Texas Boat Accident Lawyer Fighting for Injury Victims Across Texas

You generally have two years from the date of the accident to file a personal injury lawsuit in Texas under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.003. Miss that deadline and the court will almost certainly throw the case out no matter how strong the facts are.

Claims against a government entity carry far shorter notice deadlines. Some run only six months. Call a lawyer early so nobody is guessing about your dates.

You can handle a claim yourself but the insurance carrier will treat you very differently than it treats a law firm. Boating cases involve coverage exclusions and evidence that vanishes quickly and fault rules most people have never heard of. An attorney levels that out.

Small property damage claims with no injury may not need counsel. Anything involving medical treatment usually does.

We work on a contingency fee, which means you pay nothing up front and nothing by the hour. Our fee comes as a percentage of the recovery and only if we obtain one for you. If there is no recovery you owe no attorney fee.

We explain the exact percentage and every case expense in writing before you sign anything.

The operator who caused the crash is usually liable and so is the owner in many situations. As a passenger you are rarely at fault, which puts you in a strong position to recover from the operator liability coverage or the owner policy or both.

We also look at rental companies and manufacturers where the facts support it.

Texas follows modified comparative fault. You can still recover as long as you are found 50 percent or less responsible. Your award gets reduced by your percentage of fault under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 33.001. At 51 percent you recover nothing.

Insurers push fault onto injured people constantly. Do not accept their number.

Sometimes yes and sometimes no. Many homeowner policies exclude watercraft above a certain horsepower or length and many boat policies carry low liability limits. Coverage depends on the exact policy language and it has to be pulled and read.

We locate every applicable policy including umbrella coverage before valuing a claim.

Operating a vessel with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or higher is a crime in Texas. In your civil case that same conduct supports a finding of gross negligence, which can open the door to exemplary damages beyond your actual losses.

A criminal charge also produces evidence we can use, including breath test results and officer testimony.

The legal framework is the same but the facts are different. Personal watercraft carry their own rules on operator age and mandatory life jacket wear and nighttime operation. Riders also have no protection at all in a crash, so injuries tend to be severe.

Rental jet ski cases often bring the rental business into the claim as well.

A boat rental company owes you a real duty. It has to screen operators and give meaningful safety instruction and maintain the vessel properly. When it skips those steps and someone gets hurt the business can be held liable alongside the operator.

Rental agreements often contain waivers. Texas courts do not enforce all of them.

Usually not for recreational boating on inland lakes. Maritime law and the Jones Act generally apply to crew members working aboard commercial vessels on navigable waters. Most weekend boating claims in Texas run under state negligence law instead.

The distinction changes your deadline and your fault standard so it gets decided early in the case.

Texas law requires the operator to report accidents that involve death or disappearance or injury requiring more than first aid or property damage above the statutory threshold. Reports go to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department within the window set by statute.

If the operator failed to report, that failure itself can become evidence in your case.

There is no average because there is no average injury. Value depends on the severity of your injuries and the cost of future medical care and your lost earning capacity and the amount of insurance coverage available and your share of fault.

A herniated disc and a permanent brain injury sit in completely different ranges.

Straightforward cases with clear fault and moderate injuries often resolve in six to twelve months. Cases involving disputed liability or severe injuries or a lawsuit can run two years or longer. Your medical treatment sets the pace early on.

We do not settle before your doctors know what your recovery looks like.

Texas law allows the surviving spouse and children and parents to bring a wrongful death claim. You may recover funeral costs and lost financial support and loss of companionship. The estate may also bring a survival claim for what your loved one suffered before death.

Losing a loved one in a boating accident is its own kind of harm. Our Texas wrongful death lawyer team handles these cases with care for victims and their families.