Personal Injury FAQ

A personal injury is a serious, harmful act against a person that results from someone else's negligence. Personal injuries can be caused by any number of incidents, including car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, dog bites, and slip and fall accidents.

Personal injury claims are often long and complicated, and insurance companies will protect their own interests at the expense of the injury victim. While you can always file a claim yourself, it may not be in your best interest — insurers have a wealth of resources and professional experience that they will use to deny or reduce your claim.

Hiring an attorney gives you peace of mind when going up against a large carrier. The attorney serves as your advocate, and because they know the laws and procedures, they have the experience needed to help get you the best offer possible.

The best way to find out is to ask someone who handles these cases every day. If you believe you have been injured as a result of someone else's negligence, call 1-800-LAWBOSS for a free consultation. Our team can evaluate your case and tell you whether you should pursue a claim.

There are no upfront costs when you sign on with LAWBOSS. We take cases on a contingency fee basis, which means we only apply a percentage fee when a settlement is reached or money is awarded to you. If you do not get a settlement or award, you do not pay a fee.

It is impossible to put an exact dollar amount on a case up front, regardless of what any other lawyer or law firm might tell you.

We investigate the extent of your injuries, your medical expenses, and your other damages in order to negotiate the best possible settlement. Every case is unique. To learn more about what you may be entitled to, call 1-800-LAWBOSS and speak with our team.

In most cases, two years from the date of the injury. Miss that deadline and the court will almost always dismiss the case regardless of how strong it was.

The exceptions cut both ways. The clock is paused for a child until their 18th birthday. But a claim against a city, county, or state agency requires written notice far sooner — six months under state law, and as little as 45 or 90 days under some city charters. Because the deadline depends on who is at fault, confirm it early rather than assuming you have two years.

You can still recover. Texas uses proportionate responsibility: as long as you are found 50% or less at fault, you collect damages reduced by your share of the blame. If a claim is valued at $100,000 and you are assigned 20% of the fault, you recover $80,000.

Cross 51% and you recover nothing, which is exactly why adjusters work so hard to pin blame on the injured person early. Fault is argued, not decided at the scene.

Not before you have spoken to an attorney. You are under no obligation to give a recorded statement to the other side's insurer, and that adjuster does not work for you.

These calls come early, often within a day or two, while you are still shaken and before the full extent of your injuries is known. An offhand "I'm doing okay" gets quoted back months later to reduce or deny your claim.

Because every case is unique, it is impossible to say in advance. The single biggest factor is your medical treatment: the length of a case largely depends on how long your injuries take to heal.

Settling before you have finished treating means valuing the claim without knowing what your recovery actually looks like — and a settlement cannot be reopened when the picture turns out worse than expected.

Insurance companies love to collect premiums, but they hate paying out on claims. When they do have to pay, they will try to pay as little as possible.

One of their strategies is to call people injured by the negligence, recklessness, or intentional actions of their insured immediately after an accident, offering a small amount of fast money. In some cases they will send out a check for a few hundred dollars, hoping the injured person deposits it without noticing they have waived their right to sue. Many victims do exactly that, settling an entire claim for very little.

Insurers know that some injuries take time to become more debilitating. Someone who feels fine after an accident may find themselves with a swollen knee or a sore back several days or a week later. Never settle your case until your injuries have been properly diagnosed and treated.

Other tactics include producing witnesses against you, baseless accusations of fraud, and similar scare tactics. That is why it is important to consult an attorney if you have been involved in any type of accident.

To increase your chances of success, it is important to get your case off to a good start. Whether you were involved in a car accident, a slip and fall, a dog bite, or another type of accident, take the following steps:

• Get medical attention. If you are seriously injured, call 911 for an ambulance. Some serious internal injuries have few symptoms but can be fatal without prompt treatment, so it is wise to be checked at an emergency room after any serious accident. Going to the ER from the scene also makes it easier to prove your injuries were caused by the accident. If you notice pain later that day or the next, go to an emergency room or urgent care. People are most comfortable with their regular doctor, but primary care usually lacks the trauma expertise and testing capacity for an accurate diagnosis. Wherever you are first treated, follow the instructions for follow-up testing and specialist referrals.
• Report the accident. If you called 911 for an ambulance, you have met the reporting requirement that applies to hit and run car accidents in Texas. It is a good idea to report all car accidents to the police, since the report is an important part of the evidence for your claim. Report it to your own insurer as well, but do not agree to a recorded statement until you have retained an attorney. For slip and falls, dog bites, and similar cases, the police are not usually involved — but filing a report with the manager when an accident happens at a business is helpful. Never speak to the other party's insurance company. If they contact you, tell them you are retaining an attorney.
• Call a reputable personal injury attorney. Get legal advice as soon as possible. Be aware that unscrupulous characters prey on accident victims with promises that are too good to be true, in order to sign them up with unethical attorneys and doctors. Never accept business cards from "good Samaritans" at the scene who promise quick money. You will recover far more working with an experienced, reputable firm.

If you or a family member has suffered severe or catastrophic injuries, it is important to hire a firm with the experience needed to get a favorable outcome. These are some examples of traumatic accident injuries:

• Traumatic brain injuries (TBI). The brain controls the entire body, so brain damage of any kind can profoundly affect mobility, communication, and other functions. A TBI is caused by a sudden blow to the head — a heavy-impact car accident, a fall from height, a swimming pool accident, or an object falling on the head. The most serious TBIs are caused by trauma that penetrates the brain.
• Spinal cord injuries (SCI). The spinal cord transmits the messages that control the body's function. When those connections are completely severed, permanent paralysis results from the point of severance down. A cord severed in the neck causes loss of all sensation from the neck down, a condition called quadriplegia; severed in the lower back, it causes paraplegia. Where the cord is damaged but still intact, some function is lost. All spinal cord injuries require extensive treatment and rehabilitation.
• Fractures. Broken bones are a common accident injury and vary greatly in severity. Small stable fractures that break cleanly can sometimes heal on their own. Compound fractures, where the bone pierces the skin, usually require surgical repair. Comminuted fractures, where the bone shatters into multiple pieces, can cause severe permanent damage and require lifelong surgeries and care.
• Burns. First-degree burns may require little more than cool water, but third- and fourth-degree burns can be devastating. Severe burns usually result from explosions in car accidents, construction accidents, and other incidents involving flammable materials, and can require extensive skin grafting while causing substantial disfigurement and loss of function.
• Other injuries commonly sustained by accident victims include internal bleeding, lacerations and puncture wounds, whiplash, sprains and strains, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

People injured in Texas by the negligent, reckless, or intentional act of another can collect both economic and non-economic damages from the responsible parties.

Economic damages are based on actual and projected expenses and losses across a victim's entire lifetime:

• Present and future medical expenses
• Present and future lost earnings
• Retraining costs
• Assistive devices and prosthetics
• Accommodations to a residence or vehicle

To get a favorable result, an attorney will often retain a vocational expert or an economist to prepare a report or testify at trial.

Non-economic damages are subjective, compensating victims for what they have endured:

• Pain
• Suffering
• Mental anguish
• Humiliation
• Loss of enjoyment of life

Texas does not cap non-economic damages in ordinary personal injury cases, which is what makes substantial recoveries possible in severe and catastrophic injury claims.

When you retain an attorney, they begin taking action on your case while you focus on treating your injuries. An investigation begins to collect the evidence showing how the accident happened, and all responsible parties are put on notice.

You receive assistance collecting disability benefits or other applicable insurance coverage that can help you financially until the case settles or a jury returns a verdict. In some cases, plaintiff funding is available if you are falling behind on your financial responsibilities.

When you have finished treating, or have reached a point where the permanence of your injuries is clear, negotiation begins. Your attorney collects all of your medical records and sends a demand package to the insurance company.

For larger cases with more serious injuries, the case will already be proceeding toward trial. For smaller cases it often makes more sense to negotiate before filing suit. Your attorney will advise you of any offer and either recommend accepting it or advise holding out for more — but it is always the client's decision whether to accept. If no acceptable offer comes, the case proceeds to trial, though most cases still settle before a jury returns a verdict, sometimes on the eve of trial.