A Carrollton dog bite lawyer from Underwood Law Office may be able to help you hold the dog’s owner legally responsible if you or a loved one suffered injury in a Denton, Dallas, or Collin County attack. Texas personal injury laws may allow you to prove negligence occurred and led to your injuries. You could recover monetary damages for your medical bills and other expenses.
Our team provides free case consultations in and around Carrollton and other parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. You can speak with the legal team from the Underwood Law Office about your dog bite injuries and legal rights today at no cost. We can also help if your child or another loved one suffered dog bite injuries.
Carrollton Dog Bite Injuries and Damages
Even seemingly minor dog bites can become serious if not properly addressed immediately. Dogs’ mouths are full of bacteria, and the wounds they inflict are often deep and narrow. This combination means serious infections can develop if a medical professional doesn’t clean the wounds as soon as possible.
More serious injuries can affect underlying tissues, causing not only significant scarring but damage to muscles, tendons, ligaments, and more. Stitches, debridement, repair surgery, and plastic surgery may all be necessary to help the wounds heal and the victim recover as fully as possible. Lasting impairments may still occur.
As you have likely seen, the expenses related to these injuries can add up quickly. If we build a claim for you, we will need to identify your costs and losses to seek an appropriate settlement or court-ordered award. The value of your case could include:
- Medical bills and related costs
- Future care, treatment, and support expenses
- Lost wages if you missed work
- Reduced ability to earn if you cannot go back to your career
- Property damage
- Miscellaneous expenses
- Pain and suffering damages
- Psychological damages
- Reduced quality of life
Some Dog Bite Victims Suffer Fatal Injuries
Unfortunately, canine attacks and the infections and complications they cause can lead to death. This is more common in children and the elderly but can occur in any dog bite case. If your loved one passed away from their injuries, you may qualify to pursue damages in a wrongful death action.
Our attorneys represent parents, children, and spouses in these claims, seeking compensation for the surviving family members and/or the estate. We can further discuss the recoverable damages in these cases during your free consultation, too.
For a free legal consultation with a dog bite lawyer serving Carrollton, call (972) 535-6377
Building a Carrollton Dog Bite Injury Case
At Underwood Law Office, our Carrollton personal injury lawyers understand how the laws work to hold a dog’s owner legally responsible for the animal’s behavior in Texas. This is somewhat complex because Texas does not have a dog bite statute. Instead, the state relies on common law and negligence statutes to handle these cases. This creates two options for proving the owner is legally responsible for your damages:
Strict Liability Under the ‘One Bite’ Rule
An owner is strictly liable for their dog’s behavior if it has a known history of threatening or vicious behavior. To hold the owner liable, you must show:
- There is a history of dangerous or threatening behavior, as the Texas Health and Safety Code § 822
- The owner knows about this behavior.
- The dog caused the injuries.
- The victim did not participate in an activity that might provoke the dog.
This is known as the “one bite” rule because it effectively allows every dog to bite one person before the owner can be held strictly liable for the injuries they suffer. Luckily, there is an alternative we can use to pursue damages for our clients.
Negligence Under Texas’ Personal Injury Laws
When a person acts carelessly or recklessly and another person gets hurt, Texas’ personal injury laws allow the victim to file a civil lawsuit and seek compensation for their damages. This may apply in car accidents, premises liability falls, and even dog bite cases. Most dog bites occur when the dog is running free, fails to respond to an owner’s voice commands, or is otherwise not under the owner’s direct control.
Most cities or counties have leash laws and other codes that require a dog to be contained, leashed, or under the owner’s control in some way at all times. When an owner violates these codes and the dog bites someone, this is negligence. Proving negligence requires us to show:
- The owner had a duty of care to contain or control their dog
- They failed to do so.
- This allowed their dog to attack the victim.
- As a result, the victim suffered physical, psychological, and financial damages.
This allows us to pursue damages for our clients even if the animal does not have a history of aggressive or threatening behavior.
Carrollton Dog Bite Lawyer Near Me (972) 535-6377
We Act on Behalf of Our Clients Injured in Carrollton Dog Bite Attacks
After building a strong case showing that our client suffered injury in a dog bite incident, we have two options for pursuing damages on their behalf. We can either file an insurance claim based on their coverage, often a homeowners policy, or sue them in the local county civil court.
Most cases settle without going to trial, usually through a negotiated insurance payout. However, we sometimes must sue the owner or another liable party to recover appropriate damages. Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003, we have only two years to begin this process and file the initial paperwork.
The legal team at Underwood Law Office can handle this for you and ensure we meet this deadline if we know about your case with enough time to do so.
Click to contact our Carrollton Personal Injury Lawyers today
Call Us Today to Learn How Our Dog Bite Attorney in Carrollton Could Represent You
You can discuss your case and legal options for pursuing compensation with an attorney from Underwood Law Office for free today. We can help you understand your rights and act on your behalf to seek money for the damages you suffered. We represent our clients based on contingency. You will not need to pay us anything up front for our services.
Reach out to our team today to get started with our free case review.
Call or text (972) 535-6377 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form