Determining Negligence in a Personal Injury Case
Negligence means that someone has failed to use the level of care that’s required under the circumstances and, as a result, someone else has suffered an injury. In order to establish negligence, the plaintiff has to prove four things:
- The defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care
- That duty was breached in some way
- The defendant’s conduct has harmed the plaintiff, and
- The plaintiff has sustained some type of injury (e.g., physical, emotional, financial).
When a plaintiff can prove each of these things (or the elements of another tort), the defendant can be ordered to pay compensation for the harm they’ve caused.
How Much Does A Personal Injury Lawyer in Fort Worth Cost?
Getting into an unexpected accident in Fort Worth can be really overwhelming. Between medical expenses, lost income, and disability, it can
also be quite costly. You might worry that you can’t afford to hire an attorney to help you pursue compensation. However, that’s not the case at Stephens Law Firm, PLLC. Jason Stephens, like most other personal injury attorneys in Fort Worth, works on contingency.
Contingency means that Jason’s fee is dependent on the outcome of your case. Stephens Law Firm, PLLC only gets paid if you receive financial compensation through a settlement or verdict. When Jason wins, Stephens Law is awarded a pre-agreed upon percentage of your financial recovery. That percentage can vary, depending on the specific circumstances of your case. However, it typically ranges between 30 and 40 percent of your net award.
Texas Personal Injury Laws
There are times when more than one person will contribute to an accident. In some cases, victims are partly responsible for their own injuries. Different states handle this in different ways. Some prevent victims from recovering any compensation, at all. These are states with pure contributory fault rules. Many allow victims to recover compensation but limit how much money can be awarded, based on how much fault the victim shares. These are comparative negligence states. Texas has rules that are somewhere in the middle.
Texas is a modified comparative fault state. This means that damages are only prohibited if you share more than 50 percent of the blame for an accident. If you’re not primarily responsible, reduced damages are available. The less fault that’s assigned to you, the more money you can potentially recover.