Irving Catastrophic Injury Lawyer

Trusted catastrophic injury lawyers with over 13 years of experience.

Our Irving, TX catastrophic injury lawyer at Kelso Law PLLC has spent 13 years representing seriously hurt clients across North Texas, with verdicts and settlements that reflect the real cost of permanent injuries.

Catastrophic Injury Lawyer Irving, TX

A catastrophic injury is an injury so severe that it permanently affects the victim’s ability to work, live independently, or function as they did before. There is no single statute that defines the term, but courts and insurers generally treat injuries like spinal cord damage, traumatic brain injury, severe burns, amputations, blindness, and multi-organ trauma as catastrophic. The defining feature is permanence and the lifelong cost that comes with it.

These cases differ from standard injury claims because the damages are projected over decades. Future medical expenses, attendant care, home modifications, and lost earning capacity often dwarf any past medical bills, which makes accurate damage modeling one of the most important parts of the case.

Types of Catastrophic Injury Cases We Handle in Irving

Severe injuries arise from many sources, and each type of incident requires a different investigative path. Some cases hinge on accident reconstruction, others on hospital records, surveillance video, or product testing. Below are the catastrophic injury cases we most commonly handle for Irving clients.

• Spinal cord injuries. Damage to the spinal cord causes partial or total paralysis and triggers hidden costs insurance won’t cover. We work with life-care planners to project the full cost of attendant care, equipment, and home modifications over the client’s lifetime.

• Traumatic brain injuries. TBIs from car wrecks, falls, and assaults often produce cognitive, behavioral, and personality changes that don’t show up cleanly on imaging. We use neuropsychological testing and qualified witnesses to document the actual impairment.

• Severe burn injuries. Third- and fourth-degree burns require multiple surgeries, long-term wound care, and sometimes years of reconstructive treatment. We can coordinate deferred-payment plastic surgery consultations while the case is pending.

• Amputations and crush injuries. Loss of a limb in a vehicle crash, workplace incident, or machinery failure permanently affects work capacity. We pursue both the responsible party and any product manufacturer when defective equipment is involved.

• Wrongful death. When catastrophic injuries prove fatal, surviving family members can pursue both a survival action for the decedent’s pre-death suffering and a wrongful death claim for their own losses.

• Pedestrian accidents. A pedestrian struck by a vehicle at moderate speed often suffers multi-system trauma, including head, pelvic, and orthopedic injuries. We move quickly to secure scene evidence and traffic data.

• Motorcycle crashes. Riders thrown from a bike at highway speeds frequently sustain spinal, brain, and orthopedic injuries simultaneously. We push back hard against the bias that adjusters bring to these claims.

• Rideshare accidents. Serious crashes involving Uber or Lyft drivers trigger layered insurance, and the available coverage depends on the driver’s app status at the moment of impact.

• Construction and workplace injuries. Falls from height, electrocutions, and equipment failures cause some of the most severe injuries we see. Construction site violations often point to third-party defendants outside the workers’ comp system.

• Medical malpractice causing permanent injury. Anesthesia mistakes, surgical errors, and missed diagnoses can leave patients with lasting neurological or physical damage that requires lifelong care.

Why Choose Kelso Law PLLC for Catastrophic Injury in Irving, TX?

Trial Record That Drives Real Settlement Value

Insurance carriers value cases based on what the lawyer across the table is willing to do at trial. Our founder has tried more than 25 cases to jury verdict, including an $8 million verdict in a Dallas County premises matter. Our Irving personal injury lawyer has handled severe injury claims throughout North Texas. Rhiannon Kelso has recovered millions of dollars for clients dealing with permanent harm. She holds memberships in the Texas Trial Lawyers Association and the Dallas Bar Association, and she earned her law degree from the University of Pittsburgh with the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in her graduating class.

Resources to Match the Stakes

Catastrophic injury cases are expensive to litigate. Life-care planners, accident reconstructionists, vocational economists, and medical witnesses all cost money, and our firm advances those costs so clients don’t have to. We work on contingency, meaning no fee unless we recover. Bilingual representation is available in English and Spanish when you meet with our Irving catastrophic injury lawyer.

Understanding Catastrophic Injury Cases

Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Catastrophic Injury Cases

Texas allows recovery of both economic and non-economic damages, plus punitive damages in cases involving gross negligence. Catastrophic cases typically involve all three categories, and the economic numbers alone can run into seven or eight figures depending on the client’s age, injury, and pre-injury earning capacity. Damages may include:

• Past and future medical bills, including surgeries, rehabilitation, and ongoing therapy
• Lost wages and diminished future earning capacity are calculated through work-life expectancy
• Attendant care, in-home nursing, and assisted living costs
• Home and vehicle modifications for accessibility
• Physical pain and mental anguish, both past and future
• Disfigurement and physical impairment
• Punitive damages where the defendant acted with gross negligence

Liability requires proving duty, breach, causation, and damages. Texas applies a modified comparative fault rule under which a plaintiff found more than 50% responsible recovers nothing. That makes early investigation and fault allocation critical, especially in cases with multiple potential defendants.

Important Aspects of Your Catastrophic Injury Case

A few practical realities define how these cases proceed. Knowing them at the outset helps clients avoid mistakes that hurt the value of their claim.

• The two-year statute of limitations applies in most personal injury matters and runs from the date of injury
• Insurance adjusters often push for recorded statements and quick releases before the full medical picture is known
• Some serious injuries don’t fully present for days or weeks after the incident
• Settling too early can foreclose recovery for complications that emerge later
• Government defendants are subject to sovereign immunity rules with much shorter notice deadlines

Catastrophic Injury Case Timeline

These cases take longer than standard injury claims because the medical course must stabilize before damages can be accurately calculated. Most resolve within 18 to 36 months, though some run longer when the client is still receiving major treatment.

• Investigation, evidence preservation, and provider coordination in the early months
• Maximum medical improvement, the point at which doctors can project future needs
• Damages modeling with life-care planners and economists
• Demand letter and pre-suit settlement negotiations
• Lawsuit filing, discovery, depositions, and mediation
• Trial or final settlement

Settlement remains possible at any stage, which our Irving catastrophic injury lawyer will help with. Carriers often increase offers significantly once they see a fully prepared case heading toward a jury.

What to Bring to Your Catastrophic Injury Consultation

You don’t need a complete file to meet with us. Anything you have available makes the first conversation more productive, but we can subpoena most records ourselves.

• Police reports, incident reports, or workplace injury documentation
• Hospital records, imaging studies, and discharge paperwork
• Photographs of the scene, your injuries, and any equipment involved
• Insurance information for every party, including your own coverage
• Recent pay stubs and tax returns showing pre-injury earnings

Consultations are free and confidential, and there is no obligation to retain us afterward. Most clients leave the first meeting with a clearer sense of whether they have a viable claim and what the next steps look like.

Texas Legal Resources for Catastrophic Injury

Several public resources can help you understand how Texas handles serious injury claims. None of these resources can replace a conversation with our Irving catastrophic lawyer, but they’re useful starting points if you want to read the law directly.

• Texas CPRC Chapter 41. Damages, including caps on exemplary damages and the standards for gross negligence.
• Texas CPRC Chapter 33. The modified comparative fault rule governs how fault is allocated.
• Texas CPRC Section 16.003. The two-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims.
• NHTSA injury data. Federal crash and severe injury statistics.
• CDC traumatic brain injury data. Causes, prevalence, and outcomes of TBIs nationally.

Texas negligence law follows a 51% modified comparative fault rule, and the deadline to file most personal injury lawsuits is two years from the date of injury.

Reach Out to Kelso Law PLLC to Schedule a Consultation

Catastrophic injuries change everything about a family’s future. We can help you understand what compensation is available and what it takes to actually recover it. At Kelso Law PLLC, our catastrophic injury attorneys offer free, confidential consultations with no obligation. Contact us today to schedule a consultation with our Irving catastrophic injury lawyer!