Spinal cord injury (SCI) claims in Texas are fundamentally different from other personal injury cases because the harm is not a one-time event, but a lifelong condition that redefines your future.
Unlike a broken bone that heals, an SCI creates a cascade of permanent medical, financial, and personal needs.
Successfully handling these claims requires proving not just what you have lost, but what you will need for the rest of your life to maintain the highest possible quality of life. The stakes are immense, and the approach must be meticulously detailed and forward-looking.
If you have a question about how a spinal cord injury has impacted you or your family, call us at (210) 941-1301.
Key Takeaways for Texas Spinal Cord Injury Claims
- Lifetime costs are the central focus. An SCI claim must account for decades of future medical care, home modifications, and lost earning capacity, not just immediate bills.
- Proving fault is aggressively contested. Because the financial stakes are so high, insurers will thoroughly investigate to shift blame and reduce their payout, making Texas's 51% fault rule a major hurdle.
- Specialized evidence is required. A successful claim depends on expert-created life care plans, economic projections, and vocational assessments to prove the full extent of your future needs.
The Core Difference: Calculating the Cost of a Lifetime, Not Just an Incident
When you begin to think about the future, the true financial weight of a spinal cord injury becomes clear. It extends far beyond the obvious hospital bills. We work to account for every single anticipated need, many of which you may not have even considered yet.
These long-term financial burdens include:
- Ongoing Medical Care: It includes potential future surgeries to address complications, consistent physical and occupational therapy to maintain function, sophisticated pain management regimens, and a lifetime of prescription medications.
- Home and Vehicle Modifications: Your home and transportation must be adapted to your new reality. This means installing wheelchair ramps, creating accessible bathrooms with roll-in showers, widening doorways, and purchasing and maintaining specially equipped vehicles with hand controls or lifts.
- Assistive Technology: Daily life typically requires advanced technology. This category includes high-tech power wheelchairs, specialized communication devices for those with limited mobility, environmental control units, and other tools that enable a degree of independence.
- In-Home Care: Depending on the level of the injury, you may require skilled nursing or personal assistance for daily activities. This cost alone accumulates to hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars over a lifetime.
- Lost Earning Capacity: This is one of the most significant financial losses. We don't just calculate the wages you've lost since the accident. We must prove what your career path would have been and calculate the total income you will never have the opportunity to earn.
How We Build a Case to Secure Your Future
To address these immense future costs, we do not simply present a stack of current bills. We build a case based on methodical, evidence-based projections. The cornerstone of this effort is a document known as a "life care plan."
A life care planner is a specialized medical and financial expert. Their job is to conduct a thorough analysis of your specific injury and your pre-injury life to create a comprehensive, detailed report. This report outlines every single anticipated medical and personal need you will have for the rest of your life, with associated costs.
This document transforms abstract future needs into a concrete, defensible number and serves as the foundation of our demand for compensation. We then work with economists who take the data from the life care plan and project those costs over your expected lifetime, carefully accounting for future inflation and anticipated advancements in medical technology.
Proving Fault Is More Complicated When the Stakes Are This High
When a potential insurance payout is in the millions of dollars, be certain that the at-fault party's insurance carrier will invest significant resources into defending the claim. A multi-million dollar spinal cord injury claim represents a major financial event for them, and their business model requires them to balance paying claims with maintaining profitability.
The Role of Texas's 51% Bar Rule in Your Claim
A key legal concept in these cases is Texas’s modified comparative negligence law. Found in the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 33.001, this rule is also called the "51% bar rule." Simply put, it means that if you are found to be 51% or more at fault for the accident that caused your injury, you are barred from recovering any compensation at all. So, if you are found to be 20% at fault, your total compensation will be reduced by 20%.
The insurance company is keenly aware of this rule. Their investigators will scrutinize every piece of evidence, looking for any opportunity to shift a portion of the blame onto you. Their goal is to reduce what they have to pay. Our role is to build a wall of evidence to protect you from any unfair allocation of fault.
How We Investigate Commercial Vehicle Crashes
Our practice has a heavy focus on crashes involving commercial trucks, and these cases present unique legal hurdles. When a delivery truck from a company like Amazon, a semi-truck from UPS, or a van from FedEx is involved, our investigation goes far beyond the driver's actions. We investigate the company itself to determine if corporate negligence contributed to the crash.
We look for answers to key questions:
- Driver History: Was the driver properly screened and trained? Did they have a history of traffic violations or reckless driving that the company should have known about?
- Company Policies: Did the company have policies that encouraged or pressured drivers to speed or violate federal hours-of-service rules? Demanding delivery quotas sometimes leads to dangerous shortcuts.
- Vehicle Maintenance: Were the truck’s brakes, tires, and other safety systems properly inspected and maintained according to regulations? A maintenance log tells a compelling story.
- Black Box Data: We act immediately to send a preservation letter, demanding that the company preserve the truck's electronic data recorder (the "black box"). This device provides objective data on the truck's speed, braking, and other key actions in the moments leading up to the collision.
The Evidence We Gather Is Different in an SCI Case
Your medical records are an important part of the case, but in a spinal cord injury claim, they are just the starting point. While a typical injury claim might center on X-rays and doctor's notes, an SCI claim must paint a complete and compelling picture of your life—before the injury and after. We must tell a human story, supported by irrefutable data.
Expert Witnesses Are Key
To tell this story effectively, we assemble a team of experts who explain the full scope of your losses to an insurance company or a jury. This team may include:
- Vocational Experts: These professionals testify about your inability to return to your previous job. More than that, they identify the specific range of jobs you are now permanently disqualified from and quantify the total value of your lost earning capacity over a lifetime.
- Economists: An economist takes the life care plan and the vocational expert's report and projects the total economic loss. They use established methodologies to calculate a final figure that accounts for inflation, lost benefits, and other economic factors.
- Accident Reconstructionists: Especially in difficult truck accident cases, these experts use physics, engineering, and forensic evidence to create a scientific model showing exactly how the crash occurred.
"Day in the Life" Videos
One of the most powerful forms of evidence we develop is what's known as a "Day in the Life" video. This is a short, professionally produced documentary that shows the daily realities of your life with a spinal cord injury. It respectfully documents the challenges, the pain, the daily therapies, and the help you need with tasks that were once simple.
This evidence is impactful because it shows the true human cost in a way that words and documents never could. It allows the insurance adjuster and, if necessary, the jury to understand the daily courage and struggle that now define your existence.
Managing Deadlines and Unique Legal Challenges in Texas
Texas law sets a strict two-year deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit, a rule known as the statute of limitations. This rule is found in the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003.
While two years might sound like a long time, it passes very quickly when you are focused on medical treatments and rehabilitation. For the legal team, that time is precious for building a difficult spinal cord injury case that requires extensive investigation and expert consultations.
The Clock is Ticking While You Are Focused on Recovery
While you are working on your physical recovery, the clock is ticking on your legal rights. Evidence may be lost or destroyed. Witnesses' memories fade. The trucking company and its insurer are not waiting; they begin building their defense immediately after a crash. Any delay in seeking legal guidance puts your case at a significant disadvantage.
Getting Legal Help Early Protects Your Rights
Contacting an attorney early allows us to take immediate action to preserve the evidence needed to build your case. We send spoliation letters to trucking companies, which are formal legal demands that they preserve the truck itself, its maintenance logs, driver records, and all electronic data. We begin interviewing witnesses and documenting the accident scene before it is altered.
Frequently Asked Questions About Texas Spinal Cord Injury Claims
Can I receive compensation if I wasn't wearing a seatbelt?
Yes, in many cases you still may. Under Texas's comparative fault rule, the defense will likely argue that your failure to wear a seatbelt contributed to the severity of your injuries.
However, this does not automatically prevent you from recovering compensation. Our work would focus on showing that the other driver's negligence was the primary cause of the accident itself.
What are punitive damages and do they apply in SCI cases?
Punitive damages, also called "exemplary damages" in Texas, are intended to punish a defendant for particularly reckless behavior and deter similar conduct in the future. They are awarded in addition to compensation for your actual losses.
Under Texas law, securing these damages requires "clear and convincing evidence" that the harm resulted from gross negligence or malice—for instance, a trucking company knowingly putting a dangerously unqualified driver on the road. We always investigate whether the defendant's conduct rises to this high standard.
What if the injury was caused by a government vehicle in San Antonio?
Claims against government entities in Texas are governed by a different set of rules under the Texas Tort Claims Act. The deadlines are much shorter; you typically have only six months to provide formal written notice of your claim. Failing to meet this deadline bars your right to recovery. Contact a lawyer immediately in any case involving a government-owned vehicle.
Will my disability benefits be affected by a settlement?
It is possible. Receiving a large lump-sum settlement may affect your eligibility for certain needs-based government benefits, such as Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
We help you plan for this. By structuring your settlement, potentially using a tool like a special needs trust, we work to protect your eligibility for these vital long-term benefits.
Do I have to go to court?
The vast majority of difficult personal injury cases, including spinal cord injury claims, are resolved through a settlement before ever reaching a courtroom.
However, we prepare every single case as if it is going to trial. This thorough preparation puts us in the strongest possible negotiating position, showing the insurance company that we are ready and willing to go to court to pursue the maximum compensation available under the law.
Securing Your Future is Our Focus
We understand the immense challenges you and your family are facing. Our practice is built to handle difficult, high-stakes injury claims, particularly those arising from devastating truck accidents on Texas roads.
You are likely facing a flood of questions and uncertainties. You do not need to have all the answers to make the first call. We are here to listen to your story and clearly explain your legal options.
To discuss your situation in a free, no-obligation consultation, call Cowen | Rodriguez | Peacock at (210) 941-1301.