Texas Injury Law Blog : Dallas Accident Lawyer & Attorney : Fears Nachawati Law Firm : Personal Injury, Wrongful Death : Ft. Worth, San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Texas

A Texas woman has filed a premises liability lawsuit against an apartment complex after falling while walking her dog. According to the lawsuit, a lack of adequate lighting and guard rails is to blame for her fall from a retaining wall at the Tyler, Texas, apartment complex.

The plaintiff, Terese Swords, filed the premises liability lawsuit against Dial Equities, doing business as The Arbors on Chimney Rock, on March 2^nd.

The incident in question took place on the evening of December 13, 2008. Swords, according to her complaint, was walking her dog through a pedestrian common area of the complex. She was on her way to an area designated as a pet region.

As she was walking her dog, Swords claims in her Texas premises liability lawsuit, she fell off of an unmarked and unguarded wooden retaining wall. Swords claims that her leg collided with a tree stump, causing her leg to break. Swords further claims that she was lying on the ground for more than 30 minutes before anyone answered her cries for help.

In her complaint, Swords charges the complex with negligence for failing to maintain the area and for failing to warn of the hazardous condition. Swords argues that the area in question is unreasonably dangerous because there is no guard railing and it lacks sufficient lighting.

Swords seeks more than $75,000 in damages, including damages for physical impairment, anguish, emotional distress, physical pain and suffering and disfigurement and scarring, along with damages for her medical expenses.

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A Texas woman has filed a personal injury lawsuit against a restaurant after being struck by a falling object at the establishment.

According to her Texas personal injury lawsuit, plaintiff  Eliazar Zapata Spears was hit on the head by a falling light fixture while patronizing The Fish Spot, a Texas City eatery, in April of 2008.

Spears claims that no one touched the lamp but rather that it fell because of the vibrations caused by the loud music; the restaurant was holding a karaoke night at the time of the incident.

In her Texas personal injury lawsuit, Spears claims that the restaurant breached its duty to its customers by failing to keep the area safe from falling objects. The suit further alleges that the defendants should have known about the risk of putting unsecured items over the heads of areas where patrons would be situated.

Representatives of The Fish Spot, Clint Waddel, Vickie Pike, Mary Melghem and Leslie Melghem, have also been named as defendants.

Spears is seeking damages for lost wages, pain and suffering and mental anguish.

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In Texas, as in most states, the duty of care a landowner owes to a person on their property depends on that person’s status. Your status is the circumstances under which you entered the premises, and this status can affect your ability to bring a successful premises liability claim.

In terms of their relationship to the landowner, a person is placed into one of three categories: invitee, licensee or trespasser. The amount of care the landowner owes you depends on how you are categorized.

Invitee: An invitee is someone who entered the premises with the owner’s knowledge and for the mutual benefit of both parties (a commercial or business purpose). An example of an invitee is a customer in a store.

Invitees are owed the most stringent duty of care. A landowner must protect an invitee from both the dangerous conditions of which the owner is aware as well as the dangers which the owner should have been aware of after reasonable inspection.

Licensee: A licensee is someone who entered the premises for their own benefit, pleasure or convenience with the owner’s permission. An example of a licensee is a dinner guest.

A landowner is charged with the duty of warning the licensee against dangerous conditions of which the owner is aware.

Trespasser: A trespasser is someone who entered the premises without a lawful right or permission to do so. An example of a trespasser is a vandal.

Typically, a landowner owes only a minimal duty of care to a trespasser, which is the duty not to injure them willfully or intentionally. There are limited exceptions to the general no duty of care rule related to artificial conditions that are highly dangerous to children.

If you have been injured on someone else’s property, contact the Texas personal injury lawyers of Fears | Nachawati today for free legal advice. To speak with one of our experienced Texas personal injury attorneys, email us or phone us toll free at 1.866.705.7584.

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A Texas woman is suing a Mexican restaurant after tripping and falling while on their premises

Renovations were being performed at Bravos Mexican Restaurant in December of 2008. Sandra Hamm was a patron at Bravo’s Mexican restaurant when, according to the lawsuit, her foot got caught in a seam of the unfinished floor.

Hamm then lost her balance and fell, suffering what the lawsuit describes as “serious and permanent bodily injuries.”

The lawsuit names both the restaurant and the company performing the remodeling work, Engineered Contractors, as defendants.

Hamm’s personal injury lawsuit claims that Engineered Contractors was negligent in the way that they performed their work and in failing to give an adequate warning to those walking in the area where the incident occurred.

In this premises liability lawsuit, Hamm is seeking $50,000 in damages.

Click here to read more on this Texas personal injury premises liability lawsuit.

If you were injured on someone else’s property and believe you may have a personal injury lawsuit, contact Fears | Nachawati today. To speak with one of our Texas personal injury lawyers, simply email us at info@fnlawfirm.com or call our toll-free number at 1.866.705.7584.

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