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Even what appears to be a simple mistake by one party could really be a negligent act that forever alters a victim’s life. In such situations, victims may file lawsuits to get compensation for the damages they need covering.
Whether or not you can file an injury lawsuit will depend on several factors, such as if someone else caused your injury by a negligent or intentionally wrongful act. Our attorneys can review the specifics of your case to confirm who the defendant in your lawsuit would be and proceed accordingly. Victims can preserve evidence from the scene by photographing it, and our lawyers can gather additional evidence in the coming days and weeks. We can also assess your case for possible weaknesses, such as comparative negligence, and make a plan to address those issues.
Call our Carrollton, TX, personal injury lawyers at The Queenan Law Firm, P.C. for a confidential and free case analysis at (817) 476-1797.
Seeing if You Can File a Personal Injury Claim in Carrollton, TX
If someone acted negligently or recklessly and hurt you in the process, our lawyers can investigate the matter further to confirm that they owed you a duty of care. We will also determine how the negligent party ultimately breached that duty of care, which could differ from case to case.
Duty of Care
Duties of care exist across various relationships and can differ. For example, a medical professional owes a duty of care to their patients, which differs from the duty of care drivers owe one another while operating motor vehicles in Carrollton. That said, a duty of care still exists to some degree, requiring a party to act with reasonable care when interacting with the other.
Breach of Duty
Once we have established that the other party owed you a duty of care, we must determine how they breached it. For example, reckless drivers might act negligently by speeding, and property owners might do the same by failing to address hazards for visitors’ safety.
Causation
On top of the duty of care and the breach of duty, two other elements must be present if you want to file and win a personal injury claim. Those are causation and damages. To prove causation, we must show that the defendant’s specific negligent act caused your specific injuries. To do this, we may need access to your current and previous medical records to rule out arguments that your injuries were present before the incident in question.
Damages
Furthermore, the accident must have caused you damages, like medical costs or lost wages. These are the damages for which you will seek compensation in your claim. As soon as you start incurring damages or get charges for costs related to the accident, inform our attorneys. Furthermore, if you have experienced emotional distress since the accident, inform our lawyers, as you may be able to recover compensation for pain and suffering.
Collecting Evidence to Support Carrollton, TX Personal Injury Cases
Since accidents that cause personal injuries might vary drastically from case to case, the evidence victims can use to prove fault might also vary. Certain evidence might be available immediately after the act, and other evidence might be available within the following days or weeks.
Evidence Gathered from the Scene
Auto accidents typically leave ample physical evidence, such as property damage to cars, tire marks on the road, and debris. To preserve this evidence, photograph it. If you were hurt on someone else’s property, get the owner’s name and information. You should try to get the same information from eyewitnesses. Regardless of the type of accident, take pictures of the scene and any contributing causes or notable information.
Evidence Gathered After the Accident
Our personal injury lawyers might gather the bulk of the evidence we use in your case in the days and weeks following the incident. For example, we may reach out to eyewitnesses using the information you gathered at the scene. We may then interview eyewitnesses to collect more information about the accident and its cause. Eyewitness statements can be compelling proof in lawsuits, especially when claims go to trial in Carrollton.
We can also assess the accident location for additional evidence, like surveillance footage. For example, slip and falls in commercial establishments might be caught on security cameras, and our lawyers can obtain such footage by requesting or subpoenaing it.
You should continue getting long-term medical treatment for injuries caused by negligence for as long as necessary. Our lawyers may submit your medical records as proof of injury and to help highlight your likely pain and suffering due to the defendant’s actions.
If necessary, we might enlist experts, such as accident reconstruction or medical experts, to provide statements regarding certain crucial aspects of your claim, like the incident’s origin point or the extent of your injuries.
Comparative Negligence and Personal Injury Suits in Carrollton, TX
Victims must be careful of Texas’ rules regarding comparative fault. If they are not, they might walk away without compensation for all of the damages they have incurred.
Texas follows a modified comparative fault standard. According to Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.012(a), juries can reduce a victim’s damages proportionally to their percentage of negligence. Comparative negligence might impact various personal injury cases, such as those arising from car accidents in Carrollton.
If Texas’ comparative fault laws could impact your case, there are a few ways we could approach the matter. For example, even if a victim also acted irresponsibly, if the defendant had the last clear chance to avoid the accident and failed to do so, they could still be held wholly liable for the victim’s damages.
Furthermore, we can seek to gather evidence that undermines the defendant’s comparative fault defense, such as eyewitness testimony confirming the statements made in your claim.
Call Our Carrollton, TX Injury Attorneys Now
Call (817) 476-1797 to have personal injury lawyers of The Queenan Law Firm, P.C. assess your case for free.