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NEW COLLIN COUNTY OFFICE LOCATION! CLICK HERE FOR ADDRESS. DALLAS TEXAS PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY We are a personal injury law firm located in Dallas, Texas that handles personal injury accidents in Dallas and in all of Texas. Some examples of the types of personal injury cases we handle are as follows: automobile accident (auto accident); work related injuries; motorcycle accident; truck accident; slip and fall accident; wrongful death; dental malpractice; medical malpractice; nursing home negligence; defective drugs and defective product. The LeBlanc Law Firm is located in the prestigious Uptown/Turtle Creek area of Dallas, Texas, less than five minutes from downtown Dallas. We provide personal injury services for clients who reside in Dallas, Fort Worth, and other areas in Texas. As a Texas personal injury lawyer, Mr. LeBlanc has evaluated cases with personal injuries ranging from spinal cord injuries, broken bones, paralysis, and even death. Personal Injury and Accident Law When a person is injured, tort law will govern whether that person may be compensated for the personal injury, the amount of compensation that may be recovered as a result of the accident, as well as which parties will be liable for the personal injury. Texas tort law, also known as personal injury law, comes from federal and state codes, as well as judicial opinions from prior cases. Mr. LeBlanc is a Dallas personal injury lawyer who knows Texas tort law. Types of Personal Injury and Accident Claims Personal injury suits may arise from an automobile or car accident (auto accident), motorcycle accident, construction accident, plane or boating accident, medical malpractice injury, animal or dog bite, defective or dangerous product, "slip and fall" accident, or intentional assault. A number of personal injury claims also arise from injuries sustained in the workplace, including complications from industrial diseases (asbestoses, asthma, etc.), repetitive strain injury, spinal cord injury, and occupational stress. Other personal injury claims include suits for libel, slander, defamation and property damage. Bringing a Personal Injury and Accident Claim If the negligent, reckless or intentional acts of another causes a personal injury, injured parties or their loved ones should obtain legal representation as soon as possible to preserve evidence. Even if it appears that no one is at fault for the accident, or that injuries are minor, it may be beneficial to seek legal advice before the statute of limitations runs out and precludes further legal action. An injured victim may be able to recover through a formal civil court proceeding, or through informal settlement negotiations. If a victim chooses to pursue a civil court action, they generally must file the lawsuit in the county where the injury occurred. Proof Required in a Personal Injury Lawsuit Most personal injury cases require the injured party (the "plaintiff") to prove that the opposing party (the "defendant") acted negligently. In order to recover under a negligence claim, the injured party must generally prove that: (1) the defendant owed a legal duty to that party; (2) the legal duty was breached by the defendant; and (3) the defendant's actions caused the injury. Generally, every citizen has the duty to act as a reasonably prudent person under similar circumstances. Defendants breach this duty if they fail to act with reasonable care. If the personal injury would not have occurred but for the defendant's breach, and there is no intervening event that breaks the chain of causation, the defendant will be found negligent. If a court determines that a defendant was negligent, the defendant may be liable for the plaintiff's injuries. Recovery in a Personal Injury and Accident Lawsuit An injured party may seek to recover his/her losses in a civil lawsuit as a result of an accident. Additionally, a victim's family members may also be eligible to recover for losses suffered as a result of the victim's injuries as a result of an accident. Common types of recovery include: General Damages. General damages compensate losses related to the injury that are not easily quantifiable. General damages include compensation for pain and suffering and mental anguish. Loss of Consortium. The spouse of an injured party may bring a claim for loss of consortium. Loss of consortium damages compensate the spouse for any lost affection, solace, comfort and sexual relations which may result after an injury. Lost Earning Capacity. If an injury has interfered with a party's ability to earn money in the future, the injured party may be entitled to damages for lost earning capacity. The court will consider a number of factors in determining how much the individual would have earned in ensuing years but for the injury. Lost Wages. An injured party may recover any wages lost from the date of the injury to the date of settlement or judgment. Medical Expenses. An injured party may recover medical expenses incurred in connection with the accident. Injuries can include a spinal cord injury, birth injury, and traumatic injury. Punitive Damages. The goal of punitive damages is not to compensate the plaintiff, but to punish the defendant. Punitive damages may be awarded any time the defendant engages in reckless or intentional wrongdoing. Wrongful Death. If a victim dies from his/her injuries, family members may bring a wrongful death action that will compensate them for the loss of the victim. HOME *PRACTICE AREAS*EXPERIENCE*AWARDS*LINKS*CONTACT US The LeBlanc Law Firm is located at 3102 Maple Avenue, Suite 450, Dallas, Texas. For directions, click here. We serve all areas of North Texas, including Dallas County, Tarrant County, Denton County, Collin County including the cities of Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Irving, Grand Prairie, Garland, Mesquite, Richardson, Plano, Frisco, Carrollton, Farmers Branch, Lewisville, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Grapevine, Coppell, Colleyville, Duncanville, DeSoto, Cedar Hill, Lancaster and Rockwall. We also accept cases throughout the State of Texas including Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Tyler, El Paso, Waco, Lubbock, Amarillo, Corpus Christi Brownsville, Beaumont, Abilene, Wichita Falls, Laredo, Midland, Odessa, Texarkana or any other city in Texas. Examples of personal injury cases handled by The LeBlanc Law Firm: truck accident, automobile accident, premises liability (slip and fall), medical negligence, nursing home negligence, dental negligence, wrongful death, defective product, defective drug, false imprisonment, construction accident, employment related injuries. Please visit our other websites: General Practice and Business and Employment law sites. Please visit our blogs: Personal Injury Blog Business Blog Accident Blog. |
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| OVER FOURTEEN YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN PERSONAL INJURY LITIGATION IN TEXAS __________________________________ DESIGNATED A "SUPERLAWYER" IN TEXAS MONTHLY MAGAZINE |
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| PERSONAL INJURY NEWS Metal-On-Metal Hip Replacements Failing And Causing Increasing Injury An issue emerging around artificial hip replacements is of interest to any patient who has received a metal-on- metal device. For more information go to Metal-On-Metal Hip Replacement Failure Two Men Killed In Dallas Texas As A Result Of Drunk Driving Car Accident Two men were killed this morning when a drunken driving suspect plowed through a bus shelter across from Parkland Memorial Hospital. The men were apparently sleeping in the Dallas Area Rapid Transit stop shortly after 2 a.m. when the suspect's northbound pickup jumped a curb and leveled the structure, on Harry Hines Boulevard just south of Inwood Road. Both victims, described only as homeless men in their 30s, died at the scene. They were not identified pending notification of family members. Delayed Surgery Resulting in Paraplegia After Car Accident Leads to Plaintiff's Verdict A jury awarded $16.4 million to a man who claimed that delayed surgery following a motor vehicle accident resulted in paraplegia. In 2003, Trent Hughes, then 42, crashed an off-road vehicle. He was airlifted to Desert Regional Medical Center and Dr. Christopher Pham, a trauma neurosurgeon, decompressed his spinal cord. Hughes claimed that Pham negligently delayed treatment, allowing numbness in his feet to spread to his thighs and then he developed a lumbar burst fracture. By the time he was in surgery, the spinal cord damage was irreversible, he claimed. The defense noted that paramedic records and witness accounts established that Hughes lost his motor function and sensation in the crash. Jury Awards 12.5M For Construction Worker Who Injured Back In Work-Related Accident A jury awarded more than $12.5 million to a worker who claimed that he sustained a disabling back injury when he was struck by a 40-pound frame component that fell off of a scaffold. The case's liability phase was decided via a directed verdict by Judge Mary Ann Briganti-Hughes, who determined that contractors had failed to take necessary steps to protect the suit's plaintiff, Leon Griffin, whose injury occurred while he was cleaning the area beneath a scaffold that was being disassembled. Griffin claimed that he sustained a herniated disc that causes disabling pain and numbness that radiate to his legs. The defense suggested that the herniation preceded the accident, but the jury found otherwise and awarded damages of $12,561,772. Bar Responsible For Fatal Car Crash By Drunk Driver Who Killed A Man - Dallas, Texas The family of a man killed by a drunken driver recovered $300,000 from a bar that allegedly overserved him. Plaintiff William Grieb, 34, had been pulled over by police when he stood on the side of the road between his car and the police car. A truck driven by Shane Gildersleeve collided with the police car. The police officer was able to jump out of the way, but Gried was fatally crushed between the two cars. Gildersleeve kept driving for another half-mile until police pulled him over. He had a blood alcohol level of 0.15 and four unopened beers in his truck. The truck driver and his employer settled for $1 million and the family went to trial against the Starting Gate Bar. Plaintiff's counsel argued that it served Gildersleeve 10 to 12 beers and sold him a six-pack to go. The jury found the bar 20 percent liable and the settling tortfeasors 80 percent liable, which reduced its $1.5 million award. Texas Truck Driver Did Not Cause Car Crash Resulting In Injury A jury rejected a woman's claim that a truck driver veered into her lane and caused a collision. In 2008, Bernadette Leos alleged she was entering Interstate 45 North in Houston when an 18-wheeler driven by Jeffrey D. Chambers came into her lane and struck her vehicle, causing her to spin out in traffic. Leos was diagnosed with four herniated discs and her doctors have recommended that she undergo a triple-level fusion at the neck and surgery on her low back. She sued Chambers and his employer, Barnett Trucking, seeking more than $270,000 in damages. Chambers maintained that he never left his lane, and the defense argued that Leos had failed to yield. The defense's medical expert also opined that Leos did not have any herniated discs. Burned Worker Injured At Work Gets 5.7M Jury Verdict A jury awarded nearly $5.7 million to a crane operator who was severely burned when he fell into an open sluiceway. In 2007, Mike McCraven, then 56, was an employee of Austin Industries and working at a Pasadena Refining System Inc. plant when he was told move a boom truck. As he was walking to the truck, he fell into an open sluiceway, which was full of boiling water. He sustained burns over 15 percent of his body and permanently lost feeling in his feet, and he said he is no longer able to work as a crane operator as a result. He blamed PRSI, alleging it was negligent because it left the drain covers off the sluiceway and continually flooded the area with boiling water. PRSI in turn filed suit against Austin Industries, contending it failed to adequately communicate the existing conditions to McCraven before he started the task. The jury found PRSI 75 percent, Austin 20 percent and McCraven 5 percent liable. Woman Hurt In Gravel Truck Crash In Texas Reaches Settlement A driver and two passengers injured in a collision with a gravel truck will share a $500,000 settlement. In 2008, Martin Flannery, then 62, attempted to pass a truck driven by Roberto Arauza on Interstate 35 North. Flannery alleged Arauza came into his lane and hit his car, pushing it across several lanes of traffic and causing it to crash into the center barrier. Flannery and his two passengers, Kathy Flannery, then 59, and Mary Healy, then 55, sustained back and neck injuries, while Martin Flannery also claimed the incident aggravated a preexisting knee condition. Together, they sought approximately $800,000 in damages. Arauza argued that he never left his lane and that Flannery must have veered into him. However, Arauza and his company, Roberto Arauza Trucking Inc., ultimately agreed to the settlement. FDA Recommends Avandia Be Recalled Due to Heart Attack Injury Hundreds of people taking Avandia, a controversial diabetes medicine, needlessly suffer heart attacks and heart failure each month, according to confidential government reports that recommend the drug be removed from the market.The reports, obtained by The New York Times, say that if every diabetic now taking Avandia were instead given a similar pill named Actos, about 500 heart attacks and 300 cases of heart failure would be averted every month because Avandia can hurt the heart. Avandia, intended to treat Type 2 diabetes, is known as rosiglitazone and was linked to 304 deaths during the third quarter of 2009. Rosiglitazone should be removed from the market,” one report, by Dr. David Graham and Dr. Kate Gelperin of the Food and Drug Administration, concludes. Both authors recommended that Avandia be withdrawn. The internal F.D.A. reports are part of a fierce debate within the agency over what to do about Avandia, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline. Some agency officials want the drug withdrawn because they believe there is a safer alternative; others insist that studies of the drug provide contradictory information and that Avandia should continue to be an option for doctors and patients. GlaxoSmithKline said that it had studied Avandia extensively and that “scientific evidence simply does not establish that Avandia increases” the risk of heart attacks. The battle has been brewing for years but has been brought to a head by disagreement over a new clinical trial and a Senate investigation that concluded that GlaxoSmithKline should have warned patients earlier of the drug’s potential risks. Avandia was once one of the biggest-selling drugs in the world. Driven in part by a multimillion- dollar advertising campaign, sales were $3.2 billion in 2006. But a 2007 study by a Cleveland Clinic cardiologist suggesting that the drug harmed the heart prompted the F.D.A. to issue a warning, and sales plunged. A committee of independent experts found in 2007 that Avandia might increase the risk of heart attack but recommended that it remain on the market, and an F.D.A. oversight board voted 8 to 7 to accept that advice. Hundreds of thousands still take the medicine, although some top endocrinologists say they have sworn off the drug. Construction Accident Leads To Serious Injury and Settlement A jury awarded $1.72 million to a worker who was seriously injured when a load lifted by a crane swung into him at an oil refinery. In 2005, Ernesto Tamez, then 59, attached an oil burner to the boom of the crane while working for a turnaround contractor at a BP America Inc. refinery in Texas City. When the crane operator lifted the boom, it swung like a pendulum into Tamez and pinned him against a handrail. He sustained a torn rotator cuff and herniated discs in his neck and back, all of which required surgery. Tamez claimed that the crane operator worked for Maxim Crane Works LP and he was to blame. Defense counsel denied that the crane operator was at fault and argued that Tamez didn't prove that he worked for Maxim. Woman Injured In Car Crash With City Bus Wins At Trial A jury awarded $155,353 to a woman who said she was injured in a collision with a San Antonio city bus. In 2004, Ariadna Ramirez-Saenz, then 25, was a passenger in a suburban driven by Rosa Maria Ramirez when it was struck by a VIA Metropolitan Transit Authority bus at a busy intersection. Ramirez-Saenz, who sustained a torn rotator cuff in the incident, claimed the bus was at fault for going straight in a turn-only lane. She sought $280,600 in damages in her lawsuit against VIA; her suit against Ramirez settled before trial. The bus driver disputed Ramirez-Saenz's story, arguing that Ramirez caused the accident when she made a right turn from a straight-only lane. The defense also contended that the collision was minor and didn't cause the alleged injuries. Car Accident Victim Settles Lawsuit Alleging Defective Car Seat The Ford Motor Co. agreed to pay $1,925,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of a police officer who died from injuries sustained in a car accident. In 2005, Officer Mark Simmons Jr. was a passenger in a 2000 Ford Crown Victoria police car when it was rear-ended by a pickup truck. His family alleged the support and anchor mechanisms on Simmons' seat failed due to design and manufacturing defects, causing him to be violently thrown to the back of the car. Simmons, a father of two young children, sustained severe brain damage and died in 2008 at age 31. Ford argued the seat, which met all government safety standards, was safe. It contended Simmons' injuries were caused by the severe nature of the accident and his failure to wear a seat belt, but it ultimately agreed to the settlement. |