Workplace Accident Lawyer in Houston, TX
If someone other than your employer caused your injury, you may have a third-party claim that covers losses workers’ comp never pays. Tell me what happened and I’ll give you a straight answer.
Not every work injury is a lawsuit. Sometimes workers’ compensation is the only thing available to you, and I’d rather tell you that on the phone than sign you up for a case you don’t have.
But plenty of people get hurt at work by somebody who doesn’t sign their paycheck. Another contractor on the jobsite. A trucking company. A manufacturer that sold your employer bad equipment. That is a third-party claim, and it reaches money workers’ comp never touches.
Common Workplace Accidents
The accidents look different depending on the job. These are the ones I see most often:
- Falls from heights
- Slip and fall
- Falling objects
- Scaffolding and ladder accidents
- Work vehicle accidents
- Crane, forklift, and heavy equipment incidents
- Power tool and machine malfunctions
- Fires, explosions, and chemical exposure
- Electrocution
- Overexertion
- Repetitive movement
- Missing or inadequate warning signs
The injuries that follow are often serious: burns, fractures, crush injuries, amputations, and traumatic brain injuries.
Do You Have a Workers’ Comp Claim or a Lawsuit?
You have a lawsuit if someone outside your company caused the injury, or if your employer carries no workers’ compensation. If your employer has comp and nobody outside the company was at fault, comp is usually your only route.
That matters because the two pay for very different things:
| Category | Workers’ compensation | Third-party injury claim |
|---|---|---|
| Who pays | Your employer’s comp carrier | The person or company that caused it |
| Do you prove fault | No | Yes |
| Medical bills | Covered | Covered |
| Lost wages | A portion | Full lost earnings, including future earning capacity |
| Pain and suffering | Not covered | Covered |
| Disfigurement and mental anguish | Not covered | Covered |
Workers’ comp pays income and medical benefits, nothing else. Under the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act it is your exclusive remedy against a covered employer, which is why pain and suffering never enters into it.
I handle third-party injury claims. I don’t handle workers’ compensation claims, because Texas structures them so there’s almost nothing an attorney can add for you, and I’d rather send you to someone who focuses on that work. For questions about a comp claim or a benefit, that’s the Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation, not me.
When a Third Party Is at Fault
On most large jobsites several companies work at once. A crew from one contractor drops something on a worker from another. A subcontractor leaves a hazard nobody marked. Equipment fails because of how it was built. The company at fault isn’t your employer, so comp’s protections don’t shield it from you.
These are the third-party work injury claims I focus on:
- Oilfield accidents and industrial injuries, where several contractors and operators are on site, each carrying its own policy
- Construction accidents involving another trade, a general contractor, or the property owner
- Crashes in a work vehicle or caused by a commercial truck while you were on the clock
- Injuries caused by defective tools, machinery, or safety equipment
- Injuries on a property somebody else owns or controls
Oil field and industrial cases tend to be the strongest of these. Multiple companies means multiple insurance policies, and the people doing that work often earn enough that lost earnings alone become a serious part of the case.
If you were hurt working on a vessel or offshore, neither system above applies to you. That falls under the Jones Act, and the rules are different. Call and I’ll tell you where your case belongs.
Call (832) 243-4953When Your Employer Doesn’t Carry Workers’ Comp
Texas lets private employers decide for themselves whether to carry workers’ compensation, and about one in four opts out. The Texas Department of Insurance put non-subscribers at 24% of private-sector employers in 2024, covering 13% of Texas employees.
That changes your situation completely. Employers who opt out give up the statutory limits on their liability and can be sued directly by employees they injure. The claim then looks like any other injury case.
Plenty of people don’t know which kind of employer they work for. Yours is required to tell you, and you can check coverage yourself through TDI. If you’re not sure, call me and I’ll find out.
Can You Sue an Employer That Does Carry Workers’ Comp?
Usually no. There is one exception, and it applies only where a worker was killed. Under Texas Labor Code section 408.001, if the death was caused by the employer’s gross negligence or by an intentional act, the surviving spouse or heirs can still pursue exemplary damages against that employer. Gross negligence is a high bar to clear. If you lost someone on the job, call me.
What You Can Recover After a Work Injury
When somebody else’s negligence caused your injury, a claim can cover:
- Medical bills, past and future
- Wages you’ve lost and the earning capacity you won’t get back
- Pain, suffering, and mental anguish
- Disfigurement and permanent impairment
- In a fatal accident, the losses to the family left behind
What your case is worth depends on how badly you were hurt, who was responsible, and what insurance is behind them. I’ll go after the full recovery you’re owed. Every case is different, and no honest lawyer can promise you a number.
Call (832) 243-4953What to Do After You’re Hurt at Work
- Get medical attention and say it happened at work. What goes in the chart on day one matters later.
- Report it to your employer in writing. Text or email. You want a record with a date on it.
- Write down who else was on site, including anyone from another company. Those names are often the whole case.
- Photograph the equipment and the area before anything gets cleaned up or repaired.
- Don’t give a recorded statement to an adjuster before you talk to a lawyer. I spent years on the other side of those calls. They are not a formality.
How Long You Have to File in Texas
Two years from the date you were hurt, in most injury cases. That comes from Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.003, which requires suit to be brought no later than two years after the claim accrues.
Two years sounds like plenty. It isn’t. Evidence disappears, jobsites change, and witnesses move on to other work. Some situations carry much shorter notice deadlines, especially when a government entity is involved. If you’re anywhere near a deadline, call and I’ll tell you your actual date.
Why Work With Me
I started my career defending insurance companies. Reinsurance work, in-house at Delta Air Lines, then insurance-defense litigation here in Texas. I know how adjusters value a work injury file and how long they’ll sit on one hoping you get tired. I use that on the other side of the table now.
When you hire me, you get me. I’ve practiced law for about 25 years, I’m licensed in Texas, New York, New Jersey, and Georgia, and I opened this firm in 2018. I give clients my cell number. You won’t get passed to an intake screener or an associate you never met. More about my background here.
I work on contingency, so you pay nothing up front:
if your case settles before a lawsuit is filed
if a lawsuit is filed
if the case goes to appeal
No fee unless I win. Consultations are free, somebody answers the phone 24 hours a day, and I speak English and Spanish. I also take cases other attorneys turn down, so if you’ve been told no somewhere else, call me anyway.
Get a Straight Answer About Your Work Injury
Call and you’ll reach a live person, any hour. I’ll call you back, usually within minutes, and we’ll spend five minutes on what happened. If you have a case, I’ll tell you what it looks like. If you don’t, I’ll tell you that too. I’m not going to talk you into hiring a lawyer you don’t need.
More cases I handle
Car Accidents 
Truck Accidents 
Slip & Fall Injuries 
Swimming Pool Accidents 
Premises Liability 
Cattle & Livestock Accidents Distracted Driver Accidents 
Dog Bites & Animal Attacks 
Gun & Shooting Accidents 
Boating Accidents 
Construction Accidents 
Oilfield Accidents 
Medical Malpractice 
Health Care Worker Claims 
Product Liability