Where to File in Texas
Texas premises liability law expressly recognizes the traditional trichotomy of entrant status. A property owner owes a business invitee the duty to exercise reasonable care to inspect the premises, discover dangerous conditions, and warn of or remedy them. A licensee (social guest or person entering with permission for their own purpose) is owed a duty to warn only of known dangers that the licensee would not reasonably discover. A trespasser is owed only a duty to refrain from willful, wanton, or grossly negligent conduct, except that child trespassers may recover under the attractive nuisance doctrine if conditions are met under Restatement § 339 as adopted by Texas courts.
Texas imposes a two-year statute of limitations on personal injury claims under Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003. Claims against a Texas governmental entity require compliance with the Texas Tort Claims Act (TTCA), Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 101.001 et seq. Formal notice must be provided to the governmental unit within six months of the incident as a condition precedent to suit; larger municipalities such as Houston and Dallas may have shorter charter-based notice requirements. The TTCA waives sovereign immunity in limited circumstances, including premises defects on property the governmental unit owns or controls.
Texas applies a modified comparative fault system under Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 33.001, using the 51% bar rule. A plaintiff who is more than 50% responsible for their own injury is barred from any recovery. Plaintiffs found 50% or less at fault may recover damages reduced by their proportionate share of responsibility. Fault is allocated among all responsible parties, including settling parties and designated responsible third parties who need not be formal defendants. This framework makes pre-trial designation of responsible third parties a significant tactical consideration for defense counsel.
Texas courts apply a no-duty rule for natural accumulations of ice and snow: a property owner generally has no duty to remove naturally accumulated ice or snow unless they undertook negligent remediation that created a more dangerous condition. However, owners can be held liable for artificial accumulations of ice from drainage defects, leaking roofs, or improperly designed downspouts. Constructive notice of a wet or slippery condition on a commercial premises is typically established through evidence of the condition's duration, such as the time-notice rule requiring plaintiffs to show how long the hazard existed before the fall.