Almost everyone who calls us about a fall starts by explaining why it might have been their own fault. It usually was not. Texas slip and fall cases turn on whether the property owner knew about the hazard or should have known about it, and that is a question about the store, not about how carefully you were walking.
Our Katy slip and fall lawyers handle fall injury claims across Katy, Cinco Ranch, Cross Creek Ranch, and the retail corridors along I-10 and the Grand Parkway.
Store video is often overwritten within a couple of weeks. If you fell recently, call (713) 973-8888 today and we will send a preservation demand before it cycles.
Let the Terry Bryant team get your case started
How do I prove a slip and fall was the store's fault in Texas?
You have to show the property owner had actual or constructive knowledge of the hazard. Actual knowledge means someone there knew about it. Constructive knowledge means the condition existed long enough that a reasonably careful business should have found it and dealt with it. That second one is where most cases are actually won.
Which is why the defense's first question is never "did you fall." It is "how long was it on the floor."
What tends to establish knowledge:
Time. A spill with cart tracks through it, footprints, drying edges, or debris in it has been there a while. That is why photographs taken in the first minutes matter so much.
Inspection logs. Most chains require documented sweep or safety walks on a schedule. A gap in that log, or a log filled in after the fact, is powerful.
Prior complaints. A leaking cooler, a recurring roof drip, a broken drain, a step with no handrail. If it has happened before, someone knew.
Employee proximity. Staff working within sight of the hazard is evidence in itself.
The source. A hazard created by the store's own operation, like a wet floor from mopping or a display that spilled, does not require the same proof of notice.
What should I do after falling in a store?
Report it before you leave and get the incident report number, then photograph the hazard itself before anyone cleans it up. Those two things, done in the first ten minutes, decide more cases than anything a lawyer does later.
In order:
- Report it to a manager. Not an employee at a register. A manager who can generate an incident report.
- Photograph the actual hazard, from a few feet back so the surroundings are visible, then close up. Then photograph your shoes.
- Get the report number. You will likely not be given a copy. Ask for the number anyway.
- Names. Manager, employees who responded, and any customer who stopped to help.
- Get medical attention the same day if you can. A gap between the fall and the first visit becomes the defense's entire theory.
- Say very little. "I do not know yet" is a complete answer to how you are feeling.
One thing worth knowing: the incident report the store writes is not being written for you. It is being written for their insurer and their defense counsel, and it will be worded accordingly. Your photographs are your version.
What if the store says I was not paying attention?
Expect it, and understand that it does not end your claim. Texas uses proportionate responsibility, so you can still recover as long as your share of the fault is not more than 50 percent, with your recovery reduced by whatever share is assigned to you. The rule lives in Chapter 33 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
This is the argument in nearly every fall case, and it comes in three flavors:
"It was open and obvious." That the hazard was visible enough that you should have avoided it.
"You were distracted." Your phone, your kids, the shelves. Stores design their aisles specifically to hold your attention at eye level, which is worth pointing out.
"Your shoes." A perennial favorite, particularly for anything with a heel or a worn sole.
None of these are automatic defenses. They are arguments about percentages, which is why you should never estimate your own share of the blame to an adjuster, and never accept a summary of the fall read back to you over the phone.
Can I sue if I fell in an apartment complex in Katy?
Yes, and apartment cases run differently from retail because the hazards are usually structural rather than temporary. Katy's residential growth means a lot of these claims involve stairwells, walkways, parking areas, and pool decks in complexes across Cinco Ranch and Cross Creek Ranch.
What tends to be at issue in a complex:
- Exterior stairs with loose treads, missing nosing, or no handrail
- Walkways with unrepaired trip edges or settled concrete
- Lighting that has been out long enough for residents to have complained about it
- Pool decks and breezeways that stay wet
- Gate, garage, and parking area hazards
The most valuable evidence in apartment cases is usually the maintenance request history. If residents have been reporting the same broken step for four months, that is actual knowledge in writing, and it exists in the property management system whether or not anyone acted on it.
Fall injuries from a defect in a building or walkway also come up in retail and workplace settings, which our Houston premises liability lawyer page covers more broadly.
If You Fell on the Job in Katy
That is a different claim, and in Texas it may be a much better one than people expect. Texas does not require private employers to carry workers' compensation. If yours does not, you are working for what Texas calls a non-subscriber, and you can bring a direct injury claim against your employer without the limits that workers' compensation imposes.
Non-subscribers lose most of the defenses other employers have. Which means a fall at work, on a wet floor or an unsafe walkway, can be worth substantially more than the same fall would be under a comp claim.
Two other situations come up on Katy job sites:
You fell on someone else's property while working. A delivery driver, a service technician, or a contractor injured by a hazard at a customer's location may have a premises claim against the property owner regardless of their own employer's coverage.
Your employer does carry comp. Then the comp system generally governs your claim against the employer, though a third party who created the hazard can still be responsible.
If you are not sure whether your employer carries coverage, that is checkable, and it is the first question worth answering. Our Houston work injury lawyer page covers non-subscriber claims in depth.
What if I fell at someone's house?
You would be making a claim against their homeowner's or renter's insurance, which is what that coverage exists for, and it is a more common situation than people admit. Nobody wants to file anything against a friend, a neighbor, or a relative, so these injuries frequently go unreported and unpaid while the injured person absorbs the medical bills alone.
Worth understanding before you rule it out:
The policy is the defendant, not the person. Their insurer investigates, defends, and pays. In the ordinary case the homeowner pays nothing out of pocket.
Many policies include medical payments coverage. This is a no-fault benefit that can cover a guest's medical bills up to a limit regardless of who was at fault, and it often resolves smaller injuries without any dispute at all.
The hazard still has to be the owner's responsibility. A loose stair tread, an unlit step down, a deck that gave way, a dog gate that failed.
Have the conversation before you decide it is impossible. Most people are relieved to learn their insurance is meant to handle exactly this.
Which Court Would a Katy Case Be Filed In?
Katy is not one county, and that matters more here than in any other Houston suburb. The city and its surrounding communities extend across Harris County, Fort Bend County, and Waller County, so two businesses a few minutes apart can produce cases in two different courthouses with different judges, different timelines, and different jury pools.
| Where you fell | Likely county | Courthouse location |
| North and east Katy, much of the I-10 corridor | Harris | Houston |
| Cinco Ranch and areas south of I-10 | Fort Bend | Richmond |
| Far west and northwest Katy | Waller | Hempstead |
Nobody can tell you which one applies from an address alone, and the answer sometimes surprises people who have lived there for years. Court locations and contact information for Texas trial courts are published by the Texas Judicial Branch.
Practically, this affects how long the case takes and who ultimately hears it. It is one of the reasons a firm that regularly files in all three counties is worth having on a Katy case.
Falls We See Most in Katy
The retail density along I-10 and the Grand Parkway, plus the way Gulf Coast rain arrives, produces a fairly predictable set of cases.
- Wet entryways and tracked-in rain at big-box and grocery entrances
- Refrigerated aisle leaks and produce section spills
- Freshly mopped floors with no signage, or signage placed after the fall
- Parking lot potholes, wheel stops, and unmarked curb drops
- Restaurant and food court spills
- Stairwells and walkways in apartment complexes
- Merchandise falling from overhead shelving
- Construction and renovation hazards in occupied retail space
A note on rain, because it comes up constantly here. A store is not responsible for the weather. It can be responsible for what it did about it, which means mats, warning cones, and how often anyone checked the entrance during a two-hour downpour.
If your fall involved standing water at an entrance, the sweep log for that day is the whole case. Call (713) 973-8888 and we will demand it before it is gone.
How long do I have to sue after a slip and fall in Texas?
Two years from the date of the fall in most cases, under Section 16.003 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. If the property belongs to a governmental entity, such as a city facility, a school district, or a county building, written notice requirements can apply within months instead.
The real deadline is shorter and nobody tells you about it. Surveillance video at most retailers is on an automatic overwrite cycle, frequently somewhere between two weeks and a month. Once it cycles, the single best piece of evidence in your case is gone permanently, and no court order can bring it back.
That is why a preservation letter in the first days matters more here than in almost any other kind of injury case.
Who You Would Be Working With
Mr. Bryant is Board Certified in personal injury trial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, served as a judge before practicing on this side, and has handled Texas injury cases since 1985. The firm's office is on the Katy Freeway, which is to say we are on your side of Houston already.
Premises cases are records cases. Sweep logs, incident reports, maintenance histories, prior claims at the same location, and surveillance footage nobody intended to hand over. Getting those is a fight, and it is the fight that determines the outcome.
Prior results appear on our client victories page. Every case turns on its own facts, and past outcomes do not predict or guarantee any other result.
Nearby pages: Katy personal injury lawyer and Katy car accident lawyer.
Frequently Asked Questions
The store gave me an incident report to sign. Should I?
Read it carefully and do not sign anything that describes the fall in words you would not use yourself. Incident reports are drafted by the business for its insurer, and they often include a phrase like "customer was distracted" or "no hazard observed." You are entitled to decline to sign, and you are entitled to write your own account instead.
What if I did not report the fall before I left?
You can still have a case, though it is harder and you should call sooner rather than later. Go back and report it in writing, keep a copy, and see a doctor now. The delay becomes an argument the defense makes, not an automatic bar, and video from the day may still exist if someone demands it quickly.
Does it matter that I was on the phone when I fell?
It is an argument, not a defense. Texas allocates fault by percentage, so being distracted may reduce a recovery without eliminating it, and stores are not entitled to leave a hazard on the floor because customers are looking at shelves. Do not concede the point to an adjuster.
What is a slip and fall case worth in Texas?
It depends almost entirely on the injury and on how clearly notice can be proven. A fall producing a fracture, a surgery, or a lasting impairment is valued very differently from one producing a few weeks of soreness. Anyone quoting a figure before seeing your records and the store's is guessing.
The Video Is Already Counting Down
Most of what will decide your case exists right now and will not exist in a month. Surveillance footage, a sweep log for that shift, an employee who still remembers the spill.
We can send a preservation demand the same day you call. (713) 973-8888. Hablamos español, and there is no fee unless we recover money for you.