Legal Question in Personal Injury in Texas

Re: Slip and Fall

Call a local attorney. Your claim will become more difficult to work on the longer you delay hiring an attorney and seeking medical treatment for your injuries.

Re: Slip and Fall

I am sorry to hear about your accident. Slip-and-fall cases are, by far, the most difficult cases to prove and win in Texas. The reason is that the law requires that you, as the claimant, must prove these elements:

1)that the store put the water on the floor; or

2)that the store, even if it did not put the water on the floor, nevertheless knew the water was on the floor BEFORE your fall; and

3)that the store failed to warn you of the water; and

4)that you were not negligent yourself by failing to watch where you were walking.

Also, remember that the store does not have to disprove anything; it is your burden to prove every element of your case.

You did not say whether there was a mat inside the door. If there was a mat, I doubt you have a case. The reason is that everybody knows floors get wet when it rains. That means the law expects you to be extra-cautious when you know it's raining. If the store had a mat down, that's about all they are required to do. (They really don't even need a wet-floor sign because you are deemed to know that floors do get wet when it rains and people track rain in.)

In other words, our fine Republican legislature has made it to where you almost never have a claim for slip-and-fall anymore. Unless you can show negligence on the part of the store, that they knew about the water on the floor prior to your fall, that they failed to warn you, and that you did nothing wrong to cause your own fall, you have no case. The Republicans--starting with George Bush and finishing with Rick Perry--don't want you to be able to collect a dime when you get hurt. And they have done a good job of seeing to it that you don't.