Both tenants and landlords are constrained by leases. A landlord generally cannot raise the rent or force a tenant to move out before the lease ends unless the tenant materially breached the lease in some way (for example, they fail to pay rent). Tenants, unless extraordinary circumstances exist, are generally legally bound to pay rent for the full lease term, whether or not the space is occupied. Issues arise when a tenant has to cut short his use of the leased premises prior to the lease’s term.

When You Can Break a Lease in Texas

In Texas, you may be able to legally move out (with no associated damages) before the lease term ends in the following situations:

• You are starting active military duty
• You are a victim of stalking or sexual assault
• The rental violates Texas Health or Safety Codes (there’s a “constructive eviction”)
• Your landlord violates your privacy rights or harasses you.

Breaching a Lease in Texas

Even if a tenant does not have legal justification to break a lease as described above, the tenant still may be able to avoid paying all the rent due for the remaining lease term. Texas law mandates that landlords use reasonable measures to mitigate damages and keep their losses to a minimum. In Texas, a landlord must make reasonable efforts to re-lease the tenant’s space rather than charge the tenant for the total remaining rent due under the lease.

In many cases, a tenant may not have to pay much, if any, additional rent. A tenant is required to pay only the amount of rent the landlord loses because of their early exit. If a landlord does try to re-lease the property in a reasonable time frame, he should subtract the rent received from new tenants from the amount the tenant owes.

How to Minimize the Cost When Breaking a Lease

If you need to leave your rental early and you do not have a legal way out of the lease, there is a lot you can do to limit the amount of money you may ultimately owe your landlord and help ensure future good references when you are looking for your next place to live. You should provide as much notice as possible and communicate with your landlord, letting them know why you need to leave early. You may even be able to provide your landlord a new tenant – someone with good credit and excellent references – to help minimize or eliminate your damages.

Contact our Austin Attorneys

If you need legal assistance when breaking a lease, please contact Shaw Cowart LLP using the form on this page or call 512-499-8900 today to schedule a consultation. We serve clients in the Austin, Texas area.

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If you’ve been injured due to the negligent actions of another, you may be entitled to recover compensation through a personal injury lawsuit. The types of damages you can recover vary based on the specifics of your case. During your complimentary consultation with our attorneys, we will discuss the different damages that you may be entitled to receive.

The following infographic provides an overview of the different types of potential damages available during a personal injury case. Our lawyers will always investigate every aspect of your injury in order to demonstrate the total extent of the damages you’ve suffered. This is the best way to ensure you maximize the value of your compensation.

Please contact Shaw Cowart LLP using the form on this page or call 512-499-8900 today to schedule a complimentary personal injury consultation. We serve clients in the Austin, Texas area.

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Seatbelts are one of the most important safety features included on cars. There are numerous studies which have documented the extent to which wearing your seatbelt will reduce your risk of serious injury during a car accident. We’ve created the following infographic to highlight some of this data.

If you’ve been injured in a car accident caused by the negligence of another driver, you may be entitled to recover compensation for your damages. The attorneys at Shaw Cowart LLP have extensive experience handling car accident claims in the Austin, Texas area, and we’ll fight aggressively to help you maximize the value of your compensation.

Please contact Shaw Cowart LLP using the form on this page or call 512-499-8900 today to schedule a complimentary car accident consultation. We serve clients in the Austin, Texas area.

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The area of employment law is made up of a myriad of type of claims (discrimination, harassment, worker’s compensation, whistleblower claims, etc.) and often a maze of federal, state and local statutes along with any governing law. Often, employees have to satisfy prerequisites prior to taking their case to court and their failure to do so may provide the employer with leverage to either dismiss or favorably resolve the claim.

Some of the prerequisites include:

• Those found in Employment Contracts or are part of Company Policy – Frequently, employers today require employees to engage in some type of pre-suit alternative dispute resolution prior to, or even instead of, litigation. Both Texas and Federal law authorize mandatory arbitration agreement or mediation for virtually all types of claims. These contracts themselves can be attacked based on whether correct procedures were followed in enacting the requirements or on the grounds that the agreements are illusory or unconscionable. If valid, however, the employee will be required to meet the contracted for mediation or arbitration agreement.
• Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation Claims – If the claim arises out of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act, an employee must exhaust their administrative remedies as a prerequisite to filing suit based on discrimination or harassment with respect to race, national origin, sex, religion, disability, age, or retaliation claims under the statutes.Further, the employee must include all of their claims in the pre-suit administrative proceeding since any later filed case will be limited in scope by the pre-suit administrative claim. The deadlines for administrative claims can be very short, especially in comparison to traditional statutes of limitations. For instance, to preserve a discrimination or retaliation claim, an employee must file a charge with the Texas Workforce Commission within 180 days of the last discriminatory or retaliatory act and with the EEOC within 300 days to preserve any state or federal claims, respectively.
• Whistleblower Claims – Private whistleblower claims in Texas generally center around an employee’s termination for failure to perform an illegal act. There is a Texas Whistleblower Act that provides protections for government employees. At the federal level, OSHA oversees most of the whistleblower protection programs, from those authorized by the Occupational Health and Safety Act itself to the Affordable Care Act, the Sarbanes Oxley legislation, and the Federal Railroad Safety Act. Different time periods govern these claims so it is important to seek counsel as soon as practical when pursing these claims.

Contact our Austin Employment Litigation Attorneys

Please contact Shaw Cowart LLP using the form on this page or call 512-499-8900 today to schedule a complimentary consultation. We serve clients in the Austin, Texas area.

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Earlier this month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released data regarding highway fatalities, and the report showed some promising trends. Most importantly, the NHTSA announced that highway fatalities decreased 1.8% in 2017. This is a significant reverse of recent trends. Highway fatalities had increased 8.4% in 2015 and 6.5% in 2016.

While this is good news, there were still 37,133 individuals who lost their lives in car accidents last year. Clearly, we still have a long way to go to improve highway safety.

Other notable trends in the NHTSA report included:

• 2% decrease in pedestrian fatalities in 2017 (first time this figure declined since 2013)
• More fatal accidents occurred in urban areas than rural areas
• 8% increase in fatal truck accidents involving combination semi-trucks
• 2% increase in vehicle miles traveled during 2017
• 5% decrease in the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled during 2017

Common Reasons for Fatal Car Accidents

Some of the most common causes of car accidents, including fatal crashes, are:

• Speeding
• Distracted driving
• Driving under the influence

Distracted driving has become a particularly serious issue in recent years due to the increased usage of handheld devices such as cell phones. Despite bans on texting while driving throughout the country, many people continue to engage in this dangerous behavior. Texting while driving causes you to take your eyes off the road for long enough to travel the length of a football field when driving at highway speeds. This inattention to the road significantly increases the risk of a fatal crash.

Texas requires drivers to use a hands-free device when talking on cell phones. While this significantly reduces the risk of a serious car accident, there are still too many drivers ignoring this law. In addition, the use of music apps and GPS systems on cell phones creates additional distractions that can result in a collision.

Similarly, drunk driving is still a persistent problem in spite of the strict DUI laws enacted in most states, including Texas. Simply put, this behavior is unacceptable. It places others sharing the road with drunk drivers at unnecessary risk, and the injuries caused by drunk driving accidents are often catastrophic in nature.

Shaw Cowart Can Help

If you’ve been injured or lost a loved one in a car accident caused by the negligence of another driver, you have rights. You may be entitled to recover compensation for your damages in an auto accident lawsuit. In the event of a fatal crash, the loved ones of the deceased may be able to recover compensation in a wrongful death lawsuit.

The attorneys at Shaw Cowart have extensive experience handling car accident cases. Our lawyers are seasoned litigators and prepare every case as if it will go to trial. While we always strive to settle your case whenever possible, we’re not afraid to go to court if a settlement isn’t in your best interests.

When you work with Shaw Cowart, you’ll receive big firm results with small firm care. Just as with big law firms, we have the experience and resources to handle the most complex cases. However, your attorney will personally handle every aspect of your case, and we will never pass you off to a paralegal. This level of personalized attention is one of the reasons we’ve developed a strong track record of success.

You can learn about your legal rights and options during a complimentary case evaluation.

Contact our Austin Car Accident Lawyers

Please contact Shaw Cowart LLP using the form on this page or call 512-499-8900 today to schedule your complimentary consultation. We serve clients in Austin, Texas.

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People involved in business disputes often rush to judgment and reflexively decide to sue. Here are some things to think about before deciding to start a lawsuit:

1. Do you have a good case? Not only do you need to have a genuine legal claim or “cause of action,” but it must also be valued high enough in economic terms to justify taking it to court. For example, the fact that you might have been sold a defective product worth $500 may not usually justify suing an out-of-state defendant. There may be extenuating circumstances or other possibilities that come to light, however, after an appropriate legal consultation.
2. Have you made a final demand in connection with your dispute?This step may seem obvious, but is often overlooked by people in their rush to the courthouse. If they know they are at fault and are able to make the situation right, most individuals or businesses will do what they can to resolve the matter, rather than be dragged into court. Also, many times the recovery of attorney fees may be dependent on an appropriate demand.
3. Will you be able to collect a judgment if you win?Take a hard look at the financial condition of the party you are going to sue. You want to be reasonably certain that you will be able to collect a judgment before you spend a lot of “good” money chasing uncollectible or “bad” money in a lawsuit.
4. Do you have the money to pay a lawyer to handle the lawsuit?Lawsuits can be expensive, and recovering your attorneys’ fees is often not an option. Ask your lawyer for an estimate of legal fees, and do the math or see if they would entertain alternative fee arrangements, like taking the case on a contingency based on a successful outcome.
5. Do you have the time and resources to devote to a lawsuit?A lawsuit may take a lot of time and energy, and it can be emotionally draining. Remember that you might find that you have less time and energy to devote to your work, business, family, and social life for the duration of the lawsuit.
6. Are you within the applicable “statute of limitations?”Check with your lawyer to make sure that any time limits for filing a lawsuit have not run out or do not get so close to expiring that it may make it difficult for you to find legal representation.
7. Where will you be able to sue?If you are suing someone from a different state, a court in your state may not have power or “jurisdiction” over that person. In that case, you might have to sue the defendant in his or her location, which will probably be more expensive and inconvenient for you.

 Contact our Attorneys

If you have a potential claim and would like to have it evaluated by a team of experienced litigation attorneys, contact Shaw Cowart, LLP using the form on this page or call 512-499-8900 today to schedule a consultation. We serve clients in Austin, Texas.

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Undiagnosed traumatic brain injury (TBI) can change and endanger your life in unpredictable ways.

It happens much more often than you might imagine. Undiagnosed TBI can be the underlying cause of mental health issues that upend your life, and for which you never get proper treatment. Seizure disorders are a common result of TBI, and if you don’t know you have the injury, you can easily have a seizure when you are behind the wheel. TBI often goes unrecognized because of misconceptions about what it takes to injure your brain.

Myth: I Never Lost Consciousness, So I’m Fine

False. You can suffer very serious repercussions from TBI, even if you never lose consciousness. Something else to consider. If no one was around to witness what happened, you don’t really know if you lost consciousness or not.

Myth: You Can’t Get a Concussion Without Hitting Your Head

Wrong again. A sudden jolt to the body is all it takes to bruise your brain. The forces in a car accident or a body blow when playing sports can cause your brain to slam into the inside of your skull. Always get checked out after an accident, even if you think everything is fine. Read about Coup, Contrecoup and Coup-Contrecoup injuries here.

Signs of TBI

So, maybe you did get checked out, and they sent you home. You still need to be on the lookout for signs of TBI and seek medical attention if you experience them. Brain injuries can continue getting worse in the first hours and days after injury. Some tell-tale signs are:

• Fatigue or drowsiness
• Memory problems, which can manifest as repeating yourself in conversation and may only be noticeable to others
• Dizziness or lightheadedness
• Confusion or disorientation
• Nausea or vomiting

If you have believe you suffered TBI as a result of someone else’s negligence, Shaw Cowart LLP is here to help. Please, call us today at 512-499-8900 right away, or email us to schedule your free consultation.

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Austin, Texas business attorney Ethan Shaw discusses Shaw Cowart LLP’s experience with representing companies for in high stakes “Bet the Company” litigation.

Business disputes create unnecessary expense and divert time, energy and resources away from the focus of your business. When that dispute could wreak havoc on your company, you need dependable attorneys who you can rely on to get the job done.

Our job at Shaw Cowart LLP is to take charge of your business’s legal needs so you have the peace of mind you need to focus on what you do best. We represent companies in Austin, throughout Texas and nationwide in high stakes litigation both as plaintiffs and defendants. We offer flexible fee structures to ensure that your company gets the maximum value for its legal fees.

Please call us for a confidential consultation at 512-499-8900.

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Neck and back injuries can occur in any almost any type of accident, from a car wreck to slipping on a wet floor, or even while performing what seems like a routine task at work.

You may notice the pain instantly, or you may be so focused on more obvious injuries that you don’t realize you have a neck or back injury until much later. Severe injuries, such as spinal cord injury, are almost always immediately apparent, but dangerous fractures that shift and puncture your spinal cord may not be.

Whether you have suffered a catastrophic neck or back injury, or a debilitating injury that crept up on you over time, the experienced Austin personal injury attorneys of Shaw Cowart LLP are here to fight for full compensation for you.

Accidents Causing Neck and Back Injuries

Examples of the accidents that can cause neck and back injuries include:

• Auto accidents
• Construction accidents
• Slip and fall
• Nursing home falls
• Sports injuries
• Assaults
• Improper lifting and other work-related activities
• Defective product accidents, such as falls from defective ladders

Liability for Neck and Back Injuries

To recover full compensation, you must know who can be held liable. That will depend on the type of accident and circumstances leading up to your injury. For instance, in a car accident, the negligent driver may be liable. But if a crashworthiness defect in your vehicle, such as a defective headrest, caused you to incur the injury in a crash where you normally wouldn’t have, the auto manufacturer, seller, or someone else along the supply chain may be held responsible due to the product defect.

To learn more about how you can recover full compensation for your neck or back injury, please call Shaw Cowart LLP at 512-499-8900 right away, or email us today to schedule your free consultation.

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Austin, Texas attorney John Cowart addresses a question about what an employee can take when he or she leaves the company. In many cases, this question is governed by an employment agreement or a non-disclosure agreement.

If you are an employee  considering leaving your current employment or if your company is concerned about an employee who may have taken confidential or trade secret information, please call Shaw Cowart at 512-499-8900 for a free and confidential legal consultation.

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