Houston Premises Liability Lawyer — Holding Property Owners to the Standard the Law Requires
They invited you in. The law says they're responsible for your safety. When they fail that obligation, we make sure it counts.
$105K
recovered for a client who was injured inside a grocery store when a store employee negligently operated and controlled a line of shopping carts, causing them to strike our client and result in significant injuries
$150K
recovered for a client who suffered serious facial injuries, including a fractured nose, after falling inside a retail establishment where employees failed to maintain a safe environment for customer
$25K
recovered on behalf of a young girl who was attacked by a homeowner's dog while attending a birthday party at a private residence in Texas
What Premises Liability Means — and When It Applies to You
Premises liability is the area of Texas law that governs injuries caused by unsafe or negligently maintained property. When a property owner — a retailer, apartment complex, office building, or private landowner — fails to keep their premises reasonably safe and someone gets hurt as a result, that owner may be legally responsible for the damages.
This legal framework covers a wide range of situations: a wet floor in a grocery store with no warning sign, an apartment complex stairwell with a broken railing, a parking lot with inadequate lighting where a crime occurs, a retail storefront with a cracked entrance path. If a hazardous condition on someone else's property caused your injury, there is a legal question worth asking — and we can help you answer it.
The two most common premises liability case types we handle are slip and fall accidents and dog bites and animal attacks. Both are covered in detail on their own pages.
How Texas Law Classifies Visitors — and Why It Determines What You're Owed
Not every person injured on someone else's property is owed the same standard of care. Texas law establishes three categories of visitors, each carrying a different legal duty from the property owner.
Invitees are people who enter a property with the owner's express or implied invitation for a business or public purpose — customers in a retail store, shoppers at a mall, patients at a medical office, diners at a restaurant. Property owners owe invitees the highest duty of care: the obligation to inspect the property for hazardous conditions, warn of known dangers, and repair unsafe conditions within a reasonable time. Most commercial premises liability victims are invitees.
Licensees enter a property with the owner's permission but for their own purposes rather than a business transaction — social guests, for example. Property owners owe licensees a duty to warn of known hazards but are not required to inspect the property for unknown ones.
Trespassers enter without permission. Property owners generally owe trespassers only the duty not to willfully or wantonly harm them — with limited exceptions for child trespassers under the attractive nuisance doctrine.
If you were a customer, a patient, or any other business visitor when you were hurt, you were almost certainly an invitee — meaning you were owed the highest duty of care Texas law provides. When that duty is breached, the owner is liable for the consequences.
Where These Cases Happen in Greater Houston
Premises liability claims in Houston and the surrounding region cluster around predictable commercial environments. Grocery stores — HEB, Kroger, Walmart, and Spec's locations throughout the city — are among the most frequent sites of slip and fall injuries, where liquid spills, floor cleaning operations, and produce area moisture create ongoing hazards for shoppers. Galleria-area retailers, Target locations, and big-box stores across the region are common defendants in premises liability claims.
Apartment complexes throughout Houston generate a significant share of premises liability cases as well — broken exterior lighting, unmaintained stairwells, and parking areas with known security issues that management fails to address. Suburban shopping centers in Sugar Land and Katy, where high foot traffic meets aging infrastructure and inconsistent maintenance, are also consistent sources of serious slip and fall injuries.
When you are hurt in any of these environments, the business's response is typically immediate and organized. Their insurance carrier opens a claim file, their legal team begins gathering information, and their incident reporting process is designed to protect them — not you. We counter that from the first day of your case.
Responsiveness and Accessibility
Waiting days for answers can add unnecessary stress during an already difficult time. Calls and messages are handled promptly so you’re never left wondering about the status of your case.
24/7 intake through our live chat — available the moment you need help, not just during business hours
What Business Defendants Do After an Injury — and How We Respond
Large retailers and commercial property owners deal with premises liability claims regularly. They have insurance carriers, in-house risk management teams, and outside legal counsel whose job is to minimize payouts. When a customer is injured on their property, the response is fast, coordinated, and focused on limiting exposure.
Their strategy typically involves disputing whether they knew about the hazard, arguing the hazard was open and obvious, attributing fault to the injured person's own inattentiveness, and moving quickly toward a low settlement before the victim understands the full extent of their damages.
Our strategy involves securing the evidence before it disappears. Incident reports, security camera footage, maintenance and inspection logs, employee shift records, and prior complaint history can all establish that a hazard was known and left unaddressed. In Texas, a property owner's duty to invitees is not just to fix hazards they know about — it is to inspect for hazards and address them proactively. We build cases around that standard.
The denial is not the end of your claim. It is the beginning of our work.
Premises Liability Cases We Handle
Slip and Fall Accidents
Wet floors, uneven surfaces, inadequate lighting, debris in walkways — slip and fall cases require proving the property owner knew or should have known about the hazard and failed to act. We investigate the maintenance history, the inspection record, and the incident timeline to build that proof.
Dog Bites and Animal Attacks
Texas dog bite law holds owners responsible when their animal attacks a person who had a legal right to be where the attack occurred. These cases often involve apartment complex animals, neighborhood incidents, and situations where prior aggressive behavior was known and ignored.
Fatal Premises Incidents
When a property owner's negligence causes a death — a fatal fall, a violent crime enabled by negligent security, or another catastrophic failure — surviving family members may have a
wrongful death claim. These cases carry the same evidentiary urgency as any other premises liability matter, and the statute of limitations runs from the date of death.
What a Premises Liability Claim Can Recover
When a property owner's negligence causes your injury, Texas law allows recovery for the full scope of your damages — not just the immediate costs.
- Current medical expenses from emergency treatment, surgery, and initial care
- Future medical costs including physical therapy, specialist care, and ongoing treatment
- Lost wages during recovery and reduced earning capacity going forward
- Pain and suffering — the physical and emotional experience of the injury itself
- Property damage when personal belongings were damaged in the incident
Non-economic damages are where insurance carriers apply the most pressure. We document every element of your losses and present a claim that accounts for what your injury has cost and will continue to cost.
Frequently Asked Questions About Houston Premises Liability Claims
Can I sue a business if I was injured on their property in Texas?
Yes, if the business failed to meet its legal duty of care to you as an invitee. That duty requires inspection for hazards, warning of known dangers, and timely repair of unsafe conditions. When that duty is breached and you are hurt as a result, the business is potentially liable for your damages.
What if the store says it didn't know about the hazard?
The duty owed to invitees includes a duty to inspect — not just to fix hazards the owner already knows about. If a hazard existed long enough that a reasonable inspection would have found it, ignorance of it is not a defense. We investigate maintenance records and inspection logs to establish what the property owner knew or should have known.
How long do I have to file a premises liability claim in Texas?
Two years from the date of the injury in most cases. Do not wait — incident reports, surveillance footage, and witness availability all degrade over time. The sooner we begin, the stronger your evidentiary record.
What if I was partially at fault for the injury — I was looking at my phone, for example?
Texas modified comparative fault applies. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, but not eliminated unless you are found 51% or more responsible. We investigate the full circumstances and work to establish maximum liability on the property owner.
What if a loved one died due to conditions on someone's property?
Surviving family members may have a wrongful death claim. Contact us immediately — the two-year statute of limitations begins running from the date of death.
Littleton Law Firm has represented premises liability victims across Houston and Greater Texas since 1976. Founded by Larry Littleton on a conviction that powerful businesses and their insurers must be held to the same standard as anyone else, the firm has recovered millions for clients injured on negligently maintained commercial and residential property throughout Harris County and the surrounding region. Larry Littleton serves as attorney of record on all client contracts. Learn more about our firm on our About Us page.
They Had a Legal Obligation to Keep You Safe. They Didn't. That's What We Prove.
The business has an insurance team working on this already. You should have one too. The consultation is free, the call takes minutes, and you pay nothing unless we win.
