Personal Injury Lawyers in Texas

About Personal Injury in Texas

Texas personal-injury claims may involve state district courts, statutory county courts, or a governmental claims process. Filing deadlines, court jurisdiction, and pre-suit requirements depend on the claim and defendant; the sourced rules below preserve those distinctions.

Texas generally requires a personal-injury suit within two years after the cause of action accrues, but Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003(a) expressly preserves exceptions in §§ 16.010, 16.0031, and 16.0045. The rule is not an exceptionless two-year deadline, and this subsection does not define when every claim accrues.

A Texas suit for injury resulting in death generally must be brought within two years after accrual, and § 16.003(b) states that the cause of action accrues on the injured person's death.

Texas excludes a period of legal disability from a limitations period when the person is younger than 18, regardless of marriage, or is of unsound mind. Disabilities cannot be combined to extend the period, and a disability arising after limitations begins does not suspend it.

Texas provides a 30-year period for personal-injury suits arising from conduct violating only the specific Penal Code offenses enumerated in § 16.0045(a), including specified child sexual-assault, continuous-abuse, trafficking, and compelled-prostitution offenses. It is not a general extension for assault or abuse claims.

For actions governed by Texas's proportionate-responsibility chapter, a claimant may not recover when the claimant's responsibility is greater than 50 percent. The bar is not triggered at exactly 50 percent, and Chapter 33 does not govern every civil claim.

When recovery is not barred, § 33.012(a) requires the court to reduce damages by the claimant's percentage of responsibility. The same section separately requires a dollar-for-dollar reduction for settlements, so percentage responsibility is not the only possible adjustment.

The Texas Tort Claims Act generally entitles a governmental unit to notice no later than six months after the incident, describing the claimed damage or injury and the incident's time, place, and circumstances. Section 101.101(b) ratifies city-charter and ordinance provisions with a shorter permitted notice period, and § 101.101(c) provides an actual-notice exception.

Texas Tort Claims Act caps vary by defendant: the state and municipalities have $250,000-per-person and $500,000-per-occurrence bodily-injury or death caps, while another unit of local government has $100,000-per-person and $300,000-per-occurrence caps. Each tier has a $100,000 property-damage cap per occurrence; these figures apply only within Tort Claims Act liability.

A person asserting a Texas health care liability claim must send written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to each physician or health care provider at least 60 days before suit and include the statutory medical-authorization form. This requirement does not apply to injury claims generally.

In a Texas health care liability claim, the claimant generally must serve expert reports and each expert's curriculum vitae no later than the 120th day after each defendant files an original answer, unless the affected parties agree in writing to an extension.

For a Texas health care liability claim, § 74.301(a) limits noneconomic damages against physicians and health care providers other than health care institutions to $250,000 per claimant, regardless of the number of those defendants or causes of action. The provision does not cap economic damages and is not a single cap for all health care defendants.

A Texas driver involved in a collision causing injury, death, or damage that makes a vehicle unsafe to drive must immediately notify the proper agency by the quickest means. For a collision inside a municipality, notice goes to the local police department.

A Texas officer who investigates a collision involving injury, death, or apparent property damage of at least $1,000 to one person must file a written report electronically with TxDOT within 10 days. That is the officer's filing deadline, not a guarantee that a public copy will be available within 10 days.

Texas crash reports and compiled crash information are confidential and may be released only after a written request and any required fee to a person authorized by § 550.065; they are not available to every requester.

TxDOT's Crash Report Online Purchase System sells a regular Texas Peace Officer's Crash Report (CR-3) for $6 or a certified copy for $8, plus a system surcharge, and delivers a purchased report by email. TxDOT does not promise when a report will become available, and eligibility restrictions still apply.

Sources: Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.0045(a), Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 33.012, Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 101.023, Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 74.301(a), Texas Transportation Code § 550.065, Texas Department of Transportation — Crash Reports and Records (verified 2026-08-29)

Frequently Asked Questions