A bilingual team built for the Valley.
Bilingual Team
Spanish-speaking attorneys and staff who understand your language, your culture, and what your family is going through. You never need a translator to explain your own case.
No Fee Unless We Win
We work entirely on contingency. Your consultation is free, and you never pay attorney fees out of pocket. We only get paid when you get paid.
Local RGV Presence
We serve McAllen, Mission, Pharr, and Brownsville directly, with attorneys who know the local courts, the local roads, and the local insurance adjusters.
What we handle in the Valley.
If you were hurt because of someone else's negligence anywhere in Hidalgo or Cameron County, this is our territory.
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Coming soon
Car Accidents
Rear-end collisions, intersection crashes, and highway wrecks across McAllen, Mission, and Pharr. We deal with the insurance company so you don't have to.
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Coming soon
Truck Accidents
18-wheelers and commercial trucks on I-2/US-83 and I-69C involve more insurance coverage and more parties. We know how to build these cases.
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Coming soon
Motorcycle Accidents
Motorcyclists suffer more severe injuries and face unfair bias from insurance adjusters. We fight to make sure your claim is valued fairly.
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Coming soon
Slip & Fall
Wet floors, broken stairs, and unmarked hazards at stores, restaurants, and apartment complexes. Property owners have a duty to keep you safe.
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Coming soon
Workplace Injuries
Hurt on the job in the Valley? You may have claims beyond workers' compensation. We evaluate every possible avenue for recovery.
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Coming soon
Wrongful Death
When negligence takes the life of a loved one, your family deserves justice and financial stability. We handle these cases with the seriousness they deserve.
Understanding Texas Personal Injury Law
Insurance companies count on injured people not knowing their rights. Here is what Texas law actually says.
Can I Still Recover Compensation If I'm Partially at Fault?
Under Texas's modified comparative fault law, codified at Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 33.001, injured victims can still recover money damages even if they share some responsibility for the accident. This is often called the "51% bar rule." As long as a jury or insurance adjuster finds you 50% or less at fault, you are entitled to compensation, but that amount is reduced by your percentage of responsibility. If you are found 51% or more at fault, Texas law bars any recovery entirely, no matter how serious your injuries are.
Insurance adjusters know this rule well, and one of their most common strategies is to shift blame onto the injured party, even partially, because every percentage point they assign to you directly reduces what they have to pay. This is why it is critical to have an attorney investigate the crash independently, gather your own evidence, and challenge unfair fault allocations before you agree to any settlement or give a recorded statement.
Bajo la ley de responsabilidad comparativa modificada de Texas, en el Código de Prácticas y Remedios Civiles de Texas, Sección 33.001, las víctimas de un accidente pueden recibir compensación aunque tengan parte de la responsabilidad. A esto se le llama la "regla del 51%". Mientras un jurado o un ajustador de seguros te encuentre con 50% de culpa o menos, tienes derecho a compensación, pero esa cantidad se reduce según tu porcentaje de responsabilidad. Si te encuentran con 51% de culpa o más, la ley de Texas te impide recibir cualquier compensación, sin importar qué tan graves sean tus lesiones.
Los ajustadores de seguros conocen bien esta regla, y una de sus estrategias más comunes es culpar a la persona lesionada, aunque sea parcialmente, porque cada punto porcentual que te asignen reduce directamente lo que tienen que pagar. Por eso es importante que un abogado investigue el choque de forma independiente, reúna tu propia evidencia y cuestione cualquier reparto injusto de culpa antes de que aceptes un acuerdo o des una declaración grabada.
How Long Do I Have to File a Personal Injury Claim in Texas?
Texas law generally gives injury victims two years from the date of the injury to file a personal injury lawsuit, under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.003. This deadline, known as the statute of limitations, applies to most car accidents, truck accidents, slip and fall cases, and similar personal injury claims. If you do not file suit within two years, you will almost certainly lose your right to pursue compensation, regardless of how strong your case is.
In limited situations, Texas courts apply the "discovery rule," which delays the start of the two-year clock until the injury was, or reasonably should have been, discovered. Courts apply this exception narrowly, generally reserving it for injuries that are inherently undiscoverable at the time they occur, such as certain medical malpractice or latent occupational exposure cases. You should never assume the discovery rule applies to your situation without speaking to an attorney.
Claims against a Texas city, county, school district, or other governmental unit move on a much faster clock. Under the Texas Tort Claims Act (Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 101), you generally must provide written notice of your claim within six months of the incident. Some home rule cities, through their own city charters, shorten this notice period even further, sometimes to as little as 90 days, so claims involving a government vehicle, a government employee, or a dangerous condition on public property require immediate legal attention.
La ley de Texas generalmente le da a las víctimas de una lesión dos años desde la fecha del accidente para presentar una demanda de lesiones personales, bajo el Código de Prácticas y Remedios Civiles de Texas, Sección 16.003. Este plazo, conocido como el estatuto de limitaciones, aplica a la mayoría de los choques de auto, accidentes de camión, resbalones y caídas, y reclamos similares. Si no presentas la demanda dentro de esos dos años, casi con seguridad perderás tu derecho a buscar compensación, sin importar qué tan fuerte sea tu caso.
En situaciones limitadas, las cortes de Texas aplican la "regla del descubrimiento", que retrasa el inicio del plazo de dos años hasta que la lesión fue, o razonablemente debía haber sido, descubierta. Las cortes aplican esta excepción de forma muy limitada, generalmente reservada para lesiones imposibles de detectar al momento en que ocurren, como ciertos casos de negligencia médica o exposición laboral prolongada. Nunca debes asumir que la regla del descubrimiento aplica a tu situación sin hablar primero con un abogado.
Los reclamos contra una ciudad, condado, distrito escolar u otra entidad gubernamental de Texas corren en un plazo mucho más corto. Bajo la Ley de Reclamos por Agravios de Texas (Texas Tort Claims Act, Capítulo 101 del Código de Prácticas y Remedios Civiles), generalmente debes presentar aviso por escrito de tu reclamo dentro de seis meses después del incidente. Algunas ciudades con carta orgánica propia acortan este plazo aún más, a veces hasta 90 días, por lo que los reclamos que involucran un vehículo del gobierno, un empleado del gobierno o una condición peligrosa en propiedad pública requieren atención legal inmediata.
Are There Caps on Personal Injury Damages in Texas?
For most personal injury cases in Texas, there is no cap on the amount of compensation you can recover. Economic damages, meaning your medical bills, lost wages, and reduced future earning capacity, are generally uncapped in ordinary negligence cases such as car accidents, truck accidents, and slip and falls.
Medical malpractice cases are the major exception. Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 74, noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering and mental anguish against a single physician or health care provider are capped at $250,000, and total noneconomic damages against health care institutions are capped at $500,000, meaning a claim involving both a doctor and a hospital could be capped at up to $750,000 in noneconomic damages combined.
Punitive damages, also called exemplary damages, are awarded to punish especially reckless or malicious conduct and are capped under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 41.008 at whichever is greater: $200,000, or two times economic damages plus an amount equal to noneconomic damages up to $750,000. There is an important exception: if the defendant's conduct amounted to certain felonies under the Texas Penal Code, such as intoxication manslaughter, the punitive damages cap does not apply.
En la mayoría de los casos de lesiones personales en Texas, no existe un límite en la cantidad de compensación que puedes recibir. Los daños económicos, es decir, tus facturas médicas, salarios perdidos y capacidad de ingresos futuros reducida, generalmente no tienen límite en casos de negligencia común como choques de auto, accidentes de camión y resbalones y caídas.
Los casos de negligencia médica son la excepción principal. Bajo el Capítulo 74 del Código de Prácticas y Remedios Civiles de Texas, los daños no económicos, como el dolor y sufrimiento y la angustia mental, contra un solo médico o proveedor de salud están limitados a $250,000, y el total de daños no económicos contra instituciones de salud está limitado a $500,000, lo que significa que un reclamo contra un médico y un hospital podría estar limitado hasta $750,000 combinados en daños no económicos.
Los daños punitivos, también llamados daños ejemplares, se otorgan para castigar conducta especialmente imprudente o maliciosa y están limitados bajo la Sección 41.008 del Código de Prácticas y Remedios Civiles de Texas al monto mayor entre estas dos opciones: $200,000, o dos veces los daños económicos más una cantidad igual a los daños no económicos hasta $750,000. Hay una excepción importante: si la conducta del demandado constituyó ciertos delitos graves bajo el Código Penal de Texas, como homicidio por intoxicación, el límite de daños punitivos no aplica.
What Types of Damages Can I Recover?
Economic damages compensate you for the actual financial losses caused by your injury. This includes past and future medical bills, lost wages and benefits from time away from work, property damage such as your vehicle, and reduced future earning capacity if your injury affects your ability to work long term.
Noneconomic damages compensate you for losses that do not come with a receipt but are just as real. This includes physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement, physical impairment, and loss of consortium for a spouse affected by your injury.
In cases involving fraud, malice, or gross negligence, meaning conduct that shows the defendant knew about and consciously disregarded an extreme risk to others, Texas law also allows punitive damages meant to punish the wrongdoer and deter similar conduct in the future, subject to the caps described above.
Los daños económicos te compensan por las pérdidas financieras reales causadas por tu lesión. Esto incluye facturas médicas pasadas y futuras, salarios y beneficios perdidos por el tiempo fuera del trabajo, daños a tu propiedad como tu vehículo, y la reducción de tu capacidad de ingresos futuros si tu lesión afecta tu habilidad de trabajar a largo plazo.
Los daños no económicos te compensan por pérdidas que no vienen con un recibo pero son igual de reales. Esto incluye dolor y sufrimiento físico, angustia mental, desfiguración, incapacidad física y la pérdida de compañía conyugal para un cónyuge afectado por tu lesión.
En casos que involucran fraude, malicia o negligencia grave, es decir, conducta que muestra que el demandado sabía de un riesgo extremo para otros y lo ignoró conscientemente, la ley de Texas también permite daños punitivos para castigar al responsable y prevenir conducta similar en el futuro, sujetos a los límites descritos arriba.
What Does Negligence Mean in a Texas Injury Case?
Nearly every personal injury case in Texas is built on the legal concept of negligence, which requires proving four specific elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages.
Duty. The defendant owed you a legal duty of care. Every driver on a Texas road owes other drivers a duty to operate their vehicle safely and follow traffic laws. Property owners owe visitors a duty to maintain reasonably safe premises.
Breach. The defendant breached that duty through a careless or reckless act, such as running a red light, texting while driving, or failing to clean up a spill within a reasonable time.
Causation. The breach actually caused your injury, both as a direct cause and as a foreseeable one. A breach that has nothing to do with how you were hurt does not support a claim.
Damages. You suffered real, compensable harm, whether physical injury, medical expenses, lost income, or other losses.
In a car accident, duty and breach are often established through the police report and traffic laws. In a slip and fall, proving the property owner knew or should have known about a hazardous condition and failed to fix it within a reasonable time is often the central issue in the case.
Casi todos los casos de lesiones personales en Texas se construyen sobre el concepto legal de negligencia, que requiere probar cuatro elementos específicos: deber, incumplimiento, causalidad y daños.
Deber. El demandado tenía un deber legal de cuidado hacia ti. Todo conductor en una carretera de Texas tiene el deber de manejar su vehículo de forma segura y seguir las leyes de tránsito. Los dueños de propiedades tienen el deber de mantener sus instalaciones razonablemente seguras para los visitantes.
Incumplimiento. El demandado incumplió ese deber mediante un acto descuidado o imprudente, como pasarse un semáforo en rojo, escribir mensajes de texto mientras maneja, o no limpiar un derrame dentro de un tiempo razonable.
Causalidad. El incumplimiento realmente causó tu lesión, tanto de forma directa como previsible. Un incumplimiento que no tiene nada que ver con cómo te lastimaste no sostiene un reclamo.
Daños. Sufriste un daño real y compensable, ya sea lesión física, gastos médicos, ingresos perdidos u otras pérdidas.
En un choque de auto, el deber y el incumplimiento a menudo se establecen mediante el reporte policial y las leyes de tránsito. En un resbalón y caída, probar que el dueño de la propiedad sabía o debía haber sabido de una condición peligrosa y no la reparó en un tiempo razonable suele ser el punto central del caso.
Accident Statistics in the Rio Grande Valley
The Rio Grande Valley sees thousands of serious crashes every year, and McAllen sits at the center of that traffic. The numbers explain why so many families in Hidalgo and Cameron counties need experienced legal representation after a wreck.
Crashes reported in Hidalgo County in 2023, including 83 fatalities and 10,160 people injured.
Hidalgo County, 2023Crashes per year in McAllen alone, about 7.8 crashes every day, roughly 17% of the entire county total.
McAllen, annual averageThe most dangerous roadway in the McAllen area, with the highest concentration of reported crashes.
Highest crash corridorCrashes in McAllen so far in 2025, including 7 fatal crashes and 9 deaths.
McAllen, 2025 year to dateSources: Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) crash records and City of McAllen traffic reporting. Figures are approximate and reflect the most recently reported periods available. This is why Carreras Law Firm keeps attorneys and staff local to the Valley, so we can respond quickly when a crash happens on these roads.
What Your Case Is Worth
There is no online calculator or fixed formula that can tell you what your personal injury case is worth, no matter what a marketing website claims. Every case depends on a specific combination of factors, and the only reliable way to know your case's value is a free, detailed evaluation with an attorney who has reviewed your actual facts, records, and evidence.
Get a Free Case Evaluation- 01Severity and permanence of your injuries
- 02Available insurance coverage on all responsible parties
- 03Your percentage of fault, if any, under Texas's 51% rule
- 04Future medical needs and ongoing treatment costs
- 05Lost income and impact on future earning capacity
- 06Impact on your day-to-day quality of life
From call to resolution.
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Free Consultation
Call us or fill out our form. We listen to what happened and review your case at no cost, with no obligation to hire us.
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Investigation
We gather evidence, obtain police reports and surveillance footage, and collect your medical records to build the foundation of your claim.
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Negotiation
We build a demand package and negotiate directly with the insurance company to fight for the maximum compensation available under your policy.
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Resolution
Most cases resolve through a fair settlement. If the insurance company refuses to negotiate in good faith, we are prepared to take your case to trial.