When you get hurt in an accident, and it leaves you with medical expenses, lost earnings, and pain and suffering, you deserve compensation. Our attorneys help victims of all kinds of injuries get that compensation through lawsuits and insurance claims against the at-fault parties.
Whether your case involves suing a property owner, a local business, or even a multinational corporation, our lawyers are prepared to help. We can negotiate with insurance companies to try to get you the damages you deserve, and if that ends with low offers, we can take the case to trial.
For your free case review, call Cap City Injury Attorneys at (512) 612-3110 today.
What Do I Need for a Personal Injury Case?
To have a personal injury case, you need to show that a defendant breached a legal duty they owed you, and that that resulted in damages. But you also need the evidence to prove it. In simpler terms, you need these three parts:
An Injury
Personal injury lawsuits are based on actual physical or mental injuries, not just near-misses or property damage alone. Any time an injury was serious enough to lay you up in the hospital or keep you from working, you definitely have the makings of a personal injury case.
A Defendant Who Was Responsible
You also need someone else to blame for the accident. If it was all your fault, then there might be nothing you can do to hold someone else accountable; if it was largely someone else’s fault, you can sue them.
The responsible party can be an individual, a company, a manufacturer, a property owner, etc. There are all sorts of potential parties you can hold responsible for your injuries, based both on their actions and inactions.
Evidence
Courts and insurance companies will not just take you at your word, though your own testimony is an important part of any injury claim. Instead, you need extra proof, such as the following:
- Medical records showing your injuries and their severity
- Medical reports detailing the effect your injuries have on your ability to work, your daily activities, and more
- Bills and receipts showing the cost of treatment and other expenses related to the accident
- Pay stubs and financial records showing your lost income
- Testimony from eyewitnesses corroborating your story
- Expert testimony explaining any scientific or technical issues in the case
- Photos and video of the accident scene and damage, or of the accident actually happening
- Any other relevant info or items that we can use to prove what happened and who was responsible.
What Can a Lawyer Do to Help Me?
If you can just file your claim through insurance, it might not be obvious what you need a personal injury lawyer for. Our attorneys can help with all of the following:
Advise on Your Case
We can handle the strategy in how to pursue your case, help you understand what your damages are worth, and tell you what your options are. Without a lawyer, you might not even know where to begin in demanding damages or filing an injury lawsuit.
Help Collect Evidence
We can advise you as to what evidence might be out there, and work to find as much as possible. We can also do things like send preservation letters to security camera owners and other parties in possession of records and evidence, requesting that they save it for trial.
Negotiate for Damages
Most cases settle, and part of our job is making sure you do not settle for too low of a value. We can go back and forth with defendants, insurance companies, and their lawyers to try to come to an arrangement that covers your damages in full.
Take the Case to Trial
If we cannot get a fair settlement, we can go to trial. There, the case is in the judge and jury’s hands, and you need an advocate who can put on your case in open court. We have experienced trial attorneys who can present your case, challenge the defendant’s witnesses and evidence, and seek a fair verdict at trial.
What Damages Are Available?
Damages that compensate you for the injury – known as “compensatory damages” – fall into two categories: economic and non-economic damages. However, you may also get “punitive” or “exemplary” damages to punish the defendant.
Economic Damages
Injuries are expensive, and the economic damages in your case cover a wide range of monetary harms you face because of an injury:
- Emergency medical care
- Medical imaging and testing
- Ongoing medical treatment
- Physical therapy and rehabilitation
- Mental health therapy
- Adaptations at home
- Expenses for transportation, childcare, household care, and other services you cannot do for yourself while injured
- Property damage you suffered in the accident (auto repairs, damaged clothing, etc.).
We calculate these damages from bills, receipts, and other financial records.
Non-Economic Damages
On top of those costs, there are harms that flow naturally from any injury case. These have no monetary value, so we call them non-economic damages, but you can still recover money for them in an injury case:
- Pain
- Discomfort
- Mental suffering
- Emotional distress
- Disfigurement and scarring
- Lost ability.
We calculate these damages based on the severity of your accident, often applying accepted calculation methods.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are there to punish the defendant for what they did. They are also called “exemplary damages” because they make an example of the defendant and try to deter future similar actions from this and other defendants.
These are not available in every case. They are only allowed by law if you have “clear and convincing evidence” – which is a heightened standard. – of
- Fraud – actual lies or deceit
- Malice – an intent to cause harm or
- Gross negligence – the defendant proceeded anyway, despite a high risk of harm.
FAQs for Personal Injury Claims in Texas
Do I File an Insurance Claim or a Lawsuit?
Often, you file both. Injury cases typically start with an insurance claim, which is faster and simpler. However, when the insurance company is deciding the case, they will often decide in their best interests.
This means that you might need to turn to a lawsuit to press the insurance company into settling fairly, now that they know they might be forced to answer in court if they keep dragging the case out. You can still settle after you file your lawsuit, so there is often no harm in pursuing both tracks.
How Long Do I Have to File?
The statute of limitations for personal injury cases in Texas is 2 years. This means that you have 2 years from the date of the injury to file your claim in court, or else you are barred from recovery.
There may be exceptions, but they are rare, so always call a lawyer as soon as you can to make sure your case gets filed on time.
Do I Need to Be Totally Innocent?
Most accidents happen in confusing situations, and it is possible that some of the blame might end up falling on you. Texas’ “proportionate responsibility” or “comparative fault” law does not require victims to be 100% innocent; you can still recover damages as long as your share of the fault is 50% max.
What Constitutes Negligence?
As mentioned, a personal injury case must be based on a claim that the defendant breached a legal duty that they owed you, and that resulted in actual injuries and damages. These are the foundational elements of a “negligence” claim.
You can sue for injuries caused by intentional acts instead of negligence – such as assault and battery – but most accidental injury claims involve negligence.
What is the Burden of Proof?
In an injury case, the victim has the “burden of proof and production.” This means that they are the one who needs to prove the case and supply the evidence; the defense does not typically have to prove anything.
To meet this burden, we have to show that your claim is true “by a preponderance of the evidence,” which just means that it is more likely than not. This is far lower than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard in criminal cases, which is why personal injury cases for the same conduct can often succeed where criminal charges fail.
Who is the Plaintiff and Who is the Defendant?
The plaintiff is the party who files an injury case. That’s typically the victim, though someone else might file on their behalf if the victim is underage or passed away from their injuries (i.e., in a wrongful death case).
The defendant is the at-fault party. They are the one we are seeking damages from, though their insurance might pay in their place.
What if the Defendant Doesn’t Have Insurance?
All drivers must have insurance, and most homeowners, commercial property owners, and business operators have some level of insurance. However, if the party that harmed you does not have insurance, we can still sue them directly.
Some defendants – especially big companies – can still pay your damages out of pocket. However, everyday people with no insurance might be “judgment-proof,” and you might need to find alternative routes to payment (e.g., other insurance, your own car insurance, etc.).
Whose Insurance Covers an Accident?
In car insurance cases, Texas is an “at-fault” state. This means that you file a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance. However, you might still have optional coverages on your policy to help with repairs, medical bills, and more, so check with your lawyer.
In other situations, you also typically file against the defendant’s insurance.
How is Fault Determined?
In an insurance claim, the insurance company decides who is at fault. When the case goes before a jury, the jury determines fault.
This means that they assign a percentage of fault to all at-fault parties – which can include multiple defendants and even, potentially, a portion of the blame for the victim. Then, each defendant pays that share of the damages.
Who Decides Damages?
First, we do. Our personal injury lawyers can help you understand what your case is worth, then present that value in our claims against the insurance companies and in lawsuits.
From there, the insurance company will make its own evaluation, and a settlement will often come somewhere in the middle after the parties go back and forth. In a lawsuit, however, the jury does its own calculations and may choose either of the proposed values or a number above or below your demanded value.
If the case is a “bench trial” with no jury, then the judge takes on the jury’s role.
Do I Have to Go to Trial?
The vast majority of cases settle before ever getting to trial. This might mean the jury is already selected or the case is already filed in court, but you can still settle at that stage.
However, cases can settle even before your lawsuit is filed, often through rigorous negotiations with the insurance companies and defendants.
How Long Does an Injury Case Take?
Personal injury cases can vary greatly. Some settle quite quickly after we confront the defendant with our demands, while others can take years.
Most cases, if they settle without trial, end within 8-12 months, while cases that go to trial can often take 1-2 years.
Do I Have to Pay for My Own Lawyer?
Most injury cases work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay your lawyer out of your winnings. This typically means no up-front costs, and your lawyer will not get paid at all unless they win your case for you. It also means you can afford the legal costs, since they are typically a percentage of the winnings.
How Do I Know if I Have a Case?
Our lawyers offer free case reviews to help you determine
- Whether you have a case
- How strong it might be
- What kinds of damages you can claim
- What your next steps should be.
We may also be able to answer other questions while we assess your case.
Call Our Personal Injury Lawyers in Texas Today
To get started with a free case review, call the personal injury lawyers at Cap City Injury Attorneys today at (512) 612-3110.