Why Texas Lawyers Decline a Fall-From-a-Vehicle Injury Case

Attorney Answer

The most likely reason two lawyers passed is the one nobody enjoys saying out loud: in Texas, how much of the fall is charged to you can wipe out the case entirely, and riding on the back of a truck is the kind of fact that a jury weighs heavily. That is not a judgment about you. It is how the statute is written, and knowing it lets you ask the next lawyer a much better question.

Texas apportions responsibility by percentage. Under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.003, the trier of fact assigns a percentage of responsibility, in whole numbers, to each claimant, each defendant, each settling person, and each properly designated responsible third party. Section 33.001 then sets the bar: "In an action to which this chapter applies, a claimant may not recover damages if his percentage of responsibility is greater than 50 percent." More than half yours, and you recover nothing — not a reduced amount, nothing. If you are at or under half, § 33.012(a) requires the court to reduce your damages by a percentage equal to your own percentage of responsibility. And § 33.013(a) makes each liable defendant responsible only for its own percentage, with joint and several liability under § 33.013(b) only where a defendant is more than 50 percent responsible or acted in concert in certain intentional conduct.

That rule explains most declined injury cases in this state. A lawyer takes an injury case on a contingency, funds the expenses, and is paid only from a recovery. If a jury could reasonably put more than half the responsibility on the injured person, the math does not work. Other reasons look similar from outside: too little insurance behind the responsible party, a gap in the records connecting the injury to the fall, or a limitations problem. A second lawyer declining after the first withdrew is common — not because the first was right, but because a worked-and-dropped file has to be re-underwritten quickly.

There is a version of this where the analysis is different. If you were working when you fell — for the towing company or anyone else — workers' compensation may be involved instead. Tex. Lab. Code § 408.001(a) makes workers' compensation benefits the exclusive remedy against a covered employer for a work-related injury, and comp pays without regard to fault. If the employer carried no coverage, Tex. Lab. Code § 406.033(a) says that in an employee's suit for on-the-job injuries it is not a defense that the employee was contributorily negligent, assumed the risk, or that a fellow employee caused the injury — although § 406.033(d) still requires proof of the employer's negligence. That route removes the fault problem that the ordinary injury case cannot escape.

What you can do

1. Ask each lawyer who declined, in writing, for your file and a short statement of the reason. You are entitled to your file, and the reason tells the next lawyer what to check.

2. Gather your medical records and bills from the day of the fall forward, including the emergency visit, so the injury and its treatment are documented in one place.

3. Write down what happened — where the truck was, whether it was moving, who was driving, who told you where to be, and whether anyone saw it.

4. Find out whether you were on the job at the time in the eyes of the law, and if so whether that employer carried workers' compensation coverage. That single fact changes which rules apply.

5. Ask the next lawyer directly what percentage of responsibility a jury might assign you, and what would have to be true for the case to work. A lawyer who cannot answer that is not evaluating the case.

6. Watch the calendar. The deadline below does not pause while you look for representation.

7. Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts with someone who can ask you questions is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a) requires suit for personal injury to be brought not later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues. You describe a fall in February, and every month spent looking for a lawyer is a month off that period — a case nobody will take is often a case that ran out of time while it was being shopped. If a workers' compensation claim is in play, Tex. Lab. Code § 409.001(a) gives 30 days to notify the employer and § 409.003 gives one year to file the claim with the division. Get a Texas attorney to review your dates now. Nothing here calculates them for you.