Texas Injury Lawyer Blog

The consumer protections set out in the Deceptive Trade Practices Act seem to have escaped notice in a session of the Texas Legislature otherwise notable for corporate and insurance friendly changes to Texas law. The DTPA continues to authorize economic damages, mental anguish, treble damages, costs and attorneys' fees based upon a finding of a false, misleading or deceptive trade practice. If the Defendant's violation of the DTPA is found to be committed "knowingly" then the jury may award additional damages up to three times the amount of the economic damages. If the jury finds that the Defendant's violation of the DTPA was "intentional" then the additional damages may be in an amount not more than three times the economic and mental anguish damages. Although the Act has undergone a number of changes including exempting personal injury and medical malpractice claims from the Act in continues to be a powerful consumer protection tool.

For more information contact a Tyler Deceptive Trade Practices Attorney.

Texas auto accident claimants must be familiar with the special rules and notice provisions which apply to governmental units if their car wreck was caused or contributed to by an auto owned by the such a unit. Most people in Texas have the general understanding that if someone causes a car wreck the innocent driver has two years in which to bring a claim. While this is generally true there are exceptions and the effect of the exceptions can be brutal. Many times I have been contacted by new clients who spent the first year after their accident trying in vain to handle their own auto accident claim. This is fine in many cases. However, in a case involving an at-fault driver who was acting in the course and scope of their employment by a municipality it may be too late.

Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code Section 101.101 provides that a governmental unit is entitled to receive certain specified notice within six months of the occurrence. So if a claimant reads Section 101 and gives notice within six months have they preserved their claim? The answer is, "Maybe." Section 101 specifically ratifies city charter and notice provisions and the claimant must look to the provisions of the governmental unit which employed the at-fault driver. These provisions are usually buried somewhere in the unit's charter or ordinances. Some units have much shorter notice periods and shorter notice periods have been specifically approved by the caselaw.

Claimants or injury lawyers making a claim against a governmental unit should be aware of the specific notice provisions of that unit or the case may literally be over before they know it.

For more information contact a Tyler Auto Accident Attorney today.

Texas employers who are subscribers to the workers' compensation program are still nonetheless liable for punitive damages in connection with the death of an employee upon a showing of gross negligence. Although being a subscriber gives an employer limited immunity from the ordinary negligence claims of their employees that immunity does not extend to liability for intentional acts or gross negligence which results in the death of an employee.

Texas Labor Code Section 408.001 provides that the spouse and "heirs of the body" of a deceased worker have a right to bring a claim against an employer with workers' compensation insurance for punitive damages. In order to be successful the spouse and heirs must show that the conduct of the employer created an extreme risk of harm to the employee, that the employer had actual subjective awareness of the extreme risk created by their acts and/or omissions, and that the employer was consciously indifferently to that risk. Because workers' compensation coverage provides lost wages and medical benefits and a gross negligence claim seeks punitive damages the two claims are deemed not to be in conflict with one another and both claims may be pursued. Injured workers would be well advised to contact a Texas workers' compensation attorney.

If a Texas employer elects not to purchase workers' compensation insurance then the employer is a "nonsubscriber" and does not have the immunity granted by the program. Nonsubscriber employers lose the right to assert the common law defenses of assumption of the risk and contributory negligence. Furthermore, nonsubscribers are subject to Wrongful Death and Survival claims pursuant to Chapter 71 of the Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code.

For more information contact a Tyler Wrongful Death Attorney today.

Texas drunk drivers continue to have one of the highest incidences of drunken driving in the nation. Texas' history of drinking and driving is long standing. In the face of an epidemic the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) was formed in the 1980s with its national headquarters in Irving, Texas. MADD has worked tirelessly to increase the awareness of the dangers of drunken driving, stiffen the criminal penalties for drinking and driving, and focus more resources and attention on prosecuting alcohol related traffic offenses. After almost 30 years of diligent effort the current statistics are a little discouraging.

Although some improvement in the numbers of drivers killed in alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents has been reported the decrease is a little misleading. Cars are much safer than they were 30 years ago largely due to the relentless efforts of products liability lawyers. Thus any decrease in the number of motorists killed in alcohol-related crashes may be solely due to safer cars.

According to the 2009 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Report 10,839 people were killed in accidents caused by a driver with a blood alcohol level (BAC) of great than .08%. Texas is the clear frontrunner in alcohol-related fatalities with 1,463 deaths, followed by California and Florida with 1,198 and 1,041 deaths, respectively. An accident is "alcohol-related" if one of the non-passengers has a BAC of .01 % or higher. A driver is "alcohol-impaired" if he has a BAC of .08% or higher. Using the higher alcohol-impaired standard Texas still leads the nation with 1,269 alcohol-impaired motor vehicle fatalities, followed by California with 1,029 fatalities. Unfortunately, this means that in Texas alone between 3 and 4 people lose their lives each day in an alcohol-impaired motor vehicle accident.

According to MADD:

One person will die every 50 seconds in a drunk driving crash;

On average a drunk driver is arrested the 87th time that he drives drunk;

One third of the population will be involved in an alochol-related crash at
some point in their lifetime;

Most drivers convicted of a DWI continue to drive even after their driver's license has been taken from them.

Texas has taken steps in the right direction to address the problem of drunken driving but stiffer penalties and more aggressive prosecution are needed.

For more information contact a Tyler Auto Accident Attorney today.