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Katy Personal Injury Lawyer

Woman in an arm brace as she sits on a couch and looks for a personal injury lawyer online.

Pursuing a personal injury lawsuit in the state of Texas allows victims to recover their damages and seek compensation for the pain and suffering they have been through following an accident caused by the negligence of others.

Whether you have been seriously injured in a car accident caused by a drunk driver or you have fallen and injured yourself on somebody else’s property in Katy, TX, you should not be left in financial hardship due to things like medical expenses and property damages.

Houston Injury Lawyers, PLLC – Speak To a Katy Personal Injury Lawyer Today!

At the Houston Injury Lawyers, PLLC, we are prepared to fight your case. As your fierce advocates, we can investigate on your behalf, build an air-tight case, liaise with all parties, and calculate your damages in an accurate, hard-to-argue against manner. We have dealt with, and won countless cases in the personal injury arena, giving us the experience necessary to tailor your case in a way that massively increases your chances of seeking full and maximum compensation.

We believe that representation should be available to everyone, regardless of their financial situation at the time of the accident or in the months that follow. One way we build this ideal into our practice is through the offering of a free consultation and case evaluation. This means you can arrange a sit down with one of our attorneys, ask any questions you need to ask and receive some free no-strings-attached legal advice regarding your case. We will tell you, honestly and transparently, if we think your case is worth pursuing.

Here at the Houston Injury Lawyers, PLLC, we prioritize the attorney-client relationship. What does this mean? It means that when you retain an attorney from our team, they will be your fiercest advocate, confidant, and sympathetic ear. We take the time to listen compassionately to our clients and keep them informed throughout each step of the process.

Call us today at 936-251-5246.

What are Damages, and What Can I Recover in a Katy, TX Personal Injury Claim

One of the most important tasks an experienced personal injury attorney can fulfill is calculating the damages you have suffered as a result of the accident.

First, your Katy personal injury lawyers will need to calculate, add up and evidence your economic damages, i.e the ones that have a price tag attached. They will also need to put a fair and reasonable sum on your non-economic damages, like pain, suffering, and emotional distress.

For these tasks, experience goes a long way and a Katy personal injury lawyer that has won numerous cases will have a lot of experience in calculating fair and reasonable damages that are difficult to argue with or dispute.

Economic Damages

Your economic damages are the easier of the two to calculate. All your economic damages will have a price attached. These can be added up easily by your attorney and as long as you have supporting documentation and evidence, they will be hard to dispute.

Your economic damages include:

Lost Income

Besides your medical bills, the income you lose due to the accident, the injuries suffered and the mental trauma will probably be the most immediate issue you are facing. Many people live paycheck to paycheck and support or provide for their family with their income and when accidents happen, victims may need to take time off work.

You shouldn’t be left out-of-pocket following an injury that wasn’t your fault and your attorney will help you recover your lost wages. You will be able to claim all past and future lost income as part of a personal injury lawsuit.

If you have been injured to the point where you cannot return to your job in the same capacity as before, then you may be able to claim for a lifetime of lost wages. In these cases, you need a skilled Katy personal injury lawyer to help you evidence and calculate a sum that covers all of your future lost wages.

Medical Bills

Medical bills have the potential to spiral out of control following a serious injury. Even with medical insurance, your coverage can quickly be exceeded if you need multiple operations and expensive treatment.

When your coverage is exceeded, you could be left with a decision. You either pay for the medical bills yourself, or you do not get treatment.

When you are dealing with injuries that happened due to somebody else’s negligence, this is a horribly unfair situation to be put in.

An experienced personal injury lawyer will be able to help you recover your medical expenses. This includes your treatment and surgery, your parking charges, and ambulance costs, and even the food you have had to buy whilst in the hospital as well as the cost of childcare if you have needed it.

However, whilst everything may be recoverable, to do so you need supporting documentation, so keep all of your bills, receipts, and invoices and make copies. By keeping all of this documentation, it will be a lot harder to dispute your claims.

Non-Economic Damages

After your attorney has calculated all of your economic damages using the supporting documents and evidence that you have, they will now consider what your non-economic damages are worth.

Non-economic damages are named so, as they do not come with a physical, tangible price attached to them in the same way that economic damage do. It is easier to work out how much to recover following a car repair, for example, as there will be clear invoices and receipts.

Non-economic damages cover things like pain and suffering, emotional distress, and any loss of enjoyment of life.

Pain and Suffering

Pain and suffering damages cover all the pain you have been through, as well as all the mental trauma and emotional distress that you have suffered as a result of the accident.

If you have been in intense pain for several months, have developed a phobia of driving a car as a result of a car accident, or have become depressed or anxious, you deserve to be compensated for your suffering.

Loss of Enjoyment of Life

When an accident results in injuries that are long-term or permanent, the victim may suffer for the rest of their life. When this stops them from doing the things they love, this is what we call a loss of enjoyment of life.

An example of this would be if you like to play basketball every weekend with your friends. If, as a result of a car accident, you can no longer play basketball due to the long-term pain you are in, you should be compensated for this loss.

What Qualifies a Person To Make a Personal Injury Claim in Katy Texas?

There are 4 important elements in a personal injury claim. Together with your attorney, you will need to prove the following in the eventuality that your case moves into the courtroom.

  • The person at-fault must have owed you a duty of care at the time they caused the accident.
  • The person at fault must have breached the duty of care by acting in a way that is negligent.
  • This negligent behavior must have caused your accident.
  • This accident must have directly caused you the injuries you are claiming for and the damages you are seeking to recover.

If, currently, you are unsure whether or not you qualify to raise a claim, speak to our team of personal injury attorneys immediately. We can arrange a free consultation and case evaluation where we can explore your options and advise you on the best course of action.

What is Negligent Behavior?

Understanding negligence is important if you want to raise a personal injury claim in the state of Texas.

Negligent behavior is any behavior that can be seen as different from how another “reasonable” person would act in the same situation.

An example of negligent behavior could be speeding on a day when there is heavy rain. A reasonable driver would drive in a sensible manner, perhaps even slowing down due to the rain. The driver who is speeding in these conditions is acting negligently in two ways. Firstly, they are traveling faster than the posted speed limit, and secondly, they are driving recklessly in poor weather conditions.

Common Personal Injury Case Types

As personal injury lawyers, we see a wide range of different cases come through our doors each year. Each and every one of these cases will have unique circumstances and varying levels of negligence and liability. This means that no two are ever the same.

Our personal injury lawyers have dealt with almost all manner of personal injury case, such as:

Slip and Fall or Trip and Fall Injuries

Extremely common, are falls from height, slips, trips, and falls. These often happen on another person’s property and this means they fall under premise liability.

If someone has failed to make their property safe when they should have and you have been injured as a result, you should contact a personal injury lawyer immediately.

Property owners have a duty of care to anyone who may end up on their property. In some cases, they even owe a certain duty of care to trespassers.

Car Accident Injuries

The number one personal injury type is a car accident injury. Car accidents are a common occurrence in modern times. In the state of Texas, for example, there is a drunk driving accident every 20 minutes.

Car accidents are often caused by drunk drivers, drivers that are distracted or drivers that act recklessly behind the wheel. In these cases, the chances of serious injury or fatality are high.

Premises Liability Injuries

Premise liability is an umbrella for a large variety of different accident types that occur on another person’s property. Things like swimming pool accidents and electrocution both fall under premise liability. The property owner may be held liable if the injured person can prove that the owner was negligent in maintaining the property or failed to warn of any dangerous conditions.

Medical Malpractice Injuries

With the extortionate cost of medical care that we pay here in the United States, we should be able to seek medical attention confident in our medical providers. They should be competent, well trained, and follow the standard medical practices they were taught to follow.

When they deviate from these practices, or act without due care and attention, this is what we call medical malpractice.

Medical malpractice is extremely serious and has the potential to leave patients with lifelong conditions and injuries or worse, may cause the wrongful death of a loved one.

Common forms of medical malpractice include:

  • Failed and Delayed Diagnosis – Your doctor should be able to diagnose the problem you have quickly and accurately. Failed and delayed diagnosis can lead to a delay in treatment or no treatment being given at all.
  • Misdiagnosis – If a doctor diagnoses the wrong condition, then the patient may be given the wrong treatment. In severe cases, this can prove fatal or aggravate a patient’s prior condition.
  • Surgical Error – If a surgeon deviates from the standard medical practices or acts without due care, this is malpractice. Examples include performing the wrong surgery on a patient or leaving medical instruments inside a patient.
  • Wrongful Death Claims – While no financial aid can ease the pain you are suffering, a wrongful death claim can ensure that you are financially secure while you deal with the grief and trauma of losing your loved one.

Which Katy Personal Injury Lawyer Should I Use?

The first step to bringing a personal injury claim against an at-fault party is to first decide who you want to represent you and act as your advocate.

This is a difficult decision for most people, and if you have never had to use a law firm before, researching and choosing the best personal injury lawyers may be a daunting task.

We advise you to avoid making choices based on flashy advertisements. Instead of relying on billboards and TV ads, we recommend that you check the law firms’ past victories and referrals.

A good law firm will be more than happy to showcase their wins and victories, and will usually have a long list of happy clients to back their claims.

Once you have found a law firm with a strong history of success, next you need to ensure that the attorney they plan to assign you is up to the job.

Arrange a free consultation with your potential attorney and use that time to ensure that your attorney meets the following requirements.

  • Personable – You are going to need to spend a lot of time in the company of your attorney, and this means that you need to ensure that your personalities don’t clash. Take your time to speak to them and make sure you feel comfortable with them. Try and figure out a little bit about their ideals and ensure they align with yours.
  • Past Victories in Similar Cases – Ask them about their previous victories in cases just like yours.
  • Time Management – Any skilled and reputable attorney will usually have a busy caseload full of clients. A good attorney will have a full caseload and will use their excellent time management skills to ensure that their caseload is not too full and that they make adequate time for each one of their clients. You shouldn’t expect 24/7 access to their time, but you should feel they answer queries quickly and allocate you time in their schedule.
  • Organization Skills – In order to investigate to the best of their ability, and keep the case moving at the speed it should, your attorney should have great organization skills.

What to Do at The Scene of the Accident

There are certain steps you can take at the scene of the accident to ensure that you are both safe and protected.

Prioritize your safety

Always remember, your safety takes top priority. If you have just been involved in an accident, the first thing you should check once it’s over is to see if you have hit your head or hurt your back. If you suspect either of these are true, remain still and tell anyone who tries to move you to call an ambulance, as you may have spinal damage or head trauma.

If you are confident you have not suffered a spinal injury or head trauma, check yourself for injuries. If you are able, you can check other parties for injuries too but only do so if it is safe.

If you are at risk of further danger, move to a safe location as a priority.

Call an ambulance if there are injuries

If you have injuries, or any other party has injuries, you must call an ambulance immediately. They will be able to treat everyone on the scene. They will also look over any parties who do not have any outwards symptoms. Adrenaline and shock can mask a lot of pain and symptoms, and this means that internal injuries may lie hidden until they become much worse later on down the line.

The ambulance team will also file a report that can be accessed by your attorney later on. Reports like this are an excellent piece of unbiased evidence that can support your claim.

Call the police/fire department

The police must be called in car accident cases and any cases where the at-fault parties are a threat to others. One example where the police prove crucial is in the case of DUI accidents. The police will be able to administer a blood alcohol test to the at-fault driver. The police will also corden off and divert oncoming traffic.

If the accident involves things like electricity, fire, explosion, gas, or structural damage, you need to call the fire department as well. They are trained to contain this kind of incident, preventing further injury to others.

Collect evidence

When you are confident that you are safe and have done everything you can for yourself and others, now is the optimal time to start collecting evidence if your injuries allow for it.

We recommend taking a video of the accident scene and singular photos of anything you thought was instrumental.

If there were any witnesses on the scene, try to collect all of their details. A smart idea is to ask them if you can record a quick voice note statement. Witnesses can prove unreliable later on down the line when asked for a statement, but if they can simply confirm their previous statement, they are much more likely to help.

Call a team of Katy personal injury attorneys

At any point after the emergency services have been called, it is a smart idea to call your personal injury lawyers. The sooner you call them, the better their chances of conducting a successful investigation.

They will also advise you on what to do and what to say, and this can prove instrumental, as it will protect you from admitting any fault and will remind you on what to do next.

The sooner after the accident that you call your Katy personal injury lawyer, the better. Personal injury cases are always time restrictive. The sooner you call, the sooner they can take over all liaising with your insurance company and the other parties too, giving you room to breathe.

Katy Personal Injury FAQ

Every personal injury case that we deal with is unique. There are so many factors and circumstances that lead to a personal injury case that there is no average time for them to to take.

The length of time that a personal injury case will take will usually rely on its complexity. Simpler cases with clear liability will be over quicker than complex cases with multiple parties and varying degrees of liability.

If your case is simple, the other party is clearly liable and you have a good attorney behind you, many insurance companies may choose to settle out of court as they know their chances of winning a drawn-out legal battle are low.

If your case is more complicated, there is a good chance it may end up in court. At this point, your attorney’s experience and skill will come into play as they fight your case and convince the courts that you are deserving of the compensation you seek and the damages you wish to recover.

Call Houston Injury Lawyers, PLLC

At Houston Injury Lawyers, PLLC, our team of Katy personal injury attorneys has extensive experience and a long history of success. They are exceptionally skilled at calculating fair and reasonable damages, and they are aggressive litigators, unafraid to stand up to the insurance company and their legal teams in court.

We never settle for less, we never back down from a fight and we won’t rest until we have exhausted every avenue in seeking the full and maximum compensation you deserve.

Contact us today for a free consultation and case evaluation at 936-251-5246.