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A fall on someone else's property can leave you with a broken hip, a head injury, and bills you never planned for. Texas law does not hold a property owner responsible for every fall. It holds them responsible when they knew about a hazard, or should have known, and failed to fix it or warn you. Proving that depends on evidence gathered quickly, often before a store overwrites its surveillance video. Working with a Texas slip and fall accident lawyer early helps protect that evidence. Our team investigates how the hazard formed, how long it remained, and who was responsible for checking it. Call The Texas Chongo Personal Injury Lawyers at (972) 529-3476 for a free case evaluation.
Premises cases turn on facts that disappear. Our team sends preservation letters for video, inspection logs, and incident reports, then works to establish what the owner knew and when.
Our office is in Irving, and we handle premises claims for injured people throughout Texas. Distance is not a barrier, because the investigation runs on records, video, and site inspection rather than proximity.
Qualifications our clients rely on include the following:
We handle premises claims on a contingency fee basis under a signed agreement.
A fall alone is not a case. You must show the owner or occupier knew or should have known about a dangerous condition on the property. You must also show that the condition posed an unreasonable risk, that the owner failed to use reasonable care, and that the failure caused your injuries.
Actual knowledge means someone at the property knew the hazard was there. Constructive knowledge means it existed long enough that a reasonable inspection should have caught it.
Texas courts apply that timing rule strictly. In Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Gonzalez, the Texas Supreme Court held that circumstantial evidence must show it is more likely than not that the condition existed long enough for the owner to discover it.
The court rejected dirt, footprints, and cart tracks as proof. Those signs, it explained, support an inference that the spill had just happened and was quickly contaminated just as easily as they support the opposite conclusion.
Not every imperfect surface creates liability. In Brookshire Grocery Co. v. Taylor, the court held that the relevant condition is the one at the time and place the injury occurs, not some earlier situation that produced it.
The same opinion states that a condition is not unreasonably dangerous simply because it is not foolproof. Because partially melted ice near a drink dispenser had not fully melted, no evidence showed it had been there long enough to charge the store with notice.
An adequate warning can discharge the duty owed to a visitor. In Henkel v. Norman, the Texas Supreme Court found the words don't slip, spoken seconds before a fall on an icy walkway, adequate given a hard freeze warning that day.
A warning does not have to name the exact cause, but it must communicate the condition itself under the surrounding circumstances. Whether a wet floor sign or a verbal caution meets that standard is usually a question of fact, and we prepare for it from the start.
Written safety standards often show what reasonable care is required. They also show whether the property met its own obligations before you fell.
Employers covered by federal workplace rules must meet specific walking surface requirements under 29 CFR 1910.22. The regulation sets out these obligations:
State law imposes a parallel duty. Under Texas Labor Code Section 411.103, an employer must provide and maintain employment and a place of employment that is reasonably safe and healthful.
That section also requires employers to install, maintain, and use the methods, devices, and safeguards reasonably necessary to protect life, health, and safety. Falls at work can involve both a workers' compensation claim and a separate claim against a negligent third party, and those paths follow different rules.
Falls on escalators and at elevator landings raise a documented compliance trail. Under Texas Health and Safety Code Section 754.019, building owners must have covered equipment inspected annually by a registered elevator inspector.
Owners must also file inspection reports within 30 days, display the certificate of compliance in a publicly visible area, maintain the equipment to adopted codes, and report equipment accidents within 24 hours. Missing or overdue records can matter a great deal in these claims.
Serious falls happen anywhere property is poorly maintained. Our team handles claims arising at locations such as the following:
Occupational fall data underscores the severity of surface hazards. According to the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries for 2024, Texas recorded 557 fatal work injuries. Slips, trips, and falls accounted for 77 deaths (14% of all fatal workplace injuries), with 61 of those fatalities resulting from falls to a lower level.
Value depends on the severity of your injuries, the treatment you need, and the strength of the liability evidence. No lawyer can price a claim before the medical picture is clear.
Economic damages cover documented financial losses:
Non-economic damages cover harm without a receipt:
Hip fractures, spinal injuries, and traumatic brain injuries drive the highest treatment costs and the longest recoveries. Thorough documentation is central to the claim.
Shifting blame to the injured person is a standard defense in premises cases. Texas uses proportionate responsibility, and under Chapter 33 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, you may not recover if your percentage of responsibility is greater than 50%.
Below that threshold, your damages are reduced by your share. Section 33.003 requires the trier of fact to assign a percentage of responsibility to each claiming party, each defendant, each settling person, and each responsible third party designated in the case.
That last category matters more than most people expect. A store may point to a cleaning contractor, and a landlord may point to a maintenance company, which is why identifying every responsible party early protects your recovery.
Most Texas personal injury claims carry a 2-year deadline under Section 16.003 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, running from the day the cause of action accrues. Claims against a governmental unit carry much shorter notice requirements.
Waiting is still costly even when the deadline is far off. Surveillance systems overwrite footage in days or weeks, employees move on, and inspection logs get discarded, so early legal action preserves the proof your claim depends on.
Possibly. A delayed report gives the property owner an argument, not an automatic defense. We look for other proof that fixes the time and condition, including video, witness accounts, medical records from your first visit, and photographs taken at the scene.
That defense directly targets the notice element. Our team requests sweep logs, inspection schedules, staffing records, and video covering the period before your fall, because those documents often reveal how long the hazard actually sat there.
Sometimes. If your employer carries workers' compensation, that system usually governs your claim against the employer. You may still have a separate claim against a property owner, contractor, or equipment company whose negligence contributed to the fall.
Not by itself. The question is whether the warning communicated the actual condition under the circumstances. A sign may fall short if it went up after your fall, sat where no one would see it, or warned about a different hazard.
Timing evidence carries the most weight, since Texas courts require proof that the hazard existed long enough to be discovered. Inspection records, video, and maintenance histories are often more persuasive than photographs of the hazard alone.
We handle these claims on a contingency fee basis, with the specific terms set out in a written agreement you review before signing. Your case evaluation costs nothing.
The property owner's insurer began building its defense the day you fell. You deserve someone building yours.
Our attorneys investigate how long the hazard existed, whether inspections occurred, and which parties share responsibility, then present that evidence in a demand the insurer must take seriously. Board-certified in personal injury trial law, attorney David Sanchez has tried more than 100 cases to juries across Texas.
Reach The Texas Chongo Personal Injury Lawyers at (972) 529-3476 to speak with a Texas slip and fall accident lawyer about your options. Your free case evaluation is available in English or Spanish.
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