Texas Personal Injury Lawyer

A personal injury lawsuit is intended to compensate an individual for physical or emotional harm inflicted upon them by another party. It does not cover personal property that may have been damaged as a result of the incident in question. These suits may be brought against another individual, a business, or the government.

Basis of Personal Injury Cases

In a personal injury case, the plaintiff is expected to prove that the defendant acted in an inappropriate manner, or failed to take appropriate action. The defendant can be found to be at fault if their behavior falls into one of the following categories:

• Negligence – To prove negligence, it needs to be shown that the defendant behaved in a manner that substantially contributed to the cause of the incident leading to the plaintiff’s injury. Negligence does not mean that the defendant acted (or failed to act) with the intent of causing harm to another party. It means only that they failed to behave in a responsible manner. A person who drives their automobile at excessive speed can be held to have been negligent if they cause a car accident, even though they did not mean to cause such an accident.
• Intentional harm – Personal injury suits can also be brought against an individual who assaults another person. In these cases, the defendant is frequently subject to criminal charges as well.
• Strict liability – This is a common element of personal injury cases dealing with defective products. Here, the plaintiff has to show that the defendant—the company that manufactured the product—failed to create a safe product. “Strict liability” means that the manufacturer need not be shown to have acted irresponsibly—the only relevant question is the design and functionality of the product involved in causing harm.

Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Cases

In the state of Texas, you have two years from the date you experienced the injury to file a personal injury lawsuit. More information can be found in the relevant section (Title 2, Section 16.003) of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. If you fail to file within this time period, you may forever lose the right to pursue a legal claim against the party responsible for your personal injury.

Limitations on Damages Awarded by the Court

In the state of Texas, there are generally no caps on the amount of damages that can be awarded to a plaintiff in a personal injury case. However, medical malpractice cases are an exception to this rule. In most of these cases, the state places a cap of $250,000 on “noneconomic” damages awarded to an individual who has been victimized by medical malpractice. For a more detailed explanation, please read Title 4, Section 74.301 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code.