In a slip and fall accident case, once liability has been accepted, the property owner is responsible for
dangerous property conditions and if those dangerous conditions cause injuries, in a slip and fall accident, the property owner may also be responsible for those injuries.
In Texas, the injured party must prove both that the owner of the property was in some way negligent and that the negligence caused the slip and fall accident. This is a higher standard than other states. When the injured party is able to provide evidence that the dangerous condition, on the property, was not obvious or openly visible, he or she may have a better chance of successful claim resolution.
The injured party needs to be prepared for the property owner to claim that the injured party holds some portion of responsibility for the slip and fall accident.
Some potential proportionate responsibility arguments include:
- the injured party was on a part of the property that people do not normally go to,
- the injured party was not paying attention (using a cell phone or some other distraction),
- the injured party was not wearing appropriate or safe shoes or foot coverings, for the property where the slip and fall accident occurred;
- the dangerous condition was made obvious by warning signs, cones, or some other obvious notification, but the injured party chose to ignore those warnings, and
- the dangerous condition was so obvious, that the injured party should have been aware of and avoided it.
This is not a complete list of proportionate responsibility claims, but it gives the injured party a good idea of what attacks to be prepared to disprove.