimming pool cases involve drowning and near-drowning injuries at apartment and hotel pools lacking proper fencing, signage, and lifeguard protocols. Dog bite cases implicate the “one bite” rule and Texas’s negligent handling doctrines. Elevator and escalator cases involve mechanical failures, sudden stops, and door-entrapment injuries. Construction site visitor cases involve property owners’ duties to visitors during active construction. Each case type has its own evidence, expert, and damages framework.

The Duty Owed: Invitee, Licensee, Trespasser

Texas premises liability depends on the plaintiff’s status. Invitees — customers, tenants, guests of tenants — are owed ordinary care to make the premises reasonably safe. Licensees — social guests and non-business visitors — are owed a duty not to injure willfully or wantonly and to warn of known concealed dangers. Trespassers — entering without permission — are owed only a duty to avoid gross negligence or intentional harm. Children trespassers fall under the attractive nuisance doctrine, which imposes a higher duty on property owners for conditions (like pools, trampolines, machinery) that attract and endanger children. Determining the correct status is the first analytical step in every Texas premises case.

Negligent Security: A Major Texas Recovery Path

Apartment complexes, hotels, bars, nightclubs, parking garages, and shopping centers can be liable for violent crime committed by third parties on their property when the crime was foreseeable and the owner failed to take reasonable preventive measures. Texas courts evaluate foreseeability based on prior similar crime on the specific property and in the immediate neighborhood, the crime rate in the surrounding area, and prior complaints or warnings. Inadequate lighting, broken locks, broken gates, no working security cameras, absent security guards, and staff failures to train or respond are common negligent security theories. McFarlane Law subpoenas police crime reports, prior incident complaints, security contracts, and staff training records to prove foreseeability and negligence. These cases often produce substantial recoveries.

Evidence Preservation in Texas Premises Cases

Premises liability evidence is time-sensitive. Surveillance video is typically overwritten in 7 to 30 days. Incident reports can be lost or altered. Employee witnesses transfer or quit. Hazardous conditions are repaired or removed. Maintenance logs and inspection records can be difficult to obtain later. McFarlane Law sends preservation letters the day we are retained, photographs the incident location promptly, and interviews witnesses before their memories fade. We also retain experts — commercial property safety specialists, building-code engineers, security consultants — to establish the standard of care and its breach. The sooner we’re involved, the stronger the case.

Related Practice Areas

Related: Texas slip and fall lawyer, types of personal injury cases, premises liability wrongful death. Hub: Texas personal injury lawyer.

Talk to a Texas Injury Lawyer Today

If you were injured on someone else’s property in Texas, McFarlane Law can help. Free consult; no fee unless we win. Austin (512) 222-4900, Odessa (432) 803-5000.