Brasure Law Firm, PLLC

By: Chris Brasure

Know THIS About Legal Deadlines for TBI Victims

Personal Injury

Let’s talk about the most important thing that you should know about timelines in a legal case involving a traumatic brain injury. One of the questions I get most often from people in the group and just other people is, “Something happened to me a few years ago and I’d like to investigate it. Or can anything can be done?” And a lot of times, unfortunately, the answer depends on when the accident or injury occurred and when the person found out about it.

 

Negligence

So in most cases, like in Texas, that involve negligence, which include the most common types of causes for a traumatic injury. Those injuries include trips and falls, as well as motor vehicle accidents. In those types of cases, the statute of limitations is two years in Texas. Now, that means that from the day the injury happens — the traumatic brain injury — until two years, the victim has a right to file a claim or a lawsuit against the at fault person or the person who is responsible for the injuries. After those two years, the law says there’s nothing that can be done. Now, there’s a very narrow exception that is common called the discovery rule. And basically, that means if the person didn’t or couldn’t discover they had a traumatic brain injury within those two years, then the time limit starts when the person finds out. And that’s called the discovery rule. And so that’s the most common situation for traumatic brain injury victims.

 

Work With Timelines Sucessfully

However, there are times where the statute of limitations or the deadline is actually shorter. For example, in some cases, it can be one year. And so the most important thing to know and the point of all this is that if something has happened, like a traumatic brain injury or an event like that, it’s important to ask the question and find out if there’s something that can be done from an attorney or somebody who knows what the law is. Because even with the two years of the statute of limitations, that time might actually be shorter. For example, if there’s a government entity involved or a part of the government, then the timeline to give the government notice can be actually up to a few months. If notice is not given by that time, then the traumatic brain injury victim has no remedy. And so the most important thing to know about all of this is that if something has happened, time is not a friend for people who are traumatic brain injury victims.

 

Get Legal Help

If you have questions, you should seek out legal counsel and try to find out what the time frame is and if a claim can be made for compensation to help with future medical care and costs and things like that. So if you have any more questions, feel free to message me in the group or post to the group. And if I can’t help you, I’ll point you in the right direction.

By Brasure Law Firm, PLLC