Yes. Texas personal injury cases follow modified comparative negligence rules. This means any financial award can be reduced if the insurance company convinces the jury that you had some responsibility. As a result, insurance companies routinely instruct their lawyers to file legal pleadings claiming you had at least some responsibility for the event that caused your brain injury, even if there is no evidence.
Here’s what you should know about modified comparative negligence, how it can impact Texas concussion or traumatic brain injury (TBI) litigation, and the importance of having an experienced brain injury lawyer who “gets it.”
Modified Comparative Negligence Could Play a Major Role in Shaping Your Brain Injury Recovery
Under the Lone Star State’s comparative fault laws, it’s possible to recover compensation in a brain injury lawsuit even if you’re partially to blame for the accident that caused your TBI. However, your recovery will be reduced to reflect the percentage of fault the jury assigns you—and if you’re more than 50 percent responsible, you’re not entitled to any compensation at all.
Consider This Hypothetical Case
Imagine you're driving down one of Dallas-Fort Worth's busy highways during rush hour. You're changing the radio to your favorite music station when suddenly, a driver runs a red light and crashes into your car—causing you to sustain a brain injury.
While the other driver clearly violated traffic rules and caused the crash, an insurance company might hire a lawyer to take the position that your distraction contributed to the accident. The insurance company could say,”If you hadn’t been focused on changing the radio station, you could have swerved and avoided the collision.”
How This Case Might Play Out at Trial
In Texas, if this case went to trial, the judge would tell the jury to apply the comparative negligence principle and assign each party an appropriate percentage of fault. Let’s say that the jury finds the other driver 80 percent responsible for running the red light and finds you 20 percent at fault for being distracted. If the hypothetical financial award was $100,000, the court would reduce it to $80,000 to reflect your 20 percent partial responsibility.
Why You Need a Skilled Texas Brain Injury Lawyer
Concussions and TBIs can be life-altering. After suffering these injuries, victims can require ongoing medical treatment and various other therapies and support in order to cope with their new limitations. The cost of all this care adds up quickly.
Insurance companies have a history of denying claims as a matter of practice and often assert that the injured person (YOU) caused or contributed to the crash. Even if that is not true, insurance companies will say this in an attempt to reduce your recovery. You need a lawyer with more than a TV nickname. You want a seasoned trial lawyer who has beaten the insurance company consistently for decades, who will build a winning case and fight to prevent you from taking more of the blame than you deserve. Fortunately, you’re in the RIGHT PLACE!! You have come to the right firm.
Our Experienced Dallas-Fort Worth Concussion and TBI Attorney Truly “Gets It”
At The Bonneau Firm, we focus solely on cases involving 18-wheeler accidents, concussions and TBIs, and other catastrophic injuries. Attorney Hunt Bonneau’s experience recovering from concussions during his college football days provides valuable insight, allowing him to communicate the wide-ranging effects of these complex injuries to juries in a way that is real and convincing. His own battle with this injury gives his clients a strategic advantage that not only wins cases but maximizes their value.
Depending on the facts and evidence in your Texas brain injury case, your recovery might include compensation for:
- Medical expenses, including the cost of ongoing care
- Lost wages and reduced earning capacity
- Property damages
- Out-of-pocket costs
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional distress, such as anxiety, depression, and trauma
- Loss of consortium (the impact of the injury on relationships and companionship with your spouse)
- Long-term or permanent impairment or disability