San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyer

Patterson Law Group is a San Antonio personal injury law firm with one mission: get every dollar our clients are owed. Our San Antonio office sits just inside Loop 410 at 926 Chulie Drive, and our attorneys handle cases throughout Bexar County and South Texas — car crashes on I-35, 18-wheeler wrecks on I-10, motorcycle accidents on Loop 1604, premises liability claims on the River Walk, and wrongful death cases anywhere in the region.

We've recovered over $100 million for injured Texans. In 2024 we secured the highest wrongful death settlement in the state of Texas — an 8-figure result for one family. Across 483+ Google reviews we hold a 5.0-star rating. And we've been doing this for 30+ years.

If someone else's carelessness put you in the hospital, we will sit down with you — at our office, at your home, at the hospital — listen to your story, evaluate your case for free, and tell you straight what it's worth. You pay nothing unless we win.

Cases We Handle in San Antonio

San Antonio Neighborhoods & Areas We Serve

Our San Antonio office serves clients across Bexar County and the surrounding South Texas region. We regularly handle cases from:

San Antonio's Most Dangerous Roads

What to Do After an Accident in San Antonio

1. 1.Call 911. San Antonio Police, Bexar County Sheriff, or DPS (depending on where the crash happened) will dispatch and run a report. Get the report number before you leave the scene if you can.
2. 2.Get medical care immediately. Major San Antonio trauma centers include University Hospital, Methodist Hospital, Baptist Medical Center, San Antonio Military Medical Center (SAMMC), and Northeast Baptist. Document every visit.
3. 3.Photograph everything. Vehicles, the scene, road conditions, injuries, debris, signage, weather. Use your phone — more photos than you think you need.
4. 4.Get witness contact info. Names, phone numbers, and ideally what they saw. People scatter quickly.
5. 5.Do NOT give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurance company before talking to a lawyer. They are not on your side.
6. 6.Call Patterson Law Group at (817) 784-2000. We're available 24/7 and we start working the case the moment you call.

Texas Personal Injury Law — What San Antonio Residents Need to Know

Types of Personal Injury Cases We Handle in San Antonio

Personal injury law covers a wide range of accidents — but the rules, the evidence, and the defense playbooks are different for every one. The Texas personal injury lawyers at Patterson Law Group handle the full range of cases that bring San Antonio families through our door.

Car accidents. Bexar County sees thousands of crashes every year on I-35, I-10, Loop 1604, Loop 410, and US-281, plus surface streets from Stone Oak down to the South Side. We handle rear-end, T-bone, head-on, and multi-vehicle collisions, including hit-and-runs and uninsured motorist claims.

Truck and 18-wheeler accidents. Commercial trucks operate under both Texas law and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. Hours-of-service violations, falsified logs, brake failures, and improper loading are common contributing causes. These cases require fast evidence preservation — driver logs, ECM data, and dashcam footage can disappear within days.

Motorcycle accidents. Riders are routinely blamed for crashes that were not their fault. Texas juries can be biased against motorcyclists; we know how to counter that head-on with evidence and expert testimony.

Pedestrian and bicycle accidents. Drivers turning right on red, distracted drivers in school zones, and roads designed without crosswalks all contribute to the most severe injuries our firm handles.

Wrongful death. When someone dies because of another person's negligence, certain surviving family members have a claim under the Texas Wrongful Death Act and the Survival Statute. In 2024, Patterson Law Group secured the highest wrongful death settlement in the state of Texas.

Premises liability and slip-and-fall. Property owners — apartment complexes, grocery stores, restaurants, hotels, River Walk venues — have a duty to keep their property reasonably safe. When they don't, and someone gets hurt, they can be held accountable.

Dog bites, product liability, dram shop, and nursing home neglect. We handle these cases too. If you're not sure whether what happened qualifies, call us. The consultation is free.

What Qualifies as a Personal Injury Case in Texas

Not every injury is a legal case. Under Texas law, a personal injury claim generally requires four elements: (1) the other party owed you a duty of care, (2) they breached that duty, (3) that breach caused your injury, and (4) you suffered actual damages — medical bills, lost income, pain, or other measurable harm.

That sounds straightforward on paper. In practice, every one of those elements gets fought over. The duty owed by a commercial trucker is different from the duty owed by a homeowner. Causation gets attacked by defense experts who claim your injuries are pre-existing or unrelated. Damages get challenged under Texas's paid-or-incurred rule, which limits recovery of medical expenses to what was actually paid or remains owed (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §41.0105) — a rule designed to reduce what injured Texans can recover.

The clearer the negligence, the stronger the case. A driver who ran a red light on Broadway and rear-ended you while texting is straightforward. A trip-and-fall at a Stone Oak grocery store where the store says the spill "was only there for thirty seconds" requires surveillance footage, sweep logs, and witness testimony to prove the property owner had notice. That's the work we do — building the proof, before the defense has a chance to bury it.

If you're not sure whether you have a case, that question itself is reason to call. We'll evaluate it honestly, and if we don't think there's a viable claim, we'll tell you. We only take cases we believe in.

Common Injuries We See in San Antonio Cases

Injury severity drives case value. The kinds of injuries we routinely document for clients across Bexar County include:

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and concussions. A blow or violent jolt — even without loss of consciousness — can cause lasting cognitive, behavioral, and emotional changes. TBI symptoms often don't appear for hours or days, which is why we tell clients: do not refuse the ambulance, and follow up with a doctor even if you "feel fine." Mild TBI claims get challenged hard by insurers; we work with neurologists and neuropsychologists to document the injury.

Spinal cord injuries and herniated discs. A serious wreck can rupture discs in your neck or back, pinch nerves, or in catastrophic cases cause partial or full paralysis. These injuries often require injections, surgery, and lifetime care.

Orthopedic injuries — fractures, torn ligaments, joint damage. Broken ribs from a seatbelt, fractured wrists from a fall, torn ACLs and rotator cuffs from collision impacts. These injuries interrupt work, require physical therapy, and frequently leave permanent limitations.

Internal organ injuries and internal bleeding. Common in high-speed crashes and pedestrian-vehicle collisions. Often diagnosed only at the trauma center.

Burns, scarring, and disfigurement. Especially in fire-following crashes and certain premises cases. Texas law recognizes disfigurement as a separate category of compensable harm.

Psychological injuries — PTSD, anxiety, depression. Mental injuries are real injuries under Texas law, and we document them with the same rigor as physical ones.

San Antonio's major trauma centers — University Hospital, Methodist, Baptist Medical Center, SAMMC, and Northeast Baptist — produce the medical records that drive these cases. We work with your providers to make sure nothing is missed.

What Compensation Can You Recover Under Texas Law?

Texas law divides personal injury damages into three categories. Understanding them is the first step to understanding what your case is worth.

Economic damages are out-of-pocket losses you can put a number on. Past and future medical bills, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, property damage, household services, and — in wrongful death cases — funeral and burial expenses. There is no statutory cap on economic damages in most Texas personal injury cases.

Non-economic damages are the human losses — physical pain, mental anguish, disfigurement, physical impairment, and loss of enjoyment of life. In standard negligence cases (car crashes, truck wrecks, slip-and-falls), Texas does not cap non-economic damages. The exception is medical malpractice cases, which have separate caps under Chapter 74.

Exemplary (punitive) damages are available when the defendant's conduct goes beyond ordinary negligence — gross negligence, fraud, or malice. Under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §41.008, exemplary damages in Texas are generally capped at the greater of (a) $200,000 or (b) two times economic damages plus an amount equal to non-economic damages up to $750,000. These caps don't apply to certain felony-based conduct (for example, intoxication manslaughter).

Wrongful death damages under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Chapter 71 are available to a surviving spouse, children, and parents of the deceased, and cover lost earning capacity, loss of care, maintenance, services, support, advice, counsel, and the mental and emotional pain of the loss.

One thing to watch closely: the paid-or-incurred rule (§41.0105) limits recoverable medical expenses to what was actually paid by you or your insurer plus what remains owed — not the gross amount billed by the hospital. This is one of the most fought-over rules in Texas personal injury cases, and how we handle medical bills and liens directly affects what ends up in your pocket.

How Insurance Companies Hurt San Antonio Injury Victims

Insurance companies are not on your side. That sentence sounds blunt, but it's how every adjuster handbook reads in practice. The other driver's insurer exists to pay you as little as possible. Even your own insurer has a financial interest in minimizing what they pay out on a UM/UIM or PIP claim. Here is how that plays out, and how Patterson Law Group counters it.

The fast lowball offer. Within days of the crash, the adjuster calls and offers a settlement that sounds like a lot of money — until you realize your back surgery is six months away and your missed work hasn't been calculated. Once you accept, the case is over. We tell clients: do not sign anything, do not cash any check, until the full scope of your injury is known.

The recorded statement trap. The adjuster will ask, in a friendly tone, to "just get your side of the story." That recording will be combed for any inconsistency, any "I feel okay," any admission that can later be twisted into shared fault under Texas's modified comparative fault rule (§33.001). You are under no obligation to give one. Don't.

The medical-records fishing expedition. They'll ask for a blanket authorization to access every medical record you have — going back years — looking for any prior complaint they can blame your injuries on. We provide records relevant to the injury, not a fishing license.

Delay and grind. Some adjusters simply stop returning calls, hoping you'll get desperate and settle for pennies. When the deadlines start running, the pressure mounts. We file suit. The phone rings back fast after that.

Disputing the severity of your injuries. They'll send your records to a hired "peer review" doctor who concludes — without ever examining you — that your treatment was unnecessary or your pain is exaggerated. We meet that with treating physician testimony, life-care plans, and where needed, IME doctors of our own.

Insurance companies count on injured people being scared, in pain, and unfamiliar with the process. Our job is to even the playing field.

What to Expect When You Hire Patterson Law Group

People who have never hired a lawyer often don't know what happens next. Here is the path a San Antonio personal injury case typically follows with our firm.

1. Free consultation. We sit down with you — at our Chulie Drive office, at your home, at the hospital, or by phone or video. We listen, ask questions, look at the police report and any records you have, and tell you straight whether we think you have a case. There is no charge and no obligation.

2. Investigation and evidence preservation. Once you hire us, we move fast. We send spoliation letters to preserve trucking company logs and surveillance video, pull the crash report, photograph the scene, locate witnesses, and start building the file. The contingency fee means you pay nothing out of pocket — we advance the costs.

3. Medical treatment and documentation. We don't direct your medical care, but we help you get to the right providers and we make sure every visit is documented. We negotiate with hospitals and health insurers to manage liens so more of the settlement goes to you, not them.

4. Demand and negotiation. When treatment is complete or the trajectory is clear, we send a detailed demand package to the insurance company laying out liability, injuries, damages, and the settlement we expect. Most cases resolve in this phase — but only because the insurer knows we are prepared to file suit.

5. Litigation, if necessary. If the insurer won't pay fair value, we file suit in Bexar County District Court. Discovery, depositions, mediation, and — if it takes that — trial. We are trial lawyers. We prepare every case for trial — file in the proper venue, develop the record, depose key witnesses — so the case is ready if a fair settlement does not come.

6. Resolution. Whether by settlement or verdict, we walk you through every line of the disbursement — fees, costs, medical liens, and your net recovery — before anything is signed.

At every stage, you talk to the actual attorney handling your case. Not a case manager. Not a paralegal. The lawyer.

Why Patterson Law Group?

• Local San Antonio office at 926 Chulie Drive — we meet you here, at home, or at the hospital
• San Antonio attorneys — Partner Chris Mazzola and Associate Zach Louton, in town
• $100M+ recovered for injured Texans
• 2024 highest Texas wrongful-death settlement — 8-figure result
• 5.0 stars across 483+ Google reviews
• 30+ years serving Texas injury victims
• Se Habla Español
• No fee unless we win

We're trial lawyers. We investigate every case, work with experts, develop the record, and prepare every case for trial — file in the proper venue, depose key witnesses, and try the case if a fair settlement does not come. Most cases settle; we try the ones that do not.

Frequently Asked Questions