Negligent Security Attorney in Houston

Board Certified in Both Criminal Law & Personal Injury Trial Law

When a crime happens on someone else’s property, the attacker isn’t always the only party responsible. Negligent security is a premises liability claim that holds property owners civilly accountable when their failure to provide reasonable security allowed a foreseeable crime to occur. Assault, robbery, shooting, and sexual assault are among the most common incidents that give rise to these claims, often in apartment complexes, hotel lobbies, parking garages, bars, and shopping centers throughout Houston.

What separates our approach is a combination many personal injury firms don’t have. Attorney Jed Silverman is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, a designation held by roughly 10% of Texas attorneys. Attorney Tom Rowatt is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the same body. Together, we understand how criminal acts are investigated, documented, and prosecuted, and we apply that knowledge directly to building the civil case against a negligent property owner. Our team has handled more than 3,000 cases and serves clients throughout Houston.

How Texas Law Determines Whether a Property Owner Is Liable

A property owner isn’t automatically responsible for every crime a third party commits on their premises. Texas law requires showing that the risk of criminal harm was foreseeable and that the owner failed to implement reasonable security measures in response. The framework for that analysis comes from the Texas Supreme Court’s 1998 decision in Timberwalk Apartments, Partners, Inc. v. Cain, which established how courts evaluate a property owner’s civil liability for criminal acts on their property.

The Timberwalk Foreseeability Standard

Under the Timberwalk standard, foreseeability is assessed by examining how close prior crimes occurred to the property, how recently they happened, how frequently similar incidents took place, how similar those prior crimes were to the crime at issue, and how publicly known the danger was. Courts also look at whether the property sits in a high-crime area and whether the owner received prior complaints about security problems.

Visitor Classifications & Landlord Obligations

Texas law classifies visitors as invitees, licensees, or trespassers, and property owners owe the highest duty of care to invitees, which includes tenants, customers, and guests. In residential settings, Texas Property Code Section 92.153 requires landlords to provide a window latch on each exterior window, a keyless bolting device and door viewer on each exterior door, and both a pin lock and a handle latch or security bar on each exterior sliding glass door. Violations of these requirements can be relevant evidence in a negligent security claim.

Security Failures That Support a Negligent Security Claim

Not every security shortcoming gives rise to liability. Whether a failure is considered negligent depends on the property type, its crime history, its location, and what a reasonably careful operator would have done. That said, courts and juries have recognized certain deficiencies as evidence of negligence:

• Broken or missing locks and access controls: Non-functioning deadbolts, gates that don’t latch, and unsecured entry points
• Inadequate lighting: Burned-out or absent lights in parking lots, stairwells, walkways, and common areas
• Missing or non-working security cameras: Gaps in surveillance coverage where incidents occur
• No security patrols or guard presence: Properties with known crime histories operating without any deterrent
• Untrained or understaffed security personnel: Guards who lack the training to prevent or respond to incidents
• Poor crowd control: Bars, nightclubs, or large venues without adequate measures to manage dangerous situations
• Failure to act on prior complaints or incident reports: Owners who knew about a problem and did nothing

Who Can Be Held Responsible

Property owners are frequently the named defendant in these cases, but they aren’t always the only party that bears responsibility. The key question is who had the power and the obligation to fix the security deficiency before the attack occurred.

Potentially liable parties can include apartment management companies, commercial tenants, hotel operators, bar and nightclub owners, parking lot operators, event organizers, private security contractors, and maintenance companies. More than one party may share liability, and identifying all of them requires reviewing ownership records, leases, security contracts, and management agreements. That’s why early investigation matters. Property owners in Texas may also face liability for criminal acts that originate off their premises if they took no steps to prevent foreseeable harm from reaching their property.

How We Build a Negligent Security Case in Houston

Evidence in these cases disappears fast. Surveillance footage is routinely overwritten within 24 to 72 hours. Maintenance logs, incident reports, and security records are discarded on short cycles. One of the first steps we take is sending an evidence preservation letter to the property owner, putting them on formal notice that those materials must not be destroyed.

What Our Criminal Defense Background Brings to the Investigation

Our criminal defense background gives us direct familiarity with how law enforcement documents crime scenes, collects evidence, and builds case files. That perspective informs how we approach the property side of the investigation. One member of our legal team has more than 20 years of experience working within the Texas prison system, providing additional insight into how serious criminal incidents are processed and documented.

Building the Complete Claim

Building a complete claim typically involves obtaining police reports and crime history data for the area, reviewing prior tenant complaints and incident logs, gathering witness statements, mapping the chain of ownership and management, and working with security professionals who can speak to industry standards.

Property owners and their insurers routinely dispute these claims by arguing the crime was unforeseeable, the attacker alone was at fault, or the security in place was adequate. Texas applies a proportionate fault system under Civil Practice and Remedies Code Sections 33.001 and 33.012: a claimant found more than 50% responsible can’t recover damages. That rule makes a strong evidentiary record of the property owner’s failures essential from the start.

Compensation Available in a Negligent Security Case

The damages available depend on the nature and severity of the harm. Recoverable losses can include past and future medical expenses, surgical costs, physical therapy and rehabilitation, mental health counseling, lost wages and reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and scarring or disfigurement.

When a loved one was killed because a property owner failed to provide adequate security, surviving family members can pursue a wrongful death claim under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 71.002. Property owners and commercial operators typically carry commercial general liability insurance with substantial policy limits, and identifying all available coverage is a central part of recovery in these cases.

The Filing Deadline for Houston Negligent Security Claims

Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.003 generally gives injured victims two years from the date of the incident to file a personal injury lawsuit. Wrongful death claims generally carry the same two-year deadline running from the date of death. Special rules may apply when a government entity or government-operated property is involved, and those situations can shorten the notice period significantly.

The statute of limitations matters, but evidence timelines are often more urgent. Footage is overwritten. Records are purged. Contacting a negligent security lawyer in Houston as soon as possible after an incident can allow for immediate preservation efforts before critical evidence is gone.

Talk to a Houston Negligent Security Attorney Today

When you contact The Law Offices of Jed Silverman, you speak directly with an attorney, not a case manager or intake screener. Jed Silverman’s Board Certification in Criminal Law and Tom Rowatt’s Board Certification in Personal Injury Trial Law give our team a perspective on these claims that few firms in Houston can match. The Law Offices of Jed Silverman has also received Super Lawyers recognition and serves clients throughout Houston.