Texas Personal Injury Lawyers
Hurt by someone else's negligence? You have rights. We've spent more than 30 years protecting them — and we don't get paid unless you do.
Why Families Across Texas Trust Patterson Law Group
A personal injury can flip your life upside down — sudden medical bills, missed paychecks, an insurance adjuster pressuring you to settle for pennies on the dollar. You did not choose this. You should not have to figure out how to survive it alone.
Patterson Law Group has spent more than three decades fighting for injured Texans. Our attorneys have recovered over $100 million for clients in car wrecks, truck collisions, premises cases, wrongful death matters, and every other category of injury claim. Insurance carriers know our name and they know we'll try a case if they refuse to pay what it's worth.
Every consultation is free. Every case is handled on a contingency fee. We don't get paid unless you do.
Offices in Fort Worth, Arlington, and San Antonio. Every case is taken on a contingency fee — no recovery, no fee.
Types of Personal Injury Cases We Handle
Personal injury law is broad — it covers any case where someone's negligence causes another person harm. Our firm handles the full range, including:
Your Rights Under Texas Personal Injury Law
Texas is a fault-based state. The party who caused your injury — and that party's insurance carrier — is responsible for compensating you. Under Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code §16.003, you generally have two years from the date of injury to file a lawsuit. Wait too long and you lose the right to recover entirely.
Texas also follows a modified comparative fault rule (CPRC §33.001). You can recover damages even if you were partially at fault — as long as your share is 50% or less. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault. Insurance adjusters routinely try to inflate that percentage to cut what they owe.
Compensable damages include past and future medical expenses, lost wages and lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and in cases of gross negligence or drunk driving, exemplary (punitive) damages.
How We Work With You
Our process is simple. You focus on your recovery. We handle everything else.
- 1 Call us. Tell us what happened. Free, confidential, no obligation. We'll give you an honest answer about whether you have a case.
- 2 We investigate. Police reports, surveillance footage, medical records, witness statements, expert consultations. We build the case the right way from day one.
- 3 You focus on healing. We handle every insurance call, every demand, every negotiation. If they refuse to pay fairly, we take them to trial.
Local Offices & City Pages
Patterson Law Group serves all injured Texans from our physical offices in Fort Worth, Arlington, and San Antonio. For city-specific information on this practice area:
How this complements existing sections
The Astro page currently uses the shared 8-H2 template (Why-Trust / Cases-We-Handle / Texas-Law / How-We-Work / Local-Offices / FAQs / CTA / Sidebar-CTA). The sections below are additive and should sit between the existing "Texas Personal Injury Law" block and the "How We Work" block. The "All the Personal Injury Cases We Handle" section can replace the thin existing "Cases We Handle" block if Travis prefers, since it is more comprehensive and carries the internal links the hub needs.
Tone: confident, plainspoken, Texas-led. No fabricated case results, testimonials, statistics, or attorney quotes. Verified firm facts only: 3 offices (Fort Worth, Arlington, San Antonio), (817) 784-2000, $100M+ recovered, 30+ years, 442+ Google reviews, contingency, Se Habla Español.
All the Personal Injury Cases We Handle in Texas
Patterson Law Group represents injured Texans across every category of personal injury work. The principles are the same — negligence, causation, damages — but every type of case has its own statutes, its own evidence, and its own insurance playbook. Picking a firm that actually handles your kind of case matters.
Motor vehicle crashes. Car accidents make up the bulk of Texas personal injury claims, and we work them across every Texas highway and city street. Truck accidents — 18-wheelers, dump trucks, tankers, delivery vans — bring federal regulations (FMCSA, Hours-of-Service, ECM data) and higher policy limits into play. Motorcycle accidents carry the worst injuries and the worst insurance bias, and Texas law treats lane-splitting and helmet use in specific ways our attorneys know how to argue. Bicycle accidents and pedestrian accidents often involve the most vulnerable road users facing the most aggressive defense tactics.
Premises and property. Slip-and-fall and other premises liability claims turn on Texas's invitee/licensee/trespasser framework and on evidence the property owner controls. Daycare accidents involve HHSC licensing, mandated reporters, and child-specific damages.
Serious and specialized matters. Catastrophic injuries — spinal cord injuries, severe burns, amputations, multi-system trauma — change a family's life and require life care planners, vocational economists, and structured-settlement work. Traumatic brain injury cases require neurology, neuropsychology, and specialized advocacy because adjusters routinely undervalue invisible injuries. Railroad accidents bring FELA and Federal Railroad Administration regulations into play. Boat accidents involve Texas Parks & Wildlife reporting, BUI law, and sometimes federal admiralty jurisdiction. Wrongful death cases are filed under Texas Chapter 71 by statutory beneficiaries and run alongside a survival action for the decedent's own pre-death damages.
If your situation does not fit neatly into one of these categories, call us anyway. The intake is free and we will tell you straight whether we are the right firm for the case.
Texas Personal Injury Law: The Framework You Need to Know
Every Texas personal injury claim is built on the same four-element framework — duty, breach, causation, damages — but the statutes that shape each element are specific to Texas. Understanding them is what separates a fair recovery from a missed one.
The statute of limitations is two years. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §16.003 requires that a personal injury lawsuit be filed within two years of the injury, with narrow exceptions for minors and individuals of unsound mind. Cases against governmental entities — a city bus, a county vehicle, a TxDOT-controlled roadway — require formal written notice within a much shorter window under the Texas Tort Claims Act, often six months or less. Fort Worth, Arlington, and San Antonio each have their own charter notice provisions. Wrongful death claims under Chapter 71 also carry the two-year deadline, running from the date of death.
Modified comparative fault. Texas follows §33.001: you can recover damages as long as you are 50% or less at fault, with your recovery reduced by your percentage of fault. At 51% or more, you recover nothing. The defense will work hard to push your fault share over that line.
Paid-or-incurred medical damages. Section 41.0105 limits recoverable medical expenses to what was actually paid or incurred — not the full billed amount. Health insurance write-offs, hospital adjustments, and Medicare/Medicaid reductions matter at the verdict stage.
Exemplary damages and the cap. Under §41.003 and §41.008, exemplary (punitive) damages require clear-and-convincing proof of fraud, malice, or gross negligence, and are capped at the greater of $200,000 or two times economic damages plus non-economic damages up to $750,000.
No cap on non-economic damages in ordinary PI cases. Unlike medical malpractice, an ordinary Texas personal injury case has no statutory cap on pain, mental anguish, disfigurement, or impairment damages.
Why Hire Patterson Law Group
Patterson Law Group has spent more than 30 years representing injured Texans across the entire state, from our physical offices in Fort Worth, Arlington, and San Antonio, with trial experience across every kind of personal injury claim Texas produces. The numbers behind the firm — $100 million-plus recovered for clients, more than 442 Google reviews, Se Habla Español, contingency fee on every case — are real, verifiable, and the foundation of how we work.
We try cases. Some firms settle every file at the first reasonable offer. We prepare every case as if it is going to a Texas jury, because that is the only thing that makes the insurance company's first offer move. Adjusters know which firms file suit and which do not. They price files accordingly.
We invest in the evidence. Surveillance video, ECM downloads, FMCSA records, life care plans, accident reconstruction, biomechanical engineering — the work that turns a thin claim into a credible one. We advance those costs and we do not stop short on a case worth doing right.
We are local, with statewide reach. Three Texas offices is not branding. It is where our lawyers and staff live. We know the courts, the judges, the defense lawyers, and the adjusters in Tarrant County, Bexar County, and every county we file in. Clients meet their lawyer in person, in their own city, when the case demands it.
We are bilingual. Se Habla Español is not a website badge. It is staff and lawyers who speak Spanish fluently and handle cases for Spanish-speaking clients without anything lost in translation.
We answer the phone. A real person at (817) 784-2000, day and night, every day of the week. Personal injury does not happen on a business-hours schedule.
What Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Cost? (Contingency Fee Explained)
Patterson Law Group handles every personal injury case on a contingency fee. You pay nothing up front. You pay nothing during the case. You pay nothing if we do not recover money for you. Our fee comes out of the settlement or verdict, not your pocket, and the percentage is disclosed in writing before you sign.
Case expenses. A serious case carries real costs — filing fees, court reporter fees, expert witness retainers, accident reconstruction, medical records, deposition transcripts, life care plans, and exhibits for trial. PLG advances those costs. They are reimbursed from the recovery at the end. If there is no recovery, you owe nothing.
Why contingency works for injured people. A contingency arrangement means a person who cannot work, cannot pay medical bills, and cannot afford an hourly defense attorney can still get top-tier representation. It also aligns the lawyer's interests with the client's: we only get paid if we win, and we get paid more when the recovery is larger. Hourly billing has the opposite incentive.
What to ask any contingency firm. Ask whether the percentage changes if the case is filed in suit. Ask how case expenses are handled if there is no recovery. Ask whether you owe anything for the consultation (you should not). Ask whether you can fire the firm. Get the answers in the written fee agreement, not over the phone.
What Compensation Can You Recover in a Texas Personal Injury Case
Texas law allows three broad categories of damages in a personal injury claim: economic, non-economic, and — in the right case — exemplary damages. What you can recover depends on what was lost.
Economic damages. Past and future medical expenses (subject to §41.0105 paid-or-incurred), past and future lost wages and loss of earning capacity, household services, attendant care, home and vehicle modifications, out-of-pocket costs. A life care planner and a forensic economist often put real numbers on the long-tail medical and earnings losses.
Non-economic damages. Pain and suffering, mental anguish, physical impairment, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life. For a married plaintiff, loss of consortium. There is no statutory cap on non-economic damages in an ordinary Texas PI case.
Exemplary damages. Reserved for cases involving fraud, malice, or gross negligence under §41.003, proved by clear and convincing evidence. The §41.008 cap applies. Drunk driving, falsified trucking logs, and corporate-policy disregard for safety are the patterns we see most often.
Wrongful death damages. Under Chapter 71, surviving spouses, children, and parents can recover loss of companionship, mental anguish, loss of household services, and loss of inheritance, along with a separate survival action for the decedent's pre-death pain and medical expenses.
How a Personal Injury Case Works — The Process Timeline
Most clients have never been through a personal injury case before and reasonably want to know how long it will take and what happens at each step. No two cases are identical, but the process generally follows the same arc.
Intake and investigation (weeks 1–4). We sign the fee agreement, send preservation letters to defendants and insurers, request the crash or incident report, identify every applicable insurance policy, and begin gathering medical records and bills. Clients focus on medical treatment.
Treatment and documentation (months 1–6+). No serious case should settle while the medical picture is still developing. We track treatment, work with treating physicians to document permanency where it applies, and assess whether expert support — neuropsych, life care plan, vocational — is needed.
Demand and pre-suit negotiation (months 6–12). Once treatment is at maximum medical improvement or a clear plateau, we prepare and send a written demand to the insurance carrier. Negotiation may resolve the case. If it does not, we file suit.
Litigation (months 12–24+). Pleadings, written discovery, depositions, expert designations, mediation. Most Texas PI cases settle at or after mediation. The ones that do not, we try to a jury.
Resolution and disbursement. Once the case settles or a verdict is collected, we negotiate liens (health insurance, hospital, ERISA, Medicare/Medicaid), pay case expenses, deduct the contingency fee, and disburse the net recovery to the client. The written closing statement breaks down every line.
Call (817) 784-2000 for a free consultation. Offices in Fort Worth, Arlington, and San Antonio. Se Habla Español.
Frequently Asked Questions
What qualifies as a personal injury case in Texas?
Any injury caused by another person's or company's negligence, recklessness, or intentional wrongdoing can be a personal injury case. The most common are car wrecks, but the category also covers premises liability, medical malpractice, product defects, dog bites, and wrongful death.
How much is my Texas personal injury case worth?
Case value depends on the severity of your injuries, the cost of your medical treatment (past and future), lost income, the strength of liability evidence, and the available insurance limits. We give honest case valuations during your free consultation — we don't inflate numbers to win your business.
Will my personal injury case go to trial?
Most personal injury cases settle before trial, but a credible threat of trial is what drives fair settlements. We prepare every case as if it will be tried. Insurance companies know which firms will actually go to court — and they pay those firms more.
What if the insurance company already called me?
Don't give a recorded statement. Don't sign anything. Don't accept any offer. Adjusters are trained to extract statements that hurt your claim. Call us first — the consultation is free, and we'll handle every communication from that point forward.
Do I have to pay anything to get started?
No. There are no upfront fees, no hourly bills, and no costs of any kind unless we recover money for you. If we don't win, you owe us nothing.
Why does PLG turn down cases?
We say no to cases where we cannot add real value — where the medical workup is incomplete in a way that makes the damages unknowable, where the liability proof is too thin, or where the case is too small to justify the firm's resources without diluting attention on the cases that need it. We tell prospective clients on the free consultation if their case is one we should decline. The clients we DO take, we work intensively.
How does the contingency fee actually work in Texas?
The fee is a percentage of the gross recovery — typically 33⅓% if the case settles pre-suit, 40% if suit is filed, and higher if the case goes to trial or appeal. Out-of-pocket case expenses (filing fees, expert fees, deposition costs, court reporters, exhibits) are advanced by the firm and reimbursed from the recovery. If we do not recover money for you, you owe us nothing — no fee, no expense reimbursement. Texas law (Rule 1.04 of the Disciplinary Rules) requires the fee agreement be in writing and signed by the client.
What is a 'no fee unless we win' guarantee actually committing to?
Three things: (1) no upfront retainer; (2) no monthly billing; (3) no obligation to pay the fee or reimburse case expenses if the case results in zero recovery. It does NOT mean we will accept every case (we decline cases where we cannot help) and it does NOT mean we guarantee a particular outcome — Texas Bar Rule 7.02 prohibits that and we would not say it if we could.
What's the difference between settlement value and trial value?
Settlement value reflects what an insurance carrier will pay to resolve the case before trial — a function of liability strength, available coverage, the client's medical and economic damages, and the carrier's assessment of trial risk. Trial value reflects what a jury might award if the case is tried to verdict — usually higher, but also uncertain. We talk through both numbers with every client at mediation and again before any settlement decision. The client decides.
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