Personal Injury

Published on: November 15, 2019

Spoliation of Evidence in Texas Personal Injury Lawsuits

The success of a Texas personal injury lawsuit relies heavily on the evidence that the parties present. A plaintiff that fails to present evidence establishing the defendant’s negligence is unlikely to receive damages for their injuries. In some instances, plaintiffs are unable to present compelling and relevant proof because the evidence is unavailable. When dealing with potentially relevant evidence, both parties have a duty to ensure that such evidence is preserved and available for trial.

Spoliation occurs when a party fails to preserve or destroys relevant evidence. Trial courts must remedy such conduct because spoliation deprives the fact finder of critical evidence. Some common behaviors that may lead to spoliation are when the offending party destroys video footage, forges or alters safety documents, or tampers with witness statements.

Although Texas does not identify a specific tort for spoliation, the offending party may face other sanctions, including a spoliation jury instruction. In Texas, a judge may give the jury an instruction to make an adverse inference against the offending party. Courts have recognized that a spoliation instruction may unfairly impact a jury’s verdict. In response, the Supreme Court of Texas clarified how to address claims of spoliation and impose remedies.

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Published on: November 15, 2019

Understanding Texas Car Insurance

By Carabin Shaw

Car accidents often result in accident victims sustaining major injuries, necessitating significant and ongoing medical treatment. Given the escalating costs of medical care, this treatment is incredibly expensive, and often reaches tens of thousands of dollars, even for what may initially seem to be minor injuries. Of course, most motorists who cause an accident do not have that kind of money available to compensate an accident victim. Thus, the availability of insurance is a critical component of almost all Texas car accident cases.

In Texas, all motorists are required to maintain insurance on their vehicles. There are several types of Texas car insurance; however, only some are required by law. Texas motorists must obtain the following coverage:

Bodily injury liability coverage: $30,000 per person/$60,000 per accident

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Published on: November 15, 2019

Texas Accident Victims May Be Able to “Stack” Insurance Policies to Increase Coverage Limits

By Carabin Shaw

When an individual is injured in a Texas car accident, they can incur serious financial costs as a result of doctor’s visits, lost wages, and surgeries. In a perfect world, the victim will receive monetary compensation for their injuries if they were caused by another person’s negligence, either from the at-fault party or from their insurance company. However, sometimes, the costs incurred from an accident are far more than the at-fault driver can cover, especially if they are uninsured or underinsured.

Unfortunately, it is estimated that over 2 million drivers do not have any liability insurance, although Texas requires it for all drivers. Under Texas car insurance law, insurance companies are required to offer drivers uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, also known as UM and UIM. This coverage protects individuals who are injured in an accident where the responsible party either does not have insurance or does not have enough insurance to fully cover the damage. However, the amount an individual receives from UM/UIM coverage depends on the coverage limit, and there may still be times when this is still not enough to cover all of the costs of an accident.

Texas law allows accident victims in some cases to “stack” their UM/UIM limits from separate policies if they have coverage on more than one vehicle. For example, a family may decide to purchase UM/UIM insurance for two vehicles with coverage of up to $25,000 per vehicle. If one family member is injured in a crash with a negligent uninsured or underinsured driver, resulting in medical bills of $50,000, their UM/UIM coverage will only cover half of that. However, if the insurance policies allow stacking, the coverage from the second, uninvolved vehicle could also be used, adding an additional $25,000 to fully cover the $50,000 in damage. This can only happen if the two vehicles are covered under separate policies, however, rather than one.

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Published on: July 8, 2019

Texas Workplace Injury Lawsuits

By Carabin Shaw

When a Texas employee is injured on the job, they may be able to obtain Texas workers’ compensation benefits until they are able to return to work. However, a workers’ compensation claimant is limited in the amount they can recover for their injuries. Typically, an injured worker can only recover for their medical expenses and lost wages.

A Texas personal injury claim, on the other hand, allows for an injured employee to recover more fully for their injuries, including for their pain and suffering. However, under the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act, when a workers’ compensation claim is appropriate, it is usually the employee’s sole remedy against their employer. This means that an injured employee may be prevented from pursuing a personal injury case against their employer.

There are several instances in which an injured employee may be able to pursue a Texas personal injury case against one or more parties. For example, if a third party causes an employee’s injuries, the employee may be able to pursue a Texas third-party claim against that person or organization. Third-party claims do not implicate Texas workers’ compensation laws because the named defendant is not the injured worker’s employer.

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Published on: April 29, 2019

Understanding Texas Car Insurance

By Carabin Shaw

Those who have been involved in a Texas car accident understand that the road to recovery entails more than just the healing of physical wounds. Being involved in a serious car accident takes an emotional toll on accident victims for several reasons, including the stress and potential difficulties that an accident victim may encounter when trying to obtain fair compensation for their injuries.

All drivers in Texas are required to maintain a certain amount of car insurance. Specifically, motorists must obtain a policy with coverage for at least $30,000 per person ($60,000 per accident) and $25,000 for personal property. These limits refer to the amount that the insurance company will cover for an accident caused by the insured.

Many Texas car accidents, however, result in damages far in excess of these limits. In these cases, an injured motorist may file a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance company as well as with their own insurance company, under the underinsured motorist (UIM) provision.

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Published on: March 21, 2019

The Importance of Preserving Texas Appellate Issues

By Carabin Shaw

Judges who preside over Texas personal injury cases have an immense amount of influence over the outcome of the case. While the judge is not usually the one who makes the ultimate determination regarding a defendant’s liability (that issue is reserved for the jury), judges make all pre-trial and evidentiary rulings that come up throughout the trial. Thus, it has been said that a judge creates the “landscape” in which a case is brought.

Of course, judges are elected officials who, at the end of the day, are human and can make mistakes. For this reason, the Texas court system allows a party who believes that a judge made a legal error during the proceedings to appeal the issue to a higher court. Typically, appellate courts will only review the issues that are raised on appeal, and will only hear claims that comply with the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure.

Appellate courts are designed to resolve conflicts between trial courts and to correct incorrect applications of the law. For example, if a court in Dallas is resolving an issue of state law differently than a court in San Antonio, an appellate court may decide to hear a case that presents the issue to clarify how the law should be interpreted. Also, appellate courts can reverse incorrect rulings that were made by trial judges.

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Published on: December 11, 2018

Proportionate Liability in Texas Personal Injury Cases

By Carabin Shaw

Determining fault in a Texas car accident can be a very complex matter, depending on the surrounding circumstances. While some accidents involve few parties and present straightforward issues, other cases involve complex fact patterns that require judges and juries to consider and apply numerous legal doctrines.

One of the more common issues that can arise in a Texas personal injury lawsuit that may make the case more complicated is the presence of multiple parties, each of which shares some amount of fault in causing an accident. A common example of this type of case is a Texas chain reaction accident.

In these cases, Texas courts apply what is commonly known as the doctrine of comparative fault. In Texas, however, the doctrine is referred to as “proportionate liability.” Chapter 33 of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code discusses proportionate liability and how it applies in Texas personal injury cases.

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Published on: October 19, 2018

Texas Supreme Court Dismisses Dog Bite Case Against Military Contractor

By Carabin Shaw

The separation of powers doctrine is central to our democracy. Unfortunately, however, the application of the doctrine can mean that some Texas personal injury cases cannot be resolved by the courts because they concern unreviewable decisions made by the executive and legislative branches.

In a recent case against a military contractor, a woman filed a lawsuit after she was allegedly bitten by a dog on a United States Army base in Afghanistan. She was working as an administrative clerk at the base, and one day the dog allegedly escaped from her kennel, ran toward her, jumped and bit the woman’s shoulder. The dog also bit her buttocks before it was pulled off of her.

The woman sued the company that provided dogs to the Armed Services, alleging that the company negligently trained and handled the dog and that the dog bit her as a result. The company had trained the dog in the U.S. before being sent to Afghanistan. The dog was stationed at the base to protect soldiers and others by sniffing out improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The company claimed that the Army was at fault because of its use of the dog and because of the way it housed the dog. The company also argued that the court could not consider the case due to the political question doctrine.

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Published on: August 23, 2018

Texas Court Grants New Trial to Truck Accident Victim after Defense Counsel Alludes to Plaintiff’s Immigration Status

By Carabin Shaw

Recently, a state appellate court issued an opinion in a Texas truck accident case discussing an important issue regarding what constitutes inappropriate comments with respect to a plaintiff’s ethnicity or immigration status. The case required the court to determine if the plaintiff should be granted a new trial after defense counsel made several comments alluding to the plaintiff’s inability to legally work in the United States.

The Facts of the Case

The plaintiff was injured in an accident with the defendant truck driver. The plaintiff claimed that the defendant made an illegal lane change and collided with her vehicle. According to the plaintiff, after the accident the defendant apologized for causing the accident, and admitted that it was his fault. The defendant later took back those statements, claiming that when he learned more about how the accident occurred, and the plaintiff’s role in causing it, he no longer believed he was at fault.

The plaintiff was not legally permitted to work in the United States and the defense counsel hoped to bring that fact to the attention of the jury. However, in a pre-trial motion, the court disallowed comments on the plaintiff’s immigration status.

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Published on: February 13, 2018

Holding a School District Liable in Texas

By Carabin Shaw

In a recent Texas bus accident decision, the court considered the parents’ claim that a school district had caused their son’s death. The son, who was disabled, started going to school in the district at age three. The district picked him up in a bus used to pick up disabled students. The boy would stay in his wheelchair while being lifted onto the bus, and the wheelchair was locked into place by the district employees. The bus had both a driver and an attendant.

One day in December, the boy became unresponsive while traveling to school in the bus. The driver and attendant saw he was in distress and stopped the bus. They waited for an ambulance rather than take him to a nearby ER. They didn’t try to resuscitate him while they waited. However, their decisions to stop and wait for an ambulance were in accord with District procedures related to students who face conditions requiring medical care while traveling on the school buses.

Within an hour of getting on the bus, the boy died. His parents sued the district in the following year for wrongful death and survival damages. They later amended their complaint to allege that the bus driver had negligently driven such that their son had been tossed around in his wheelchair, that the driver had driven at an unsafe speed and disregarded curbs, bumps, and stops, that District employees hadn’t properly used available mirrors and cameras to observe their son during the trip, and that locks on the support chair were used in an unsafe and negligent way.

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