San Antonio Slip & Fall Attorney

A wet tile floor at a grocery entrance, a broken step at an apartment complex, a dark parking lot with a pothole: a fall in any of these places can mean a broken hip, a torn rotator cuff, or a head injury that follows you for years. In Texas, though, a fall alone doesn’t make a property owner liable. You have to prove the owner knew, or should have known, about the hazard and didn’t deal with it.

Our San Antonio slip and fall attorney spent more than two decades on the defense side of injury cases, so we know how property owners and their insurers build their arguments. We offer a Free & Secure In-Depth Case Evaluation, and you pay no fee unless we win. Call 210-985-8398 (English) or 210-796-4933 (Spanish) to talk through what happened.

What Must You Prove in a Texas Slip and Fall Claim?

A Texas slip and fall claim is a premises liability claim. To recover, an injured invitee generally must prove four elements: the owner or occupier had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition, the condition posed an unreasonable risk of harm, the owner or occupier failed to exercise reasonable care to reduce or eliminate the risk, and that failure proximately caused the injury.

Each element has to be supported by evidence:

Knowledge: The owner or occupier had actual knowledge of the dangerous condition, or constructive knowledge, meaning the condition existed long enough before the incident that a reasonably careful owner or occupier would have had a reasonable opportunity to discover it.
Unreasonable risk: The condition must present an unreasonable risk of harm under the circumstances. A spill, a missing handrail, or a crumbling stairway may qualify, depending on the specific facts. A minor imperfection, such as a slightly uneven floor seam, does not automatically establish an unreasonably dangerous condition.
Failure to use reasonable care: The owner didn’t repair the hazard, warn visitors, or otherwise reduce the risk.
Causation: The dangerous condition and the owner’s failure to exercise reasonable care were a proximate cause of the fall and resulting injuries. A pre-existing condition does not automatically prevent recovery if the fall aggravated or worsened that condition.

Invitee, Licensee, or Trespasser: Why Your Status Matters

The duty a Texas property owner owes depends on why you were on the property. Customers and other business visitors (invitees) are owed the highest duty of care.

Invitee: Shoppers, restaurant diners, hotel guests, and others who enter the property with the owner’s express or implied invitation for a purpose that provides an economic benefit to the owner or is connected to the owner’s business. The owner or occupier generally must use reasonable care to protect invitees from unreasonably dangerous conditions that the owner or occupier actually knows about or should discover through reasonable care, provided the invitee does not know of the condition.
Licensee: Someone who has permission to enter the property but is not there for the owner’s business benefit, such as a social guest. The owner or occupier generally must not injure a licensee through willful, wanton, or grossly negligent conduct and must use ordinary care to warn of or make safe unreasonably dangerous conditions of which the owner or occupier has actual knowledge and the licensee does not. Generally, there is no duty to inspect for unknown hazards.
Trespasser: An unauthorized visitor. The owner owes only a duty not to injure the person willfully, wantonly, or through gross negligence.

A landlord may owe a tenant a duty of reasonable care for dangerous conditions in common areas such as stairwells, walkways, and parking lots when the landlord retains control over those areas. Whether the tenant is classified as an invitee, and the precise duty the landlord owes, depends on the circumstances and the landlord’s control over the area. Our premises liability page covers the broader category these claims fall under.

How Do You Show an Owner Should Have Known About a Hazard?

When no employee saw the hazard, you can prove constructive knowledge by showing the condition existed long enough that a reasonably careful owner would have found and fixed it.

This is often one of the hardest parts of a slip and fall case. Texas courts apply what is known as the time-notice rule when evaluating constructive knowledge. You generally must present evidence showing how long the dangerous condition existed before the fall and whether the owner had a reasonable opportunity to discover and address it. A puddle that appeared seconds before you fell may not provide enough time for a store to discover it. However, evidence that a puddle remained in a conspicuous location for an extended period, particularly near employees, may help establish constructive knowledge. Whether the evidence is sufficient depends on the specific circumstances.

Surveillance video may help establish when a spill occurred, how long it remained on the floor, and whether employees passed near it before the incident. Cleaning and inspection logs may provide relevant information about inspections and maintenance, while prior complaints or similar incidents involving the same location or hazard may help establish notice. However, these records must be connected to the dangerous condition at issue and do not automatically establish constructive knowledge.

Evidence Worth Securing Before It Disappears

Video footage, the hazard itself, and witness memories can vanish within days, so early documentation often decides whether a slip and fall claim is provable.

Businesses commonly overwrite surveillance footage on a short loop, and repairs erase the scene. If you can, take these steps:

Photographs and video: Capture the hazard, the surrounding area, lighting, and any missing warning signs from several angles.
Witness contacts: Get names and phone numbers of anyone who saw you fall or saw the condition beforehand.
Medical records: Get examined promptly. Delayed treatment gives an insurer room to argue the injury came from something else.
Preservation request: A written letter asking the owner to keep video, logs, and maintenance records helps protect evidence. If it’s later destroyed, Texas courts can address that through spoliation remedies.

Our blog on what to do after being injured on someone else’s property goes into more detail.

Defenses Insurers Raise, and the 50 Percent Bar

Texas follows a modified comparative fault rule: if a jury finds you more than 50 percent responsible for your fall, you recover nothing, and any lesser share reduces your award.

Under Chapter 33 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, including § 33.001, a claimant who is more than 50 percent responsible can’t recover damages. Below that line, compensation is reduced by your percentage.

Expect these arguments:

No notice: The owner claims it didn’t know about the hazard and it hadn’t been there long enough to be discovered.
Open and obvious: The owner argues that the dangerous condition was so apparent that a reasonable person would have recognized and avoided it. Texas law generally does not require a property owner to warn an invitee about a danger that is open and obvious or already known to the invitee. However, exceptions may apply when the owner should anticipate that visitors will encounter the danger despite its obvious nature, such as when encountering it is necessary to use the property. The circumstances surrounding the hazard, including visibility and whether a reasonable alternative route existed, may be relevant to the analysis.
Pre-existing injury: The defense says your condition predated the fall. Prior records and a clear medical timeline matter here.

Compensation Available and the Two-Year Deadline

A successful Texas slip and fall claim can recover medical costs, lost income, and non-economic losses, but a lawsuit generally must be filed within two years under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003.

The two-year statute of limitations for personal injury begins on the date of the fall in most cases. Miss it, and the court will likely dismiss the claim no matter how strong it is.

Recoverable damages can include:

Medical expenses: Reasonable and necessary expenses for past and future medical care, including surgery, therapy, and medication. Under Texas law, recovery of past medical expenses is generally limited to the amounts actually paid or incurred by or on behalf of the claimant, rather than the full amounts originally billed. Future medical expenses must be supported by evidence establishing that they are reasonably probable.
Lost wages and earning capacity: Income missed while recovering, plus reduced ability to work if the injury is lasting.
Pain and suffering, mental anguish, impairment, and disfigurement: Non-economic losses that account for how the injury changes daily life.

Slip and Fall Questions We Hear in San Antonio

These are short answers to common questions about Texas slip and fall claims, and your facts may change the outcome.

Do I have a case if I fell on a wet floor with no warning sign?

Possibly. A missing sign helps show the owner failed to warn, but you still need to show the owner knew or should have known about the spill.

What if I fell on private property that isn’t a store?

The same premises liability framework applies to apartments, hotels, parking garages, restaurants, and private homes. What changes is your status on the property and who controlled it.

What if the property is owned by a city or government?

Claims against governmental entities may fall under the Texas Tort Claims Act, which limits the circumstances in which a government entity can be held liable. Under Section 101.101 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, written notice generally must be provided within six months of the incident. However, a city charter or ordinance may impose a shorter notice period. The formal notice requirement may also be excused if the government entity has actual notice of the injury. Because these requirements can apply much sooner than the ordinary two-year statute of limitations, it is important to seek legal advice promptly.

Should I give the insurance adjuster a recorded statement?

You aren’t required to. Adjusters often ask questions designed to get you to admit fault or minimize your injuries. It’s safer to speak with a lawyer first.

How long does a slip and fall case take?

It varies with the severity of your injuries and whether the insurer disputes liability. Many cases are not resolved until the injured person’s medical condition has stabilized or there is enough medical information to reasonably evaluate the extent of the injuries and future treatment needs. However, settlement timing varies depending on the circumstances of the case.

Talk With a San Antonio Slip and Fall Lawyer

Fall cases are won or lost on the first few weeks of evidence, and Texas gives injured people only two years to file. Our San Antonio slip and fall lawyer handles each case personally and can start by reviewing your records, the location, and any video that may still exist. Call 210-985-8398 for English or 210-796-4933 for Spanish, or visit our office at 608 Broadway, San Antonio, TX 78215, to request your Free & Secure In-Depth Case Evaluation with Barry Deacon Law.