He gave me the proper instructions and he followed up from there and I was very happy with the results. Most important he was concerned that I got the medical treatment that I needed, most important than anything, he cared about me not just as a client, but as an individual.
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U. Al Amin
Commercial Vehicle Accident
Duty to Mitigate Damages
Following a Personal Injury in Texas, You Have A Legal Duty to Mitigate Damages
Following an injury, the injured person has a legal duty to minimize the amount of damages incurred. Texas law requires the injured person to take reasonable steps to limit any additional loss and prevent further injury.
You may be entitled to compensation if you have been injured due to another person’s intentional or unintentional conduct. However, you have a legal responsibility to ensure that the injuries you sustained do not become more severe as a result of your actions or lack of actions.
For example, say that you are at work and you cut your hand on a piece of heavy machinery. The cut is deep, but you decide to go home rather then to a doctor. A few days goes by and your hand continues to bother you and begins to become infected, however you don’t have time to go to the doctor so you just place a bandage on your hand. A week later your hand has to be amputated due to a severe infection that could have been taken care of had you gone to the hospital. In a situation such as this, your employer would not be liable for the amputation of your hand, because you had a duty to mitigate your damages. In this case, mitigation of damages would have included seeking proper medical treatment to ensure that your wound did not become infected and that the infection did not cause additional injury.
Exercising Reasonable Care
The law does not require that you take unreasonable steps to mitigate damages. In the above-referenced example, the law would not have required that you lock yourself in a sterilized room waiting for your wound to heal. Rather, the law only requires that you take reasonable steps to minimize your damages.
Mitigation of damages is important, because the failure to mitigate your damages may result in a reduction of a jury verdict based on the percentage of fault that was assigned to you for your failure to mitigate. If the jury finds that you are more than 50% responsible for your injury then your recovery may be barred entirely.
Mitigation of damages is an affirmative defense. That means that the defendant has the burden to prove that the plaintiff failed to take reasonable steps to mitigate his injuries.
If you or a loved one has been harmed as a result of another person’s conduct, contact Grossman Law Offices. One of our attorneys will provide you with a free consultation and discuss the steps necessary to ensure that you are mitigating your damages and preserving your right to recovery from the defendant.
A painter fell from an apartment balcony resulting in a closed-head injury and other minor bodily injuries. The case was successfully resolved through litigation against the plaintiff's employer and the general contractor.
$550,000.00
$220,000.00
$20,465.00
Recovery for car accident victim who suffered back injury resulting in surgery.
$100,000.00
$33,000.00
$100.00
Plaintiff alleged that an insurance carrier unfairly denied a claim, resulting from a non-fatal fire in an airplane. Our attorneys satisfactorily resolved the claim without the need for litigation.
$1,500,000.00
$5,000.00
$0.00
Recovery for client who suffered dizzy spells as a result of being given incorrect dosage of prescribed medication.
$30,000.00
$10,000.00
$500.00
Recovery for worker who fell from the back of a pickup truck and suffered a concussion.
$50,000.00
$20,000.00
$348.00
A delivery driver hired our firm to pursue a negligent trucking company following a collision with insecure cargo. Our client was driving his work vehicle when numerous large metal pipes fell from the back of a flatbed trailer onto the roadway. Our client took evasive action but was unable to avoid the debris, which resulted in a fairly severe accident. As a result, our client sustained lower back injuries including two herniated discs which required surgery to correct. The defendants conceded liability early on but would not make a reasonable settlement offer. As such, suit was filed and the case was ultimately successfully resolved through litigation.
$300,000.00
$120,000.00
$1,500.00
Recovery for client who suffered injuries to both legs in a truck accident.
$102,500.00
$40,833.00
$19,984.00
Recovery for client who suffered soft tissue neck injuries in a car accident.
$40,000.00
$13,333.00
$50.00
Recovery for victim of dental malpractice. Plaintiff suffered infection after wrong surgery was performed.
$125,000.00
$41,250.00
$5,000.00
Recovery for homemaker injured in car wreck.
$125,000.00
$50,000.00
$1,261.00