If you suffer a personal injury, be it physical or mental, it might be possible to sue for compensation.
The specifics of your injury determine whether legal recourse is available. If you are completely responsible for your injury, it is not possible to successfully sue. However, if another party bears any responsibility for your injury, you may be able to sue.
Lack Of Due Care
Negligence is a legal term that means the failure to provide others with due care. Both people and institutions can be found negligent.
If you believe another person or institution played any part in your personal injury, there’s a good chance our attorneys can prove their negligence and help you obtain compensation for your injury. Such compensation is a legal remedy referred to as “damages.”
Damages
Damages include compensation as well as the actual loss itself. As an example, medical bills stemming from your injury qualify as damages.
Texas law recognizes damages in two forms: economic and noneconomic. Attorneys typically refer to damages as general and special. General damages are intrinsically linked to the lawsuit while attorneys must specifically plead for special damages.
As an example, an attorney does not have to argue for pain and suffering damages, yet he must plead for lost earnings stemming from the injury.
Time Is Of The Essence
Texas personal injury lawsuits have time limits. It is not possible to file a lawsuit after a certain amount of time passes following your injury.
The specific deadlines differ based on the type of case. In Texas, one must file a lawsuit in state civil court within two years from the date of his injury. If this statute of limitations expires, the chances of the Texas civil court system hearing your case are minimal.
Failure to file a lawsuit for a personal injury before the expiration of the statute of limitations precludes you from obtaining compensation for that injury.
Shared Fault Rules
Certain Texas personal injury cases are complicated by shared fault rules. If your attorney files a claim against a business or person for a personal injury, that party can claim you are to blame (partially or fully) for the incident that caused your injury. If the court determines you share a degree of liability, it can alter the amount of compensation you are eligible to receive from at-fault parties.
Texas has a modified comparative negligence rule in shared fault injury cases. This means the amount of compensation one is entitled to is decreased by an amount equal to his percentage of fault.
However, if it is determined you are responsible for more than half of the legal blame, you are ineligible to collect compensation in any form from other parties deemed to be at-fault.
Compensation
Compensation for personal injuries is available for lost wages and medical expenses causally related to the injury. Compensation can also be obtained for pain, suffering and emotional distress. There is no cap on injury damages unless it is a medical malpractice case.
Stockard, Johnston, Brown, Netardus & Doyle, P.C. Will Help You Get The Compensation You Deserve
If you live in or near Amarillo and have endured any sort of injury, don’t blame yourself. If you are even slightly suspicious another person or institution’s lack of due care played any role in your injury, reach out to our personal injuries for a case review.
We’ll take a close look at the details of your injury to determine if you can sue. Schedule a free consultation today.