Houston Personal Injury Lawyer
Accidents are an unfortunate fact of life. People get injured because of circumstances that are entirely out of their control. Sometimes, accidents occur even if no one directly caused them; storms and natural disasters can damage someone’s residence or vehicle, for instance. In most cases, however, accidents are someone’s fault. Someone behaved in a careless manner, or they failed to do something that a reasonable person would have done, and that negligent behavior caused an accident to occur. Drivers miss a stop sign because they were texting while driving, or they drink and drive, drive when they are too tired, or engage in speeding and other unlawful or dangerous driving.
In such situations, another person’s negligent behavior directly causes an accident resulting in an injury or monetary loss to you or your loved ones. You should not be left paying for the consequences of another person’s actions. When these types of accidents occur, you need an experienced personal injury lawyer on your side to help you seek justice and get the compensation you deserve. The seasoned Houston personal injury lawyer at Ayson Law Firm is ready to fight for you.
Maximizing Your Damages in a Texas Personal Injury Case
If you were injured as a result of another person’s negligent behavior in the state of Texas, you have the right to seek compensation for the harm you have suffered. Whether you were hurt in a distracted driving or rideshare car accident, slipped and fell on someone’s property, were injured by a defective product, or in any other manner caused by another person’s negligence, you deserve compensation. In Texas, you can generally collect compensatory damages (“economic” and “noneconomic”) as well as “punitive” damages, depending on the case.
Compensatory Damages. Compensatory damages are meant to compensate you for your loss and have two components: economic and noneconomic. Economic damages represent harm that you can readily tie a specific number to. Economic damages include things like lost wages, medical costs, and property damage. Noneconomic damages, on the other hand, represent emotional, physical, and psychological harm that is more difficult to quantify. In Texas, you can recover for noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of life enjoyment, and psychological damage caused by disfigurement, loss of limb, disability, loss of companionship, and other harm. Together, economic and noneconomic damages represent “compensatory damages.”
Punitive Damages. In certain cases, you may be also able to collect punitive damages. While economic and noneconomic damages are meant to compensate the victims of an accident, punitive damages are about punishing the defendant. They are reserved for instances in which the defendant was particularly reckless or malicious, such as if they drove drunk or intentionally injured someone. They are awarded on top of and in addition to compensatory damages.
Maximizing Your Recovery. Texas law does not limit compensatory damages in most personal injury matters. In certain types of cases, such as claims brought for medical malpractice and claims against government agencies, there are limitations on the total damages you can collect.
Texas does limit the maximum amount of punitive damages that an injured plaintiff can recover. Punitive damages are capped at the greater of either:
- $200,000, or
- Twice the economic damages, plus the value of the noneconomic damages
If you were hurt as a result of someone else’s negligence in Houston, call the knowledgeable and effective personal injury team at Ayson Law Firm to learn about the damages available in your case. With the help of a savvy and aggressive personal injury lawyer, you can maximize your available damages and ensure that you and your family are taken care of after your accident.
Houston Personal Injury FAQs
What Types of Personal Injury Cases Does Your Firm Handle?
We focus mostly on criminal defense, but we do also handle personal injury cases involving auto accidents.
What Exactly Is A Personal Injury Claim?
A personal injury case is one in which someone has suffered injuries as a result of someone else’s negligence. They will often go to the insurance carrier to let them know that they’ve suffered injuries. A lot of times, the insurance companies won’t pay the amount necessary to compensate for these injuries. Then, there is the option of filing a personal injury claim.
What Are The Top Misconceptions People Have About The Personal Injury Recovery Process?
People sometimes think that just because they’ve been in an accident, they are entitled to recovery, but a case has to have merit and you have to have been injured. Also, the other party has to be responsible for those injuries.
What Is The Process Of A Personal Injury Case?
Once we are retained by a client in a personal injury case, we will approach the insurance company about settling the case. We will give them a demand, let them know what we feel the case is worth, and if they don’t agree to settle for what the case is worth, we will file suit. After we file suit, there are discoveries involved, evidence is traded back and forth, depositions are taken, and if we still can’t come to a resolution then the case goes to trial.
What Factors Determine The Viability Of A Personal Injury Claim?
If a party has been injured and the party who injured them was clearly negligent, they accepted liability, or their own insurance company has determined that their party was negligent, then there is a viable claim. Someone who has been injured and has documented those injuries with medical records will also usually result in a higher settlement.
How Soon Should Someone Seek Medical Treatment After An Injury Or An Accident?
I would advise to seek medical treatment as soon as possible after an accident. You may not necessarily know that you are injured immediately. It might take a couple of days for the pain to start settling in, but once a week or two has passed, if you haven’t gone to seek treatment, it can cause the adjuster to question the validity of the claim.
Can I Even Afford An Experienced Personal Injury Attorney?
Most personal injury attorneys, unlike in criminal defense, don’t get paid unless the client is compensated. Personal injury attorneys work on a contingency, which means that they take a third of your settlement if you settle, or 40% of your recovery if the case goes to trial. It is a way for people who don’t have the financial means to hire an attorney to still get compensated for their injuries, and it also incentivizes attorneys to get the best possible outcome for you.
Houston Personal Injury Lawyer Ready to Fight for the Recovery You Deserve
The Houston personal injury lawyer at Ayson Law Firm is dedicated to helping victims of negligence get the justice they deserve. Our years of practice have honed our ability to go head-to-head with negligent individuals, defense lawyers, property owners, insurance companies, product manufacturers, and any other type of defendant who owes you compensation. The injuries you face after a serious accident often have life-altering effects, including pain and suffering, exorbitant medical bills, and loss of income if you are unable to work. We fight to make sure you get the compensation you deserve so that you can get your life back on track. Call our Houston personal injury office for a free consultation at 832-209-2297.