Personal injury claims can arise from any number of incidents, such as car accidents, slips and falls, medical malpractice, defective products, and more. The common denominator in most of these cases, however, is negligence—that is, to win compensation in court, you typically must show that the other party was responsible for your injuries and losses.
Texas statutes contain laws particular to several kinds of personal injury cases, but there are also many similarities. If you qualify, a McKinney personal injury lawyer from Underwood Law Office may be able to represent you. This can include pursuing compensation on your behalf in an insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit. We also handle wrongful death lawsuits for surviving family members whose loved one was killed by another party’s negligence.
For a free consultation on your case with a member of our team, call Underwood Law Office today at (972) 535-6377. We work on a contingency-fee-basis, which means our clients do not have to pay us any attorney fees unless and until we recover compensation on their behalf, either in a settlement or on trial.
Types of Personal Injury Cases
A McKinney personal injury lawyer from Underwood Law Office may be able to help you with personal injury cases related to:
- Car accidents: in Texas, the at-fault driver in a car accident may be responsible for the other party’s damages. Underwood Law Office can help defend your rights in the event that an insurance company denies your claim or offers you an insufficient settlement to compensate you for your injuries.
- Truck and bus accidents: Accidents involving large, heavy trucks and buses can lead to serious injuries or death for those in motor vehicles.
- Premises liability: this category refers to injuries that occur on someone else’s property through their negligence. This may include slip and falls, negligent security, dog bites, accidents due to swimming pools hazards, and more.
- Nursing home abuse or neglect: neglected or abused nursing home victims may suffer injury or premature death. Nursing homes may be responsible for preventing abuse from their staff, other residents, and visitors to the facility.
- Medical malpractice: medical malpractice may occur when a negligent physician or medical professional makes an error that another reasonable practitioner would not have, resulting in an injury to the patient.
- Wrongful death: if your loved one has died as the result of someone else’s negligence, you have the right to pursue a wrongful death claim against the party responsible.
These are not the only types of scenarios that may give rise to a personal injury lawsuit. If you believe another party’s negligence caused your injuries, call Underwood Law Office today at (972) 535-6377. A member of our team is standing by to discuss your accident and your options in a free, no-obligation consultation on your case.
For a free legal consultation with a personal injury lawyer serving McKinney, call (972) 535-6377
Comparative Negligence in Texas
Another basic principle of Texas negligence law is found in Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code §33: proportionate responsibility, also known as comparative negligence.
This law means two things:
- In any negligence claim, you cannot recover compensation if you are deemed more than 50% responsible for the incident.
- Your compensation may be reduced in proportion to the responsibility you are assigned for the incident.
For instance, if you were injured in a car accident and the court deemed you 20% at fault, the court will reduce your compensation by 20%.
With comparative negligence in mind, Underwood Law Office can collect evidence of the full extent of the responsible party’s liability when we represent you.
McKinney Personal Injury Lawyer Near Me (972) 535-6377
Damages in a Personal Injury Case
Victims in a personal injury case may be able to recover both economic and non-economic damages. This may include:
- All accident-related medical care, both current and future
- Lost wages for the time the victim missed at work while recovering from injuries
- Reduced earning capability
- Property damages
- Pain and suffering
- And more
An alternate set of damages may be available to surviving family members in a wrongful death lawsuit. Wrongful death damages may include:
- Funeral and burial costs
- Pre-death medical care
- Loss of income
- Loss of companionship
- And more
To learn more about the unique rules surrounding wrongful death lawsuits in Texas, call Underwood Law Office today.
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The Statute of Limitations on Your Case
You generally have two years from the date of the accident to file a personal injury lawsuit in Texas, according to Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code §16.003. A general two-year statute of limitations also pertains to medical malpractice lawsuits, per Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code §74.251, with the proviso that minors under 12 have until they turn 14 to file a lawsuit, or until 10 years pass from the date when the malpractice occurred—whichever comes first.
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Have You Been Injured Due To Another’s Negligence?
Personal Attention Throughout Your Case
It can be hard to deal with the aftermath of your injury. We want you to be able to focus on your recovery while we take on the legal issues present in your case. We perform thorough investigations to get the information that we need to build the strongest possible claim for you. Our personal injury practice includes cases such as:
- Motor vehicle accidents — car, truck or motorcycle crashes
- Premises liability claims — negligent security cases, dog bites and other animal attacks as well as slip-and-falls
- Medical malpractice — wrongsite surgeries, missed diagnosis and other related concerns
- Nursing home abuse or neglect — bedsores, falls and failure to monitor cases
- Catastrophic events — major disasters that result in mass casualties and large numbers of people seriously injured
- Wrong death claims — helping families recover compensation for the loss of a loved one
In most personal injury cases, you will be going up against an insurance company that has a vested interest in paying you as little compensation as possible. The less it pays you, the more it is able to protect its bottom line. It may refuse to make a fair offer and drag your case out unless you have an experienced attorney on your side.
Our team is filled with experienced trial lawyers. Insurance companies know that if they insist upon going to court, that we are going to fight for our clients. We are ready to hold them accountable in order to recover the maximum compensation available in your case.
Other Types of Negligence Accidents
At Underwood Law Office we have handled thousands of different personal injury cases over the last 30 years. Literally, we could write a book about all the different injury cases that we have handled. Generally, the different cases can be grouped into five subcategories, including: premises liability, negligence, motor vehicle and environmental law.
Premises Liability Law:
Underwood Law Office has handled many different premises liability cases over the years, including:
- A trip and fall case caused by a crack in a city sidewalk from a fire hydrant that leaked for many years. The client was a court reporter who broke her wrist on her dominant hand;
- A convenience store negligent security case where a store patron was shot by a drug dealer. The client was rendered a paraplegic as result of the shooting. We proved that store employees created a dangerous condition by buying narcotics from the shooter. We also proved that using inoperable “dummy” cameras was negligent in the high crime area.
- A grocery store negligent maintenance case where a single grape had fallen in the cash register area. The client slipped and fell on the grape while paying for her groceries. The case settled after Mark Underwood, Esq. discovered a smoking gun memo titled: “The Million Dollar Grape” that the grocery store had written after a similar plaintiff injury had happened previously.
- A grocery store negligent maintenance case where “Joy” dishwashing liquid had spilled in the floor of a shopping aisle. The client slipped on the dishwashing liquid while shopping and suffered severe injuries. The property owner store asserted that it always promptly cleaned its aisles. Through investigators, and video, we proved similar substances were not cleaned from the floor for many days despite the store’s assertions.
- Two Convenience store fire cases against very large national oil companies where patrons caught fire while pumping gasoline. The clients caught fire when static electricity at the nozzle ignited the fumes from the gasoline. Our negligence claims proved that the nozzle had not been properly maintained, and the customer had not been warned about the dangers of re-entering a vehicle during cold dry weather.
- A hotel swimming pool and hot tub death where the client died from injuries he received climbing out of the hot tub in his hotel room. He had been celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary with his high school sweetheart. We proved that the hotel actions in using the wrong substance to clean the tile around the hot tub was a failure to exercise due care. The waxy substance decreased the coefficient of friction on the stairs of the hot tub and resulted in a very slippery walking surface.
- A hotel liquor liability case where the client taken to the hotel by the hotel bartender. The client was given free drinks until he reached a .31 blood alcohol liability. At the end of the night, the client called a taxi to take him home. While the waiting in the hotel lobby for the taxi he had called, hotel employees made him wait outside. They ordered: “You are intoxicated to remain in here. We have customers checking in.” After the client staggered outside to wait for the taxi, he fell down a hill and was run over by a car at high speed. He was in a persistent vegetative state for many years.
Negligence Cases:
The negligence cases that Underwood Law Office has handled many types of negligence cases over the years, including:
- A trucking liability case where an intoxicated and high on marijuana driver of a semi-tractor trailer exited a freeway off ramp and ran over a car with four teenage boys in it. The tractor trailer driver attempted to escape the crash by immediately entering the on ramp to return to the highway. His truck broke down on the highway about two miles away and he was arrested. The crash killed one teenager and injured the other three. It was caught on cell phone video while one of the teenage passengers recorded a selfie.
- Motorcycle accident cases where the defendants breached the duties owed by turning their automobiles left in front of our clients who had the right of way.
- A scuba diving death case in Costa Rica and filed under the United States Death on the High Seas Act. The Costa Rican resort where the client vacationed filled his scuba tanks with air contaminated with carbon monoxide which came from an air filter that had burned during the filling of the scuba tanks. The next day, the resort employee leading the scuba dive became ill and floated to the surface of the water with carbon monoxide poisoning. As the boat crew rescued the resort employee and rushed him to the hospital, several members of the dive team also floated to the surface with carbon monoxide poisoning. Our client died because there was no dive boat to rush him back medical treatment.
- The 2010 Upper Big Branch Mass Disaster case where a coal mine exploded and killed 29 people. Underwood Law Office represented 12 coal miners injured and the family of one miner killed in the explosion. By using advanced 3T MRI imaging, we proved that many of the injured had suffered traumatic brain injuries from the explosion.
- Several coal mine accident cases where the coal company violated industry safety standards that resulted in serious physical injuries to the client, including amputation of a limb, back injuries and traumatic brain injuries.
Products Liability:
- The 2013 West, TX Fertilizer Plant explosion where a retail ammonium nitrate dealer blew up and killed over 15 people. Underwood Law Office, and three other firms, represented over 180 of the victims of the disaster. Theories of liability were alleged against the retailer included negligence. Theories of liability against the large chemical companies that manufactured the ammonium nitrate include negligence, failure to warn, strict product liability and negligent product stewardship.
- A Toyota Four Runner Rollover case where the client became a quadriplegic while Mark Underwood worked with the Fredeking, firm in Huntington, WV. The client who was a valedictorian of her high school class used the compensation recovered to become a lawyer in Houston, TX.
- A slip and fall case for a golfer that involved wearing an early version of golf shoe soft spikes while descending a set of stairs at a course. Theories alleged against the spike manufacturer included strict products liability, failure to warn and negligence.
Environmental Cases:
- The 2014 Elk River Chemical Spill where a chemical tanked owned by Freedom Industries leaked crude 4-methylcyclohexanemethanol (MCHM) into the Kanawha river poisoning the water for nearly 300,000 resident of the areas surrounding Charleston, WV. Underwood Law Office, and five other firms, represented the plaintiffs in the United States District Court class action litigation that resulted in a $151 million settlement. Theories alleged against the large chemical company defendants included products liability, failure to warn and product stewardship. Theories of liability alleged against the water company included negligence and liability under several federal environmental statutes.
- The 2017 Arkema Chemical Plant explosions. It was an industrial disaster that polluted the air and water during Hurricane Harvey in Crosby, Texas. Flooding from the hurricane disabled the refrigeration system. The defendants actions were negligent because they had not properly protected or elevated at the plant which manufactured organic peroxides.
Call Underwood Law Office Today
If you have been harmed by someone else’s negligence, a McKinney personal injury lawyer from Underwood Law Office may be able to manage the legal work in your case while you focus on your recovery.
When we work together on your case, our firm may be able to:
- Answer your questions and provide legal advice
- Design a strategy for your case
- Handle all communications with involved parties on your behalf
- Identify the liable party
- Gather evidence of their liability
- Assign a value to your damages
- Negotiate for a settlement with the insurance company of the responsible party insurance company
- Bring your case to trial, if necessary
For a free consultation on your case with a member of our team, call Underwood Law Office today at (972) 535-6377. We may be able to represent you on a contingency-fee-basis with no up-front payments required.
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