Summary Judgment Obtained in Houston Nightclub Shooting Case

Hartline Barger was successful on a summary judgment while defending a commercial landlord in a premises liability case brought by a man who was shot while visiting the landlord’s property.

The case arose from a July 2018 shooting at a Houston nightclub. The plaintiff was a patron at the club when he was shot in the abdomen by an unknown person. He filed suit against the landlord in October 2018, seeking over $1 million in damages.

Hartline Barger LLP responded with a summary judgment motion, arguing that under Texas law, a landlord is not liable for injuries suffered by invitees of its tenants, and that none of the narrow exceptions to the general no-duty rule, such as injury sustained in an area still under the landlord’s control, applied.

On June 30, 2020, Harris County District Judge Rabeea Collier granted the motion for summary judgment and dismissed the plaintiff’s claims entirely with prejudice.

CAUSE/CASE NO: 2018-72545

Judge: Rabeea Collier