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Call the Patel Firm. The guided us through it all. We would have been lost without them. They brought justice to us.
The Rodriguez FamilyThey helped me after my slip and fall accident and kept me informed throughout the whole process! They were always friendly …
Marina SanchezThe Patel law firm is very fair and easy to work with, they understand and care for all their clients, I highly recommend them …
Frankie MartinezGreat services, great communications Mr. Patel and Joann are knowledgeable and took their time to answer my questions …
Martha NavarroMinesh has gone above and beyond for our Houston Celebrity, ESG and our team of Managers and Crew. Thank you Patel Firm!!
Trill RepublikI’ve never felt so at home in an Attorney’s office! These people are so down to earth and REALLY care about their clients ….
Peter HigginsThe Patel Firm is simply fantastic. He is reliable and informative throughout the entire process. I would say that I was most impressed …
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San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyer
The San Antonio personal injury attorneys at The Patel Firm boast an impressive track record in procuring rightful compensation and defending the rights of clients who’ve experienced personal injuries due to others’ negligence. Leveraging their proficiency and commitment, they offer superior legal counsel for individuals impacted by personal injury events.
The Texas Department of Health and Human Services (DSHS) reports that there were 133,973 non-fatal hospitalizations in 2020, with falls being the leading mechanism of injuries, followed by motor vehicle occupants, pedestrian accidents, motorcycle accidents, and firearm-related incidents. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) reports that San Antonio had 38,461 total motor vehicle crashes in 2021 causing thousands of injuries.
People can suffer injuries in a wide variety of settings for many different reasons, but any accident that is the fault of another party’s negligence could mean that a person can seek financial compensation from the negligent party. A personal injury action is never easy, so a person will want to be sure they are working with an experienced San Antonio car accident lawyer so they can be confident that they are getting the best possible legal help for their situation.
What is Personal Injury?
Texas Penal Code § 1.07(46) defines a serious bodily injury as a bodily injury creating a substantial risk of death or causing death, serious permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ. Personal injury law often deals with legal disputes that arise when a person suffers an injury because of another party’s negligence or wrongful conduct.
Unlike criminal cases, personal injury law will not involve the government prosecuting a person as an individual must claim that an injury occurred and seek compensation from another person or business who caused an injury. Personal injury actions can stem from accidents or intentional acts.
Most personal injury cases in Texas will be governed by the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, which is the law relating to negligence, statutes of limitations, duties of care, damages, liability, and recovery. Most personal injury claims will be based on negligence, which the Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute defines as being a failure to behave with the level of care that a person of ordinary prudence would have exercised under the same circumstances, and the behavior often consists of actions, but may also consist of omissions if there was a duty to act.
A general legal duty of care is owed by every person and requires them to act responsibly and avoid putting other people at risk. When a person is injured in an accident and wants to seek financial recovery, they must show that a reasonably prudent person placed in the same position as the negligent party would have acted differently under the circumstances.
Stricter duties of care apply in certain cases involving professionals providing services or businesses and their consumers or employees. Texas uses a modified comparative negligence standard under which no person can seek compensation when they were 51 percent or more at fault for an accident.
This is known as a shared fault rule, and it means that a person will have their award reduced by their percentage of negligence relating to an accident. For example, a person who wins a motor vehicle accident case for $100,000 but is found to have been 25 percent responsible for their accident will have their award reduced by $25,000 and ultimately receive $75,000.
There are time limits applicable to personal injury cases known as the statute of limitations, and the limitations period can vary depending on the type of claim you are filing. In most cases, the limitation period begins on the date of an accident, but there can be cases in which the limitation period does not begin until the date a person knows that an injury occurred.
The statute of limitations on many personal injury claims is only two years, but there are certain exceptions. When a victim is a child, for example, then the child will have two years to file a case from the date they reach the age of majority, 18.
Our Areas of Practice
Car Accidents
Like any metropolitan area, San Antonio sees its share of tragic car accidents. To an outsider, these crashes may seem more-or-less routine; but there is nothing routine about an accident for its victims, who often sustain catastrophic, life-altering injuries. At The Patel Firm, we understand how car accident injuries create enormous physical, emotional, and financial challenges in our clients’ lives. Our mission is to hold whomever caused that accident to account, and to ensure our clients receive the compensation they need to recover from their injuries. Read More
Slip & Fall Accidents
While slipping and falling might appear mundane, it is a prevalent cause of serious injuries in San Antonio, especially among those over 65. These incidents, often called slip-and-fall accidents, signify more than just a stumble. Property owners bear the responsibility of ensuring their premises are safe. The Patel Firm strives to hold these owners accountable when their negligence leads to falls, breaching their duty to provide a secure environment. Read More
Motorcycle Accidents
Motorcyclists in San Antonio are fully aware of the dangers of their open-air travel. However, the inherent risks of riding a motorcycle do not excuse other drivers from the responsibility of ensuring motorcyclists' safety. Motorcycles have the right to a full traffic lane and should be given the same respect as any other vehicle on the road. At The Patel Firm, we steadfastly advocate for the rights of motorcyclists and relentlessly seek rightful compensation when their safety is compromised due to other drivers' negligence. Read More
18-Wheeler Accidents
Accidents involving trucks, much like those with cars, cause significant distress to victims. However, these incidents often present greater legal and factual complexities that make securing compensation challenging. At The Patel Firm, we are adept at navigating these intricacies and the physical aftermath of such accidents in San Antonio. We diligently identify and target the liable parties, ensuring victims receive the compensation they are rightfully due. Read More
Wrongful Death
The pain of losing a loved one due to an accidental injury is an unimaginable tragedy no family should face. Yet, in such heartrending circumstances, Texas law empowers San Antonio families to pursue wrongful death legal actions. While we at The Patel Firm would never wish for grieving families to require our support, we remain unyielding in our commitment to provide them comprehensive assistance as they seek justice and rightful compensation for their irreplaceable loss. Read More
Types of Personal Injury Cases We Handle
Some of the common kinds of personal injury claims our firm handles include:
- Motor vehicle accidents
- Commercial truck accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Aviation accidents
- Boat accidents
- Bus accidents
- Workplace accidents
- Premises liability (slip and fall accidents)
- Product liability
- Medical malpractice
- Dog bites
- Assaults
- Negligent security
- Amusement park accidents
- Child injury
- Birth injuries
- Child abuse
- Chemical exposure
- Crane accidents
- Construction accidents
- Cruise ship accidents
- Dog bites
- Elevator accidents
- Electrocution accidents
- Elder or nursing home abuse
- Farm accidents
- Heavy machinery accidents
- Helicopter crashes
- Uber or Lyft accidents
- Mesothelioma
- Rideshare accidents
- Taxi accidents
- Wrongful death
The Patel Firm handles all kinds of injury claims in these cases, as we have experience helping people who have suffered traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), spinal cord injuries, severe burn injuries, or wrongful death.
Do You Have a Personal Injury Case in San Antonio?
When you are hurt as a result of someone else’s negligence or intentional conduct, you need to understand whether or not you are entitled to financial compensation for your injuries. In Dallas and other parts of Texas, you must prove the following four things to receive compensation from the defendant:
- The defendant owed you a duty of care.
- The defendant breached the duty due to negligence, carelessness, recklessness, or intentional conduct.
- The breach caused your injury.
- The injury resulted in damages (such as incurring medical expenses and other losses).
A skilled San Antonio personal injury lawyer will help you establish the above-mentioned elements to ensure that you are fairly and fully compensated for your injuries and losses. Speak with our skilled attorneys at The Patel Firm to talk about your case. Our knowledgeable lawyers will help you prove liability and the scope of your damages in your case.
How Much Is Your Personal Injury Claim Worth?
Fighting for fair compensation in a personal injury case can be complicated, especially if you do not have a lawyer on your side. Seeking compensation for your injuries usually means filing an insurance claim and dealing with the negligent party’s insurance company. If no settlement is reached, your case may go to court.
But how much is your personal injury claim worth in Texas? Since no two cases are the same, the value of your claim depends on the following factors:
- How severe is your injury?
- How much have you incurred in medical expenses?
- Are you expected to recover fully?
- How does your injury impact your ability to work?
- How many days have you missed at work due to your injury?
- Were you partially at fault for the accident?
When speaking with an attorney, you will need to answer these and many other questions to estimate the value of your personal injury claim. Our detail-oriented and experienced lawyers at The Patel Firm are prepared to help you understand how much your claim is worth. Schedule a free case evaluation with our lawyers to determine the value of your claim today. Call 361-400-2036.
What Damages Are Available in Texas Personal Injury Cases?
Often, injured people who pursue personal injury claims without a lawyer do not realize what compensation is available in their case. Most people believe that their recoverable damages are limited to medical bills.
However, you are entitled to other economic damages, such as lost wages, and non-economic damages, including mental anguish, the loss of enjoyment of life, and others. Damages in personal injury cases can be broken down into three categories:
- Economic damages, – Including medical expenses, loss of income, the cost of repairing or replacing damaged property and belongings, and other easily quantifiable damages
- Non-economic damages – Including relatively subjective losses including mental anguish, emotional distress, loss of consortium, loss of enjoyment of life, pain and suffering, disfigurement, and others
- Exemplary damages (also known as punitive damages) – Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 41.003 provides that exemplary damages are available when the defendant’s conduct can be described as malicious, fraudulent, or grossly negligent. Unlike other damages, exemplary damages are meant to punish the defendant for their wrongful conduct. These damages are rarely awarded in personal injury cases.
A Dallas personal injury lawyer at The Patel Firm is prepared to review your particular situation to identify all damages that are available in your case. Our goal is to help you obtain the compensation you deserve because we believe you should not have to pay out of your own pocket for someone else’s negligent conduct.
What Is the Time Limit for Personal Injury Cases in Texas?
Under Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 16.003, the time limit to bring a personal injury claim, which is also known as the statute of limitations, is two years from the date of your injury. If you fail to bring a claim within the time limit, you may lose your right to pursue a legal claim against the defendant.
Does Texas Law Limit Damages in Personal Injury Cases?
Many states limit damages awarded by courts in personal injury cases. Texas law does not impose any damages caps in personal injury cases unless the plaintiff is injured due to medical malpractice.
In medical malpractice cases, Texas caps non-economic damages at $250,000 pursuant to Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 74.301. Speak with our attorneys at The Patel Firm to understand other statutory limitations that may apply to your personal injury case.
Comparative Negligence in Texas Personal Injury Cases
Texas follows the doctrine of modified comparative negligence, which is also known as “proportionate responsibility” under Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 33.001. It means that if you are partially to blame for your injury, your compensation will be reduced in proportion to your degree of fault.
Under the doctrine of modified comparative negligence, you are entitled to compensation as long as your degree of fault is not greater than 50%.
Comparative negligence in Texas personal injury cases works like this:
- The court assigns a percentage of responsibility to parties involved in the accident – For example, you are deemed to be 30% at fault for your injuries.
- Your total recoverable damages are reduced by the percentage of your fault – For example, if your damages are $5,000, the total amount will be reduced by 30%.
- You receive the compensation to which you are entitled – If your fault is 30% and your total damages are $5,000, you will receive $3,500.
However, under Texas law, plaintiffs cannot receive any compensation if their percentage of fault exceeds 50%. Consult with a knowledgeable personal injury lawyer in Dallas to discuss your particular case and determine your degree of fault.
How Do Lawyers Investigate Personal Injury Cases in Texas?
An investigation is a critical element of any successful personal injury claim. Investigating a personal injury claim is a complex process that involves gathering evidence, talking to witnesses, and preparing documentation for your legal claim.
Our attorneys at The Patel Firm have decades of experience representing clients in various types of personal injury cases. When conducting our thorough and comprehensive investigation, we focus on collecting the following types of evidence:
- Medical bills
- Statements and receipts of other expenses related to your injury
- The cost of repairing or replacing your damaged property
- Witness statements
- Photos and videos from the scene of the accident
- Video surveillance footage
- A police or accident report
These and many other types of evidence are necessary for a comprehensive investigation of any personal injury case. You should not have to worry about collecting evidence and handling other legal aspects of your claim. Let our experienced lawyers at The Patel Firm help you with your claim while you focus on your medical treatment.
Proving a Personal Injury Case
A personal injury case is going to be a civil action, and this is much different from a criminal case. Whereas a prosecutor for the state must prove a person’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, a very high standard to satisfy, in a criminal case, a person only needs to prove another party’s negligence by a preponderance of the evidence, which basically means more likely than not.
Most personal injury cases are negligence claims, which means a person will argue that another person did not do something they were supposed to do or took some other action that placed other people in jeopardy. The requirements involved in proving negligence in court are as follows:
- Duty of care — Another party had a legal duty to exercise a reasonable standard of care in performing any acts that might harm other people.
- Breach of duty — The party breached their duty of care by taking an inappropriate action.
- Causation — The party’s action caused an accident.
- Damages — The accident is causing financial problems for the victim.
Evidence in a personal injury case could be direct or circumstantial. Direct evidence is direct proof of a fact, while circumstantial evidence is indirect evidence that is proof of one or more facts from which one can find another fact.
A jury will consider both direct and circumstantial evidence because either one could be used to prove a fact. The law makes no distinction between the weight to be given to direct or circumstantial evidence, as it is for a jury to decide how much weight to give to any evidence.
Evidence may be documents, spoken words, or physical things, and the Texas Rules of Evidence govern acceptability of evidence in personal injury cases. The Texas Rules of Civil Procedure and Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code can also play a major role in evidence.
Damages in a Personal Injury Case
People who suffer injuries or lose loved ones in accidents in Texas could be entitled to several different kinds of damages. Economic damages and noneconomic damages are the two most common kinds of awards.
Economic damages relate to a person’s actual losses while noneconomic damages are intangible types of losses that are more subjective. Economic damages can include:
- Past, present, and future medical bills
- Emergency room bills
- Lost wages
- Urgent care bills
- Property damage
- Physical therapy
- Follow-up doctor visits
- X-ray costs
- Diagnostic tests
- Physical therapy aids
- Blood tests
- Occupational therapy
- Mobility aids like crutches, braces, and wheelchairs
- Prescription costs
- Travel costs to medical appointments
Noneconomic damages could include:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Mental anguish
- Loss of companionship, care, and guidance
- Loss of consortium
- Disfigurement
- Disability
- Physical impairment
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Embarrassment
- Humiliation
A third less kind of damages that is not as commonly awarded is punitive damages or exemplary damages. Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 41.001(5), exemplary damages are defined as any damages awarded as a penalty or by way of punishment but not for compensatory purposes.
Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 41.008(b) further establishes that exemplary damages cannot be more than an amount equal to the greater of two times the amount of economic damages plus an amount equal to any noneconomic damages, up to $750,000, or $200,000. The law will not apply to exemplary damages based on conduct described as a felony in the sections of the Texas Penal Code when conduct was committed knowingly or intentionally and involved murder, capital murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual, forgery, commercial bribery, misapplication of fiduciary property or property of financial institution, fraudulent securing of document execution, fraudulent destruction, removal, or concealment of writing, theft, continuous sexual abuse of young child or disabled individual, or trafficking of persons.
Compassionate and Experienced Legal Representation
The Patel Firm is a team of experienced attorneys who have been handling personal injury cases all over Texas for decades. Our firm has locations in Corpus Christi, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Waco, Plano, Laredo, and McAllen.
We make ourselves available to our clients 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Best of all, we will not charge you anything to handle your case because we will instead agree to deduct a predetermined percentage of your ultimate award, so you end up not paying anything at all if we do not win or settle your case.
Our firm’s founder, Minesh J. Patel, is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, Rue Ratings’ Best Attorneys in America, and has been recognized as 40 best under 40 by The National Trial Lawyers Association. We handle every single case with empathy and compassion for the people we serve, so we never forget about you even when we are focusing on the laws that apply to your case.
Contact a San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyer Today
If you suffered catastrophic injuries or your loved one was killed in any kind of accident caused by another party’s negligence in the greater San Antonio area, you should make sure that you get competent legal help as soon as possible. The Patel Firm understands how confusing and stressful these situations can be for people, and we will help you work through every difficulty you are facing and will be able to make recommendations about proper care of your injuries so you are able to achieve the fullest possible recovery.
Our firm takes great pride in earning the trust of our clients and we are always pleased about how many of our cases are actually referrals from our previous clients. You can call 361-400-2036 or contact us online to receive a free consultation with our San Antonio personal injury attorney.
Patel Injury Lawyers
4883 Fredericksburg Rd
San Antonio, TX 78229
(210) 325-9990
Office Locations
Corpus Christi
(361) 256-5672 Principal Office
DFW
(972) 974-7283 *by appointment only.
Laredo
(956) 527-0321 *by appointment only.
Houston
(956) 527-0321 *by appointment only.
Central Texas
(254) 321-3030 *by appointment only.
Rio Grande Valley
(956) 527-0321 *by appointment only.
Austin
(512) 887-1447 *by appointment only.
Odessa
(361) 256-5672 *by appointment only.