Open Accessibility Menu

Austin Premises Liability Lawyer

Helping Clients in Travis County Recover From Slip and Fall Injuries

Residential and commercial property owners are responsible for providing safe conditions for guests, customers, and other individuals. When they fail to do so, you can be injured, and as a result, you can hold these negligent property owners liable. However, taking the necessary legal steps to recover compensation can be difficult. This is why you may need to hire the services of a skilled Austin injury lawyer. At Howry Breen & Herman, we believe that you shouldn't be left to face the aftermath of a property owner's negligence on your own.

Whether you suffered injuries in a small store, a large restaurant, a hotel, an apartment complex, a theme park, or even at someone else's house, our Austin premises liability lawyers can help you pursue the fair recovery you are owed. With nearly 25 years in practice, we know how to navigate the claims filing process and are prepared to advocate for your rights aggressively.

Have you suffered a serious injury on someone else's property due to negligence? Call Howry, Breen & Herman, LLP today at (512) 430-4844 or contact us online to schedule a meeting with our premises liability attorney in Austin!

What is Premises Liability?

Premises liability refers to the legal responsibility of property owners or occupiers to ensure the safety of individuals who enter their property. This liability means that property owners can be held legally accountable for injuries or damages that occur on their premises due to negligence or unsafe conditions.

Common types of premises liability cases include:

  • Slip and Fall Accidents: These occur when someone slips, trips, or falls on someone else's property due to hazards such as wet floors, uneven surfaces, or inadequate lighting.
  • Trip and Fall Accidents: Similar to slip and fall accidents, trip and fall accidents happen when someone trips over an obstacle or hazard on the premises, such as loose carpeting, uneven sidewalks, or debris.
  • Inadequate Security: Property owners may be liable for injuries or damages resulting from criminal acts, such as assaults or robberies, if they fail to provide adequate security measures, such as proper lighting, surveillance cameras, or security personnel.
  • Dog Bites: If a dog attacks and injures someone on the owner's property, the owner may be held liable for the damages under premises liability laws.
  • Dangerous Conditions: Property owners have a duty to maintain their premises in a reasonably safe condition. Failure to address known hazards such as broken stairs, faulty handrails, or exposed wiring can result in liability for injuries caused by these dangerous conditions.
  • Swimming Pool Accidents: Property owners with swimming pools must take measures to prevent accidents, such as installing fences, gates, and safety covers. They may be held liable for injuries or drownings that occur if they fail to do so.
  • Elevator and Escalator Accidents: Property owners and managers are responsible for ensuring the safe operation and maintenance of elevators and escalators on their premises. They can be held liable for injuries caused by malfunctioning equipment or inadequate maintenance.
  • Defective Conditions: Property owners may be liable for injuries caused by defective conditions on their premises, such as broken or malfunctioning equipment, furniture, or fixtures.

When are Property Owners Liable for Injuries in Texas?

According to Texas law, a property owner may be liable for injuries incurred on their premises when certain factors are present. To show that a property owner acted negligently, you must show that they failed to take reasonable precautions to protect individuals from getting hurt while on the premises. This includes instances in which the property owner knew of or should have known of a dangerous condition but did not take proper or timely measures to correct it.

You may be able to pursue a premises liability case if any of the following conditions led to your injuries:

  • Uneven flooring
  • Torn or ripped carpeting
  • Slippery floors
  • Unmarked hazards
  • Inadequate signage
  • Insufficient lighting
  • Lack of security
  • Dangerous construction
  • Unsafe stairwells
  • Lack of railings
  • Inadequate barriers
  • Lack of required fencing
  • Poorly marked exits
  • Unsafe swimming pools

These are just some examples of negligent conditions. There are a wide variety of factors that could result in injury. Our Austin slip and fall attorneys can investigate the circumstances surrounding your case and determine if property owner negligence played a role in your injuries.

What Damages Can I Recover in a Slip And Fall Case?

Slip and falls are perhaps the most common type of premises liability claim. While many people think slip and falls are not very serious, this is a misconception. A person who slips and falls due to unsafe conditions on someone else’s property may sustain severe, life-altering injuries, including broken bones, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and more.

Victims of other types of premises liability accidents, such as swimming pool or theme park accidents, can also suffer catastrophic injuries. In some cases, victims of unsafe premises are even killed due to property owner negligence.

Every case is different, and it is impossible to determine the exact amount you may be able to recover for your damages. However, many victims can seek compensation for:

  • Medical expenses, both current and future
  • Lost income and/or wages
  • Lost or reduced earning capacity
  • Pain and suffering
  • Emotional and/or mental distress

In extreme cases, you may be able to pursue punitive damages if you can show that a property owner’s negligence was particularly egregious. If your loved one died due to property owner negligence, you might be able to recover compensation for funeral costs, loss of companionship, loss of expected earnings, and other damages.

Who is Responsible for Compensating You?

Property owners owe a duty of care to individuals who enter their premises. The level of care owed depends on the legal status of the visitor:

  • Invitees: These are individuals who are invited onto the property for business purposes, such as customers or clients. Property owners owe invitees the highest duty of care and must maintain their premises in a reasonably safe condition.
  • Licensees: These are individuals who have the property owner's permission to enter the premises for non-business purposes, such as social guests. Property owners owe licensees a duty to warn of any known dangers that are not obvious.
  • Trespassers: Property owners generally owe a lower duty of care to trespassers, but they still cannot intentionally harm them and may have some responsibility for obvious dangers.

In most premises liability cases, the insurance company representing the proprietor is responsible for compensating a successful claimant. Insurance companies sell property owners various policies that can provide coverage for accidents on their property. For example, homeowners’ insurance that most people buy when purchasing a home often has clauses that explain how the policy can provide for bodily injury coverage after a visitor is hurt in the home.

Third parties could become responsible for compensating in a premises liability case if they were responsible for taking care of the property. For example, a handyman company could be liable for an injury if the company was hired to fix a banister, did a poor job, and someone fell off a balcony when it broke. Or a security company can be liable if it fails to prevent an assault on the property it was hired to monitor.

How Does Texas Shared Fault Laws Affect Your Compensation?

Under Texas comparative fault law, only those found to be less than 51% responsible for an accident are entitled to financial recovery. If a jury finds that you are more at fault for the accident than the defendant, you will most likely not be able to recover any compensation. For this reason, you must meet with an experienced attorney who knows how to handle these types of claims.

Contact Our Premises Liability Attorney Today

At Howry Breen & Herman, we understand that every situation is different. Because of this, we strive to provide the personalized, individual legal services you need. Our Austin premises liability attorneys take the time to understand each unique aspect of your situation, examining all applicable factors and conducting exhaustive investigative work. We make it our mission to hold liable parties accountable for your injuries, working to recover the full and fair compensation you are owed.

Contact Howry, Breen & Herman, LLP today to schedule a FREE consultation with our Austin premises liability lawyer!

Related articles:

Premises Liability
  • Best Lawyers Best Law Firms US News 2023
    Howry, Breen & Herman is proud to have been named a Tier 1, 2 and 3 Austin “Best Law Firm” in 9 practice areas by U.S. News – Best Lawyers® (“U.S. News” and BL Rankings, LLC). Law firms are selected for inclusion in this prestigious ranking based on a series of quantitative and qualitative criteria. Our specialty and tiers are listed here: https://bestlawfirms.usnews.com/profile/howry-breen-herman-llp/overview/36628
  • Texas Lawyer Austin Best of 2020: Personal Injury Firm
    Howry Breen & Herman, LLP was selected the Top Personal Injury Law Firm in Austin by Texas Lawyer, “Best of 2020”. The annual special supplement contains the results of Texas Lawyer readers’ poll, wherein readers cast their votes for the best providers of services and goods to the legal profession.
  • Attorney Sean Breen and Attorney Chris Lavorato placed in California’s Top 100 Settlements for 2019, as tracked by The Recorder and VerdictSearch.
  • Our law firm is proud to have been recognized in the Texas Verdicts Hall of Fame. Texas Lawyer in conjunction with VerdictSearch, recognize attorneys and law firms for their verdicts of $10 million or more. In 2011 Sean Breen was a Hall of Fame Award Recipient for the #1 Premises Liability Top Texas Verdict, awarded by Texas Lawyer, for the jury verdict award in the case VanDusen v. Aspen Square Management. In 2016 Sean Breen was inducted into the Texas Verdicts Hall of Fame, awarded by Texas Lawyer, for an outstanding verdict in Nester v. Textron.
  • America's Top 100 Personal Injury Attorneys 2021
    Selection to America’s Top 100 Personal Injury Attorneys® is by invitation only and is reserved to identity the nation’s most exceptional litigators for high-value personal injury, catastrophic injury, wrongful death, product liability, and medical malpractice matters. HBH is proud that Sean Breen has been selected for this award. Less than one-half percent (0.5%) of active attorneys in the United States will receive this honor — truly the most exclusive and elite level of attorneys in the community. (2017-2022)
  • Best Lawyers Best Law Firms US News 2016
    Howry, Breen & Herman is proud to have been named a Tier 1, 2 and 3 Austin “Best Law Firm” in 7 practice areas by U.S. News – Best Lawyers® (“U.S. News” and BL Rankings, LLC). Law firms are selected for inclusion in this prestigious ranking based on a series of quantitative and qualitative criteria. Our specialty and tiers are listed here: https://bestlawfirms.usnews.com/profile/howry-breen-herman-llp/overview/36628
  • Best Lawyers - Lawyer of the Year | Litigation - Trusts & Estates (by BL Rankings, LLC d/b/a Best Lawyers and Co., LLC)
  • Best Lawyers - Lawyer of the Year | Personal Injury - Plaintiffs (by BL Rankings, LLC d/b/a Best Lawyers and Co., LLC)
  • Lifetime Achievement selection to America’s Top 100 Attorneys® is by invitation only and is reserved to identify the nation’s most exceptional attorneys whose accomplishments and impact on the legal profession merit a Lifetime Achievement award. Selection is not achieved based on a single accomplishment or a single great year of success, but rather on a lifetime of hard work, ethical standards, and community enriching accomplishments that are inspiring among the legal profession. Both Sean Breen (2017) and Randy Howry (2018) are honored to receive this award.
  • America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators® is reserved to identify the nation’s most exceptional trial attorneys in high value, high stakes legal matters. To be considered for selection, an attorney must have litigated (for either plaintiff or defendant) a matter (1) with at least $2,000,000 in alleged damages at stake or (2) with the fate of a business worth at least $2,000,000 at stake. These minimum qualifications are required for initial consideration. Thereafter, candidates are carefully screened through comprehensive Qualitative Comparative Analysis based on a broad array of criteria, including the candidate’s professional experience, litigation experience, significant case results, representative high stakes matters, peer reputation, and community impact in order to rank the candidates throughout the state. HBH is privileged to honor Partners Sean Breen (2017- 2021) and Randy Howry 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021 for selection of this award.
  • Expertise- Best Real Estate Lawyers in Austin 2020
    Expertise - Howry Breen & Herman was recognized and featured in an article by expertisecommunity.com as one of the Best Real Estate Lawyers in Austin. 2020
  • America’s Premier High-Stakes Trial Lawyers®” – 7 Figure Litigators®, 8 Figure Litigators®, is meant to recognize the nation’s most respected and preeminent high-stakes trial lawyers based on their verifiable verdicts and/or settlements. It is a tremendous honor for Sean Breen (2019) and Randy Howry (2020) to be recognized among this elite group.
  • America’s Premier High-Stakes Trial Lawyers®” – 7 Figure Litigators®, 8 Figure Litigators®, is meant to recognize the nation’s most respected and preeminent high-stakes trial lawyers based on their verifiable verdicts and/or settlements. It is a tremendous honor for Sean Breen (2019) and Randy Howry (2020) to be recognized among this elite group.
  • The National Trial Lawyers – Top 100, a highly respected legal organization that limits its members to premier trial attorneys who demonstrate superior qualifications of leadership, reputation, influence, stature and public profile measured by strict qualification requirements. Sean Breen Top 100 Civil Plaintiff, 2009 – 2020.
  • Top 10 Business Tort Trial Lawyers by the National Trial Lawyers. Randy Howry 2012-2013; Sean Breen since 2016.
  • Best Lawyers in America
    The Best Lawyers in America® recognizes the top 5% of the most skilled attorneys in the nation. The robust selection process requires attorneys to nominate and review fellow lawyers based on their ethics, skill, knowledge, and ability to obtain results for their clients. The Best Lawyers in America® list is a way for plaintiffs to identify the leading attorneys in their region, known for their ability to get results with honesty, strength, and skill. Tim Herman, Sean Breen & Randy Howry have been featured by The Best Lawyers in America® (2006-2020) running alongside some of the most qualified firms in the nation. More info here.
  • Texas Monthly Top Attorneys - Sean E. Breen
    Top Attorneys As Published In Texas Monthly
  • Top 50 US Verdicts All Practice Areas Texas 2017
    Sean Breen was honored by TopVerdict.com for recovering one of the Top 50 Verdicts in Texas in 2017. This is an honorable distinction, reserved for those attorneys that achieve the highest settlements and verdicts in the state.
  • Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum
    Sean Breen is a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, a renowned legal organization whose membership is restricted to trial attorneys who have achieved seven-figured settlements and/or jury verdicts. 2011.
  • Multi Million Dollar Advocates Forum
    We are proud to have Sean Breen who is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum. In order to become a member, an attorney must demonstrate that he or she has successfully achieved at least one six-figure settlement or jury verdict. 2011.
  • AV Preeminent
    Martindale-Hubbell® is widely regarded as one of the most renowned peer-review rating organizations in the legal field. Randy Howry (2018), Sean Breen (2001), Tim Herman (1998), Glen Wilkerson (2014) and Chris Lavorato (2014) at Howry, Breen & Herman have achieved the organization’s highest distinction of AV Preeminent®.
  • Super Lawyers
    Each year, Super Lawyers® magazine publishes its list of peer-nominated/evaluated and independently reviewed attorneys. We are proud to have attorneys who have been selected for inclusion in the prestigious Texas Super Lawyers® List, by Thomas Reuters since 2003, running through 2020.
  • Top American Lawyers
    Membership in Top American Lawyers is limited to only 1% of all attorneys in the United States. Randy Howry is proud to be honored with a Lifetime Charter Membership in this exclusive organization (2017).
Howry Breen & Herman Building

Contact Us Today

  • Please enter your first name.
  • Please enter your last name.
  • This isn't a valid phone number.
  • This isn't a valid email address.
    Please enter your email address.
  • Please make a selection.
  • Please enter a message.
  • "They gave me hope and then delivered!"

    - M.A.

  • "We are so grateful they believed in us and partnered with us to handle this case!"

    - J.K.

  • "We were always one step ahead!"

    - T.B.

  • "They were so fierce and tough with the other side while being so caring towards my family."

    - L.P.

  • "I greatly admired their advocacy and professionalism!"

    - S.O.

  • "It was like having true friends as my attorneys!"

    - C.B.

  • "They are true trial attorneys!"

    - G.N.

  • "I always felt confident in Howry Breen & Herman and knew I could trust them."

    - J.M.

  • "Definitely recommend, they are the best."

    - J.R.

  • "Thank you for helping my father through his case!"

    - B.M.

  • "I could have not found more caring people!"

    - M.A.

  • "Sean and his team were the breath of fresh air that we needed. Still thanking you guys, 9 years later!"

    - A.L.

  • "Thank you for taking our case."

    - L.M.

  • "They exceeded all expectations."

    - T.R.

View More