Sarah Edwards is a seasoned legal writer with more than a decade of experience. Edwards has a deep understanding of advanced legal concepts and a knack for conveying complex topics in simple language. She currently resides in Southern California with her husband and two children.
Sarah Edwards
Sarah Edwards is a seasoned legal writer with more than a decade of experience. Edwards has a deep understanding of advanced legal concepts and a knack for conveying complex topics in simple language. She currently resides in Southern California with her husband and two children.
Jeffrey Johnson has written novels and movies in addition to legal analyses of eminent domain and immigration law. His experience in writing engaging fiction makes him uniquely capable of making the most dry and academic legal topics interesting (or as interesting as possible).
Reviewed
Jeffrey Johnson, J.D.
Jeffrey Johnson has written novels and movies in addition to legal analyses of eminent domain and immigration law. His experience in writing engaging fiction makes him uniquely capable of making the most dry and academic legal topics interesting (or as interesting as possible).
Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations.
Located at the intersection of New Mexico, Texas and Mexico, El Paso is a hub for both international and interstate travel. And as in any large city, thousands of people in El Paso get injured annually due to negligence.
If you or a family member has been seriously injured by another party, you probably need a lawyer to help you recover damages. Forbes Advisor compiled a list of the best personal injury lawyers in El Paso so that you don’t waste valuable time researching the right choice for your case.
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Best Personal Injury Attorneys in El Paso
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Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Texas
If you suffer harm due to the negligence or willful misconduct of another party, you have suffered a personal injury. Texas law allows you to file a lawsuit to get damages from the responsible party.
To win damages, your personal injury attorney must prove that the other party’s actions were the direct or proximate cause of the harm you suffered. If your attorney can prove that, you will be awarded compensation to cover any financial losses you suffered. You may additionally be awarded non-economic damages for pain and suffering.
Texas Statute of Limitations
The Texas statute of limitations is roughly the same as that of many other U.S. states. If you have suffered any type of personal injury, you have two years to file a lawsuit against the responsible party. This statute of limitations applies to physical injuries, wrongful death and property damage.
Texas Personal Injury Laws
Personal injury laws in Texas are similar to the personal injury laws in most other states. However, a few aspects of the law are unique to the state. You should be aware of the following laws before filing a lawsuit:
- Shared fault. Texas uses modified comparative negligence, so if you were partly responsible for the incident that caused you harm, your damages award is reduced by your percent of responsibility.
- 51% bar rule. While the shared fault rule allows you to receive compensation even when you are partially responsible for the harm you suffered, there is a limit. If a court finds that you are 51% or more responsible for your injury, you are barred from being awarded any damages.
- Children have a different statute of limitations. Because a child is legally considered incapacitated in Texas, the statute of limitations does not start until they become an adult. A child has two years after they turn age 18 to file a personal injury lawsuit.
- Duty of care. Everyone has an inherent duty to avoid putting others at risk. However, people who provide professional services have an increased duty of care and can be found liable where everyday citizens would not.
- Malicious behavior. In most cases, the responsible party is liable because they acted negligently. However, the jury may award punitive damages if it finds that the responsible party acted recklessly or maliciously rather than negligently.
How Can an Attorney Help You?
In most personal injury cases, regardless of who injured you, the opposing party is an insurance company that is represented by experienced lawyers. It is almost impossible for the average person with no legal training to counter the insurance company’s legal advantage. That’s why most people hire an attorney to file a personal injury lawsuit.
When you hire a lawyer, they take the lead on all interactions with the insurance company. Your attorney collects evidence, negotiates for a settlement and represents you in court if negotiations go south.
How to Find the Best Personal Injury Lawyer in El Paso, TX
Even a midsize city like El Paso has dozens of personal injury attorneys to choose from. This means you have the advantage of plenty of choices. But it also means you can choose poorly if you don’t do your research.
If you consider the following factors, you have a better chance of selecting an attorney who will confidently and competently handle your case:
- Fees. Most personal injury attorneys charge roughly the same amount because they take cases on contingency. But there are differences in fee structure, including whether the attorney charges for expenses and what percentage of awards they take.
- Bar admissions. Every attorney on this list is admitted to the Bar in Texas, but some can also practice in other states. If your case involves multiple states, it is better to hire a lawyer who can handle the work in each jurisdiction than to hire multiple attorneys.
- Language fluency. In Texas, there is a large advantage to speaking multiple languages. For example, attorneys who speak Spanish can more easily interview Spanish-speaking witnesses who aren’t fully fluent in English.
- Mediation or arbitration. Unless you want your case to go to trial, your case will probably end in mediation or arbitration. Some attorneys have more experience with negotiation than others, and you might get a larger settlement by hiring a lawyer with extensive negotiation experience.
- Past cases. Before selecting an attorney, check to see whether they have handled similar cases. While most personal injury lawyers take on many types of cases, your attorney will spend a lot less time researching laws if they have previously represented clients in similar cases.
- Comfort level. Take advantage of the attorney’s free consultation, where you can ask questions and get to know the person who will be representing your interests. If you don’t feel comfortable during the consultation, you should let the attorney know immediately and look for someone else.
Methodology
To determine this list of the Best Personal Injury Lawyers in El Paso of 2024, Forbes Advisor considered many factors. Forbes Advisor’s mathematical module considers and weighs the information collected to calculate a specific rating and reviews these results to find the best attorneys in a given practice area.
Within the model, we consider factors that legal professionals and consumers value in an attorney’s qualifications. After assigning weighted scores to hundreds of data points, we narrowed the field down to our top choices based on:
- Legal experience
- Special licenses & certifications
- Ethics and bar disciplinary measures
- Legal thought leadership
- Education and employment background
- Scholarly lectures & writings
- Awards and honors
Forbes Advisory collects public data from a variety of sources, including state bar associations, court records and other published sources on the internet. This information should not be considered comprehensive, however. It might not include additional relevant information on an attorney’s legal skills and experience.
Each lawyer listed here has their own merits. Remember that our list relates to these lawyers’ legal backgrounds but does not evaluate their personalities or knowledge of the law. One attorney may be more suitable than another for your specific legal situation.
One thing that can’t be quantified, though, is the rapport you establish with your attorney. Personality goes a long way when teaming up with an attorney, especially when going through a potentially tricky legal situation. These rankings should serve as a reference and potential starting point in your search for the right lawyer for you and your legal concerns.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What are the statutory limitations on medical malpractice damages in Texas?
While Texas law potentially allows you to recover unlimited damages in most personal injury cases, it places a statutory limit on how much money you can receive from a medical malpractice lawsuit. There is no limit to how much you can recover in economic damages (your monetary losses), but there is a limit on non-economic damages.
When there is only a single defendant in a medical malpractice case, the most money you can receive from that defendant is $250,000. If there are multiple defendants, you can be awarded up to $500,000 but no more than $250,000 per defendant.
If a jury awards more than the statutory limits, the judge will reduce that award to match the law.
What types of cases count as personal injury cases?
Personal injury cases include any case where the negligence or recklessness of one party caused injury to another party.
While this description defines the area of law, you might need more information if you are trying to determine whether you have a personal injury case. Common examples of personal injury cases include:
• Dog bites
• Car, truck, motorcycle and pedestrian accidents
• Nursing home abuse or negligence
• Injuries or illnesses due to defective products
• Libel or slander
• Wrongful death
If you have any questions about whether a case counts as a personal injury case, you can ask an attorney during a consultation. Most attorneys assess a case for no charge while answering any relevant questions.
How do personal injury cases differ from criminal law?
When you are the defendant in a criminal case, the government is attempting to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that you violated a criminal statute. But when you are the plaintiff in a personal injury case, you are trying to prove, through a preponderance of evidence, that the other party’s negligence resulted in you suffering an injury.
The government is rarely involved in a personal injury case. There are exceptions, such as if a government agency or official was responsible for the harm you suffered.
