Garland Premises Liability Lawyer

Just as drivers must obey traffic laws and doctors must meet a specific standard of care with every one of their patients, landowners in Texas have an expectation imposed on them by law to keep their property reasonably safe for visitors. However, the requirements of this “duty of care” vary from visitor to visitor, meaning landowners are not automatically liable for every accident on their property.

If you are dealing with injuries caused by excessively dangerous conditions on another person’s land, guidance from a Garland premises liability lawyer could be vital to effectively pursue compensation for your losses. From helping you establish fault for your accident to building the strongest possible claim, a skilled personal injury attorney could be a valuable ally from start to finish of your legal proceedings.

Duties of Care for Garland Property Owners

The degree to which a property owner may be liable for someone’s accidental injury on their property greatly depends upon the category of visitor the injured person is.

Invitees

Under Texas state law, landowners owe the most substantial duty of care to “invitees” visiting for the landowner’s benefit, such as retail store customers. In addition to providing advance warning of all known hazards and taking reasonably prompt and prudent action to resolve hazardous conditions, landowners also owe invitees a duty of “ordinary care” of their property, which entails regularly inspecting their land so they become aware of new hazards and can address them appropriately.

Licensees

Conversely, landowners are less obligated to “licensees” like houseguests who visit primarily for their own benefit. While property owners must provide a warning about known hazards and remedy those hazards in a reasonable timeframe, they are generally not liable for injuries that licensees sustain from dangers the landowner was unaware of.

Trespassers

For trespassers, landowners generally have no duty of care whatsoever other than a broad obligation not to intentionally harm trespassers by knowingly creating hazardous conditions. As a practiced Garland premises liability attorney could explain, though, there are some exceptions to this rule in certain situations. For example, when a trespasser is a minor child drawn onto private property by an “attractive nuisance” like construction equipment, unsecured and dilapidated pools, and the like.

Key Evidence in Premises Liability Claims

An injured visitor cannot make a negligent property owner pay for their damages unless they can show that the dangerous condition in question was the direct and primary cause of their injuries. This can require numerous forms of evidence from multiple sources, including:

Comprehensive medical documentation
Security camera footage
Subpoenaed maintenance and staffing records
Testimony from people who saw the accident and/or the hazard in question

Additionally, it can be important to have evidence expressly establishing that an injured person was not partially to blame for the accident. A knowledgeable property liability lawyer in Garland could go into further detail about what evidence might be available and relevant to a specific case during an initial consultation.

Get in Touch with a Garland Premises Liability Attorney Today

Property liability law works similarly to standard personal injury law in some ways and extremely differently in many others. Making sense of those differences and building a solid case despite them could be much easier with assistance from a capable and compassionate legal representative. A conversation with a Garland premises liability lawyer could give you the information you need to make the right decision in your unique circumstances. Call today to schedule a meeting.