How to File an H-E-B Injury Claim in Texas

Browse Texas H-E-B Injury Knowledge Hub

To file an H-E-B injury claim in Texas, pin down the exact condition or activity that hurt you, find out which company controlled that spot, and save proof of notice, causation and damages. Report it, get treatment, and if negotiation doesn't resolve the claim, file and serve a supported lawsuit, generally within two years, subject to exceptions [S14].

Step	What it involves
1. Name the hazard	The specific puddle, mat, display, shelf or wheel stop that caused the injury.
2. Find the right defendant	The entity that operated the store or controlled the sidewalk, lot or equipment on the incident date.
3. Preserve notice evidence	Earlier reports, witness accounts and recordings may establish what the store knew or should have known; look for records supporting that as well.
4. Document damages	Keep the medical records and bills together with work restrictions. Add dated notes describing the effects on daily activities.
5. Negotiate, then file	A demand built on the proof, and a lawsuit filed and served if talks don't resolve it.

This guide, part of the Texas HEB injury knowledge hub, is written for injured people and the lawyers who handle these cases. Tell us about your H-E-B injury or call (214) 200-4878, and bring the store address, incident date, injury details, photos and the names of any witnesses.

Where it happened	What this guide covers
Inside the store	Floors, entrances, displays, equipment, falling objects and construction.
Outside the store	Sidewalks, parking areas and curbside pickup activity.
After the injury	Medical proof, insurance, discovery, experts, motions, mediation, voir dire, jury instructions and collection.

In this guide

The guide runs in four stages, from the first report to a verdict or settlement.

Sections	What they cover
Sections 1-9	Before a claim: the condition, safety, the store, reporting, the defendant, the elements, and notice.
Sections 10-19	Common H-E-B hazards: produce, leaks, mats, falling stock, employee activity, parking lots, curbside, contractors, security, and warnings.
Sections 20-29	These sections address evidence and damages through video, records, spoliation, medical causation and income, then cover insurance, deadlines, demands, petitions and discovery.
Sections 30-39	These sections follow litigation and resolution through depositions, experts, summary judgment, mediation, trial and appeal. They also discuss public data, hypothetical examples, auditing the case and settlement calculations.

1. Start with the condition and the legal theory

An accident on store property is where the investigation starts, not proof that H-E-B was negligent.

A shopper describing a concern	A shopper identifying facts (hypothetical)
"The store was unsafe."	A puddle beside the frozen-food case on aisle 12.
"Someone should have seen it."	A witness who reported the water to an employee before the fall.
"That spot is always bad."	A repair record for that same freezer.

The attorney has to test those facts, weigh the defenses, and decide whether the evidence meets Texas law, and a strong demand or a viable lawsuit grows out of that work.

This guide is	This guide isn't
A set of hypothetical illustrations	A report of Aaron Herbert case results.
A summary of Texas law and practice	A description of undisclosed H-E-B procedures.
A way to understand how claims are built	A promise of a settlement or a prediction of what a jury will do.

Aaron Herbert is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization [S1]. The credential bears on choosing a lawyer, but it isn't a guarantee or a ranking, and the firm doesn't publish H-E-B results here.

State Bar profile	Detail
Bar number	24036761 [S1].
Licensed in Texas	November 6, 2002 [S1].
Status	Eligible to practice [S1].
What to ask the firm	How The Law Firm of Aaron A. Herbert, P.C. would investigate the circumstances described in this guide.

2. Protect health and safety before collecting evidence

Get out of danger and get medical care first, because repeating the movement that hurt you won't prove the hazard and a second fall won't help the claim.

If the area has	What to do
Unstable merchandise on an endcap display	Step away before taking any photos.
Electrical danger near a cooler or sign	Leave the area and tell a manager.
Active construction	Stay outside the work zone.
Broken glass in the aisle	Move clear and let staff block it off.
Moving vehicles near the Curbside pickup spaces	Get to the sidewalk and call for emergency help if you need it.

Photographs taken safely now, followed by an inspection by someone qualified, can document the evidence without exposing you to the danger again.

Tell your providers	Hypothetical example
What happened	For example, water near the produce misters caused you to slip and fall onto your right hip.
Symptoms, accurately	Distinguish hitting your head from feeling dizzy later. Likewise, explain whether your knee hurt immediately or swelling developed over the next two days.
Prior conditions and medication	An old back injury or a blood thinner you take every morning.

Health professionals should make clinical decisions based on your care needs. A lawyer should neither direct treatment nor encourage a procedure to increase damages.

Keep	Why it helps
Discharge instructions, prescriptions and appointment details	They show the course of care.
Work restrictions and receipts	They document lost time and costs.
A short dated account	It records trouble standing through a shift, driving, carrying groceries or sleeping, along with any improvement. It doesn't replace medical causation evidence.

For a day-by-day checklist, read what to do in the first 72 hours after an H-E-B injury.

A companion at the scene can	Hypothetical example
Keep the receipt and identify the store	Photograph the receipt and the store sign by the automatic doors.
Get witness contacts	Ask the shopper by the sample stand for a name and phone number.
Record facts, not arguments	Record the floor's appearance. Debating fault with an employee is no substitute for those observations.
Let the manager handle safety	Leave the immediate safety response and incident report to management. There will be time to evaluate the claim later. Right now, preserve the evidence and give accurate information instead of pressing for an admission under stress.

3. Identify the store and the accident location precisely

Write down exactly which store and which spot, down to the aisle, entrance or parking space.

Record	Hypothetical example
Street address and store identifier	The store number on the receipt, if it shows one.
Date and approximate time	Tuesday, about 5:40 p.m.
Exact location	Aisle 12, the restroom hallway, parking aisle C or Curbside space 4.

Receipts and purchase histories help establish a visit and its timing. A transaction, however, may occur before or after an injury. Compare its time with witness recollections and other records before using it as the time of the accident.

Photo	What it should show
Wide shot	How the condition sits in the shopping route.
Close-up	Show the particular liquid, edge of the mat, floor damage, shelf connection or wheel stop involved.
Warning sign	The sign in relation to the hazard, not just the sign by itself.
Original files	Untouched originals, with arrows and labels added only to copies.
Changed scene	A note of what changed before the photos and who saw the original scene.

Describe the movement you remember. Acknowledge what you do not know rather than treating a later reconstruction as something you directly recall.

Question to answer	Why it matters
Where did your foot land?	It ties the fall to the condition.
What did your body hit?	It connects the injury to the mechanism.
Did the object fall before or after anyone touched the display?	It can separate a premises theory from an activity theory.
Was a cart moving or stopped?	It affects causation and which theory fits.
Did you notice the condition before the fall or after?	It bears on causation and the defenses.

Outside the building, a street address alone may not show who controlled a particular sidewalk or parking aisle.

Outdoor detail	What to record
Your path	The route from your parking space past the cart corral to the entrance.
Shared areas	Whether the spot lay in a shopping-center area shared with other tenants.
A simple sketch	Mark the location using fixed landmarks and photograph those landmarks too. This helps connect legal control with the precise injury location.

4. Report the event and manage early claim communications

Report the incident promptly. State the time and location, describe what happened and say that you were injured.

On the report form	What to do
Your copy	Ask for one, or keep the written message you sent.
Factual statements	Read them carefully and correct anything wrong.
"Customer saw nothing on the floor"	Don't sign it if you saw liquid after the fall.
How long the hazard was there	Don't claim to know if you don't.

Keep the names and roles of everyone who contacts you, plus claim numbers, letters and records requests.

The person calling may be	What to confirm
A store employee	Their role, not just the company name.
A claims administrator	Which administrator handles the claim.
An insurer	The settlement process and record retention practices.
A lawyer	The basis for any request for your statement. Don't assume every claim follows the same procedure.

You should be truthful, but you don't have to guess about engineering, medicine or legal responsibility, so talk with counsel before giving a recorded account or signing a broad authorization.

Request	Before you agree
A recorded statement	Understand what's being asked and why.
A medical authorization	Read the authorization to see whether it reaches records unrelated to this injury. An appropriately limited exchange of records is different from signing every authorization during an early call.
An offer to pay a bill or a courtesy payment	Get the actual terms, because it may include a release.

A small payment can carry a broad legal effect if the signed document says so, and a claim number or ongoing calls don't extend filing deadlines [S14].

Before accepting a payment, find out	Why
Which people, companies, incidents and claims are released	A release can reach far past the store.
Whether future treatment is included	You may still need care.
Whether you take on lien or indemnity obligations	Those can reduce what you keep.

5. Establish the correct defendant and control

The name on the building identifies a brand, not necessarily every entity responsible for the incident.

Fact	What counsel verifies
H-E-B, LP was the named party in Peterson	The entity that actually operated this store [S6].
A separate owner or contractor may exist	Who owned the property and who did the work.
Ownership, leases or service arrangements can change	Who held each role on the incident date.
A published case name	Current entity research, since copying a defendant's name from a case is no substitute.

For a parking area, find out whether the grocery operator, a landlord, a property manager or a maintenance vendor controlled inspection and repair.

Record	What it can show
Incident records and store information	Who responded and who operated the store.
Property records and leases	Who owned the land and who controlled common areas.
Service agreements and vendor documents	Who was hired to inspect, clean or repair.
Business filings	The legal names of the entities.

Read the contract to see how responsibilities were assigned, then examine the practices to learn who performed them. Ownership alone does not resolve the duty question.

Party	Liable only if
A parent, affiliate or business partner	There's an independent basis for the claim against it.
A company that supplied unrelated products	It had some responsibility for the damaged entrance, which it may not.
A cleaning contractor	It created or failed to address a condition within an applicable duty.
A company with insurance	There's a supported claim, since naming companies only for their insurance distracts from the real case.

Keep a working responsibility chart for each participant and revise it as records arrive, because it shows whether the case is strong against one entity or several and helps explain to the client why a company is added, dismissed or pursued under a different theory.

Chart column	Hypothetical entry for a floor-care vendor
Proposed duty	Nightly floor cleaning under a service agreement.
Control or conduct	Its crew mopped aisle 12 at closing.
Notice evidence	A crew log noting a leaking freezer.
Causal contribution	Residue near the case where the shopper fell.
Insurance lead	The vendor's certificate of insurance.
Unresolved question	Whether the store or the vendor handled daytime spills.

6. Prove the elements of a customer premises claim

For an ordinary invitee premises claim, you need evidence of four elements [S6, S9].

Element (Keetch)	Hypothetical proof
Actual or constructive knowledge of the condition	An employee's report of water by the floral cooler before the fall [S9].
An unreasonable risk of harm	Clear liquid on smooth tile in a busy route [S9].
No reasonable care to reduce or eliminate the risk	No cone, no mop and no warning after the report [S9].
Proximate cause	Your foot slid in that liquid and you fell [S9].

Confirm entrant status and control instead of treating the elements as an abstract checklist, since a lawful shopper is in a different position from someone in a restricted work area [S6].

Evidence	What it can show	What it doesn't show
A photo of liquid	The condition existed.	Notice.
An employee's report	Notice.	Why you fell.
Medical records	Treatment.	A link between every diagnosis and the fall.

The attorney's job is to connect those pieces with admissible evidence, not to let the seriousness of the injury fill in missing liability facts.

Unreasonable-risk factor	How it plays out
Location, expected use and route	On a rainy afternoon, many customers may pass the mat's edge at the automatic doors.
Visibility, surface and surroundings	Clear water on light tile under bright lights is hard to see.
An ordinary feature	It isn't dangerous just because someone encountered it.
A small defect	It can still matter even if it looks minor in a close-up.
Labels	Reliable measurements and observations beat unsupported labels such as "extremely hazardous" in a demand letter.

If your injury happened outside a grocery store, the firm's Dallas premises liability lawyer and Fort Worth premises liability lawyer pages cover its broader premises work.

Reasonable care question	What to investigate
What could the duty require?	A correction, an adequate warning or another appropriate measure.
What was actually done?	What the store did, when, and whether it addressed the risk that caused the fall.
Does an inspection policy help?	Use an inspection policy for the evidence it provides. Do not assume the store's own rule defines the legal standard or establishes every claim element.
Who decides?	Texas law governs the court's decision on these facts, including any defenses or limits on the duty owed.

7. Find actual knowledge before relying only on constructive notice

Actual knowledge can come from a report before the fall, an employee's observation, a response to the condition, or other evidence of awareness.

What you're told	Develop it into
"Someone told the store about a leak."	Identify the speaker, the condition described, the location given and the time the store received the message.
"People complained about the building."	Whether the complaint concerned the puddle at issue, since a general complaint may not.

Preserve witness names and contact information promptly, and don't coach anyone to adopt a legal conclusion.

Hypothetical witness	What makes the account useful
A shopper who warned a worker about the grape bin	Independent observations.
A companion who saw an employee set out a cone	What was seen and when.
A vendor who reported a freezer problem	The basis for any time estimate, which helps more than repeating that the store obviously knew.

Records can show knowledge too, but you have to find out which organization had them and what its employees knew.

Record	What to check
Service requests and employee messages	Who sent them and who received them.
Photographs and inspection entries	When they were made and what location they show.
Cleanup activity and incident communications	Which company's employees were involved.
Vendor knowledge	It isn't automatically attributed to every related company without an applicable legal basis.
Employee role	An employee's role and duties can affect how knowledge is evaluated.

Keetch warns against treating store-created conditions as automatic knowledge [S9].

If the store created the condition	What it means
It can support an inference of knowledge	It's relevant evidence for the factfinder [S9].
It doesn't prove knowledge as a matter of law	A disputed record still goes to the factfinder [S9].
What to investigate	What the worker did, what was visible, and what the store knew or should have known.
How to argue it	Support the proposed inference carefully. Do not claim that every condition an employee creates necessarily results in a winning case.

8. Develop temporal proof for constructive notice

Constructive notice concerns a danger the store reasonably should have discovered. With a transient spill, you need evidence showing how long the spill was present.

Evidence	Can it place the spill on a timeline?
A puddle visible after the fall	No, it doesn't show when the puddle formed.
Store video	Yes, if it shows the spot before the fall.
Earlier observations or reports	Yes, if they identify the same spot and a time.
Track marks or cart lines through the liquid	Possibly, with a reliable foundation and no speculation.

Reece explains why an employee's proximity alone doesn't establish constructive notice [S8].

Reece rule	What it means
Time-notice rule	There must be some evidence of how long the hazard existed [S8].
Proximity and conspicuousness	They can bear on how much time was reasonably needed to discover it, but they don't replace proof of duration [S8].
An employee passing nearby	That employee had a chance to see the spill only if it was there, visible and present long enough [S8].

Build the timeline with confirmed times, estimates and unknown intervals kept separate, so it shows the gaps in proof as clearly as the helpful evidence.

Hypothetical timeline issue	What to do
A witness saw water before checking out	Compare the receipt and the witness's route with the account.
The video clock runs fast	Document the offset.
A photo has no original metadata	Identify its source instead of assigning an exact time.

Persistent defects need their own inquiry into duration and discoverability. For more on notice evidence, read how to prove notice in an H-E-B slip and fall.

Condition	How duration proof differs
Worn flooring or deterioration	It may support different inferences than a spill that appeared seconds earlier.
Repeated equipment problems	An expert may be able to explain how the problem developed over time and what a reasonable inspection would have disclosed.
An old object	Its age isn't the same as how long the particular danger existed.

9. How does Peterson apply to your evidence?

Peterson is a recent Texas Supreme Court decision involving H-E-B and a puddle, and it turned on missing proof of how long the puddle had been there [S6].

Peterson detail	What the Court found
The fall	A customer slipped on a clear puddle in the toy aisle [S6].
The video	No employee walked down that aisle in roughly the two hours before the fall [S6].
Other evidence	The store had a heightened inspection protocol for rainy weather and knew of earlier roof leaks elsewhere in the store, but that didn't supply the missing time fact [S6].
The result	The Court reversed the court of appeals and reinstated summary judgment for H-E-B because there was no evidence of the puddle's duration [S6].

Read the actual opinion and its procedural posture instead of relying on a headline saying stores can never be liable for leaks.

Practitioner proof audit	What it means
What shows the danger at this spot before the fall?	Identify it exactly.
Is the only proof that the roof leaked elsewhere or no one inspected the aisle?	More investigation is needed.
Can a maintenance expert fill the gap?	No. An expert can't create a historical fact the record doesn't support.

That's why your lawyer may ask about details that seem minor at first.

Counsel may ask	Why
Who saw water earlier?	It may show duration.
Did you hear a prior report?	It may show actual knowledge.
Which direction did the employee come from?	It may show whether the spill was visible to staff.
Does any photo predate the fall?	It may place the hazard in time. These questions look for proof of an element that can decide the case before trial, and they aren't a judgment about how badly you were hurt.

Don't overread the decision.

Peterson doesn't	What still matters
End actual-knowledge claims	Evidence that the store knew about the specific hazard.
Bar reliable proof of duration	Video, reports or witnesses that place the hazard in time.
Control different conditions or legal theories	The analysis can change with the facts and the theory.
Excuse every maintenance failure or decide another shopper's claim	Connecting the specific hazard, place and time to admissible evidence before asking a court to send the claim to a jury.

10. Produce sampling and recurring spill arguments

A sampling display nearby doesn't, by itself, prove an unreasonable risk of harm [S7].

Case	What it means for a produce claim
Resendez	The Texas Supreme Court rejected the proposition that the sampling display alone supplied the necessary unreasonable-danger proof. You need evidence about the actual condition and circumstances, not a general claim that self-service grocery operations are dangerous [S7].
Taylor	The shopper in this case slipped on partially melted ice in front of a self-service soft drink dispenser. The Court identified the ice on the floor as the only unreasonably dangerous condition, rather than the dispenser itself. That distinguishes an earlier setup from the condition at the injury's time and place. Prior spills may matter, but without a supported theory their history does not bypass the need for notice of the particular spill [S10].

Case

What it means for a produce claim

Resendez

The Texas Supreme Court rejected the proposition that the sampling display alone supplied the necessary unreasonable-danger proof. You need evidence about the actual condition and circumstances, not a general claim that self-service grocery operations are dangerous [S7].

Taylor

The shopper in this case slipped on partially melted ice in front of a self-service soft drink dispenser. The Court identified the ice on the floor as the only unreasonably dangerous condition, rather than the dispenser itself. That distinguishes an earlier setup from the condition at the injury's time and place. Prior spills may matter, but without a supported theory their history does not bypass the need for notice of the particular spill [S10].

If a grape caused the fall, prove that mechanism, because a shopper seeing grapes nearby afterward doesn't show which object was stepped on.

What to investigate at the produce stand	Why it matters
How the display and sample stand were set up	It shows the setting, not the danger by itself.
The substance on the floor and where it sat	The claim has to match the condition that caused the fall.
Employee activity, cleaning, and prior observations	These bear on what the store knew and did.
Photos, witness accounts, and any physical evidence	Preserve this evidence without violating the law or risking injury. If items have been moved, do not portray their new positions as the original scene.

Notice of a recurring spill is its own fight, covered in proving notice in an HEB slip and fall.

Facts that may support a broader system issue	Facts that don't replace proof
Video of produce falling during stocking	Calling the department busy.
A report that identified the spill	Calling the display self-service.
Repeated records about the same spot and the same mechanism	A general sense that grocery floors get messy.
Evidence the store failed to use reasonable care in a way that caused this injury	A history of spills with no tie to this occasion.

11. Refrigeration leaks, cleaning and wet entrances

A water claim has to trace both where the water came from and the dangerous walking condition it left.

One fact	What it doesn't prove by itself
The freezer case on aisle 12 needed service	That it made the puddle at issue.
It rained that afternoon	How water reached a particular aisle.
The floor had just been mopped	That it stayed unreasonably slippery.
H-E-B has a wet-day policy	Liability. It may explain expected precautions.

Get the timing, source evidence, surface condition, warnings, and opportunity to discover the water instead of assuming one fact proves the whole sequence.

Record to request	Practical note
Service calls for the exact equipment	Ask for work descriptions and photographs.
Cleaning assignments and cleaning-product information where material	Don't assume every store uses the same maintenance database or cleaning process.
Reports before the incident	First use discovery to identify the systems and records in place at the relevant location and time. Pursue that material in proportion to the needs of the case.

At the entrance, look at the entry mat by the automatic doors, transitions, umbrellas, cart routes, drainage, and how the store ran that rainy day, then apply Peterson's notice lessons to the actual floor condition [S6].

Entrance question	Hypothetical example
What was the dangerous condition	Standing water past the edge of the mat by the automatic doors.
What H-E-B knew or should have known	Whether anyone saw or reported the water, and how long it was there.
Whether a warning or correction happened	A cone placed at the doors, or a mop sitting unused in the back.

Wet-floor cases often turn on this kind of detail, and the broader rules are on our page about Texas grocery store fall claims.

If you use surface or equipment testing	Caution
Qualified testing may help when the mechanism is disputed	It should reflect relevant conditions and disclose its limits.
A friction reading taken after cleaning, repair, or a weather change	It may not reproduce the incident conditions.
The expert's number	The expert should explain how the test relates to the event, not present the number as conclusive.
Product labels, methods, and observations	Preserve what's needed to evaluate the analysis.

12. Mats, thresholds and ordinary walking routes

For a mat or threshold trip, pin down the point of contact and what made it dangerous.

Question	What to look for
Was the mat curled, folded, displaced, or wet	Or sitting on a changing surface.
Did a threshold loosen or hide its edge	An obscured edge can matter.
Does a later photo show a flat mat	The mat may be flat in a later photograph even if it was curled earlier. You still need reliable evidence that it was curled at the relevant time.
Is there video or a witness	These count most when the object moves easily.

Assess the surrounding circumstances and how the injury occurred. A visible edge is not necessarily unreasonably dangerous, and a small change in height is not necessarily harmless under the law.

Document	How
Route, lighting, contrast, nearby displays, traffic, and obstructions	Note anything that affected visibility.
Measurements	Record where and how each measurement was taken, along with any change made after the incident.
A removed component	Request preservation through appropriate channels.

Look for notice in prior complaints, repeated movement, adjustments by employees, inspections or other evidence.

Evidence	What it shows
Who owns the mat	Not how long a particular curl existed.
An employee seen repositioning the mat shortly before the fall	A lead that needs closer investigation.
Your notes	Distinguish what was actually observed from assumptions about how events must have unfolded.

Analyze warnings and known dangers at the outset. The distinction between duty and comparative responsibility may determine whether there is a trial at all, rather than merely changing a percentage of damages [S11].

If the shopper	What to evaluate
Saw the edge or used the same route moments earlier	What was known and whether a duty exception could apply [S11].
Took that route because it was convenient	Convenience alone doesn't make a route legally necessary.

13. Falling merchandise, fixtures and structural components

A falling object can come from unstable stacking, defective shelving, an impact, installation problems, deterioration, or active handling, and each is a different causal story.

Hypothetical example	Causal account
A worker was lifting stock on the endcap display when it fell	Active handling.
Another customer bumped the display	A third party's impact.
A shelf bracket detached from the fixture	A fixed component failure.

Before choosing a legal theory, preserve the evidence and identify the item and its supports. Establish the height, position and sequence of movement as well.

Request	Why
Photos of the original arrangement and relevant video	They show how it was stacked.
Assembly instructions where material, inspection history, and repair records	They show how it was built and kept.
Vendor involvement	Find out who built, stocked, altered, or maintained the display or fixture.
Who is responsible	A merchandise supplier may have no part in the store's later stacking, while a fixture installer may have installation duties. The brand on the item alone doesn't show who caused the fall.

Ceiling failures and construction-related falling parts may need engineering or construction analysis.

Step	Detail
Find the mechanism	A leak, an attachment, a repair, an impact, or something else.
Preserve components	Coordinate testing where possible.
Check building codes	Verify whether the code was adopted, the relevant dates and alterations, and whether it applies. Finding a model provision online does not establish that it governs every H-E-B building in Texas.

Construction and design claims can raise repose and certificate-of-merit issues, so get completion dates and identify covered professional services early [S14, S22].

Rule	What it means here
Two-year injury deadline (§16.003), with exceptions	It doesn't preserve every claim against every project participant [S14].
10-year repose (§16.008, §16.009)	It can cut off claims against design professionals and builders of improvements [S14].
Certificate of merit (Ch. 150)	Required with the first pleading against a licensed architect, engineer, land surveyor, or landscape architect [S22].
Theory selection	Identify the actual component and building configuration before choosing design or maintenance theories. The investigation follows the specific failure.

14. Employee activity versus a condition left behind

A worker steering a pallet jack into you is ongoing activity; tripping later over a cart someone left in the aisle is a condition.

Rule	Source
Negligent activity requires injury by or as a contemporaneous result of the activity itself	Keetch [S9].
A condition created by an earlier activity sounds in premises liability, not general negligence	United Scaffolding [S13].
The claim has to match the timing and physical mechanism	Keetch and United Scaffolding [S9, S13].

Save enough video to show whether work was happening at the moment of injury and what caused contact.

Identify	Caution
The worker's employer, task, equipment, line of sight, warnings, and movements	A uniform or a spot inside H-E-B may not conclusively prove employment.
Vendors and contractors in the same spaces	Identify the law and facts supporting the proposed agency relationship or vicarious liability.

Labels don't replace proof.

Pleading issue	What follows
A petition alleging negligent stocking, inspection, and maintenance	It may still describe a premises condition that needs the premises elements.
Alternative pleading	It can be appropriate when facts support it, but the lawyer must develop the evidence and get findings for the theory actually submitted.
A moving story	It doesn't cure an incorrect jury charge.

Undisputed contact still leaves causation and damages to be examined on their own.

Video shows	What it doesn't settle
A cart touching a shopper	That every later diagnosis came from that contact. Medical history and qualified opinions may be needed.
A small-looking movement	That there's no injury. Appropriate medical analysis is still needed.

15. Parking lot falls and shared premises control

First determine the precise point of contact in the lot and the way the injury occurred.

Possible condition	What you should describe
Pothole, uneven pavement, or a depression	Whether your foot caught, slid, or stepped into it.
Wheel stop or exposed anchor	Whether you struck an object.
Drainage, lighting, or the pedestrian route	How it contributed, while admitting any uncertainty.

A photo of many cracks across the lot can hide which one caused the fall.

Who may control the spot	How to tell
The grocery operator	Its actual inspection, repair, and report practices.
The landlord or property manager	A shopping-center lease may assign parking maintenance differently from the store interior.
A contractor	Who hired vendors and who received reports.
Not the answer	A store sign, or the fact you were walking toward H-E-B, doesn't prove ownership, or control.

Keep the repair and drainage records, invoices and photographs. Preserve earlier complaints and evidence of inspections as well.

Notice and visibility point	Why it matters
A long-standing pothole versus a fresh oil spill	They have different notice records.
Being outside	It doesn't make a condition long-standing.
Lighting	Document it with appropriate methods. A phone camera's exposure can make a dark area look brighter or darker than a person saw it.

A parking-lot crash also raises auto-insurance questions, which the Texas Department of Insurance's auto guide explains in plain terms [S21].

Expert work	Practical limit
Geometry, drainage, surface condition, or causal analysis	Consider the disputed question and the value of the case before commissioning costly technical work. Some defects do not require that level of investigation.
Standards	Show that they apply to the particular feature and time.
The goal	A supported explanation of unreasonable danger and causation, not a list of every departure from an ideal parking design.

16. Pedestrian collisions, curbside service and drivers

After a vehicle strikes you, preserve information identifying the driver and vehicle, any insurance lead, witness details and footage. Record the vehicle's direction of travel and your position.

Driver question	Note
Backing, speed, distraction, sightlines, warnings, and reaction time	Investigate each.
The private lot	It doesn't remove ordinary questions about reasonable driving care, but the duties and facts still need analysis.

A property theory is a separate claim with its own proof.

Property theory	What has to be explained
Poor drainage, a hidden depression, an obstruction, failed lighting, or work-zone routing	How it contributed to the collision or a separate injury.
Control	Establish the area the property defendant controlled. Showing only that the incident was near the store is insufficient.
Danger, notice, and correction	Address three questions: what made the danger unreasonable, which notice requirement applied and how a reasonable repair or correction would have changed what happened.

At curbside pickup, carts and loading activity share space with customers, parked vehicles, contractors and delivery services.

Hypothetical example at the Curbside pickup spaces	Relationship to check
A shopper backing out in a personal vehicle	Not an H-E-B employee by default.
A store-associated loading worker	Who employed and directed that worker.
An app-based delivery driver	Don't assume the same employment or agency facts. Get the records before asserting vicarious liability.

Before you sign anything a driver's insurer sends, tell us about your H-E-B injury or call (214) 200-4878, and bring the store address, incident date, injury details, photos, and witness names.

Coordination point	Why
PIP, UM/UIM, liability, commercial, and excess policies	They have different terms and requirements [S20-S21].
Property damage and bodily injury releases	Keep them separate for review.
Settling with the driver	It may affect claims against others, and Chapter 33 can affect allocations and credits [S16].
Every offer	Look at all releases together, not one isolated transaction at a time.

17. Contractors, vendors and completed work

A cleaning, refrigeration, construction, paving, or fixture contractor may be responsible when its negligent work or undertaking caused injury under an applicable duty.

Get	Why
Contract, work scope, dates, location, methods, changes, and warnings	They define what the contractor undertook.
Actual performance	Do not blame a vendor for a puddle merely because it serviced another case in a different aisle. Show the connection between its work and this condition.

Consider the limits of the work undertaken without treating them as an excuse for every dangerous act.

Hypothetical example	Analysis
A contractor hired to repair a drain	The contractor may not have agreed to inspect the whole floor. It may nonetheless be responsible for a danger created while doing its work.
An indemnity clause between businesses	Don't turn it into a direct tort duty to the injured shopper without analysis.
The question to ask	What was foreseeable within the undertaking and what legal duty applies.

Strakos rejected blanket immunity based only on acceptance of completed work, but negligence and causation still have to be proved [S25].

Timing issue	Effect
Completed work	It may be relevant long after a vendor leaves.
Construction repose and limitations	They can affect the claim [S14].
Intervening changes	Proof of later changes can matter. Get project and repair dates before assuming a late-added contractor claim is still available [S14, S25].

Defense and payment may be affected by insurance coverage and additional-insured arrangements.

Document	Limit
Contracts and endorsements	Request the actual ones through discovery.
A certificate of insurance	A certificate does not reveal every policy condition or exclusion.
Another policy	Build the case against the vendor on its own merits, not on hope that a policy will respond.
An added defendant	Useful only when its responsibility is supported and the procedural and collection consequences are understood.

18. Security incidents and the duty against crime

An assault in a store or parking lot doesn't automatically make the property owner liable, because Texas generally doesn't require owners to insure against all third-party crime [S24].

Element of a negligent security theory	What's required
Control	Over the place where it happened.
A legally sufficient duty	Foreseeability and unreasonableness are distinct questions under UDR Texas Properties v. Petrie [S24].
Unreasonable and foreseeable risk	Supported by reliable evidence.
Reasonable precautions and causation	The proposed precaution needs a supported causal role. Saying more security would have helped isn't enough.

Look at prior events and actual warnings with attention to timing, location, similarity, and knowledge.

Evidence	Problem to watch for
A list of police calls	It may include incidents unrelated to the attack.
A neighborhood crime map	It can mislead if it doesn't separate type of risk, distance, and time period.
Volume of incidents	It isn't proof on its own. Explain how reliable records relate to this incident.

Keep the footage and witness accounts along with lighting records, security contracts, access information and communications about the incident.

Situation	Note
Employee misconduct	Separate an employee-misconduct theory from a claim arising from a stranger's crime. The relationships and legal theories may differ, so a generic premises allegation may not address both.
The victim's needs	Put safety, medical care, and privacy first.
The criminal case	Avoid any confrontation with a suspect or interference with the criminal case. Civil counsel can organize lawful evidence gathering while seeking protection for sensitive information.
The historical insurance decision	H.E. Butt Grocery Co. v. National Union Fire Ins. Co. involved different facts and decades-old coverage. It doesn't imply that a current security claim has the same value, policy, or outcome [S5].

19. Warnings, known dangers and the claimant's conduct

A warning can be central evidence, but only if it addressed the actual risk at the relevant time.

Warning question	What the photos or footage should show
Where was the sign placed	Its position relative to the hazard.
Could a shopper see it along the route	The view from the path you walked.
Was the area closed or just marked	Tape or a barrier versus a single cone.
Was it there before the fall or added during cleanup	Timestamps, not just proof that a cone appeared somewhere in the store.

Known or obvious conditions can affect duty, and Austin discusses the general rule and its limited exceptions [S11].

Issue	How to handle it
Your prior awareness	Disclose it and analyze it honestly.
A necessary-use argument	Investigate the circumstances and the other routes or options available. Merely needing to complete a shopping trip does not establish the necessary-use exception.
Duty versus comparative responsibility	Related but distinct questions [S11].

Discuss difficult facts early enough for counsel to evaluate them before preparing a demand, deposition or response to a motion.

Defense argument	Response
Distraction, footwear, impairment, or route choice	Determine whether the evidence explains the cause of the injury. The style of someone's shoes, for example, cannot account for a broken fixture.
Ignoring warnings or an unrelated medical event	Test it against the record.
Video that contradicts your account	It can create serious credibility problems.

Nobody can promise that your share of fault will be absorbed by a small reduction, and the claim may fail on duty or causation before allocation ever comes up.

Chapter 33 rule	Effect
Claimant responsibility over 50 percent	Generally bars recovery in covered cases [S16].
A share of 50 percent or less	Reduces damages by your percentage [S16].
Other participants, settling persons, and joint liability	The statute addresses each separately [S16].
A realistic evaluation	It identifies both the threshold issues and the possible percentages.

Security camera mounted above a grocery store aisle

20. Preserve video with an incident-specific request

A good preservation request names the store, the date, the spot, the approximate time, the camera views, and the stretch of time needed to judge both the fall and notice.

Put this in the request	Hypothetical example
Store and exact location	The H-E-B on the listed street address, the floor in front of the produce misters.
Date and approximate time	Tuesday, about 4:15 p.m.
Camera views	Any camera covering the produce aisle and the nearby sample stand.
Surrounding period	Include enough of the period before the fall to establish when the condition developed and whether anyone passed it or made a report.
Questions about the system	Identify the systems in use and their operators, check the clock settings and establish which material was preserved.

Find out which areas this store's cameras covered and how it retained recordings for the relevant incident. There is no basis to assume every aisle was recorded or to apply a standard public retention period without verification.

Why surrounding footage matters	What it can show
The fall clip alone may miss the start	When the condition formed or when someone first reported it.
Activity before the fall	Stocking, customer movement, inspections, warnings, or cleanup.
Sight lines	Whether employees had an unobstructed view of the spot.
Scope	Request the interval needed to answer the question. Months of footage from every camera may lead to needless disputes without capturing the particular short period that matters.

Preserve the recording in a form that can be relied on later. The first steps for shoppers are covered in what to do in the first 72 hours.

Video handling step	Why
Preserve native exports, metadata, playback information, and clock-offset evidence	They help prove timing and authenticity.
Keep an original copy	Document any conversion or annotation.
Label slowed or enlarged clips	A demonstration should be identified as one.
Respect the limits of video	A reliable conclusion may be impossible where footage has blind spots, low resolution, an obstructed view or uncertain depth.
Avoid overstatement	Have a sound basis before identifying a dark patch as liquid or treating movement in the distance as proof of contact.

Preservation runs both ways [S12].

The injured shopper should	Why
Keep personal footage and messages	Deleting a post because it seems unhelpful can create a new problem.
Tell the lawyer quickly about lost devices, changed accounts, or overwritten files	Early disclosure is easier to explain.
Treat preservation as a plan for both sides	That's a better foundation than hoping a later spoliation dispute will make up for missing proof [S12].

21. Obtain inspections, maintenance records and incident history

Ask for records tied to the actual condition and a reasonable time period, and ask what the system records and what its terms mean.

Record to request	What to ask about it
Inspection and cleaning entries	Who made them, at what time, and for which area.
Equipment service and work orders	Whether a completion status means the work was done, canceled, duplicated, or reassigned.
Complaints, photographs, and vendor communications	Whether a printed summary leaves out attachments and audit history that matter to the timeline.

Do not suggest access to inside knowledge of proprietary H-E-B forms or databases. Ask in discovery what records the particular store had, how it maintained them and who searched them.

If an employee says inspections happened without entries	The fair approach
Investigate the practice	Look at the supporting evidence.
Don't assume the testimony is false	Undocumented inspections aren't automatically fiction.
Don't assume a general practice proves a specific inspection	A routine doesn't show that someone checked aisle 12 at 3:30 p.m. that day (hypothetical).

Prior incidents need relevance and care.

Prior incident	Likely value
Similar reports at the same store or the same component	May help show notice or a recurring issue.
Unrelated events at distant stores	May not help.
Before asking for history	Define the mechanism, place, and period first.
Other customers' information	Protect it with proportionate redaction or a protective order instead of demanding unnecessary disclosure.

Tie every record to a witness, because a log can be useful or wrong.

Question for the log	Why
Who created the entry and who received it	It shows who knew.
What happened next and whether the hazard stayed	It shows what the store did with the knowledge.
What the location code and the actual observation were	The author can explain them.
Whether it matches photos, receipts, footage, and testimony	The goal is a reliable timeline, not a stack of documents assumed to explain themselves.

22. Manage physical evidence, inspections and spoliation issues

Identify the relevant physical items and their custodians. Evidence may include a mat, shoe, broken fixture, shelf component, cart, fastener or sample from a surface.

Do	Don't
Ask for preservation and propose an inspection protocol	Remove store property without authority.
Cover identification, photographs, measurements, access, and storage in the protocol	Run unsafe testing.
Address any testing that might change the item before it happens	Let destructive testing go forward without agreement.

Necessary safety work isn't forbidden. A reasonable process documents the condition before repair, keeps removed parts where it can and allows appropriate observation.

If emergency repairs came first	What to collect
The entry mat by the automatic doors was replaced the next morning (hypothetical)	Gather any remaining photographs, descriptions of the work, invoices and witness recollections.
A later inspection is still possible	Explain accurately how what's inspected relates to the original condition.

Brookshire Bros. v. Aldridge sets the Texas framework for spoliation [S12].

Aldridge point	What it means
Who decides	Whether spoliation occurred, and the appropriate remedy if it did, are matters for the trial judge [S12].
What the judge weighs	The judge examines the existence and breach of a preservation duty, then selects a remedy proportionate to the culpability and prejudice [S12].
The spoliation instruction	Reserved for intentional spoliation, or negligent loss that irreparably deprived the other side of any meaningful ability to present a claim or defense [S12].
The facts of the case	Grease that leaked from a container near the store's rotisserie-chicken Grab-N-Go was the alleged hazard, and the store kept only about eight minutes of video while the rest was recorded over [S12].
The takeaway	The loss of a video or physical item does not automatically prove liability or warrant a favorable instruction. Before alleging spoliation, investigate whether the item existed, who held it, the timing and how it was lost [S12].

Document the shopper's own preservation too.

The injured shopper should	Why
Keep relevant clothing and devices without alteration	They may be inspected later.
Preserve messages, even uncertain, or unhelpful ones	An honest early remark can be explained; deletion creates another issue.
Treat evidence management as part of the case	A credible, complete record helps in negotiation, and in proving the case in court.

23. Build medical causation separately from premises liability

Proof of a dangerous condition does not serve the same purpose as a diagnosis. Besides proving the condition and legal responsibility, the claim must show that the fall caused the injury or a compensable aggravation.

Causation evidence	When it matters
Medical records, imaging, and treatment history	In every case.
Prior-condition information	Whenever there's earlier pain, surgery, or degeneration.
Medical opinions	When causation is disputed or the condition is complex.

An aggravation claim can be legitimate without pretending the body was perfect before.

Be candid about	How to handle it
Earlier pain, surgeries, and degeneration	Identify what changed, when and why the fall is medically connected to the change.
Prior claims and later accidents	Disclose previous claims and accidents that occurred later. Counsel should never suggest downplaying a preexisting condition.
Provider opinions	Don't ask providers to adopt unsupported conclusions.

Use the facts to explain gaps in treatment and symptoms that appeared later. Do not construct an explanation after the event that lacks factual support.

Issue	What to know
Treatment gap	A gap may reflect transportation problems, scheduling, cost or changes in symptoms. Retain the records and bring up concerns promptly.
A medical bill	A bill alone establishes neither that the fall caused the need for treatment nor that the treatment was reasonable and necessary. It also does not establish recovery of the full charge.
Section 18.001 affidavits	This procedure can establish that charges were reasonable and services necessary. It does not automatically establish medical causation or the store's liability [S18].
Paid-or-incurred rule (§41.0105)	Recoverable medical expenses are limited to amounts actually paid or incurred [S17].
The lawyer's job	Evaluate current deadlines, objections, counteraffidavits, and other proof instead of treating a billing spreadsheet as the final damages case [S17-S18].

24. Document earnings, daily limitations and future damages

Identify the dates, work restrictions and pay rates behind the lost-earnings calculation, and retain the supporting records. Show the method so the court and opposing party can check it.

Worker type	Evidence to gather
Employee	Dates missed, restrictions, wage rate, overtime patterns, leave, and employer records.
Self-employed person	Use tax and business records, expense records and records of substitute labor to distinguish earnings lost to the injury from revenue changes caused by other factors.

Reduced earning capacity is different from a short absence from work.

Claim	What supports it
Short absence	Employer records and the dates off.
Reduced earning capacity	Medical restrictions and the person's work history showing changed jobs, hours, or physical tasks.
Vocational and economic opinions	Explain the realistic work alternatives and the assumptions behind the opinion. Do not infer permanent inability to work from the fact of injury alone.

Ask people who saw the limitations to describe specific observations of their effect on daily activities.

Hypothetical observation	Who can describe it
Can't carry a toddler up the apartment stairs	A spouse, in plain words, not legal terms.
Has to sit down halfway through a shift	A coworker who worked beside her.
Stopped driving to the H-E-B two miles away	A neighbor who now drives her.
What she can still do	Include the activities she can still perform. A balanced description of recovery is more credible than an account that conceals all improvement.

Future damages need qualified support, a reasonable cost basis, and no overlap [S17].

Category	What to watch
Future medical care	Qualified support and a reasonable cost basis. Don't list every conceivable procedure as if all are certain.
Assistance, equipment, and work effects	Account for these losses separately from future treatment, without including the same loss twice.
Pain, impairment, and disfigurement	Prove each category under the law that applies, taking care not to count one loss in multiple categories [S17].
Exemplary damages	Separate legal standards apply. They aren't automatic because the company is large [S17].

25. Investigate insurance retentions and collection

Get the applicable policy information through proper requests and discovery, because coverage and liability are separate questions [S20].

Policy material	What to identify
Declarations, insuring agreements, forms, endorsements, and schedules	The insured entity, location, period, and covered allegations.
Retentions, deductibles, exclusions, and excess layers	Other claims that affect what's available.
A certificate or a representative's shorthand	Neither is the complete contract [S20].

A self-insured retention isn't an insurer's coverage limit [S5].

H.E. Butt Grocery Co. v. National Union Fire Ins. Co., 150 F.3d 526 (5th Cir. 1998)	What it does and doesn't show
What the case was	A historical policy dispute in a 1998 Fifth Circuit decision over 1994 events, not a slip-and-fall claim [S5].
The retention	The court described a $1 million per-occurrence self-insured retention under the policy then at issue [S5].
What it doesn't establish	Today's coverage, the amount available for a current customer fall or a cap on the defendant's liability. A retention isn't a coverage limit [S5].

No current, universal H-E-B per-store customer liability limit was verified in this research. Don't fill that gap with a generic $1 million or $2 million commercial policy example.

Coverage question	Why it matters
A large retailer's arrangements	They may require document review.
A contractor or driver	May have a separate policy.
Additional-insured and indemnity provisions	They can shift who pays without proving the claimant's negligence case.

Talk about collection candidly.

Collection issue	What the client should hear
A verdict	It isn't automatically immediate cash.
Stacking limits	Limits can't always be stacked.
Coverage disputes, assets, excess conditions, costs, and appeal risk	Each can change strategy.
The company's size	Do not substitute an assumption about corporate resources for a supported valuation and collection plan. Explain the known facts, remaining uncertainties and reasons for the recommended resolution.

26. Calculate limitations, service and professional prerequisites

Texas generally allows two years to file a personal injury suit (§16.003), subject to accrual rules, and statutory exceptions [S14].

Deadline question	What to do
When the clock starts	Work from the actual event date. Evaluate minority, disability, death, or other facts individually [S14].
What doesn't stop it	Treatment, a claim number, an insurer's investigation, or ongoing negotiation.
Evidence	Preserve it right away. The general deadline isn't permission to wait.

Filing has to line up with the right defendant and diligent service.

Service step	Why
Confirm entity names and registered agents	A petition against the wrong entity creates avoidable disputes.
Use reliable service methods and document the effort	An unserved party can cause the same trouble.
Don't confuse a letter with service	A demand sent to the store manager isn't service of a lawsuit under the governing rules.

Construction and design claims carry their own limits [S14, S22].

Issue	What to know
Repose	Construction and design cases may involve separate repose periods measured from completion-related events. Get project dates, later work dates, warranties, and facts bearing on exceptions [S14].
A recent patch	A recent patch should not be assumed to restart all claims against the original participants.
Chapter 150	Determine before filing whether the statute requires a certificate of merit. For covered professional-service claims, it may have to accompany the first pleading, subject to the statutory provisions [S22].

Build a calendar that keeps each requirement separate.

Calendar item	How to handle it
Limitations, service, and professional prerequisites	Use the earliest plausible deadline pending a complete factual investigation, and pursue that investigation promptly.
Discovery, expert deadlines, and court settings	Track each one on its own line.
The client	Explain deadlines so the client understands them. Serious injury and evidence of responsibility may not preserve a recovery if a required step is missed.

27. Present a demand that addresses the difficult issue

Address the main proof problem directly in the demand. Identify the responsible entity or insured and describe the event, legal theory, supporting evidence, medical causation, damages and resolution sought.

If the defense disputes	Point to
Notice	The actual report or the evidence of how long the condition was there.
Cause	The mechanism and the record supporting it.
Liability while the demand stresses surgery	Nothing changes. Ignoring a missing liability element gives the adjuster little reason to rethink the defense.

Organize exhibits by purpose.

Exhibit	How to present it
Photographs	Labeled with source and date where known.
Work orders	The relevant one, not an unexplained bulk production.
Medical evidence	Tied to the claimed injury.
Expert opinions	Stated accurately with their foundation and limits.
Unrelated private information	Handled reasonably while still giving what's needed for evaluation.

Value each claim on its own facts.

Valuation factor	Caution
Comparative fault, admissibility, and medical uncertainty	Weigh them honestly.
Future needs, coverage, collection, and remaining expenses	Include them.
Multipliers and borrowed verdicts	Don't apply an unsupported multiplier to bills or import another lawyer's selected verdict.
The client's net	Show the gross amount and the potential amount left after deductions, identifying any deduction that is still estimated.

Demand deadlines call for judgment and legal analysis.

Demand issue	What to know
Policy-limits demands	Emphatic wording does not, on its own, create exposure beyond the policy. Evaluate the demand's recipient, contents, terms and timing against the governing standards.
Offers and developments	Convey them to the client as required and document decisions.
What a demand can do	Open a chance to resolve the case. It can't guarantee payment or remove the need to sue.

28. File a petition with supported claims and proper parties

Check the proposed venue and jurisdiction before filing, along with the parties, service, limitations, supporting facts and any professional prerequisites.

Theory	Keep in mind
Premises liability	The usual theory for a condition on the floor.
Contemporaneous negligent activity	Only for injury by or as a contemporaneous result of the activity itself.
Vicarious liability and contractor negligence	Each needs its own supported facts.
Alternative pleading	Incomplete evidence may justify alternative pleading. It does not remove the requirement for a reasonable factual basis for each allegation or justify saying every defendant did everything.

Plan for entity and forum questions.

Forum issue	What to know
Removal	A state-court filing doesn't guarantee the case stays there.
Federal court	Texas substantive premises law may apply, but not every Texas state procedural deadline does. The plan has to fit the actual forum.

Match the theory to the mechanism [S9, S13].

Rule	What it means
United Scaffolding v. Levine and Keetch v. Kroger	A condition left behind isn't automatically an ongoing activity [S9, S13].
General negligence allegations	They can't be expected to cure missing premises findings at trial.
Evidence plan	Identify what each theory requires and develop it through discovery and experts.

Explain the filing decision to the client [S19].

Filing brings	What to discuss
Formal discovery and a path toward trial	Likely records requests, deposition preparation, and inspections.
Duties, expense, and risk	Scheduling and possible motions [S19].
A step in a prepared strategy	Not a promise that the defendant will quickly raise its offer.

29. Use written discovery to answer control, notice and causation

Start with the disputed elements and ask for the records that answer them.

Disputed element	Requests that fit
Control	Obtain ownership documents, leases, descriptions of vendor responsibilities and insurance agreements.
Notice	Seek complaints and incident materials along with footage and records of cleaning and inspection.
Causation	Maintenance records for the same component and mechanism.
Scope	Name the relevant place and period in the request. A request focused that way is generally more useful than decades of incidents at all stores. Expand discovery when there is a reasonable basis to do so.

Ask how the electronic systems work before assuming an export is complete.

If the response says	Follow up on
Here's the standard export	Attachments, internal comments, status history, and separate audit data.
No records exist	Whether none was created, none was kept, or the search was incomplete. Each needs a different follow-up.
A search was done	The custodians and search methods, proportionate to the issues.

Use each discovery tool for what it does well.

Tool	Good use
Interrogatories	Use these questions to identify relevant staff, vendors, practices and the factual positions being taken.
Requests for admission	Use requests for admission, as the rules permit, to narrow disputes over authenticity or genuine facts. They are not a replacement for evidence on all legal conclusions.
Any request	Seek material that can be used in a motion, deposition, expert analysis or at trial. Increasing the file's size is not the objective.

Respect privilege and privacy while testing unsupported withholding [S19].

Issue	Approach
Claims files	Depending on the circumstances, a claims file may contain a mix of protected and unprotected material.
Customer and employee records	Redaction or protective terms may be needed.
Disputes	Identify the disputed matters specifically and confer when required. If court relief is needed, explain their relevance and why the request is proportionate. Focusing the dispute saves both time and client expense [S19].

30. Prepare depositions around decisions and observations

Give each deposition a purpose related to the liability analysis. Do not let background questions consume the time needed to address notice.

Witness	What they can usually speak to
Store employee	What was seen, reported, cleaned, stocked, or repaired near the floral cooler or the frozen-food case.
Manager	Authority, reporting, inspections, and how the store responded.
Corporate representative	Identified organizational topics, such as video retention or inspection systems.
Vendor	The scope and methods of its work, like a refrigeration service call.

Use documents carefully, and compare memory to the records without assuming the records are error-free.

When using a document, ask	Why it helps
What the location code or term means	A maintenance entry is useless if nobody knows which case "D-14" is.
What the timing and attachments show	A report time or photo attachment can fix when something was known.
Who made the decision, if not this witness	It names the next person and the communication to find.
Who received the report	A clear answer here often helps more than asking whether the witness agrees the store was negligent.

Corporate topics should be tailored and properly noticed under the applicable rule.

Corporate deposition step	Practical point
Identify the topics	The incident, the system, the records, control, and preservation questions.
Keep the scope fair	Don't demand an unprepared witness's personal knowledge of every store operation.
Read the answer correctly	A witness's lack of personal memory isn't the same as the organization's full answer.
Handle disputes	Follow up through appropriate procedures when preparation or scope is disputed.

Client preparation is about truthfulness, listening, and the difference between memory and inference.

Client preparation task	What it looks like
Review prior statements and records	Go over the difficult facts too, not only the helpful ones.
Don't supply a story	The client's own memory is the testimony; no narrative is handed over for adoption.
Explain good answers	An accurate answer can be brief, qualified, or uncertain.
Avoid speculation	Do not guess about equipment, medical causation or legal duties. Careful preparation helps avoid the contradictions that such guesses create.

31. Retain experts for material technical questions

Hire an expert because a material issue needs specialized knowledge, and match the expert's qualifications to that exact question.

Possible field	Example question
Floor safety	How slippery the tile by the produce misters was when wet.
Refrigeration	Whether the frozen-food case on aisle 12 was leaking.
Construction or structural engineering	Whether a canopy or display fixture was built and anchored correctly.
Accident reconstruction or human factors	How a person moving a cart would see or miss a hazard.
Medicine, vocational capacity, or economics	Identify the injury, the work the person can still perform and the value of the losses.

General retail experience doesn't automatically qualify someone to analyze a structural connection or a medical diagnosis.

Give and ask the expert for	Why
Favorable and unfavorable evidence	An opinion built on half the file won't survive cross-examination.
Methods, assumptions, alternatives, and limits	These are what a reliability challenge targets.
The link between the failure and the injury	The opinion has to connect the alleged failure to what happened.
A real basis for any duration opinion	"The store must have been negligent because she fell" is circular, and a claim that a puddle sat for a long time needs a reliable factual and methodological foundation. Expert confidence can't replace missing historical evidence [S6].

Testing should be reproducible where appropriate and tied to the incident conditions.

Testing record	What to write down
Equipment and calibration	The tester used and when it was last calibrated.
Surface and environment	Floor state, moisture, temperature, and lighting at the time of the test.
Protocol and changes	The method used and every change to the area since the accident.
Destructive testing	Identify it in advance and coordinate access and preservation.
Honest labels	A post-repair friction reading or a rebuilt load test isn't a direct measurement of an unchanged incident scene.

Budget and schedule matter as much as the opinion itself.

Planning item	Point to keep in mind
Deadlines	Keep track of expert designation and report deadlines, needed depositions and foreseeable challenges to reliability [S19].
Certificate of merit	A certificate required under Chapter 150 is a separate requirement from the ordinary expert designation that comes later [S22].
Expenses	Discuss significant costs with the client under the engagement terms.
Number of experts	An opinion from one qualified expert on the central question may be more valuable than several overlapping opinions that add nothing to the disputed element [S19, S22].

32. Respond to summary judgment with current procedure and evidence

Organize the response around each ground raised in the motion and the admissible evidence answering it. Show the court the exhibit that creates a genuine issue on that point.

Type of motion	What the response needs
Traditional summary judgment	Evidence raising a genuine fact issue on the defendant's ground.
No-evidence summary judgment	Supply admissible evidence on every element challenged, whether control, knowledge, unreasonable danger, causation or another element.
Both combined	A response to every ground; a general negligence story doesn't substitute for proof.

Texas Rule 166a changed for summary judgment motions filed on or after March 1, 2026 [S15].

Rule 166a (2026) point	What it means
Response deadline	For motions filed on or after March 1, 2026, a response is generally due 21 days after the motion is filed, unless leave is granted, or the parties agree, subject to the rule's other provisions [S15].
Older practice	Don't rely on the former shorthand for covered motions; read the current rule and any applicable orders [S15].
Federal court	Federal summary judgment practice needs its own procedural analysis [S15].

Audit the evidence before the motion arrives.

Audit question	Why it matters
Is the witness account sworn and based on personal knowledge?	An unsworn summary may not count as evidence.
Is the record authenticated as required?	A store log nobody can authenticate may be excluded.
Does the expert explain a reliable method?	An opinion without a method can be struck.
Does the video show what you say it shows?	The court will watch it.
Is constructive notice at issue?	Point to proof of time, not just general criticism of inspections [S6].
Is a known danger asserted?	Address duty and any exception, not only fault percentages [S11].

When necessary discovery is not yet available, support a request for additional time or other relief with specific facts. Merely saying discovery continues may be insufficient.

Also do	Result
Preserve objections and rulings	They stay available for review.
Use the work for settlement	Summary judgment preparation shows which claims have enough evidence to proceed and which remain vulnerable.

33. Negotiate and mediate with the net recovery in view

Mediation should reflect the actual case, not the strongest version anyone can imagine.

Factor to assess	What to figure out
Liability	How likely a finding is on each element.
Supported damages	Which losses the records support.
Comparative responsibility	What share a jury might assign the claimant [S16].
Coverage and collection	What insurance applies and what can actually be collected.
Trial cost, timing, and appeal risk	What it will take to get a final, paid result.

Present a reasonable range of possible outcomes, without pretending to predict the result precisely. It is reasonable for the client to value timing or certainty differently from counsel.

If the defense's strongest point is	Address it this way
How long the spill was there	Show the evidence on duration and admit any gap.
The claimant saw the hazard	Explain the duty analysis.
Treatment was delayed	Give the actual facts and medical support where available.
Any weakness at all	Repeating that the injury was severe rarely resolves why the parties disagree.

Review the settlement terms as carefully as the dollar amount.

Term to review	What to watch for
Released parties and claims	Who and what the release ends.
Confidentiality and indemnity	What the client is promising in return.
Liens and payment timing	Who gets paid and when.
Effect on remaining defendants	A partial settlement has to fit Chapter 33 credits and the broader strategy [S16].
Separate claims	The release shouldn't give up a property or vehicle claim the client thought was still open [S16].

Give the client an estimated distribution, and keep final figures apart from estimates still open.

Distribution line	Note
Gross recovery	The headline number.
Fees and known costs	Under the written engagement terms.
Medical balances and reimbursement claims	Mark which are confirmed and which are estimates.
Net to client	It can differ a lot from the headline amount.
What the recommendation rests on	The specific evidence and the client's informed goals, never board certification, H-E-B's size, or selected verdicts.

34. Prepare voir dire and the trial proof

Organize the trial evidence around the questions the jury will have to answer.

Jury question	Proof to line up
What was the condition or activity?	Original video, photographs, and witness accounts.
What was the defendant's role?	Control documents and employee testimony.
Was there notice, where required?	Reports, logs, and timing evidence.
Was reasonable care used?	Inspection and cleanup records.
Causation and damages	Medical records and qualified opinions.

Explain the timeline and a few relevant exhibits accurately. That can persuade more effectively than a large collection of photographs that never explains how the injury happened.

Voir dire topic	Lawful approach
Customer responsibility and corporate defendants	Explore attitudes within the court's rules.
Injury claims, medical treatment, and damages	Ask open questions to find bias and grounds for challenge.
Shopping at H-E-B	Don't assume a regular H-E-B shopper is favorable or unfavorable.
Commitments	Don't seek promises about a verdict before evidence is heard.

Witnesses and exhibits have to stay accurate enough to hold up on cross-examination.

Trial element	Standard
Witnesses	Explain observations and their limits.
Technical expert	Speak plainly without overstating certainty.
Demonstratives	Disclose source, scale, assumptions, and changes.
Reenactments or edited video	Never let them look like original surveillance.
Evidentiary objections	Anticipate them and preserve the needed proof through proper procedure [S19].

The jury charge must match the supported theories and the law.

Charge issue	Why it needs care
Premises versus activity claims	They have different elements [S13].
Proportionate responsibility and settling persons	Chapter 33 governs allocation and credits [S16].
Damages categories	Each needs its own support.
Charge objections	Preserve them and the rulings [S19].
Legally sufficient findings	A favorable verdict without proper findings or legally sufficient evidence may not survive review, so trial readiness starts during investigation [S13, S16, S19].

35. Understand verdicts, appeals and collection

The amount announced in the courtroom isn't automatically the amount the client receives right away.

After a verdict	What it can mean
Posttrial motions	The judgment can be changed or challenged.
Appeal	Payment can be delayed and the result can change.
Judgment enforcement	Collection depends on insurance, assets, and payment arrangements.
Further settlement talks	The parties may resolve it for a certain, faster amount.

Explain those possibilities before trial, not after.

A large verdict requires	It is not guaranteed by
A supported damages record and favorable findings on responsibility	The store's revenue, its number of locations, or the severity of suffering alone.
Exemplary damages proof under their separate standards and statutory provisions	Ordinary negligence, which doesn't automatically establish entitlement [S17].
A request counsel can support	An aspirational number [S17].

Keep the client informed about material rulings, offers, costs, and risks, and don't treat a client's preference as irrational because it differs from counsel's appetite for risk.

At distribution	What the client should get
Accounting	A clear statement of fees, expenses, liens, reimbursements, and client proceeds.
Documents	The release and payment records, kept on file.
Open items	Any unresolved obligation named as unresolved, not shown as final.
The measure of the result	The supported, usable result, and the client's understanding of it, not the largest gross figure a marketing headline could show.

36. Use public metrics honestly and choose counsel deliberately

H-E-B's newsroom describes the company's stores in Texas and Mexico, but no public source gives a count of Texas H-E-B injuries [S2].

Public figure	What it does and doesn't show
H-E-B newsroom store count	A company description of stores in Texas and Mexico, not a count of Texas stores on any injury date [S2].
Commercial location datasets	They exist, but they aren't official counts and their completeness hasn't been independently audited.
H-E-B's official store locator	Use it to verify an individual address and banner, not as an injury dataset [S4].

None of these figures counts injuries, and none should be used as the denominator of an injury rate without a matching, reliable numerator, and consistent definitions [S2, S4].

This research did not find	Why the gap matters
A complete annual total of Texas H-E-B customer injuries	There's no statewide injury count to cite.
A total of attorney-negotiated settlements, or a representative mean, or median	There's no settlement average to quote.
A current universal customer liability limit	There's no policy limit to assume.
One source covering everything	Court filings, appellate opinions, employee injury logs, private claims, and selected published results cover different populations.
A shortcut	Don't multiply store counts by a national rate or present old insurance facts as current coverage.

Choose counsel through verified qualifications, a practical evidence plan, substantiated experience, written fees, and good communication.

Ask a lawyer	What a useful answer covers
How will you deal with Peterson?	A plan for proving how long the hazard was there [S6].
How will you identify control?	Which entity ran the store, the lot, or the equipment on that date.
How will you preserve video?	Specific camera views and a prompt written request.
How will you evaluate experts and prepare for motions and trial?	Who, why, and when.
What's the context for a result you cite?	The facts behind it, since a specific H-E-B verdict, or settlement claim needs separate reliable support.

Aaron Herbert is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization [S1]. That's a useful credential, not a guarantee, or a ranking, and missing records shouldn't delay an urgent preservation discussion.

To request an evaluation, bring	Example
Store address and incident date	The H-E-B on a named street, and the day, and time of the fall.
Your account of what happened	Where you were and what you stepped on or hit.
Photographs, witness details, and claim correspondence	Phone photos, names, and any letters from an adjuster.
Medical information	Where you were treated and what you were told.
Next step	Tell us about your H-E-B injury or call (214) 200-4878 to reach The Law Firm of Aaron A. Herbert, P.C. The right next step depends on your facts, deadlines, and an agreed representation.

37. Work through two hypothetical claim investigations

Two hypotheticals show why preservation and a disciplined theory can change how a claim is evaluated.

Hypothetical one: refrigerated case	What happened
3:35 p.m.	A witness texts a companion about water at that same refrigerated case and later says she told an employee (this fact surfaces only later in the investigation).
3:55 p.m.	An employee is in the department.
4:00 p.m.	The customer slips near the case and suffers a serious wrist fracture.
After the fall	A companion photographs water on the floor.
The week before	Service records show a different case elsewhere in the store needed repair.

At first, these facts identify an injury, and leads, but employee proximity and an unrelated service record may leave the central question of time unresolved [S6, S8].

First preservation request asks for	Matching investigation question
The exact case, floor area, and camera views	Whether anyone saw the water earlier.
The incident report	Whether a report was made.
Service history	Whether the equipment at that location was leaking.
Communications	Whether stocking or cleaning created the water.
What not to ask	Don't demand that the client give a spill time the client never saw; the job is finding evidence that answers the legal question.

The 3:35 text may materially change the actual or constructive notice analysis, but it still needs work.

With the new witness evidence	Next step
The original message	Preserve it in its original form.
The witness's basis for time and place	Identify how she knows it was that case at that time.
The employee she told	Interview through appropriate channels.
The video and records	Compare them with her account.
Proof still required	Authentication, a credibility assessment, and a causal link to the condition the customer encountered.

The damages work runs alongside the liability work.

Damages task	Caution
Records on the fracture, treatment, prognosis, and work restrictions	Gather them, plus future needs if supported.
A surgery recommendation	It doesn't automatically make all claimed future expenses recoverable.
Prior wrist problems and later events	Evaluate them candidly.
Liability versus damages	A stronger liability record helps negotiation, but the medical and economic proof decides which losses can reasonably be sought.

Hypothetical two: parking entrance	What is known
The fall	A customer trips near an H-E-B parking entrance and remembers the right foot catching.
The photographs	A wheel stop, cracked pavement, and a dark area.
The open question	The customer can't yet say which feature was contacted.
A bystander	Recalls a delivery cart crossing the route.
The trap	Naming the store, landlord, driver, and every maintenance vendor right away wouldn't answer whether a fixed condition, active movement, or something else caused the fall.

Preserve the route and footage first, then get control documents and maintenance history once the location is fixed.

If the evidence shows	Where the inquiry goes
A broken wheel-stop anchor catching the shoe	A focused premises and notice inquiry [S9].
A worker actively pushing a cart into the customer	The activity and employment inquiries may become central [S9, S13].
A contractor repaired the area	Get scope, dates, and photographs; a recent paving invoice may cover an unrelated aisle.
The landlord kept parking maintenance	Check whether the grocery operator still had relevant control or conduct.
The pleadings	They follow the evidence, not the first assumption, and may support one defendant, several, or no viable property claim [S9, S13].

Neither example supplies a settlement number.

Still case-specific in both	Why
Legal and factual uncertainty, medical harm, and fault	They decide liability and value.
Insurance, collection, and costs	They decide what can be recovered.
The lesson	A convincing claim comes from resolving the disputed links, not from assigning an ambitious value before anyone knows what caused the injury.

38. Audit the case before a major decision

Before a final demand, a new filing, mediation, or announcing ready for trial, review the file element by element.

Issue	Useful supporting proof	Question to resolve
Control	Lease terms and actual maintenance practices	Which entity controlled this location on this date.
Notice	A prior report or reliable duration evidence	Whether the proof concerns this specific condition.
Mechanism	Original video, photographs, and witness accounts	What caused the contact or loss of balance.
Medical harm	Relevant records and qualified opinions	Which injuries and future needs are causally supported.
Recovery	Policies, collection analysis, and an expense estimate	What the client could receive after obligations.

A short written audit can show that extensive discovery produced many pages without answering the question a motion will raise.

Provenance check	Possible fix
A helpful photo with no known date	A witness who can date it.
A maintenance entry	An explanation of the location code.
A medical opinion	A complete history behind it.
An expert's method	A clarification before the decision point, not during cross-examination.

Then check client understanding and the calendar.

Has the client been told	Done?
The principal defense	Yes or no.
The remaining expense and the gap between gross and net	Yes or no.
What accepting the release would end	Yes or no.
Every material offer, with a reasoned recommendation	Yes or no.
Filing, service, expert, and motion deadlines checked	Yes or no.

Finally, separate confidence from evidence.

These can all be true at once	What the audit does with it
Counsel believes a witness	Still needs admissible support for the specific element.
The injury is devastating	Liability can still be contested.
The retailer has a strong public reputation	Particular negligent conduct may still be provable.
All of the above	The audit lets them coexist, which supports credible negotiation and a trial focused on the actual claim.

39. Compare settlement options with an illustrative accounting

A hypothetical accounting shows why the gross amount alone tells an incomplete story.

Hypothetical line item	Amount
Offer	$100,000.
Attorney's fee under a hypothetical written fee agreement	$33,333.
Expenses	$8,000.
Medical or reimbursement obligations	$18,000.
Remaining before any other adjustment	$40,667 ($100,000 minus $33,333, $8,000 and $18,000).

These figures are invented teaching inputs, not a typical H-E-B settlement, the firm's fee quote, or a prediction of net recovery.

Before comparing offers, ask	Why
Which contract terms apply?	The actual engagement may calculate fees and expenses differently.
Which amounts are confirmed and which are estimates?	Obligations can change after review or negotiation.
What would a higher future offer cost to reach?	Added litigation expense or changed obligations can offset part of the increase; that doesn't make litigation unwise, it means the comparison needs a full accounting.

Weigh uncertainty along with the arithmetic.

Situation	Honest framing
A larger possible verdict	It may carry a real risk of no recovery if notice or causation is disputed.
A supported claim with strong proof	It may justify rejecting an inadequate offer.
The decision	The lawyer explains the evidence and remaining risk; the client decides with appropriate advice.
Probabilities	Don't assign a precise percentage just to make a spreadsheet look scientific.

Timing and release terms belong in the same comparison.

Timing or term	Consideration
Continued treatment	May clarify prognosis, while waiting may add costs or strain.
Trial and appeal	Can delay payment.
Structured arrangement, minor settlement, or unresolved lien	Each raises its own issues; discuss them before signing.
Global release versus coordinated partial settlement	They can end very different sets of persons and claims.
Indemnity, reimbursement, confidentiality, and payment conditions	The accounting and the release should tell the same story about the resolution, whether it comes before filing, at mediation, during trial, or after judgment.

Frequently asked questions

Question	Short answer
Does a fall at H-E-B mean H-E-B must pay?	No. A claim generally needs proof of knowledge of the condition, unreasonable risk, a failure of reasonable care, and causation, and fault can be shared under Chapter 33 [S9, S16].
Do I need video?	Video helps, but it isn't the only proof. In Peterson, the shopper needed some evidence of how long the puddle had been there, and witnesses, messages, and records can supply that too [S6].
How long do I have to sue?	Generally two years for personal injury in Texas, with exceptions, so check the deadline early [S14].
What changed in Rule 166a in 2026?	For summary judgment motions filed on or after March 1, 2026, a response is generally due 21 days after the motion is filed, unless leave is granted, or the parties agree [S15].
Is there an average H-E-B settlement?	No reliable statewide injury count, settlement average, or policy limit was found, and any number depends on the specific evidence.
Why talk with Aaron Herbert?	Aaron Herbert is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization [S1]. Certification isn't a guarantee of any result.

Talk to a lawyer about an H-E-B injury

Tell us about your H-E-B injury or call (214) 200-4878.

What to bring	Why it helps
The store address and incident date	They identify the location, the camera views, and the deadline.
Your injury details	Where you were treated and what you were told.
Photos	The floor, the display, or the parking area as it looked that day.
Names of witnesses	A companion, another shopper, or the employee you told.

Sources

Source	What it supports
[S1] State Bar of Texas, Aaron Alan Herbert profile (Bar 24036761), checked Oct. 31, 2026	Licensure and board certification.
[S2] H-E-B Newsroom release, Oct. 28, 2026	The company's own description of its stores in Texas and Mexico.
[S4] H-E-B official store locator	Verifying an individual store address and banner.
[S5] H.E. Butt Grocery Co. v. National Union Fire Ins. Co., 150 F.3d 526 (5th Cir. 1998)	A historical retention and occurrence dispute over 1994 events.
[S6] H-E-B, LP v. Peterson, No. 24-0310 (Tex. Apr. 10, 2026)	Constructive notice needs some evidence of how long the condition existed.
[S7] H.E. Butt Grocery Co. v. Resendez, 988 S.W.2d 218 (Tex. 1999)	A shopper fell near two grape displays, one with loose grapes for sampling; a sampling display alone isn't evidence of an unreasonable risk of harm.
[S8] Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Reece, 81 S.W.3d 812 (Tex. 2002)	Employee proximity alone isn't constructive notice; the time-notice rule.
[S9] Keetch v. Kroger Co., 845 S.W.2d 262 (Tex. 1992)	Premises liability elements and the condition-versus-activity distinction.
[S10] Brookshire Grocery Co. v. Taylor, 222 S.W.3d 406 (Tex. 2006)	A premises claim needs the condition that caused the fall.
[S11] Austin v. Kroger Texas, L.P., 465 S.W.3d 193 (Tex. 2015)	Known and obvious conditions and their exceptions.
[S12] Brookshire Bros., Ltd. v. Aldridge, 438 S.W.3d 9 (Tex. 2014)	Preservation, spoliation, and proportionate remedies.
[S13] United Scaffolding, Inc. v. Levine, 537 S.W.3d 463 (Tex. 2017)	Premises conditions versus negligent activity.
[S14] Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 16	Limitations and construction and design repose.
[S15] Supreme Court of Texas Misc. Docket No. 26-9012 (Rule 166a amendments, eff. Mar. 1, 2026)	The current summary judgment response deadline.
[S16] Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 33	Proportionate responsibility, settlements, and joint liability.
[S17] Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 41	Paid or incurred medical expenses and exemplary damages.
[S18] Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 18.001	Expense affidavits.
[S19] Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, official compilation current Oct. 1, 2026	Procedure for discovery, experts, evidence, and the charge.
[S20] Texas Department of Insurance, commercial general liability insurance	How commercial liability coverage works.
[S21] Texas Department of Insurance, automobile insurance guide	How auto coverage works.
[S22] Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 150	Certificate of merit for covered professional claims.
[S24] UDR Texas Properties, L.P. v. Petrie, 517 S.W.3d 98 (Tex. 2017)	Unreasonable and foreseeable risk of third-party crime.
[S25] Strakos v. Gehring, 360 S.W.2d 787 (Tex. 1962)	Contractor liability after completed work.