If you suffered a back injury because of someone else’s negligence, an Austin back injury lawyer can help you pursue compensation for your medical costs, lost income, pain, and other losses.
At Lorenz & Lorenz, we understand how back pain can affect your ability to work, sleep, move comfortably, and do the things that normally make life feel like yours. Our team can investigate what happened, deal with the insurance company, and build a claim that reflects how the injury has affected your life.
Call us at (512) 477-7333 or contact us online for a free, confidential consultation.
Why Choose Lorenz & Lorenz for Your Austin Back Injury Claim
Our Austin back injury lawyers focus entirely on personal injury cases and have the resources to handle serious claims against insurance companies.
Here’s why Austin trusts our team:
- Focused Personal Injury Practice: We don’t handle family law, business disputes, or any other area of the law. Personal injury is all we do, and that focus allows us to stay current on the laws and legal strategies that matter most to your back injury case.
- Proven Track Record: Our attorneys have experience with claims involving severe and life-changing injuries.
- Your Case Is Handled by an Attorney: At our firm, an experienced attorney will personally manage your claim from start to finish.
- We Come to You: If your back injury prevents you from traveling to our office, we are happy to meet you at your home or in the hospital, seven days a week, with evening appointments available.
Your back injury case is too important to trust to a firm that treats personal injury as a sideline. At Lorenz & Lorenz, you’re like family to us, and we’ll work to pursue the compensation available for your injuries. Contact us today for a free consultation.
How Do Back Injuries Happen in Austin, Texas?
Back injuries can happen in car crashes, truck accidents, falls, and other incidents that place sudden force on the spine. Austin’s busy roads, including I-35, MoPac Expressway, and Highway 183, are common settings for serious vehicle collisions.
Back injuries are among the most common results of motor vehicle accidents, but they can also happen in other situations where someone else was at fault.
Some of the most common types of accidents that lead to back injuries include:
- Car accidents, including rear-end collisions on congested roads
- 18-wheeler, box trucks, semis, and dump trucks
- Motorcycle accidents where riders have little protection from impact
- Pedestrian accidents in busy areas like South Congress or Sixth Street
- Bicycle injuries along Austin’s trails and shared roadways
- Rideshare accidents involving Uber or Lyft vehicles
- Slip and fall accidents on poorly maintained commercial properties
- Dog bite incidents where a sudden attack causes a fall or twist
No matter how your back injury happened, if someone else was responsible, you may have the right to seek compensation. Our Austin back injury attorneys can review the details of your accident and help you understand your legal options.
Common Types of Back Injuries After an Accident
Accidents can cause injuries to the discs, vertebrae, muscles, ligaments, nerves, and spinal cord.
Some of the most common back injuries our clients experience include:
- Herniated or Bulging Discs: The soft material inside a spinal disc can push through its outer layer after a sudden impact, pressing on nearby nerves and causing radiating pain, numbness, or tingling in the arms or legs.
- Fractured Vertebrae: A compression fracture or burst fracture in the spine can cause severe pain and may require surgery to stabilize the affected area.
- Sprains and Strains: Damage to the muscles, tendons, or ligaments supporting the spine can lead to pain, stiffness, and muscle spasms that linger for weeks or months.
- Spinal Cord Injuries: Severe back injuries can involve spinal cord damage. In the most serious cases, that damage can cause partial or complete paralysis and require long-term care.
- Facet Joint Injuries: The small joints at the back of each vertebra can be compressed or fractured in a collision, causing chronic localized pain that worsens with movement.
- Spondylolisthesis: The force of an accident can cause one vertebra to slip out of alignment over the one below it, potentially compressing nerve roots and making it difficult to walk.
- Sciatica: Pressure on the sciatic nerve from a herniated disc or other spinal injury can send shooting pain down through the buttocks and legs.
Back injuries are sometimes not immediately obvious after an accident. Pain, numbness, or weakness may develop in the hours or days that follow.
What Compensation Can You Recover for a Back Injury in Texas?
A Texas back injury claim can seek compensation for medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, and other losses caused by the injury. Every back injury case is different, and the value of your claim will depend on the specific facts of your situation.
Your Austin back injury attorney will carefully evaluate your losses and pursue compensation that reflects the impact of your injury.
The types of compensation you may be able to recover include:
- Medical Expenses: This can include hospital stays, surgeries, prescription medications, physical therapy, chiropractic care, diagnostic imaging like MRIs, and future medical treatment related to your back injury.
- Lost Wages: If your back injury has kept you from working, you can seek compensation for income you have already lost as well as a reduction in future earning ability.
- Pain and Suffering: You may be able to seek compensation for the physical pain and emotional effects caused by your injury.
- Loss of Enjoyment of Life: If your back injury prevents you from doing activities you once enjoyed, that loss can be considered as part of your damages.
- Loss of Household Services: When a back injury makes it difficult or impossible to do everyday tasks like cleaning, cooking, or yard work, the value of those lost services can be part of your claim.
Our firm has handled serious back injury claims with substantial results. Past recoveries include $3 million for a back injury, $2 million for a back injury, and $900,000 for a car accident involving neck, shoulder, and back injuries. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome, but they reflect the level of cases our team has handled.
How Texas Negligence Laws Affect Your Back Injury Case
To recover compensation for a back injury in Texas, you generally must show that another party’s negligence caused your injury. Texas follows a modified comparative negligence system, which means your percentage of responsibility for the accident can directly reduce your compensation.
If you’re more than 50% responsible, you can’t recover compensation at all. Insurance companies know this rule well, and they may try to place some of the responsibility on you to reduce what they have to pay.
Lorenz & Lorenz builds cases supported by evidence, including police reports, medical records, witness statements, and, when needed, accident reconstruction analysis. Our goal is to protect your claim and respond to arguments that unfairly place responsibility on you.
How Long Do You Have to File a Back Injury Claim in Texas?
You have two years to file most personal injury lawsuits in Texas. If you miss the applicable deadline, you could lose the right to pursue your lawsuit. Limited exceptions can affect when the deadline runs, so you shouldn’t assume that additional time applies to your claim.
Two years may sound like a long time, but evidence can become harder to gather as time passes. Witnesses may forget details, surveillance footage may be overwritten, and other records can become more difficult to obtain.
Lorenz & Lorenz can identify the deadline that applies to your claim and begin gathering available evidence before it becomes harder to find.
How Our Austin Back Injury Attorneys Build Your Case
Our Austin back injury attorneys investigate how the accident happened, document your injuries and losses, and handle the insurance company on your behalf.
Here’s what you can expect from our process:
- Thorough Investigation: We have an in-house investigator and work with a network of outside professionals who can help document how your injury happened and who was responsible.
- Detailed Documentation of Your Losses: We gather medical records, bills, employment records, and other evidence to show how the back injury has affected your life.
- Insurance Negotiations: Insurance companies may dispute the severity of back injuries or offer less than the claim is worth. We present the evidence supporting your injuries and losses and negotiate on your behalf.
- Willingness to Go to Trial: While many cases resolve without trial, we’ll be prepared to file a lawsuit and take your case to court when necessary.
FAQ for Austin Back Injury Lawyers
How Long Does a Texas Back Injury Claim Take to Resolve?
There is no set timeline for a back injury claim in Texas. How long your case takes depends on the severity of your injury, how long you need treatment, whether fault is disputed, and whether the insurance company agrees to a fair settlement.
A claim involving surgery or long-term medical care can take longer because the future impact of the injury may need to be evaluated before the case is resolved.
Can I File a Claim if My Back Pain Didn’t Start Right Away After the Accident?
Delayed back pain doesn’t prevent you from bringing a claim. Some back injury symptoms can develop or become more noticeable in the hours or days after an accident. Medical records documenting when your symptoms began and how they progressed can help connect the injury to the accident.
What if the Insurance Company Says My Back Injury Was Pre-Existing?
A pre-existing back condition doesn’t automatically prevent you from recovering compensation if the accident made that condition worse. Insurance companies may review prior medical records and argue that your pain existed before the accident.
Your current and prior medical records can help show whether the crash aggravated or changed an existing condition.
Do I Have to Go to Court to Recover Compensation for My Back Injury?
Not every back injury claim goes to court. Most claims are actually resolved through negotiations with the insurance company. If the insurer disputes liability, undervalues your losses, or will not agree to a reasonable resolution, filing a lawsuit may become necessary.
Why Do Two Similar Back Injuries End Up With Very Different Claim Values?
Two people with the same diagnosis can have very different claim values because the value depends on how the injury affects each person. A herniated disc that improves after physical therapy can create very different losses from one that requires surgery or prevents someone from returning to work.
Medical treatment, future care, lost income, lasting limitations, and available insurance coverage can all affect the value of a back injury claim.
Contact an Austin Back Injury Lawyer Today
If someone else’s negligence caused your back injury, our Austin back injury lawyers can investigate what happened, deal with the insurance company, and help you pursue compensation for your losses.
At Lorenz & Lorenz, we focus entirely on personal injury cases and are available 24/7. If your injury makes it difficult to travel, we can come to you.
Call Lorenz & Lorenz at (512) 477-7333 or contact us through our online form for a free consultation with an Austin back injury attorney.