The McAllen Personal Injury Lawyer

Understanding Texas Premises Liability Law-The McAllen Personal Injury Lawyer

Our daily lives require us to visit businesses and offices virtually every day. The grocery store, clothes shopping, a gas station, even government buildings, the list of places we must go is endless. Rarely do we consider as we go about our daily lives that something as simple as going to work and walking into our office building, can result in catastrophic injury.

When you are injured on someone else’s property, there is a body of law called “premises liability“ law that governs whether you receive compensation. One example of a “premises liability case” which I personally handled involved a woman who was leaving work for the day. She walked to the elevator in the parking garage and stepped on a mat that had been placed in front of the elevator by the building manager. When she stepped on this mat, the mat completely gave way under her feet. She fell onto a concrete floor, shattering her hip. She was required undergo emergency surgery. Fortunately, she received a sizeable settlement. The McAllen Personal Injury lawyer knows how to maximize your case to get you the most compensation you are entitled to.

Slip and falls and other types of premises liability injuries rarely happen, but they do occur. And when they do occur, the results can mean serious injuries for you or your family.

Premises liability injuries can be caused by:

• Cluttered floors in a business;
• Liquids or other fluids on the floors. Violations of building codes; Improperly placed mats;
• Or actual defects in the design and construction of the building itself such is uneven walkways

Hiring an experienced personal injury lawyer that understands premises liability case law is important. That is because premises liability case law is complex and constantly evolving.

Traditional Premises Negligence Case

In a traditional premises negligence case, there is usually a claim of a dangerous condition or circumstance, involving the property where the injured party was hurt. The injured party alleges the dangerous condition or circumstance caused an injury to the plaintiff. An example of this would be the plaintiff falling because of an unsecured extension cord which had been strung across a room. This is the kind of traditional premises negligence case.

In order to prove liability in this type of case, the plaintiff must establish that:

• A dangerous condition was present on the property
• The condition caused an injury
• The operator of the premises created, knew, or should have known about the condition
• The operator of the premises failed to correct the condition before the injury occurred.

In the example of the extension cord, it would have to be shown that an extension cord was strung across a floor at a premises. That because of the extension cord being unsecured and no warning being given, the plaintiff tripped and her herself on the extension cord. That the premises created the condition or should have exercised appropriate control over the premise to know about the extension cord. And lastly, having known (or should of knowing) about the extension cord, the premises owner did not act to prevent the injury.

As you can see, proving such a case means lots of work interviewing witnesses, inspecting the accident scene and reviewing medical records.

Negligent Activity

A negligent activity claim is still premises liability. However, negligent activity involves a claim that one of the premises owner’s employees injured the plaintiff, while the employee was working on the premises. For example, if an employee hit a plaintiff while operating a forklift. This would be a a negligent activity case.

In order to prove liability in a negligent activity case, the plaintiff must establish that:

• The employee did not act as a prudent person would have acted under the circumstances
• This behavior resulted in an injury to the plaintiff

Negligent Undertaking

Next in the premises liability universe is negligent undertaking. A negligent undertaking case occurs when property owner/premises owner assumes an obligation or duty where he or she would not otherwise have one. If they assume this duty, they have an obligation to act with reasonably. A landlord/tenant relationship oftentimes establishes a negligent undertaking. For instance, if a tenant reports a lack of maintenance creating a dangerous situation, and the landlord fails to remedy the problem, and the problem results in an injury, this could be grounds for a negligent undertaking case.

In order to prove liability in a negligent undertaking case, the plaintiff must establish that:

• The premise operator assumed a duty to the plaintiff
• The plaintiff relied on the premise operator to perform that duty
• The plaintiff was injured as a result of the premise operator’s failure to perform that duty

The question that must be answered is whether the was a defect on the premise or an on going activity that caused the injury. A wonderfully well-written article explains the importance of this distinction as follows:

“Both negligent act cases and premises liability cases sound in negligence. Both types of cases, therefore, are similar, but have different elements that must be proven. In general, it is more difficult to prove the elements of a premises liability claim, particularly difficult is the evidence that the defendant knew or should have known of the unreasonably dangerous condition.” Hire a personal injury lawyer with a proven track record of success.

See https://agrilife.org/texasaglaw/2015/03/16/texas-landowner-liability-part-i-negligent-act-v-premises-liability/

If you have been injured while on someone else’s property, call The McAllen Personal Injury and Car Crash Lawyer Lawyer John Ball today for a free consultation at 956-501-6565.