Why Injured Families Across Greater Houston Trust Us
Property owners and their insurers move quickly after a serious injury, often to shift blame onto you and minimize what they pay. At Hernandez Sunosky, LLP, we prepare every premises liability claim as if it will go to trial, giving you leverage at the negotiation table and in the courtroom from day one. Before you speak to an adjuster, know what your legal team brings to the table.
- Former insurance defense attorneys. We know the tactics used to shift blame onto injured visitors.
- Board certified in personal injury trial law. Both founding partners are Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
- Free consultations and no fee unless we win. We work on a contingency fee basis, and you pay no attorney fees unless we recover money for you.
- Bilingual representation. Se habla español.
- Fast evidence preservation. Time‑sensitive investigation and evidence preservation. We act quickly to secure key evidence, including surveillance footage that may be overwritten, before it’s lost.
- A free crash report tool. If a vehicle was involved, we pull your report at no cost.
- Around-the-clock availability. Reach our team 24/7 at (713) 981-4100.
The days after a fall or other property‑related injury are when insurers build their defense and critical evidence disappears. Give your family the advantage of trial‑ready, board‑certified counsel that’s available 24/7, offers free consultations and crash reports, and fights to hold negligent property owners fully accountable.
What You Have to Prove in a Texas Premises Liability Case
Getting hurt on someone else’s property does not by itself make the owner liable. Texas courts say plainly that an owner is not an insurer of a visitor’s safety. To recover as an invitee, a person on the property with the owner’s knowledge and for the mutual benefit of both, you must prove four things:
- Knowledge. The owner had actual or constructive knowledge of the condition that caused the injury.
- Unreasonable risk. That condition posed an unreasonable risk of harm.
- Failure to act. The owner failed to take reasonable care to reduce or eliminate the risk.
- Causation. That failure proximately caused your injuries.
An owner can ordinarily discharge that duty by fixing the hazard or by adequately warning of a concealed danger it knew or should have known about and you did not.
The Texas Supreme Court has spelled out how the duty works, including the general rule that owners owe no duty as to dangers that are open and obvious or already known to the visitor. It also explains the two exceptions that survive it: criminal conduct so likely it is both unreasonable and foreseeable, and cases where a visitor had to use the dangerous area and the owner should have anticipated they could not avoid the risk.
Who Do Property Owners Owe a Duty to in Texas?
Texas sorts visitors by why they were on the property, and that category drives how much protection you get. Shoppers, customers, and employees are generally invitees, who receive the strongest protection. Social guests and others who enter with permission but for their own purposes are usually licensees.
An owner must warn a licensee about a dangerous condition the owner actually knows about but does not have to inspect the property to find unknown hazards. Trespassers receive the least. An owner owes a trespasser no general duty of care and is liable for injuring one willfully, wantonly, or through gross negligence.
A separate statutory rule can make an owner liable to a child hurt by a highly dangerous artificial condition, but only if all five statutory conditions are met. Insurers attack visitor status early, because reclassifying you is the cheapest way to shrink a claim.
Premises Liability Accidents We Handle
Dangerous property conditions can cause serious injuries in seconds, from a fall in a grocery store to an assault in an inadequately secured apartment complex. When a property owner or occupier fails to identify, repair, or warn visitors about an unreasonable hazard, injured Texans may have a premises liability claim.
We represent people injured by:
- Slip, trip, and fall accidents on wet floors, broken pavement, and unmarked changes in level
- Assaults and robberies traceable to inadequate security
- Staircase, escalator, and elevator failures, and poorly lit garages and walkways
- Falling merchandise, drownings, and daycare injuries
- Fires, explosions, gas leaks, and electrocutions
- Dog attacks and other animal injuries
A premises liability case concerns a dangerous condition on the property, rather than an employee’s ongoing negligent activity. That distinction can affect the evidence required to establish the owner’s notice of the hazard and responsibility for the injury.
How Texas Fault Rules and Filing Deadlines Affect Your Claim
Texas applies proportionate responsibility, so the defense will work to pin a share of the blame on you. If a jury finds your percentage of responsibility is greater than 50 percent, you recover nothing. If it is 50 percent or less, your damages are reduced by that percentage. Arguing you were distracted is not a side issue. It is the strategy.
Timing is just as unforgiving. Most Texas personal injury suits must be filed within two years of the day the claim accrues, and a claim for an injury resulting in death runs two years from the date of death. Limited exceptions exist, including for children, whose limitations period does not run while they are minors.
Talk to a Kingwood Premises Liability Lawyer for Free
We serve Houston, Kingwood, Atascocita, Humble, New Caney, Porter, and Pearland from our Kingwood and Pearland offices. If a dangerous property condition injured you or someone in your family, call Hernandez Sunosky, LLP at (713) 981-4100 or contact our team online for a free consultation. Se habla español, and we do not get paid unless you get paid.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to file a premises liability lawsuit in Texas?
Two years from the day the cause of action accrues, for most personal injury suits. A claim for an injury resulting in death runs two years from the date of death. Exceptions exist, so confirm your own deadline with a lawyer.
What if the property owner says the hazard was obvious?
That defense is real but narrower than insurers suggest. Texas owners generally owe no duty as to dangers that are open and obvious or already known to you. Exceptions apply where the risk of criminal conduct was both unreasonable and foreseeable, and where you had to use the area and could not have avoided the risk.
Can I still recover if I was partly at fault?
Yes, so long as your share of the responsibility is 50 percent or less, though your award is reduced by that percentage. Above 50 percent, Texas law bars recovery entirely.