Personal Injury

What to do in the first days

What you do soon after an injury can protect both your health and your claim.

• Get medical care, and keep going. See a doctor even if you feel all right. Some injuries show up days later. Follow the treatment plan and keep every appointment.
• Report what happened. Call the police after a wreck. Tell your employer, in writing if you can, after a work injury. Ask the store or property manager to write up a fall.
• Take photos and get names. Photograph the scene, the vehicles or the hazard, and your injuries. Write down names and numbers for the other people involved and any witnesses.
• Keep records. Save medical bills, receipts, pay stubs that show missed work, and letters from insurance companies. A short daily note about your pain and what you cannot do helps too.
• Be careful with insurance companies. The other side’s adjuster works for the insurance company, not for you. Before you give a recorded statement, sign a medical release or accept a check, talk with a lawyer.
• Stay off social media about it. Photos and posts can be used to argue you are not really hurt.

Deadlines that can end a claim

In Texas, most personal injury lawsuits must be filed within two years after the day the claim arises (Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.003). If you wait too long, you can lose the right to recover anything, no matter how strong your case is.

When the injured person was under 18 at the time, the law generally does not count the time before they turn 18 (section 16.001). Other rules can shorten or extend a deadline, so do not guess. Ask.

Car, truck and motorcycle wrecks

We help people hurt in wrecks on Lubbock streets, interstates and the farm roads of the South Plains: cars and pickups, 18-wheelers and oilfield trucks, motorcycles, cotton trailers and farm equipment, and crashes involving people on bicycles or on foot.

Where the money can come from

Texas requires drivers to carry liability insurance of at least $30,000 for one person’s injuries, $60,000 per crash for injuries to two or more people, and $25,000 for property damage (Transportation Code section 601.072). A serious injury can cost far more than that.

Your own policy may help. Texas auto policies must include personal injury protection (PIP) and uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage unless the named insured rejected them in writing (Insurance Code section 1952.152 and section 1952.101). PIP pays reasonable medical expenses and lost income from an accident, incurred within three years, up to its limit (section 1952.151). Find your declarations page and bring it when we meet.

If you were partly at fault

Texas shares fault. If you are found partly responsible, your damages are reduced by your percentage, so 20 percent at fault means 20 percent less (section 33.012). If you are found more than 50 percent responsible, you cannot recover damages (section 33.001). Insurance adjusters know this, which is one reason they often argue about who caused a wreck.

Oilfield, construction and workplace injuries

Oilfield sites, construction jobs, farms and plants are hard, dangerous work. When you are hurt on the job, your options depend first on one question: does your employer carry workers’ compensation insurance?

Most private Texas employers can choose whether to carry it (Labor Code section 406.002). Your employer must tell new employees whether it has coverage and post a notice at work (section 406.005).

If your employer has workers’ comp

Workers’ compensation benefits are generally your only remedy against the employer and its employees (section 408.001). But another company may also be responsible, such as a contractor on the same site, the maker of a faulty machine, or a driver who hit you while you were working. That can be a separate claim, and we look for it.

If your employer does not carry workers’ comp

Employers without coverage are often called nonsubscribers. You can sue a nonsubscribing employer for negligence, and you must prove the employer or someone acting for it was negligent. The employer cannot defend by saying you were careless too, that you accepted the risk, or that a coworker caused it (section 406.033).

Be careful with paperwork after the injury. Under the same section, a waiver you signed before you were hurt is void, and a waiver signed afterward counts only if strict conditions are met. Show us anything you are asked to sign.

Wrongful death

Losing someone because of another person’s carelessness is devastating. No lawsuit can make up for it. A claim can hold the responsible people to account and help a family cope with lost income and support.

Texas allows a wrongful death claim when a death is caused by someone’s wrongful act, neglect, carelessness or default (Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 71.002). The claim is for the surviving spouse, children and parents of the person who died, and one or more of them may bring it for all of them. If none of them files within three months after the death, the executor or administrator of the estate brings it unless all of them ask that it not be brought (section 71.004).

The injured person’s own claim also survives their death and passes to their heirs, legal representatives and estate (section 71.021). Both kinds of claim generally must be filed within two years after the death (section 16.003(b)).

When a worker dies on the job and the employer carried workers’ comp, the surviving spouse or the worker’s children and other descendants may still be able to seek exemplary damages if the death was caused by the employer’s gross negligence or an intentional act (Labor Code section 408.001(b)).

Falls and injuries on someone else’s property

People are hurt every day by wet floors, broken stairs, poor lighting, falling merchandise and unsafe conditions at stores, apartments, job sites and parking lots. Whether the owner is responsible depends on the facts, such as why you were there and what the owner knew or should have known about the danger.

• Tell the manager or owner, and ask for a copy of any incident report.
• Photograph the hazard before it is cleaned up or fixed, and keep the shoes and clothes you were wearing.
• Get the names of witnesses and employees who saw it or came to help.
• Ask whether there are security cameras, and tell us quickly. Video can be recorded over.

If the property belongs to a city, county or the state, the Texas Tort Claims Act sets the rules, including limits on when and how much a government body can be held liable (section 101.021 and section 101.023), and the six-month notice deadline above applies.

Defective products

A tire that fails, an airbag that does not deploy, a tool or machine without a proper guard, or oilfield equipment that breaks under normal use can cause serious harm. The maker or seller of a dangerous product may be responsible.

Texas has an outer limit for these claims. A products liability suit against a manufacturer or seller generally must be brought within 15 years after the product was sold, with some exceptions, on top of the usual two-year deadline (section 16.012).

Keep the product. Do not repair it, return it or throw it away. Keep the packaging, the manual and the receipt if you have them. The product itself is often the most important evidence.

Dog bites and animal attacks

Dog bites and other animal attacks can leave deep wounds, scars and lasting fear, especially for children. Get medical care first. A doctor can treat the wound and decide whether you need care to prevent rabies or infection.

Texas law requires anyone who knows of an animal bite or scratch that could carry rabies to report it to the local rabies control authority (Health and Safety Code section 826.041). Making that report also creates a record of what happened.

• Find out who owns the animal and where it lives.
• Photograph the wounds as they heal, and the place where the attack happened.
• Write down the names of witnesses and of anyone who knew the animal had been aggressive before.

Every attack is different. We look at what the owner knew about the animal, how it was kept and where the attack happened, and tell you whether you have a claim.

How we help with an injury claim

A claim can include medical bills and future care, lost wages and lost earning ability, and harms that do not come with a receipt, such as physical pain, mental anguish, disfigurement and physical impairment (section 41.001). Getting those losses recognized takes evidence.

• We listen to what happened and tell you plainly whether we think you have a claim.
• We gather the evidence: crash and incident reports, photos, witness statements, medical records and bills, and proof of lost pay.
• We deal with the insurance companies, so the calls and letters come to us.
• We work to settle the claim fairly. If it does not settle, we can file suit before the deadline and prepare for trial.

Before founding our firm, Aaron Carter worked as a claims manager for a local personal injury lawyer, so he has seen how injury claims are built and valued. Every case is different, and we cannot promise a result. We can promise to tell you the truth about yours.