Anderson Injury Lawyers | April 26, 2024 | Premises Liability
The Fort Worth Stockyards are a historic district that includes a variety of shops, restaurants, and entertainment venues. The city of Fort Worth owns some of the real estate, while other parts of the district are privately owned land and buildings, such as the livestock exchange building. A personal injury claim can raise some deceptively complex procedural issues.
Unique Legal Issues
A personal injury claim arising on the grounds of the Forth Worth Stockyards can raise alternative legal issues depending on the circumstances of your injury. It can also raise multiple simultaneous legal issues, such as vicarious liability, the Texas Tort Claims Act, and premises liability.
Respondeat Superior (Vicarious Liability)
An employer is legally liable for injuries caused by their employees’ misconduct as long as their employees were acting within the scope of their work duties at the time of the misconduct. That means if a Firth Worth Stockyards employee committed misconduct that injured you, you might be able to sue their employer.
You won’t have to prove that the employer itself was negligent as long as you can prove that their employee was.
Premises Liability
The owner or operator of property must keep their premises reasonably safe for guests (with the possible exception of trespassers) by inspecting the property and either repairing or warning of dangers on the property. If the property owner fails this duty and you get hurt as a result, you can sue on a theory of premises liability.
The Texas Tort Claims Act (Suing the Government)
The Fort Worth Stockyards host both publicly and privately owned properties. The City of Fort Worth owns some of the land, while private parties own other parts. The livestock exchange building, for example, belongs to the City of Fort Worth.
So, where exactly in the Fort Worth Stockyards did your injury take place? It might matter because if you end up with a premises liability claim on government-owned property, you will be subject to special limitations that apply Under the Texas Tort Claims Act when you sue a state or local government. This involves:
- Filing a Notice of Claim with Fort Worth within six months of the injury. The notice must include a settlement offer and certain critical information.
- Waiting for the government to respond to your settlement offer with an acceptance, a rejection, or a counteroffer.
- If the government rejects your offer (including a direct rejection or a counteroffer) or fails to respond within a reasonable time (typically six more months), you can file a lawsuit. You can’t file a lawsuit before then.
- You must file your lawsuit before the statute of limitations deadline–typically, two years after the injury. This could leave you with a short window to file a lawsuit.
You will also face limitations on damages. You cannot seek punitive damages, for example.
Workers’ Compensation Claims
If you suffer a work-related injury as an employee of a company at Fort Worth Stockyards, you may need to file a workers’ compensation claim, not a personal injury claim. Your potential compensation will be much less than it would be for a personal injury claim, but you can win without proving that your employer was at fault.
Filing a Claim Against a Third Party
A car accident injury (for example) at the Fort Worth Stockyards might not implicate the stockyards in any way, at least if the at-fault driver was not an employee of any business located there. You might have gotten into a car accident with a drunk driver who was a customer there. In that scenario, you would just treat it like any other car accident claim.
Getting to the Point: How Should You Respond in the Immediate Aftermath of the Accident?
How you should respond at the scene of the accident depends on how seriously you were injured and whether you have any uninjured friends or relatives to help you. Here are some of the steps you could take at the scene to buttress your personal injury claim:
- Photograph the scene of the accident, including any dangerous condition that might have caused the accident.
- Seek immediate medical attention.
- Gather witness information.
- Report the accident to the police and the manager of the venue where your injury occurred. Try to get a written report
- Retain all documentation.
- Schedule a case consultation with an experienced personal injury attorney.
Taking these steps could give you a big head start in pursuing your personal injury claim.
Your Lawyer Has Just as Much Incentive To Win as You Do
Do you really need a lawyer at all? You might not need a lawyer, for example, if you suffered your injury in a very minor car accident. The lawyer you talk to might not even take your claim.
If they do offer to represent you, however, they probably believe they can win. After all, personal injury lawyers work for free if they don’t win, and nobody likes to work for free.
Contact Our Personal Injury Law Firm in Texas
If you’ve been injured in an accident in Fort Worth or Dallas and need legal help, contact our personal injury lawyers at Anderson Injury Lawyers to schedule a free consultation. We proudly serve Tarrant County, Dallas County, and throughout Texas.
Anderson Injury Lawyers – Fort Worth Office
1310 W El Paso St, Fort Worth, TX 76102
(817) 294-1900
Anderson Injury Lawyers – Fort Worth Office (Secondary)
6618 Fossil Bluff Dr # 108, Fort Worth, TX 76137
(817) 631-4113
Anderson Injury Lawyers – Dallas Office
408 W Eighth St Suite 202, Dallas, TX 75208
(214) 327-8000
Anderson Injury Lawyers – Dallas Office (Secondary)
6301 Gaston Ave suite 610, Dallas, TX 75214
(469) 457-4711
