Someone else may bear liability for your injury and the damages it has caused you. If that is the case, our attorneys can seek compensation from them by pursuing and resolving a personal injury lawsuit on your behalf.
If another party breached the duty of care they owed you and caused you injuries and damages, you can most likely file a compensation claim against them. We can check whether your case has all the mandatory elements of a personal injury lawsuit before filing. If your case succeeds, you may get compensation for all medical damages, lost wages, and any non-economic damages you incur. Most Texas personal injury lawsuits must be filed within 2 years of an accident, unless a specific tolling exception applies.
For help with your case from The Queenan Law Firm, call our personal injury lawyers at (817) 476-1797 to get a free case review.
When is Someone Else Liable for Your Personal Injury in Longview, TX?
If someone else was negligent and injured you, they may be legally liable for your resulting damages, such as medical bills, lost wages, and even non-economic damages.
They Owed You a Duty of Care
To determine whether someone else may be liable for your injuries, our personal injury lawyers can review the facts of the incident to confirm if the other party owed you a duty of care. Duties of care exist across many kinds of relationships. If someone owes you a duty of care, they have a legal obligation to act in a certain way and with your safety in mind. One of the most common examples of this is the duty that car drivers owe one another to heed all traffic laws and drive carefully.
Even if you are unsure whether a duty of care existed, you should see whether you might have a case.
They Breached Their Duty of Care
For another person to be liable for your injuries, they must have been negligent or reckless. Negligence and recklessness can occur when an individual breaches the duty of care that they owe someone else, whether through action or inaction. Not doing something that is within one’s duty of care can make another party just as liable for injuries as actively doing something that violates the duty of care if you suffer injuries.
The Breach in Duty Caused Your Injuries and Damages
To hold someone else accountable for your injuries and damages, we must show that you incurred them because of the defendant’s breach. Eyewitness testimony, surveillance footage, and accident reconstruction can help us establish causation in your lawsuit, so you can obtain the damages you seek and avoid covering accident-related expenses yourself.
What Damages Can Someone Else Be Liable for in a Personal Injury Case?
With our lawyers’ help, you may be able to hold a negligent party liable for substantial damages after suffering a personal injury in Longview.
Medical Damages
In your personal injury case, you can pursue compensation for medical damages. The negligent party may have to pay all medical expenses related to a specific injury, no matter how great they are or how long you need medical treatment.
For a better chance of a lawsuit covering all medical damages, seek medical treatment immediately after you are injured and try not to let any gaps form in your medical record as you recover. If you have to miss any doctor appointments, promptly reschedule them
Lost Wages
A liable party can also be made to pay you for the wages you have lost while healing from your injuries. Many injuries stop victims from working temporarily. If you have no income coming in because you are injured and cannot work, tell our attorneys, and we can use your income records to calculate lost wages on your behalf.
Pain and Suffering
Defendants in personal injury claims can also be held liable for non-economic harms. Pain and suffering do not come with a price tag, so to prove them, we may have you or mental health experts who have worked with you testify.
Your testimony about your firsthand experience dealing with depression, anxiety, physical pain, mental suffering, or emotional anguish may be especially compelling to jurors and lead to a larger award for non-economic damages.
Jury awards often yield larger amounts for pain and suffering, but our lawyers may still recover non-economic damages in an out-of-court settlement.
How Much Time Do You Have to Hold Someone Liable for a Personal Injury in Longview, TX?
Personal injury plaintiffs have only a limited time to hold defendants liable in lawsuits, and that time is typically not very long. Fortunately, the statute of limitations pauses in certain scenarios, so do not automatically assume you have missed the statute of limitations if it has been more than 2 years since you were injured.
If You Immediately Discovered Your Injury
The Texas statute of limitations for personal injury lawsuits is 2 years. In most cases, the 2-year countdown starts the same day you are injured. Many injuries are immediately discoverable after a bad car accident, fall, or other incident, and should be treated right away.
If You Discovered Your Injury Later
If you do not discover your injuries until later, the statute of limitations may toll for delayed discovery. The 2-year countdown would start the date you discovered your injuries, not necessarily the date you sustained them.
If You Were Injured as a Minor
Minors may not file lawsuits independently from their parents while they are still underage. Because of this, Texas tolls the 2-year statute of limitations for minors until they turn 18, giving them until age 20 to file a lawsuit and pursue compensation.
If the Defendant Leaves the State
Texas also pauses the clock when a defendant physically leaves the state and resumes it when they return, effectively extending the statute of limitations in these scenarios.
Trust Us with Your Longview, TX Personal Injury Claim
Call The Queenan Law Firm’s personal injury lawyers at (817) 476-1797 for a free case assessment or case discussion.