The Opening Statement

Injuries in the oil & gas industry are common throughout Texas. In terms of potential risks and accidents, it is one of the most hazardous industries in the world. With such dangerous operations taking place, most injuries are either fatal or leave workers permanently handicapped, and unable to return to the workforce.

Wind farms, like any form of energy production, wind power has its share of accidents and incidents that can result in injury or damage to equipment. There are a few types of common accidents on wind farms. No matter what type of accident, finding the liable parties is where experience is needed. In most of the accidents, the injured parties typically have worker’s compensation, which prevents a lawsuit against their employer.

You’ve been injured in a car wreck, and you might be wondering what damages can you claim in a lawsuit? Our team is frequently asked this question.

Pattern Jury Charge 28.3 lays out the basic question a jury will be asked when assessing personal injury damages. There are also other damages that can potentially be claimed by an injury to your spouse, laid out in Pattern Jury Charge 28.4.

Our firm regularly gets called in to help handle horse and equine cases. In these cases, we regularly have an unaware person sign a waiver before mounting a horse, not knowing the full ramifications of that act. Then, after they get injured due to some negligence on the horse or property owner, the waiver is then thrown back in their face. Time and time again, we get cases where other lawyers have turned down the case due to the waiver. However, due to the unique structure of the Equine Statute, waivers cannot and should not be applied in horse/equine cases.

Can anyone bring a wrongful death claim for a deceased adult against the employer if the adult does not have a spouse or children? What about parents, brothers, sisters, etc.?

Unfortunately, due to the way the worker’s compensation statute is drafted, the only people who can bring claims against an employer are (1) the surviving spouse; (2) “the heirs of the body”, which has been interpreted by the Courts to mean surviving children. Parents are not able to bring such claims. Siblings are not able to bring claims.

Whenever there is a fatality on a Texas highway, it is common for the investigator to order a drug screen on the deceased person. With the liberalization of marijuana law across the country, access to marijuana has never been easier and more common. However, tests, and their results, are still trying to catch-up.