Texas Personal Injury Lawyer
A personal injury claim asks one question: who is responsible for what this injury cost you. This page explains how Texas answers it, what the law allows you to recover, and the deadlines that end a claim whether or not anyone told you about them.
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What you must prove in a Texas injury claim
Texas requires an injured person to prove four elements. A defendant owed a duty of care. The defendant breached that duty. The breach caused the injury. The injury produced damages. Insurers contest the third and fourth elements most often, and they do it by arguing that a pre existing condition explains the symptoms, or that a gap in treatment shows the injury was minor.
How Texas divides fault between the parties
Texas applies proportionate responsibility under section 33.001 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. A jury assigns each party a percentage of responsibility. An injured person who is 50 percent or less responsible recovers damages reduced by their percentage. An injured person who is 51 percent or more responsible recovers nothing. This rule is why an adjuster presses for a recorded statement early, and why an offhand apology at the scene becomes an argument later.
What Texas law lets you recover
| Category | Covers | Proved with |
|---|---|---|
| Medical expenses | Treatment already received and care still needed | Billing records, treating physician testimony, life care plan |
| Lost earnings | Wages lost during recovery | Payroll records, employer statement |
| Lost earning capacity | Reduced ability to earn in future | Vocational and economic expert testimony |
| Physical pain | Pain endured and reasonably expected | Medical records, testimony |
| Mental anguish | Emotional harm beyond ordinary upset | Testimony, treatment records |
| Physical impairment | Loss of the ability to do things you did before | Testimony, functional assessment |
| Disfigurement | Scarring and visible change | Photographs, medical testimony |
| Exemplary damages | Gross negligence or malice | Clear and convincing evidence, capped by section 41.008 |
How long you have to file
Section 16.003 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code sets a two year limitations period for personal injury and for wrongful death, running from the date of injury or the date of death. Two exceptions matter in practice. A claim against a governmental unit, such as a city bus or a county vehicle, can require written notice within months, and some city charters shorten that further. A claim on behalf of a minor may run differently. Treat two years as the outer limit rather than the plan.
What the insurance company is doing while you recover
The adjuster opens a file, assigns a reserve, and starts building a record. The adjuster requests a recorded statement, asks for a broad medical authorization that reaches back years, and watches for treatment gaps. None of that is improper. It is simply the other side working on the case while the injured person is in physical therapy. A lawyer's first job is to close those openings before they become arguments.
Texas injury law explained
Texas Injury Statute of Limitations
Texas gives you two years to file, and the deadline is close to absolute.
ReadHow Long Does an Injury Case Take?
The honest answer is that the medicine sets the pace, not the lawyers.
ReadTexas Comparative Negligence Explained
Texas divides fault by percentage. Stay at 50 percent or below and you recover, reduced by your share. Reach 51 and you recover nothing at all.
ReadTexas Dram Shop Law
Texas allows a claim against a licensed provider that served someone who was already obviously drunk.
Read
How injury claims work
Insurance
Almost every injury recovery comes from an insurance policy, and the insurer is not on your side.
Read sectionDamages
What is recoverable, and what actually determines the figure.
Read sectionThe Process
How a claim actually moves, from filing through discovery and mediation to the rare trial.
Read sectionInjury Types
How specific injuries are proved and valued, with the medical facts kept in service of the claim.
Read section
Practice areas
Car Accidents
A car accident claim in Texas turns on two questions: who was responsible, and what did the collision actually cost you.
Learn moreTruck Accidents
A collision with an 18 wheeler is not a bigger car accident.
Learn moreMotorcycle Accidents
Motorcycle claims are decided twice: once on the facts, and once against the assumption that the rider must have been speeding.
Learn moreTraumatic Brain Injuries
A traumatic brain injury is the injury most often missed at the emergency room and most often disputed afterwards.
Learn moreWrongful Death
Texas gives specific family members the right to bring a wrongful death claim...
Learn moreBicycle Accidents
Under Texas law a person on a bicycle has the rights and duties of a driver.
Learn morePedestrian Accidents
A pedestrian struck by a vehicle has no protection at all, so the injuries are severe...
Learn moreRideshare Accidents
After an Uber or Lyft collision the first question is not who was at fault.
Learn moreDog Bites
Texas has no statute making a dog owner automatically responsible for a bite.
Learn moreBurn Injuries
Burn injuries are measured by depth and by how much of the body is affected, and both...
Learn morePremises Liability
A property owner is not automatically responsible when someone is hurt on their land.
Learn moreBus Accidents
Bus cases divide sharply depending on who operated the bus. A private charter operator is sued like any other company.
Learn moreConstruction Accidents
Texas is the only state that does not require private employers to carry workers compensation.
Learn moreBoat Accidents
Boating collisions on Lake Travis and the Highland Lakes are investigated differently...
Learn moreGas Explosions
A gas explosion destroys the evidence of its own cause.
Learn more
Frequently asked questions
A personal injury claim exists when one party owed you a duty of care, breached that duty, and caused you a measurable harm. A driver who runs a red light breaches the duty owed to everyone else on the road. A property owner who ignores a known hazard breaches the duty owed to visitors. The breach alone is not enough. The claim also requires proof that the breach caused the injury and that the injury cost you something.
Texas allows recovery of economic damages, which include medical bills, future medical care, lost wages and lost earning capacity, and non economic damages, which include physical pain, mental anguish, physical impairment and disfigurement. A jury may award exemplary damages where the defendant's conduct was grossly negligent, such as a drunk driving collision, and Texas caps those separately under section 41.008.
The honest answer is that it depends on the medical treatment more than the legal work. A claim should not settle until the treating doctors know whether the injury is permanent, because a settlement closes the claim for good. Straightforward claims can resolve within months of the end of treatment. A case that is filed and litigated can run considerably longer.
No lawyer can price a case honestly at the first phone call, and any figure quoted before the medical picture is clear is a guess. Value depends on the severity and permanence of the injury, the total medical bills, lost income, the strength of the liability evidence, and the insurance coverage available. Coverage is often the real ceiling, because a policy limit caps what an insurer will pay regardless of how strong the claim is.
Most personal injury claims resolve without a trial, through negotiation or mediation. Filing suit is a step in the process rather than a guarantee of trial, and it is often what moves an insurer that has refused to make a fair offer. The firm prepares a case as though it will be tried, because a case that is ready for trial settles on better terms.
Find out where you actually stand
A free consultation with The Valentine Law Firm covers what your claim requires, what the deadline is, and what the insurance coverage allows.
Contingency fee. You pay nothing unless we win.