Understanding Texas personal injury laws is critical to protecting your rights and maximizing your compensation. This guide covers everything you need to know — from the statute of limitations to how fault is determined and what damages you can recover.
Missing these deadlines can permanently end your right to compensation — no exceptions.
The 2-year deadline sounds like a long time but cases take time to build. Evidence disappears, witnesses forget, and medical documentation needs to be gathered. Most attorneys recommend contacting a lawyer within weeks of your injury — not years.
Texas follows modified comparative fault. You can recover compensation as long as you are less than 51% at fault. Your award is reduced by your percentage of fault. If a jury finds you 30% at fault on a $100,000 case, you recover $70,000. If you are 51% or more at fault — you recover nothing.
To win a personal injury case in Texas you must prove four elements: 1) The defendant owed you a duty of care, 2) They breached that duty, 3) The breach caused your injury, and 4) You suffered actual damages. All four elements must be proven by a preponderance of the evidence — meaning more likely than not.
When a defendant's conduct involves an extreme degree of risk and conscious indifference to others' rights and safety, a court may award punitive damages on top of compensatory damages. Punitive damages in Texas are capped at the greater of $200,000 or two times economic damages plus non-economic damages up to $750,000.
If you were injured by a drunk driver, you may be able to hold the bar or restaurant that served them liable under the Texas Dram Shop Act — if the establishment served alcohol to an obviously intoxicated person who then caused your injury.
You can sue Texas government entities for certain negligent acts including motor vehicle accidents and dangerous property conditions. Claims against government entities have shorter notice deadlines — often just 6 months — and different damage caps. Missing the government notice deadline is fatal to your claim.
Texas property owners owe different duties of care depending on your status as a visitor. Invitees — customers, guests — are owed the highest duty. Licensees — social guests — are owed a moderate duty. Trespassers are generally owed only a duty not to willfully injure them.
Texas personal injury law allows recovery of two main types of damages:
These are your actual financial losses with a specific dollar amount — medical bills, lost wages, future medical expenses, future lost earning capacity, property damage, and out-of-pocket expenses. There is no cap on economic damages in most Texas personal injury cases.
These compensate for losses that don't have a set dollar amount — pain and suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement, physical impairment, and loss of consortium. There is no cap on non-economic damages in most Texas personal injury cases except medical malpractice.
Texas is one of the most plaintiff-friendly states in the country for personal injury cases — particularly in Houston's Harris County which is known for substantial jury verdicts. Having the right attorney who knows local courts and judges can significantly impact your outcome.