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If someone else's negligence hurt you, Texas law gives you a limited window to act. Missing it ends the claim.
A Texas personal injury lawyer at The Texas Chongo Personal Injury Lawyers can review what happened, identify every party who may share responsibility, and explain which deadlines apply to your situation. We handle injury claims across Texas, including car and truck collisions, slip-and-fall incidents, workplace injuries, construction site accidents, and dog attacks. We handle cases on a contingency fee basis under a signed written agreement, and you can reach our team at (972) 529-3476 for a free case evaluation.
Our practice is built around trial work. The credentials below come from the firm's published record, not general claims about experience.
Our office sits at 220 O'Connor Ridge Blvd, Suite 105 in Irving, and we accept injury cases from across the state.
Because our team works in both English and Spanish, families do not have to rely on a relative to translate medical records or letters from an insurance company.
Under Texas common law, every personal injury claim requires proving four core legal elements:
Whether a duty existed is a question for the judge. The remaining three elements go to the jury when the evidence supports them.
In Greater Houston Transportation Co. v. Phillips, the Texas Supreme Court identified the factors courts weigh when deciding whether the law imposes a duty. Courts consider the risk, foreseeability, and likelihood of injury, then weigh those against the social utility of the conduct, the burden of guarding against the injury, and the consequences of placing that burden on the defendant.
Foreseeability is the dominant consideration. Where a reasonable person would have anticipated the danger, the argument for a duty is strongest.
Texas splits proximate cause into two parts: Cause in fact and foreseeability. Under IHS Cedars Treatment Center v. Mason, an act is a cause in fact when it was a substantial factor in bringing about the injury and the harm would not have occurred without it.
The limit matters just as much. Conduct that does no more than furnish a condition making an injury possible is not a cause in fact.
Insurance companies lean on that distinction constantly. Our attorneys document the chain between the negligent act and the injury while records, video, and witness memories remain available.
Most Texas injury suits must be filed within two years of the day the cause of action accrues, under Section 16.003 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Filing after that date usually ends the case, no matter how strong the evidence is.
Shorter notice requirements apply when a city, county, or state agency is involved, and those can run in months rather than years.
Medical malpractice and health-care liability claims run on strict statutory timelines governed by Chapter 74 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code:
Texas divides recoverable losses into economic and non-economic damages. Both categories require proof.
Economic damages cover measurable financial losses:
Non-economic damages cover harm that never arrives as an invoice:
If you share part of the blame, Section 33.001 still permits recovery as long as your share of responsibility is not greater than 50 percent, with the award reduced by your percentage.
A serious injury reaches the whole household. In Whittlesey v. Miller, the Texas Supreme Court held that either spouse may bring an action for loss of consortium when a third party's negligence injures the other.
That claim covers affection, companionship, comfort, society, and assistance. It stands independent of the injured spouse's case, though the injured spouse must still establish liability.
Most Texas injury claims carry no cap on non-economic damages. Health care liability claims are the exception.
Section 74.301 limits non-economic damages to $250,000 for each person making the claim against a physician or health care provider. A separate $250,000 limit applies to each health care institution, and the total against all institutions cannot exceed $500,000.
Collisions produce the largest share of Texas injury claims. Our team requests the crash report, preserves vehicle data, and identifies every driver, employer, or vehicle owner whose conduct contributed to the wreck, often before the insurance company has finished building its own version of events.
Commercial carriers operate under federal safety rules that ordinary drivers never face. We move quickly to preserve driver logs, maintenance files, inspection reports, and electronic data because carriers may destroy some records once short federal retention periods expire.
Premises claims turn on notice. Our attorneys gather incident reports, cleaning and inspection logs, employee statements, and surveillance footage to establish what the property owner knew about the hazard and how long the condition existed before your injury.
Not every Texas employer carries workers' compensation, which changes an injured worker's options. When an employer has opted out, or when a contractor, equipment maker, or property owner contributed to the harm, a separate injury claim may be available alongside any benefits you receive.
Construction sites involve general contractors, subcontractors, staffing agencies, equipment suppliers, and property owners at the same time. Our attorneys identify which entity controlled the work and the hazard, because control often determines who owed a duty to keep the site reasonably safe.
Texas follows Marshall v. Ranne, which holds an owner liable when there is reason to know the animal has dangerous propensities abnormal to its class, even where the owner used the utmost care to prevent harm. Prior complaints and prior bites often carry the case.
A settlement is rarely the number that reaches your bank account. Providers, health plans, and government programs may hold repayment rights that come out of the recovery first.
Sorting that out before you sign protects the portion of a settlement meant for you.
Applying for or receiving Medicaid assigns your right of recovery to the state under Section 32.033 of the Human Resources Code. The state's recovery is limited to what it actually paid for your medical care.
The reporting duty is easy to miss. A recipient must inform the commission of an injury caused by another person, an unsettled tort claim, or applicable insurance coverage within 60 days of learning about it, and a knowing failure to disclose is a Class C misdemeanor.
Money recovered for a minor is not simply handed to a parent. Under Section 142.005 of the Property Code, a court may place the funds in a trust after finding that doing so serves the child's best interests.
Those trusts end at an age stated in the trust or on the child's 25th birthday, whichever comes first. Our team explains the structure before presenting any settlement for court approval.
You likely have a claim worth reviewing when another party owed you a duty of care, failed to meet it, and caused injuries you can document. Medical records created close in time to the incident carry more weight than treatment that begins months later.
We work on a contingency fee basis, so you pay attorney fees from a recovery under the signed agreement. Texas Disciplinary Rule 1.04(d) requires a contingent fee agreement to be in writing and to state how the fee is calculated, including whether expenses are deducted before or after the fee. The same rule requires a written statement at the end of the matter showing the outcome and how your remittance was determined.
Texas applies proportionate responsibility. You may still recover as long as your share of the fault is not greater than 50 percent, and that percentage reduces your damages. Insurers routinely assign more blame than the evidence supports, which is why early documentation matters.
Timelines vary with the severity of the injury and the insurer's willingness to negotiate. A case generally should not settle before treatment stabilizes, because a settlement signed early cannot be reopened when future care costs more than expected.
Most Texas injury claims resolve without a trial. Preparing every file as though it will be tried still matters, because a claim supported by complete records and retained experts is evaluated differently than one that is not.
Bring whatever you already have. You don't need anything on this list to speak with us.
Deadlines run whether or not you file a claim, and evidence becomes harder to recover with each passing week. If you were hurt anywhere in Texas, a Texas personal injury lawyer at The Texas Chongo Personal Injury Lawyers can review the incident, explain which deadlines apply, and handle the insurance company while you focus on treatment.
Board-certified trial attorney David Sanchez and our team handle claims in English and Spanish on a contingency fee basis.
Call (972) 529-3476 for a free case evaluation.
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