Liability of Premises Owners for Criminal Acts of Third Parties

People who have been injured by an assault or criminal act of an unknown third party may still recover by going after a premises owner. In Texas, the statute of limitation for an injury or death is only two years. This means that you only have two years to recover from the right party. In the realm of personal injury law in Texas, you can pursue legal action against the premises owner so long as you can show that the premises owner had knowledge of the propensity of crime on the premises. This is why it is critical to bring in an experienced Texas personal injury attorney as soon as possible, so as to build your case quickly.

In 1998, the Texas Supreme Court decided in Timberwalk Apartments, Partners v. Cain that a premises owner can be forced to compensate victims for their injuries as the result of the criminal act of a third party. Generally speaking, a premises owner is under no legal duty to protect invitees from an assault or violent crime from others. However, in Timberwalk the Supreme Court carved out an exception to this general rule. The court stated that parties who have control of their premises have “a duty to use ordinary care to protect invitees from criminal acts of third parties if he knows or has reason to know of an unreasonable and foreseeable risk of harm to the invitee.” In order to bring this type of action against a premises owner, an injured party is required to present evidence of “specific previous crimes” around the premises. An experienced Texas personal injury attorney will be able to use the discovery process in litigation to collect crime reports, premises’ owner’s internal incident records, as well as witness statements to be able to adequately present your case consistent with Texas law to get you the recovery that you deserve.

Do I need to hire an attorney?

Hiring a personal injury attorney is critical in order to receive the highest possible recovery that is available to you without any undue delay. Many people injured as the result of the negligence of a third party might be reluctant to hire a lawyer. This is because people do not want to have to spend money unnecessarily if they feel that a personal injury claim might be something that they could handle themselves. In Texas, the standard method of payment for a personal injury attorney is through what is called a contingency fee. This means that a personal injury lawyer won’t ever send you a bill, invoice, or receipt. The lawyer would get paid by taking a percentage of whatever the recovery is. That is the case if the recovery is through a settlement or through a jury trial. If, for whatever reason, there is no recovery, then you would not have to pay the lawyer anything. The statute of limitation to recover for an injury or death resulting from negligence is only two years. You only have two years to pursue a recovery from a negligent party. Insurance will delay investigating the claim, taking reasonable efforts to respond to you timely, and give you an appropriate response to your claim until this limitation expires. Hiring an experienced Texas personal injury attorney will ensure that the insurance companies take you and your claim seriously. If the insurance companies are not willing to cooperate, then a lawyer can file a lawsuit to make certain that they do so.