El Paso Personal Injury Lawyers

We all try to stay safe, but sometimes accidents happen in life, such as auto accidents, job-related injuries, slip-and-fall incidents, dog bites, and more. If another person or entity causes an accident in El Paso that injures you or a loved one, you could have large medical bills and be out of work for months. How will you make ends meet and recover?

You may obtain compensation for your injuries and other damages by filing a personal injury claim. With the assistance of El Paso personal injury lawyers, you could receive vital compensation for your medical bills, lost earnings, and physical and mental pain and suffering.

If another party injured you recently in an accident, it’s recommended that you contact an attorney for a complimentary case review. Our El Paso personal injury lawyers at Nix Patterson have years of experience holding negligent parties accountable for their actions.

What Is a Personal Injury Case?

When you’re injured in an accident because of someone else’s negligence or wrongful act, you have legal recourse under state law. The person or entity that injured you should cover your medical expenses, lost earnings, and other damages in a personal injury case. Many personal injury cases are resolved in a settlement, but you may need to file a personal injury lawsuit to get the insurance company to compensate you fairly.

If a personal injury case goes to court, it may be resolved relatively quickly. Or it can take months or years to sort out. The only way to know how your personal injury case could be resolved is to speak to El Paso personal injury lawyers. If you were in an accident with severe injuries and property damage, it is usually a mistake to handle your own personal injury case. Insurance companies know how to take advantage of injured parties who don’t have an attorney. Your lawyer will level the playing field so you obtain the most compensation in your personal injury case.

Types of Personal Injury Cases

When someone acts negligently or carelessly and injures you, there could be a personal injury case. You may have expensive medical bills, lost earnings because you cannot work, and pain and suffering. You can file a personal injury claim for compensation to recover most of your losses.

There are several kinds of personal injury cases in El Paso and across Texas outlined below. If you have been injured recently in one of these accidents, a Nix Patterson personal injury lawyer can review your case today at no charge:

Auto Accidents

Most personal injury cases in El Paso stem from auto accidents. Texas is a fault state for auto accidents. This means you must file a personal injury claim with the at-fault party’s insurance company to get compensation for your losses. If your losses are more than the insurance policy’s limits, or the driver didn’t have insurance, you can file a lawsuit.

El Paso is a growing West Texas city, and auto accidents are becoming more common every day. Some of the most dangerous roads in El Paso are:

• Highway 62/180/Montana Avenue
• Zaragoza Road
• Oyer Street and US 54
• Mesa Street
• I-10 through downtown El Paso

If you were in a car accident caused by another party, get immediate medical attention and retain a car accident lawyer as soon as possible.

Slip-and-Fall Accidents

Property owners in El Paso and the rest of the state must ensure that their properties are in good condition and safe for guests and visitors. If a property owner is negligent and someone is injured on their premises, they can file a personal injury claim.

Common causes of slip-and-fall accidents in El Paso are wet floors, broken steps and handrails, wet sidewalks and parking lots, poor lighting inside buildings, and loose flooring or carpeting. A slip-and-fall accident can happen in a private residence or a business.

Defective Products

People use consumer products every day in El Paso, and when they do, the products should be safe for use. However, improperly manufactured or designed products injure and kill people every day in the United States. If a defective product injures you, you can file a product liability case against the manufacturer, designer, or retailer.

Job-Related Accidents

Texas workers are protected by the workers’ comp system in El Paso. Workers’ compensation offers coverage for medical bills and lost earnings after a job-related injury. Fault does not need to be proven in a job-related injury claim. However, you cannot file a personal injury lawsuit against your employer in most cases. But there are exceptions to this rule that your El Paso personal injury lawyers will review with you.

Dog Bites

Texas dog owners are required to control their animals at all times. But dogs get loose and attack others. Texas owners are legally negligent if they were aware the dog had a violent history and they didn’t take adequate measures to make sure it didn’t hurt anyone in the future.

Compensation in El Paso Personal Injury Cases

Damages in Texas personal injury cases are in three categories: economic, non-economic, and punitive:

Economic Damages

Economic damages in your personal injury case compensate you for the financial losses you incurred because of the accident. The major types of economic damages in a personal injury claim are:

• Medical costs. Medical expenses vary based on the severity and type of your injuries. These damages may include ER care, ambulance rides, surgeries, hospital stays, doctor’s appointments, prescriptions, mobility and medical equipment, and physical therapy. You also may be entitled to future medical expenses for severe injuries.
• Lost wages. You can receive compensation in your El Paso personal injury case for your lost earnings due to incapacitation from your injuries. You could lose wages if you miss work time to recover from your injuries. Or you may not make the same wage if you must work part-time during your recovery. You also may receive funds for lost future earning capacity if you have severe injuries.
• Property damage. You can receive compensation for personal property damage from the accident. For instance, you could receive money to repair or replace your vehicle after an El Paso car accident.
• Out-of-pocket costs. Any other expenses you paid out of pocket also may be covered, such as housekeeping and child care expenses, if you cannot do those tasks yourself.

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages are your emotional and permanent losses related to your injuries. These damages are subjective and open to considerable interpretation by you, your attorney, and the insurance company. Your El Paso personal injury lawyer will rely on your medical records, doctor’s statements, and other evidence to fight for the most non-economic damages:

• Pain and suffering. You can obtain compensation for your physical pain and mental suffering related to your injuries and treatments. For example, if you have severe pain during treatments for your burns from a car accident, you could receive considerable pain and suffering compensation.
• Disability, scarring, and permanent impairment. You also could receive compensation if you suffer visible scarring and impairment. For instance, if you have scarring from skin grafts on your arms and face, you could receive compensation.
• Loss of life quality. This may be awarded for loss of life quality related to your injuries. If your back injury means you cannot play with your children or exercise as you used to, you could receive compensation for this loss.

Punitive Damages

Punitive damages are awarded less often but could be provided in cases involving extreme recklessness by the defendant. For instance, if an El Paso drunk driver was three times over the legal limit and severely injured you, punitive damages to punish the driver could be awarded.

Most personal injury claims in Texas don’t have compensation caps. However, punitive damages are limited to $200,000 or twice the compensatory damages — up to $750,000 — whichever is greater.

The amount of compensation available in your El Paso injury claim can vary widely. Every accident case is different; some cases could be worth a few thousand dollars, while others could be worth hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. The severity of your injuries and whether you enjoy a full recovery are critical factors that affect the size of a settlement or award.

How Is Fault Determined in El Paso Personal Injury Cases?

Texas is a fault state, meaning you need to file a claim against the liable party to receive compensation for your losses. Having a valid personal injury claim means proving that the other party’s negligence or wrongful act caused the incident. For example, in an El Paso car accident, your attorney must prove the following for your case to result in compensation:

• The at-fault party had a duty of care to not injure you or others
• The at-fault driver violated their duty of care
• The breach of the duty of care resulted in your injuries
• Your injuries resulted in damages that can be compensated for in a claim or lawsuit

In a car accident case, there are several pieces of important evidence that may be used to prove fault:

• Photos and videos from the accident scene
• Names and contact details from eyewitnesses
• The police report, especially if the other driver is cited
• Surveillance video of the crash, if available
• Electronic records, such as commercial truck black box data or cell phone records

How Nix Patterson’s El Paso Personal Injury Attorneys Can Help

After an accident through no fault of your own, you may wonder if hiring an El Paso personal injury attorney is a wise step. Personal injury attorneys are ready to help injured clients receive compensation after many kinds of accidents. They have years of proven experience holding insurance companies and at-fault defendants liable for their negligence. Your attorney may help you in the following ways to ensure your case’s success:

Your Attorney Understands the Legal Process

A personal injury attorney understands the Texas legal process, courts, judges, and prosecutors in the community. Experienced attorneys have worked on many cases similar to yours and know what it takes to produce the best results.

Your attorney also knows how to handle tough insurance companies that want to pay you as little as possible. For example, your attorney will negotiate aggressively for a fair accident settlement and threaten a lawsuit if the offer is unfair.

Working with an Attorney Improves Your Chances

Having an attorney work on your behalf after a serious accident increases the chances you will receive a fair settlement or case award. No matter how much time you put into a case yourself, you probably are not a personal injury lawyer. The insurance company knows the advantage over you when you don’t have a lawyer. Hiring a skilled El Paso personal injury lawyer tells the insurance company you’re serious and won’t settle for a small settlement.

You Can Focus on Healing

One of the most challenging aspects of a serious personal injury is being forced to deal with many legal and insurance issues when you’re seriously injured. Not only are you dealing with pain, limited mobility, medical bills, and an inability to work. You also have to haggle with a difficult insurance company and produce whatever documents and evidence they demand.

Hiring a personal injury attorney immediately after an accident lifts these onerous demands from your shoulders when you need it the most. You can focus your time on healing, and your attorney will handle the legal matters.

Your attorney doesn’t charge upfront legal fees, and there is no cost if you don’t receive compensation in a settlement or lawsuit. Most accident victims with substantial injuries and property damage are always better off financially by hiring an attorney to represent them.

Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury in Texas

Are you thinking about filing a personal injury claim in El Paso? You should remember that you don’t have unlimited time to take legal action. You usually have only two years from the date of the incident to file a personal injury lawsuit. If you don’t act within this time, you will probably be ineligible for compensation. Actually, filing a lawsuit does not take your attorney a lot of time, but researching the case effectively can take months. So, it is essential to hire a personal injury attorney in El Paso as soon as possible.

Contact Nix Patterson’s El Paso Personal Injury Lawyers Today

Being injured in a car, truck, slip-and-fall, or other type of accident can be one of the most upsetting of life’s experiences. In a moment, you have a serious injury that prevents you from working and living and enjoying life as you always have. Fortunately, Texas law allows you to file a personal injury case against the at-fault party or company that caused the accident.

Contact an experienced personal injury lawyer at Nix Patterson today for a complimentary and private legal consultation. Our attorneys will thoroughly review your case and determine what your legal options are.