The store already has an incident report with your name on it, written by someone who works there. Javier Perez Law represents people injured on unsafe property across Dallas and North Texas, in English and Spanish, and takes these cases on contingency. Call +1 (214) 499-0667 for a free case review.
These claims are not won by describing the fall. They are won by showing what the property owner knew, and when.
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Table of contents
- Can I sue a business if I slipped and fell in Texas?
- What do you actually have to prove?
- How do you show the owner knew about the hazard?
- What happens if the business lets the video get erased?
- What kinds of property injury claims do we handle?
- Dallas Premises Injury Questions People Ask Before Calling
- The Footage Exists Today
Can I sue a business if I slipped and fell in Texas?
Often yes, if the business knew about the hazard or should have found it through reasonable care, and did nothing. Texas law sorts visitors into three categories, and a customer in a store is an invitee, which carries the highest duty: the owner has to look for dangers, not just warn about the ones already known.
A social guest is a licensee, owed a warning about hazards the owner actually knows of. Someone with no permission to be there is owed very little. Getting that classification right is the first thing the defense will fight about.
Injured in a store, apartment complex, or parking lot in Dallas? Call +1 (214) 499-0667. The consultation is free.
What do you actually have to prove?
Four things, and the case usually turns on the first one. In Austin v. Kroger Texas, L.P., published by the Texas Judiciary, the Texas Supreme Court set out what an injured invitee must establish.
| What you must prove | What proves it in practice |
|---|---|
| The owner had actual or constructive knowledge of the condition | Video, inspection logs, prior incident reports, maintenance work orders |
| The condition posed an unreasonable risk of harm | Photographs, the nature of the substance or defect, industry standards |
| The owner failed to use reasonable care to reduce or eliminate the risk | Sweep schedules and the gaps in them, staffing, whether a warning was posted |
| That failure caused your injuries | Medical records tied to the mechanism of the fall |
The same court has been clear that a property owner is not an insurer of a visitor's safety. The standard is ordinary, reasonable care. That cuts both ways: falling in a store does not create a claim by itself, and a store does not escape one simply because you did not see the hazard.
How do you show the owner knew about the hazard?
Two ways, and only one of them needs a witness. Actual knowledge means someone at the business saw the problem or was told about it. Constructive knowledge means the hazard was there long enough that reasonable inspection would have caught it.
That second path has a strict requirement in Texas. Under the time-notice rule from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Reece, there must be some proof of how long the hazard was present before a property owner can be held responsible for failing to find it.
The Texas Supreme Court reaffirmed that standard in H-E-B, LP v. Peterson, decided in April 2026, holding that without evidence of duration the law does not charge an owner with constructive notice.
The same opinion shows what does work. Footage of employees repeatedly walking past a large spill in the minutes before a fall was treated as some evidence the store should have known.
So the question in nearly every one of these cases becomes a question about time, and the answer lives on the store's own camera system.
What happens if the business lets the video get erased?
It becomes much harder, which is why the request goes out immediately rather than after the claim is denied. Most retail systems overwrite on a two-week to three-month cycle, and nothing about an incident report stops that from happening.
Texas does recognize a duty to preserve evidence, and a judge can impose remedies when it is destroyed. But under Brookshire Brothers, Ltd. v. Aldridge, the remedy a jury actually hears about generally requires a finding that the evidence was destroyed to conceal it. Ordinary overwriting usually does not clear that bar.
The practical lesson is unglamorous and it matters more than the legal argument: a written preservation request, sent in the first days, naming the date, time, camera locations and the footage window, is what keeps the evidence alive. Arguing about missing video later is a much weaker position than having it.
We also request inspection and sweep logs, prior incident reports for the same location, maintenance orders, and the training materials that set the store's own standard.
What kinds of property injury claims do we handle?
Anywhere an owner's neglect creates an unreasonable risk to people who are lawfully there. In Dallas, that is usually one of four situations.
Retail and restaurant falls. Unmarked spills, freshly waxed floors, produce misting, torn mats, uneven thresholds. See slip and fall in a shopping mall for how these claims get built.
Apartment and rental property injuries. Broken stair treads, loose balcony railings, unlit walkways, defective gates, pool fencing that does not meet code. Landlords are responsible for common areas.
Parking lots and negligent security. Burned-out lighting, disabled cameras, broken access gates, and assaults on properties with a documented history of crime and no reasonable response.
Structural and maintenance failures. Falling merchandise, collapsing fixtures, ceiling failures, unsecured equipment.
If you were injured by a defective product rather than by a dangerous condition on the property, the claim follows different rules entirely and belongs with a defective product case. Our page on proving property owner negligence walks through the evidence side in more detail, and you can see everything we handle on the practice areas page.
Dallas Premises Injury Questions People Ask Before Calling
I filled out the store's incident report. Did that hurt me?
Usually it helps, because it fixes the date, time and location. What is worth reviewing is the wording, since those forms often contain phrases the defense later reads as admissions. Ask for a copy every time.
There was a wet floor sign. Is my case over?
Not necessarily. A warning can satisfy the duty or fall short of it, depending on where it was placed, whether it was visible from the direction you were walking, and whether the hazard could have been removed rather than just flagged.
I fell at my apartment complex. Do I sue the landlord or the management company?
Often both, along with any contractor whose work created the problem. Identifying the right parties early matters because each carries separate insurance.
How long do I have to file?
Two years from the injury in most cases. If the property belongs to a city, county, or public agency, written notice is due within six months, which arrives far sooner than people expect.
What does it cost to talk to you?
Nothing, and there is no fee unless we win your personal injury case. Bring photographs, the incident report number, or nothing at all.
The Footage Exists Today
Somewhere in that building, a hard drive currently holds the answer to the only question your case really asks: how long was the hazard there before you found it. In a few weeks it will hold something else.
Javier Perez Law sends the request that stops the clock, and does it in English or Spanish, at any hour. In your time of need, Javier Perez is on your side.
Call +1 (214) 499-0667. En español.