Pedestrian safety is a very real concern in Austin and throughout Texas. Unfortunately, that numbers of pedestrian deaths across the country are at all-time highs.

You know to use caution when crossing the street and watch for traffic, but motor vehicle collisions with pedestrians can happen in unexpected places and under unanticipated circumstances. Anytime you are somewhere that a vehicle can enter, whether it’s supposed to or not, you must be on the lookout. Drivers with their eyes glued to their phones have certainly raised the stakes for people on foot, but they aren’t the only ones responsible for the high number of pedestrian accidents.

Malfunctioning Traffic Signal

You come to an intersection, wait patiently or maybe very impatiently for the walk sign, and think you’re good to go. Think again. Technically, you have the right of way, but don’t just head out into the road. You can’t depend on drivers to honor a red light, and worse you can’t really be sure that they have one. When a traffic signal malfunctions, drivers think they have the all-clear too. They aren’t expecting pedestrians to be crossing and may be moving too fast to see you or to stop in time if they do.

If you are hit due to a malfunctioning traffic signal, you may find yourself suing the city. That means different rules and tight deadlines.

Drivers Who Enter Pedestrian Areas

There are certain places cars just should not be. They include sidewalks, parks, your yard, and areas of roads that have been blocked off for events such as concerts, parades and marathons. But, it still happens. People get confused. They get lost. Then you have drunk or distracted drivers, and drunk distracted drivers. And, of course drivers can have heart attacks, seizures and other sudden health events.

When drivers enter pedestrian areas, driver negligence is usually to blame, but there can be other factors including:

• Inadequate signage
• Inadequate barriers
• Defective vehicle

In pedestrian accidents there can be more than meets the eye. Thorough investigation is required if you are to receive the full and fair compensation you deserve. At Shaw Cowart LLP we always start with a thorough investigation of the facts to ensure you have the best chance of compensation. If you have been injured as an Austin pedestrian, please call Shaw Cowart, LLP, at 512-499-8900 or email us today to schedule your free consultation.

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Holding there is “neither specific nor general jurisdiction” over our clients for the more than $10 million of claims asserted against them, the Texas Court of Appeals, Third District, at Austin recently reversed a Travis County trial court judge’s ruling and rendered judgment granting our client’s special appearance while dismissing the case against them.

In WaterWorks Corral Creek, LLC and Saltwater Disposal Systems, LLC, Appellants v. AquaTech Saltwater Disposal LLC d/b/a Aqua Tech Water & Disposal, LLC and Eric Schmitz, Appellees (NO. 03-16-00309-CV) our clients faced claims for breach of contract, tortious interference with existing contract, tortious interference with prospective business relationship, and civil conspiracy. The case centered on a letter of intent and failed acquisition of saltwater disposal wells.

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Your car accident has cost you in so many ways. Medical bills, time away from work, and other expenses plus your pain and suffering and inability to participate in the activities and lifestyle you enjoyed before your accident. And this is just the beginning. The life-time costs of your injuries will likely be far greater than the initial costs and far more than you currently anticipate. You need to know what types of damages you can recover for your car accident injury claim.

Existing and Future Damages

Right now, you are probably focused on your existing and short-term future damages. When seeking compensation, that is not enough. You must recover compensation for your full future damages, the expenses and losses you will incur for the rest of your life. What you get now is all you will get. You will not be able to go back and ask for more if you settle for too little and the money runs out in a few years, leaving you and your family financially devastated.

Economic and Noneconomic Damages

You can recover both economic and noneconomic damages. Economic damages are those which can be connected to a specific dollar amount, such as:

• Medical expenses
• Special equipment and home modifications to accommodate disability
• Help with tasks you can no longer perform
• Lost income
• Lost earning capacity

Noneconomic damages are more difficult to calculate. There are no receipts or projections for money that will be spent or lost. But noneconomic damages are the losses that probably mean the most to you and your family, such as:

• Physical pain and suffering
• Mental anguish
• Physical impairment
• Disfigurement
• Diminished quality of life
• Loss of enjoyment of life

Shaw Cowart, LLP, is here to help you recover maximum compensation for your car accident injuries. Please call us at 512-499-8900 or email us today to schedule your free consultation.

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Austin, Texas business attorney John Cowart discusses issues you should consider early in a breach of contract case. At Shaw Cowart LLP, because we have substantial business litigation experience, we know that it is best to research the case early in the process to ensure that you don’t spend money in litigation when your chances of recovery are small. The facts may support your claim, but you only win if you can actually collect money from the defendant. We take the time up front to maximize your chances of a substantial recovery before you get in too deep.

For more information about breach of contract claims and for a confidential consultation on your business’s claim, please call or email Shaw Cowart LLP today.

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Attorney John Cowart of the Austin, Texas law firm Shaw Cowart LLP discusses physical and mental pain and how this can be used to recover monetary damages in a personal injury case. Pain and suffering can be included in a jury verdict or in a negotiated settlement with the insurance company. The best advice to achieve this is to contact experienced personal injury attorneys like those at Shaw Cowart, LLP

For more information about pain and suffering damages or to find out if you might be eligible to recover monetary damages for your pain and suffering, please call or email Shaw Cowart LLP for your confidential consultation.

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We left off in our last post talking about negligent handling and unlawful restraint of dogs. Now let’s dive into a few other ways liability could arise because of dog bites as well as how a court could limit victim damages.

Other Types of Dog-Bite Related Liability

In Texas, a court may hold a person liable for failing to stop a dog attack once it has started, even when the victim can’t meet requirements of the One-Bite Rule and negligence.

Moreover, if a landlord or landowner knows of the presence of a dangerous dog, and doesn’t take adequate precautions to keep common areas safe, a court could find them liable for dog bite injuries. For example, say one tenant in an apartment building has a dog, and the landlord knows the dog is dangerous. If the dog bites another tenant in the shared attached yard, the landlord could be held responsible for damages.

If a dog bite happens in front of an individual closely related to the victim, that person may sue the dog owner for emotional distress. For instance, if a mother witnesses a dog attack and injure her son, the mother may bring a cause of action for emotional distress against the dog’s owner.

Comparative Negligence as Defense

Although a dog’s owner may be found liable for injuries it has caused, Texas does permit a defendant to argue that the comparative negligence—basically, the victim’s negligence—should reduce the amount of damages awarded.

The percentage of the victim’s negligence reduces the amount recovered. For example, if a victim’s negligence is 20 percent, the damages award is reduced by 20 percent.

An important note is that the concept of comparative negligence doesn’t apply if the dog bite victim is 5 years old or younger, absent proof that the child understood the consequences of her actions. A court will consider the child’s conduct not against what an adult would have done, but against how a similar child in similar circumstances would have acted.

As you can see, Texas dog bite law can be complex. If you need legal advice on how to proceed in a dog bite case, call us at 512-499-8900 or send us a message.

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In Texas, if you fail to properly restrain your dog—such as let him run free throughout the neighborhood or otherwise prevent him from trespassing on another’s property—and he harms someone, a court could hold you liable for the injuries the person has suffered.

Negligent Handling / Negligence Per Se

This type of liability falls under “negligent handling.” In Texas, the person responsible may not even be the owner of the dog.

If an owner or possessor of a dog fails to exercise reasonable care in handling it and the dog bites someone causing injuries, a court could hold the owner or possessor liable. For example, if you are dog-sitting your brother’s dog and take her for a walk, you could be held liable for the dog biting a neighbor.

As in many jurisdictions, including Texas, the legal concept that underlies attaching this liability is called “negligence per se,” which means a dog bite victim does not have to show that the dog’s owner or possessor knew of the dog’s dangerous tendencies, as is the case with Texas’s “One-Bite Rule.”

Unlawful Restraint of Dogs

While you do need to properly restrain your dog to avoid liability for injuries it may cause, you can go too far taking those precautions as well. Texas law prohibits certain kinds of tethering or chaining of dogs.

The governing statute, Health and Safety Code Section 821.077, lays out specific requirements, but generally a dog cannot be left “outside and unattended by use of a restraint that unreasonably limits the dog’s movement” between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., within 500 feet of a school’s premises, or in extreme weather conditions. Unreasonable restraints include ill-fitting pinch-, prong-, or choke-type collars and those of a certain length.

Some exceptions include the use of a pulley system, or having a dog chained temporarily—such as the time it takes to run inside a store—but the time period is always less than 3 hours in a 24-hour period.

Those who violate these provisions receive a written warning and the chance to remedy the situation within 24 hours. At that point, failure to comply with the anti-chaining law may be a Class C misdemeanor, which in Texas is punishable by a fine up to $500.

Some anti-chaining provisions and exceptions vary by city and county, so it’s important to know about your local ordinances as well.  For example, in Austin leaving a dog alone on a chain or a tether is prohibited by the city (Austin City Code Section 3-4-2).

We’ll talk more about other kinds of potential dog bite liability and comparative negligence in the next post.

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In the summer of 2017, Texans learned in horror that a pit bull mixed breed had mauled 7-year-old Brison Aldrige in Mason, Texas—leaving the boy with gaping bites on his thighs and back. Aldrige was treated at the hospital and released, all things being said, his injuries could have been much worse.

Unfortunately, this dog attack isn’t a unique occurrence in the Lone Star State. Between 2005 and 2013, Texas had the most dog bite fatalities (34) in U.S. states.

While the law can’t prevent dog bites from happening, it does offer legal remedies for those who have suffered injuries because of the negligence of dog owners.

Texas Dog Bite Law

Texas’ view on dog bites was forged by the 1974 Texas Supreme Court case, Marshall v. Ranne, which established the Lone Star State’s “one bite rule.” (Interestingly, the actual story at the heart of this case involved a hog attack, not a dog bite.) What the “one bite rule” means is that an owner of a dog is liable for damages caused by the animal if:

1. The defendant knew the dog had previously bitten someone or been aggressive; or
2. The defendant was negligent in restraining the dog or preventing the bite, which caused injury to the plaintiff.

If a dog has previously bitten someone or been aggressive, the owner must exercise reasonable care in keeping the dog under control. Depending on the circumstances, reasonable care could include keeping it on a leash while in public or locked away from invited guests in the owner’s home.

Owner Defenses to Dog Bite Liability in Texas

To avoid liability for dog bite injuries, an owner may claim he had no knowledge of the dog’s aggressiveness.

In the alternative, an owner may also claim that the plaintiff had been trespassing on the defendant’s property at the time of the incident: If someone is illegally on the dog owner’s property, he may not be able to recover damages from the owner following a bite.

Statute of Limitations

As with all personal injury actions in Texas, dog bite victims must file a lawsuit to recover damages within two years of the date of the dog bite.

If you or someone you love has suffered injuries from a dog bite, time is of the essence, so call us at 512-499-8900 or send us a message as soon as possible to make sure your rights are protected.

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If you have suffered brain injuries in an accident, you may have been told that they are coup or contrecoup injuries, pronounced “coo” and “contracoo”. Or even coup-contrecoup which is a combination of both. While the terms have meaning they don’t, in themselves, tell you what to expect going forward. Coup and contrecoup brain injuries are contusions, meaning bruising. They can be relatively mild, or very serious injuries involving dangerous bleeding and swelling.

Coup or Contrecoup?

Unless you were already well-versed in brain injury terminology, the words coup and contrecoup probably just sound like noise in the first hours or days after sustaining or learning that a loved one has sustained a brain injury. So first, some clarity on what they do and do not mean.

Coup simply tells you that the bruise is at the site of initial impact. Contrecoup means the bruise is on the opposite side of the brain from the initial site of impact. Both are focal point injuries, meaning the brain took a direct hit, either from a blow to the head or from slamming into the inside of the skull. Coup-contrecoup means the brain is bruised on both sides.

Neither coup, contrecoup, nor coup-contrecoup indicate the severity of the injury. They don’t tell you what region of the brain was harmed, and therefore, they do not tell you what functions may be affected.

If you or someone you love has incurred brain injuries as a result of someone else’s negligence, Shaw Cowart LLP can help you recover the compensation you need. Please call us at 512-499-8900 today to schedule your free consultation.

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Austin law firm, Shaw Cowart, LLP, has been accepted into the Business Law Institute (PBLI) by The International Society of Primerus Law Firms

February, 2018 – Austin, Texas based law firm, Shaw Cowart, LLP has been accepted into the Business Law Institute (PBLI) in addition to previously becoming a Personal Injury member by The International Society of Primerus Law Firms, a highly selective society of the world’s finest independent boutique law firms. The firm was accepted following a rigorous screening process by the Primerus Accreditation Board.

“We are a powerful law firm and we get the results you would expect from a larger firm, with the benefit of the personal attention that only a small firm can offer”

About Shaw Cowart, LLP

Shaw Cowart LLP is a civil litigation firm committed to defending clients throughout Austin and San Antonio, Texas. The Austin trial lawyers of Shaw Cowart LLP are seasoned litigators known for the positive outcomes consistently achieved for clients in court. The firm has earned a reputation for providing legal work of the highest quality.

The firm is rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale-Hubbell, and firm members regularly receive local and national recognition for legal excellence.  The firm and its members have also been recognized by the rating service of outstanding lawyers, Texas Super Lawyers.

Specific areas of practice include, but are not limited to: business litigation; anti-trust; breach of fiduciary duties; broker/dealer and securities litigation; business defense; business owner disputes; commercial litigation; employer consulting and risk management; employment litigation; inheritance litigation and probate disputes; insurance disputes; oil and gas litigation; trade secret litigation; personal injury/wrongful death; catastrophic injuries; birth injuries; sexual abuse; drug litigation, premises liability; defective medical devices; product liability;  and overall risk management.

 About Primerus

The International Society of Primerus Law Firms is a society of top-rated, independent, boutique law firms that have earned the right to display the Primerus seal of quality. With nearly 200 member law firms and thousands of lawyers in the society, Primerus provides clients easy access to the right lawyer, with the right skills, in the right location, and at the right cost.  Primerus seeks out, accepts and retains only the best firms for membership. Each firm is screened to ensure its commitment to excellence as embodied in the Primerus Six Pillars: Integrity, Excellent Work Product, Reasonable Fees, Continuing Legal Education, Civility and Community Service.  Once approved for membership, every Primerus firm is audited annually to ensure that the legal services they continue to provide to clients are of a consistent, high quality, year after year.

Contact:

Ethan Shaw
Shaw Cowart, LLP
1609 Shoal Creek Blvd, Suite 100
Austin, TX 78701
512-499-8900

elshaw@shawcowart.com

https://www.shawcowart.com/

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