Skilled Houston Punitive Damages Lawyer

Houston Punitive Damages Lawyer

40 Years of Experience- Hundreds of Millions Won No Fees Unless We Win

Houston Personal Injury Punitive Damage Lawyer

If you have been injured in an auto accident in Houston or lost a family member in a wrongful death incident, you may wonder whether punitive damages apply to your case. Our Houston punitive damage lawyer can help.

In Texas, punitive damages, also called exemplary damages, are limited by certain laws and court decisions. These damages are meant to punish bad behavior. Examples include a drunk driver causing a crash or a company that knowingly breaks safety rules. Such actions can lead to serious accidents or even deaths.

Our punitive damage attorney in Houston, Texas, has over 40 years of experience getting punitive damages after a serious injury or fatal accident. Our personal injury lawyers have fought for justice by seeking punitive damages since 1985 and recovered millions of dollars for our clients.

If you have questions, ask a preeminent-rated punitive damage lawyer for answers at (281) 587-1111, a number you can call for assistance from a Houston personal injury attorney.

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ABOUT GREG BAUMGARTNER

A Passion For Justice. The Experience For Win.

Greg Baumgartner, the founder of Baumgartner Law Firm, has spent the last 40 years helping accident victims. Greg is top-rated in personal injury and wrongful death cases, with a perfect 10 AVVO rating and is recognized as one of the best personal injury lawyers in Texas. He has won millions for accident victims in Houston and across Texas. You will not find a more experienced injury attorney. Greg holds dual law degrees and is also a graduate of the Trial Lawyers College.

You will not be a case number to us. Our legal team will treat you like family. We will use our personal injury law experience and winning record to maximize your compensation, We have the expertise and resources to handle the most difficult cases. Contact our law firm and let us fight for your financial compensation.

Call us 24/7. Let’s start fighting together,

(281) 587-1111 or Book Appointment

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Greg Baumgartner

CEO of Baumgartner Law Firm

How Our Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help with Your Houston Punitive Damage Case

For over thirty years, the Baumgartner Law Firm has helped families get the most in punitive damages cases. We have won many multimillion-dollar cases. Our success in personal injury comes from our deep experience and our strong commitment to justice for our clients.

Our Houston punitive damage lawyers have helped families that have lost a loved one in trucking accidents where we discovered drivers driving over the allowed hours. Often, we have to sue the truck driver to learn of federal safety violations.

We helped families win wrongful death lawsuits when trucking companies broke the safety rules. Won huge settlements for burn victims after severe burns from landlord negligence. We have helped victims of drunk drivers sue bars and clubs that overserved patrons may be liable for catastrophic injuries resulting from their negligence. And represented families who have lost a father and husband in construction accidents.

Our punitive damage lawyers in Houston are very aggressive in helping you win cases involving gross negligence and punitive damages.

We will evaluate your personal injury claims and assess if punitive damages may be appropriate to seek.

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Houston Punitive Damages Lawyer Greg Baumgartner

Why Hire Us for an Exemplary or Punitive Damage Case?

Bifurcation of the Trial on Punitive Damages

Texas provides a procedure where the trial can be split into two separate parts to keep a jury from hearing net worth testimony that may impact the liability determination. If the defendant elects to bifurcate the trial, they must file a motion before the jury selection or, as otherwise, in a pretrial order by a court. Upon the motion of any defendant, the bifurcation must occur.

When a defendant elects to split the trial, the first portion of the trial is to determine liability for actual and non-economic damages and the number of actual damages. If the responsibility for exemplary damages is established in the first portion of the trial. The second portion of the trial will include the awarding of exemplary damages.

Our punitive damage lawyers have found that the defendants elected to engage in serious settlement discussions after positive findings in the first portion of the trial.

What is Gross Negligence?

Gross negligence is often claimed in personal injury cases in Texas. It means doing something, or failing to do something, that creates an extreme risk of harm when viewed from the defendant’s perspective at the time it happened. This takes into account both how likely it was that harm would occur and how serious that harm could be.

The defendant knows about the risk but still acts with no care for others’ rights, safety, or well-being. Simply put, punitive damages happen when the defendant knew their actions were wrong and dangerous but went ahead anyway!

Gross negligence is not saying that the defendant intended to hurt anyone, only that they knew their duty of care was violated, leading to dangerous behavior.

A good example would be a person who went to happy hour at the local watering hole and consumed a fair amount of alcohol before getting behind the wheel of their vehicle. When they started their trip home, they did not intend to have an accident or hurt anyone, yet they knew they were intoxicated and shouldn’t be driving.

In this example, a drunk driving accident lawyer may sue for gross negligence if they can prove the case with clear and convincing evidence. While they did not intend to hurt anyone, they consciously got behind the wheel drunk, knowing that it was dangerous.

What is Malice?

In Texas personal injury law, malice signifies a defendant’s specific intent to cause substantial injury to another person. This goes beyond mere carelessness or recklessness, indicating the wrongdoer deliberately aimed for a harmful outcome.

To prove malice, a victim must present clear and convincing evidence that the defendant intended the harm or acted with such extreme disregard for others’ safety that injury was highly probable. This “evil intent” is a crucial factor.

Examples of malicious conduct include a driver intentionally ramming another vehicle or a company executive knowingly ignoring severe safety hazards.

Malice is one of the specific grounds under Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code Chapter 41 that allows for the award of punitive (exemplary) damages. These damages serve to punish and deter intentional misconduct.

If your injury case involves malicious conduct, consulting a skilled Houston punitive damages attorney is essential. Proving malice demands thorough investigation and strong legal advocacy.

What You Can Expect If We Accept Your Personal Injury Case

We are very selective in the cases that we agree to handle. And by being selective in accepting cases, we will dedicate the firm to your winning your case. Our first steps after being hired include the following:

Investigation

We will fully look into the accident where you were hurt or lost a loved one. This helps us hold those at fault accountable and get justice for your family. Often, we hire licensed investigators and talk to expert witnesses to better serve you and your family.

While obtaining punitive damages for negligence is not easy and limited to cases where the conduct was willful or “gross negligence”, we have the experience to calculate your punitive damage claim and fight your fight.

Research

We do a lot of research about defendants, past claims, driving records, safer designs, and other things that help win your case. Greg Baumgartner leads our legal team. He is a top-rated lawyer with many years of experience.

Retain Needed Experts

We will retain expert witnesses who can explain the defendant’s actions, accident, and damages award to your jury if necessary. These witnesses can include:

We will frequently work with treating physicians and others to develop the evidence necessary to maximize your recovery in a personal injury law lawsuit. Because we have been helping families who have lost a loved one for over three decades and have handled thousands of severe personal injury cases, we are uniquely positioned to help you.

What are Punitive Damages?

Punitive or exemplary damages are damages in addition to and different from “actual damages.” In a personal injury lawsuit, damages include medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, mental anguish, disability, and disfigurement.

In a wrongful death lawsuit, actual damages include loss of consortium, financial losses, loss of companionship and society, mental anguish, and non-economic damages.

Punitive damages are meant to punish the wrongdoer, not to pay back the victim for their losses. They are used to discourage behavior that society sees as unacceptable. In other words, punitive damages are designed to send a message to the defendant and help prevent the same harmful conduct from happening again.

Under Texas law, punitive damages are also known as exemplary damages. They are awarded in personal injury cases where the victim proves clearly and convincingly that the defendant’s actions amounted to gross negligence, malice, or fraud.

Clear and convincing evidence must be presented. Our personal injury lawyers have won many cases and have recovered punitive damages by proof of gross negligence.

Punitive Damages Law in Texas

The punitive damages law in Texas is found in Chapter 41 of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code. The law allows the recovery of exemplary or punitive damages only if the victim can prove clearly and convincingly that the harm was caused by fraud, malice, or gross negligence. The jury must be unanimous in their verdict. In determining the number for exemplary damages, the jury shall consider evidence, if any, relating to the following:

Net worth is the total value of a person’s assets minus their total debts, based on a date chosen by the trial court. In a lawsuit where the plaintiff is asking for exemplary (punitive) damages, the defendant’s net worth is relevant and can be requested as part of the case.

However, Section 41.0115 allows a defendant to file a motion to limit the discovery of net worth and tell a claimant that they have demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of the claim for exemplary damages.

Thus, an accident victim must first file a motion to obtain net worth discovery and show the trial court that there is a substantial likelihood of success in getting such discovery. Our punitive damages lawyers have been hugely successful in many Texas cases.

Are There Damage Caps in Texas for Punitive Damages?

Yes, Texas has a punitive damage cap. Texas law limits or caps the amounts of punitive damages in section 41.008 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedy Code. The Texas cap on punitive damages Can severely restrict punishment in cases with limited economic damages.

In Texas, punitive damages are limited to the greater of:

A) Two times the amount of economic damages; b) An amount equal to any non-economic damages found by the jury not to exceed $750,000 or 2. $200,000.

Economic damages are direct money losses. These include lost wages and medical costs. On the other hand, noneconomic damages cover things like pain and suffering. They also include mental distress, emotional pain, and loss of companionship. Other examples are disfigurement, physical limits, loss of society, and loss of life enjoyment.

When the Damage Caps Do Not Apply

There are certain areas where the punitive damage caps provided in Texas law are not limited in amount. Lawmakers in Texas have specified 17 separate Penal Code sections to overcome the damage limits on exemplary claims.

The most commonly used exceptions for personal injury attorneys include Penal Code section 49.07 intoxication assault, Penal Code section 49.08 intoxication manslaughter, and section 22.04 injury to the child or elderly person.

To avoid the damage caps, the plaintiff must get a jury to find that the defendant broke one of the criminal code sections. The jury must also find that the defendant did this on purpose and knew what they were doing.

Corporate Responsibility and Punitive Damages in Texas

To hold a corporation accountable for exemplary or punitive damages based upon the actions of its employee, the plaintiff must prove that:

For purposes of exemplary damages, the actions of a vice principal are deemed to be the actions of a corporation because a vice principal represents the corporation in its corporate capacity. This means that specific individuals’ actions will be deemed the corporation’s actions.

Vice principals can include corporate officers, those with authority to employ direct and discharge employees, those engaged in performing non-delegable duties, and those delegated the management of all or part of the business.

An example where a truck accident lawyer might seek punitive damages includes where the trucking company knew the vehicle was out of service but required the 18-wheeler to be used instead of doing the required repairs first.

Baumgartner Law Firm

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Attorney in Houston for Help

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Frequently Asked Questions

Houston Punitive Damages FAQs

If you or a loved one suffered a Punitive Damages, you are sure to have questions and concerns. The best way to answer your questions is to call us for a free consultation. Here are a few questions that our experienced Houston Punitive Damages attorney is frequently asked.

Why Hire Us for an Exemplary or Punitive Damage Case?

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Why Hire Us for an Exemplary or Punitive Damage Case?

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Types of Cases We Have Handled for Punitive Damages

We have been Houston’s go-to punitive damage law firm for over three decades. To maximize your compensation and hold wrongdoers accountable, call to see if we can help you! Call (281) 587-1111!

testimonials

Here’s What Our Punitive Damages Clients are Saying

“DEDICATED TO HELPING HIS CLIENTS AND GOING THE EXTRA MILE TO GET THINGS DONE” He is an attorney that is dedicated to helping his clients and going the extra mile to get things done. I would not hesitate to use him again and he is the only attorney that our family will use in the future. I honestly could not ever imagine such a great experience coming out of such an awful accident.

R. Alcorn

“I WOULD 100% RECOMMEND THE BAUMGARTNER LAW FIRM” I would 100% recommend the Baumgartner Law Firm to any friends and family who not only wanted to the best outcome but wanted a lawyer who listened and upheld the integrity of Law and client to attorney relationship.

S. Arnold

“BEST ATTORNEY IN THE WORLD!!!!!” Best Attorney in the World!!!!! I did not have a very high opinion of attorneys until I met Greg Baumgartner. He is the most decent and honest attorney I have ever dealt with.

K. Kaiyune

FREE CONSULTATION

Contact a Top-Rated Houston Punitive Damages Lawyer For a Free Case Evaluation

Contact our Houston injury attorney for a free, no-obligation initial consultation. Our Houston law firm represents crash victims in Harris County and Southeast Texas. We have won hundreds of millions for Punitive Damages victims and can help you, too!

Baumgartner Law Firm
6711 Cypress Creek Pkwy
Houston, Texas 77069
(281) 587-1111

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(281) 587-1111

(281) 587-1111

(281) 587-1111

(281) 587-1111

Houston Punitive Damages Lawyer