Car accident claims attorney in Houston: when a claim becomes a Harris County lawsuit

Most people hire a car accident claims attorney in Houston hoping the claim never sees a courtroom. Some claims need one anyway. This page covers stage six, the Lawsuit: when we file, what a Harris County suit involves from petition to trial, the special rules for crashes with city or county vehicles, and how insurers try to spread blame.

Car Wreck Claims Houston is a site of LAWBOSS – Harris, Nelsen & Uvalle, PLLC, and this page explains its lawsuit work. A car accident claims attorney in Houston spends much of the job keeping a claim out of court, by building a record strong enough that the insurer deals with it fairly. When that does not happen, a lawsuit is the next stage, and it changes the rules of the conversation. The attorney responsible for this site is Jonathan Harris, Board Certified, Personal Injury Trial Law – Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and his primary practice location is our Houston office.

Why a car accident claims attorney in Houston files suit

A lawsuit is not a punishment and it is not a sign the claim went badly. It is a tool. We recommend filing for a few plain reasons:

• The deadline is near. A Texas personal injury suit generally must be filed not later than two years after the day the claim accrues (Civil Practice and Remedies Code 16.003(a)). Filing protects the claim.
• The insurer stopped moving. Offers that do not answer the records, or no answer at all.
• Fault is disputed and only sworn testimony and documents from the other side will settle it.
• Evidence is held by others: a company’s vehicle records, video, or phone records that only a court process will reach.

Jonathan Harris leads the firm’s litigation. He spent more than a decade as a senior trial attorney for a major auto insurer before joining us in 2017, so he has tried these cases from the defense table. Howard Hill, in practice since 1998, spent over 20 years with two of the largest auto and commercial insurers. Ian Nelsen handled claims as an adjuster and later defended them as an insurance defense attorney. When the other side’s lawyers make a move, odds are one of us has made it before.

Filing suit does not close the door on settlement; it often opens it wider.

Where a Harris County car wreck suit is filed

Many car wreck suits in state court are filed in a civil district court. In Harris County, those courts sit at the Harris County Civil Courthouse, 201 Caroline, downtown, and the District Clerk’s civil intake is in Suite 110. Some cases belong in federal court, and the Southern District of Texas, a U.S. District Court, holds court in Houston. Our sites and our firm have no connection to any court. We appear there for clients like any other law firm.

The steps of a Houston car accident lawsuit

Every suit is different, but most follow the same path. Here is what to expect at each step, in plain words:

1. Petition. We file a petition that names the defendants and states the claim, and each defendant is formally served with it.
2. Answer. The defendants, usually through lawyers hired by their insurer, file an answer denying the claim or raising defenses.
3. Discovery. Both sides exchange documents and written questions. This is where records the insurer kept to itself come out: vehicle data, company files, phone records.
4. Depositions. Witnesses answer questions under oath with a court reporter present. You may be deposed too, and we prepare you for it well in advance.
5. Retained witnesses. Engineers, crash reconstructionists and doctors who did not treat you may give opinions about how the crash happened or what the injuries mean. Each side can hire them.
6. Mediation. A neutral mediator meets with both sides to try to reach a settlement. The mediator does not decide the case, and nothing is settled unless you sign.
7. Trial. If the case does not resolve, a judge or jury hears the evidence and decides fault and damages.

Most of that time is spent in discovery. It is slow and detailed work, and it is where the case is won or lost on paper long before anyone stands in front of a jury.

When the other side blames someone else

A common defense move is to spread fault. Under Texas law, a defendant may ask the court to designate a “responsible third party”, someone who is not being sued but who, the defendant says, caused or contributed to the crash. That motion generally must be filed at least 60 days before trial (Civil Practice and Remedies Code 33.004(a)).

Why does that matter? Because a jury assigns percentages of responsibility. You can recover if your share is 50 percent or less (CPRC 33.001), your recovery is reduced by your share (CPRC 33.012), and a defendant found more than 50 percent responsible is jointly and severally liable (CPRC 33.013(b)(1)). Every percentage moved to a third party or to you changes how the case comes out. We answer these designations with evidence, and when a third party really did contribute, we look at whether that party should be in the suit.

Wrecks involving a city or county vehicle

A wreck with a police car, a city truck or a county vehicle follows different rules. Claims against a government unit fall under the Texas Tort Claims Act, and two parts of it matter most for Houston drivers.

The six-month written notice

The government unit must receive written notice of the claim within six months of the incident, describing the injury, the time and place, and the incident itself (Civil Practice and Remedies Code 101.101). A city charter may set a shorter period, and actual notice by the government unit can excuse the written notice in some cases. Do not count on the two-year deadline if a public vehicle was involved; the notice clock is much shorter.

Statutory caps on government liability

The Act also limits how much a government unit can be made to pay. For the state government and for a municipality such as the City of Houston, the caps are $250,000 for each person and $500,000 for each occurrence for bodily injury or death; for other local government units, $100,000 and $300,000 (Civil Practice and Remedies Code 101.023). These are limits set by statute, not results, and they say nothing about any particular claim.

What a lawsuit asks of you

Clients often worry that a lawsuit will take over their lives. Mostly it does not. We do the filing, the discovery and the arguing. Your part is to keep treating, keep us informed, answer written questions with our help, sit for a deposition if one is set, and attend mediation and trial if the case gets that far. We tell you ahead of each date what will happen and what to bring.

Our fee terms stay the same in court: No Fees or Costs Unless We Win. The firm puts up the money for filing fees, depositions and other case costs, and if the case ends with no recovery for you, you owe us no attorney’s fee and do not repay those costs.

How the lawsuit fits the whole claim

The Lawsuit is stage six of seven. The stages before it, Report, Coverage, Records, Demand and Negotiation, build the evidence the suit relies on. Our page on what a car accident claim lawyer Houston residents hire does across all seven stages starts at the crash report. The records stage is explained on the car accident injury claim Houston page, and the property side, including loss of value after repairs, on the diminished value claim Texas page.

If a suit ends in agreement, stage seven, the Release, closes it; our car wreck settlement Houston page covers mediation, the release and the closing statement. For the early filing steps, see how to file a car accident claim. You can read about the attorneys on our about page or reach us through the contact page.