If you suffered a broken leg or other bone in an accident in Texas, our lawyers can prepare your case, negotiate a fair settlement, or go to court and help you get compensation for your injuries.
Many times, court cases end in settlements rather than a jury verdict. A settlement is not always right for every case – and sometimes it is better to fight your case in open court until a jury rules in your favor. Either way, calculating damages from an injury like a broken leg is complex. It isn’t always an issue of how much a particular injury is “worth,” but rather how the injury affects your life and what it costs you financially, physically, and emotionally that helps calculate a settlement. Good settlements should cover victims’ medical expenses, missed income, and emotional distress. Otherwise, our lawyers can take cases to court and seek to prove liability to a jury.
For a free and confidential case review from our Texas personal injury lawyers, call The Queenan Law Firm today at (817) 476-1797.
Broken Bone Injuries Due to Negligence in Texas
In an accident, you might suffer many different types of broken bone injuries. For those who have broken a bone before, you may understand the pain and recovery time associated with one of these injuries. Although many people may have broken a wrist, a finger, or a toe before, the injuries you could sustain in a car accident or other incident may be much more severe, as the risks of breaking vital, hard-to-heal bones could increase.
Broken Bones from Auto Accidents
In a car accident, you may break your wrist or your leg, but there are dozens of other potential broken bones that you could suffer. Some of the more severe broken bone injuries in a car accident involve the neck, spine, or skull. In severe car accidents, you can face severe spinal cord injuries. Even something as simple and common as whiplash has the potential for serious pain and discomfort. In a whiplash injury, the neck’s muscles, tendons, and bones can become strained. These injuries may take a long time to heal, often requiring pain management medication, rest, and other care.
Injuries to the bones in your spinal column have a serious risk of causing spinal cord injuries. If these bones are fractured, the spinal cord becomes vulnerable to injuries that can cause numbness, loss of motor function, or even total paralysis below the point of injury. Spinal cord injuries are common during catastrophic accidents like rollover collisions.
The most serious bone fractures may be skull fractures. Especially if you are hit by debris during a car accident, a skull fracture could mean traumatic brain injuries. The skull is a relatively strong bone, but it is not invincible. If you suffer skull fractures, your brain may be left vulnerable to damage. If you suffer penetrating injuries or sharp pieces of debris enter your brain cavity, the damage to the skull and the brain may be irreparable.
Even with the safety features in car accidents, you can face broken bone injuries in many parts of your body, including arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet, toes, collar bones, ribs, neck, back, spine, hips, and skull. Pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists are not afforded the same protections as car drivers, meaning they may be more likely to sustain serious broken bone injuries when struck by cars.
Broken Bones from Falling Accidents
Falling accidents, apart from car accidents, are some of the most dangerous incidents for victims and could happen anywhere due to negligent property maintenance, including commercial establishments and residential homes. Falling accidents often result in sprains and fractures in the hands and wrists, as victims might brace themselves for impact with the ground. Tripping over a hazard could lead to broken or twisted ankles, which also require medical treatment and result in damages. Full leg breaks could also happen during falling accidents.
As in car accidents, victims could sustain permanent brain or spinal cord damage during falling accidents, whether they trip from standing height or fall from higher heights, like down stairwells, because of poorly secured railings. Such falls could lead to additional injuries apart from just broken bones, like internal organ damage, so getting immediate medical attention is crucial.
Time Limit on Suing Negligent Parties for Broken Legs or Other Fractures in Texas
Texas restricts how long after accidents victims may sue negligent parties for broken legs or other bone breaks, and missing the window of opportunity would bar you from getting financial compensation.
According to Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003, Texas’ statute of limitations for injury claims is two years. This deadline applies to most incidents due to negligence, including car crashes and falling accidents that lead to broken bones. The clock typically begins to count down the date an accident happens unless a tolling exception applies, in which case the filing deadline might get pushed back. Do not assume this will happen automatically, as this could lead to you delaying your case, putting you in a difficult situation if months or years have passed since the accident and you have yet to file your lawsuit.
Calculating a Good Settlement for a Broken Leg Injury Due to Negligence in Texas
The monetary damages you can receive from a broken bone depend on many factors. In a Texas injury lawsuit, we aim to set your injuries right and recover compensation to make you whole again. This means covering all of the economic effects of a bad accident and helping cover the physical and mental effects in the best way that money can.
Medical Expenses
You may be entitled to three main compensatory damages after breaking a bone like your leg because of negligence. The first is medical expenses. Any money you had to spend to treat your injuries should be reimbursed by the person who caused your injuries. This includes the cost of medical bills, emergency treatment and transportation, rides to and from the hospital, prescription medications, follow-up visits, surgeries, and other costs.
To prove that you incurred such damages to prove you deserve compensation. This requires our Texas personal injury lawyers to monitor all treatments after an incident and organize your medical records throughout your physical and financial recovery.
Depending on the location and severity of the bone break, victims might need future care even after the end of their lawsuit. In these situations, our lawyers can get medical experts and treating physicians to testify in court, confirming upcoming treatments and their anticipated costs.
Lost Wages
If you missed work because of a broken leg or other fracture, you may be entitled to the second area of damages, lost wages. Any paychecks you missed because of your injuries should be paid to you in a fair settlement, including past and even future wages, if you are too injured to return to work. To estimate your missed income, our attorneys may obtain information from your employer and review recent tax returns or paychecks.
Pain and Suffering
Lastly, you may be entitled to direct compensation for your physical pain and mental suffering because of a broken leg. There is no way to put a price tag on emotional distress from a specific injury, but courts judge the amount based on how severe an injury is and its negative effects on a victim’s life.
Calculating these losses is a job for the jury, not the judge or the other side’s attorneys. This means keeping good records of medical expenses and lost wages and bringing them before the court. Your own testimony about your experiences with the pain and the effects that the injury had on your life and lifestyle is also good evidence that helps a jury determine what your non-economic damages are worth. Texas has no caps or limits on these damages, so you may be entitled to whatever amount a jury sees fit. Suppose you accept a settlement too soon after filing. In that case, you may be missing out on certain amounts you would otherwise be entitled to, so talk to our Texas personal injury attorneys to understand your case’s worth before accepting any payments for broken bone injuries.
Proving Liability for a Broken Leg in a Texas Injury Lawsuit
To prove the defendant’s liability in court, our lawyers must satisfy four elements: that the defendant owed you a duty of care, that they breached it, that their breach caused your broken leg, and that you incurred real damages.
Regarding the first and second elements, our lawyers can use expert and eyewitness statements to confirm that a duty of care existed and how the defendant breached it. For example, if a negligent driver hits you because they were speeding or driving recklessly, we can quickly contact and interview witnesses to confirm that fact. Crash reconstruction experts can also strengthen claims by reviewing evidence, identifying the at-fault vehicle, and explaining how the accident happened.
Take pictures of your broken leg or other injuries at the scene to prove you were injured during a specific accident. This can help our Texas personal injury lawyers establish causation, which is necessary to show the defendant’s actions directly caused your injuries. Finally, we must present evidence of your real monetary damages from the event, like your medical bills and lost wages.
If we settle your case out of court, we do not necessarily have to prove that the defendant is liable for your broken leg; we must convince them that a jury will find them liable if the case goes to trial so that they propose a better settlement offer to keep the lawsuit out of court.
Call Our Texas Injury Lawyers to Discuss Your Case
For a free and confidential case assessment from our Texas personal injury lawyers, call The Queenan Law Firm today at (817) 476-1797.