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Injuries and accidents occur in the blink of an eye, even before realizing the events around us. Yet, every year, thousands of people undergo emotional and physical trauma due to negligence and live with their lingering effects on the body and mind.
Personal injuries generally pose a lasting impact on the injured lives, leaving them stressed and confused. Dealing with medical bills, damage, lost wages, hassles of insurance companies, and much other havoc will drastically affect their day-to-day lives. However, states like Texas have introduced personal injury attorneys who can help injured victims deal with this crisis.
What is Personal Injury Law?
Personal Injury law is a term that deals with victims who suffered loss or injury due to the negligence of the accused. Unlike criminal law, personal injury law helps the victim (plaintiff) gain compensation from the accused (defendant) with the help of personal injury lawyers.
The following categories fall under personal injury cases:
- Child abuse and injury
- Dog bites
- Medical malpractice
- Wrongful death
- Auto, truck, and workplace accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Product liability
Role of a Personal Injury Lawyer
Once the wrongful incident occurs, a personal injury lawyer is hired to deal with the turmoil of the case. The attorney begins their work by collecting evidence on the incident and helping with insurance claims and policies. In addition, they contain photo evidence and witness statements and file for a temporary restraining order in the court to prevent damage or evidence tampering.
Once the case is filed in court, the victims and the defendant’s personal injury attorney begin their pretrial arguments, known as a discovery process. The process includes depositions, collection of further evidence, investigation, and many more procedures.
Once enough data and evidence are collected, a settlement offer begins. If the defendant and the victim cannot settle on a solution, then the attorneys fight for it under a trial in court.
Texas Laws for Personal Injury cases
The Civil Practice and Remedies Code governs all personal injury cases in Texas. This section of law defines the following:
- Duties of care
- Liability
- Damages
- Statutes of limitations
- Recovery
- Determining negligence
The law dictates every individual in society act responsibly without putting another party at risk or danger. An injured victim under a personal injury claim seeking financial recovery is expected to show that a person in a similar circumstance would act differently.
Texas personal injury laws are also governed by shared fault rules, which state that if several parties injure a victim, their compensation will be shared among people or businesses which caused the injury. However, the law also offers a 51% bar rule, which means if the victim is 51% or more responsible for these actions, they’re not eligible for compensation of any kind!