Best Birth Injury Lawyers in Texas

Best Birth Injury Lawyers in Texas

What Makes a Texas Birth Injury Lawyer the Best?

If your child has sustained a birth injury, you’re undoubtedly grappling with fear, uncertainty, and many unanswered questions – What caused this? Could it have been prevented? How will our family cope now? And while birth injuries aren’t always avoidable, even with the best medical care, in certain instances, medical negligence can and does cause physical trauma. Only a qualified Texas birth injury attorney can help you determine what exactly led to your child’s birth injury and if they are entitled to compensation.

When it comes to choosing someone to advocate for your family, experience and a proven track record of results are critical. The best Texas birth injury attorneys have a history of obtaining high-dollar verdicts and settlements and a solid reputation among clients and peers. 

It Begins with Results

If you had to make a list of all the qualities to look for in birth injury lawyers in Texas, proven results would undoubtedly be right at the top. Birth injury litigation is a highly specialized area of law requiring diligent research, extensive knowledge of laws and statutes, and a passionate commitment to advocacy. The best Texas birth injury lawyers know that to reach the top of their field, they need a consistent track record of compensation awards and a solid foundation of respect from their professional peers and past and present clients. 

Texas Lawyers Who Get Results

Since choosing a birth injury attorney can be time-consuming, it’s a good idea to narrow down your list of potential options based on impressive results and positive recognition. A few Texas law firms with attorneys who meet these standards and can therefore be considered the best birth injury law firms in Texas include:

Rasansky Law Firm: This highly rated Dallas-based firm has secured millions for the injured, including an $11 million birth injury award for a child who sustained brain damage when doctors failed to administer a cesarean section. With nearly 30 years of trial experience, founding attorney Jeffrey Rasansky is a member of the Dallas and American Bar Associations, American Association of Justice, and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. He has also earned numerous awards, such as inclusion in D Magazine as of the Best Lawyers in Dallas in 2020 and the honorary Impact on Justice Award from the Texas Access to Justice Foundation in 2008.

John K. Zaid & Associates – With decades of combined experience between them, this attorney team has been fighting for the victims of birth injury in and around Houston, Texas, for over 15 years. Their hundreds of five-star Google reviews attest to their track history of high dollar results. Firm partner John K. Zaid is active in several prestigious professional associations, including the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, the American Association for Justice, and the Houston Young Lawyers Association. His firm was also featured in a 2015 issue of Modern Luxury Houston Magazine’s Power Lawyers and Law Firms. 

Hastings Law Firm: Founded in 2005, this highly rated firm has several Texas metro area locations and has recovered millions in verdicts and settlements for injured plaintiffs. Firm founder Tommy Hastings is board certified in personal injury trial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and is a member of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association and the Houston Bar Association. In addition, he has been repeatedly honored as a “Rising Star” by Texas Monthly Magazine and named a Texas Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers magazine since 2010.

Examples of Texas Birth Injury Lawsuits

In July 2020, a Texas state appeals court upheld a $10 million jury award to a family allegedly affected by medical negligence. According to the lawsuit, labor and delivery nursing staff at Valley Regional Medical Center in Brownsville, Texas, failed to timely inform doctors of signs of fetal distress during the birth of the plaintiff’s son in 2014. When medical staff finally administered an emergency cesarean section, he sustained severe oxygen deprivation after choking on the umbilical cord. He was eventually diagnosed with several severe, lifelong impairments, including cerebral palsy, that the plaintiffs maintained were the direct result of medical negligence during his birth.

Following a trial, a Texas jury sided with the plaintiffs and awarded them $10.3 million in past and future medical expenses. The defendants in the lawsuit, including the hospital, then appealed the verdict on the grounds that genetics and a maternal infection caused the child’s impairments, not negligence. However, the appeal was denied. (As of January 2022, the award is under an ongoing review by the Texas Supreme Court.)

While fetal oxygen deprivation is a common factor listed in Texas birth injury lawsuits, other common birth injury complications that can trigger a lawsuit include: 

Lawyers for Texas Cerebral Palsy Cases

One of the most severe types of birth injuries is cerebral palsy, which happens when there is a lack of oxygen to the baby’s brain during the delivery process. Unfortunately, it can be hard to prove that this oxygen deprivation is related to medical negligence. That’s why having a top-notch Texas birth injury lawyer who specializes in this kind of injury is crucial to have the best chance of securing compensation. One firm in Texas that specializes in cerebral palsy cases and can therefore be considered the best option for victims with this type of injury is:

Hampton & King Attorneys at Law – This highly rated Houston-based firm handles a wide range of birth injury cases, with a particular emphasis on cerebral palsy. They recently secured a $3 million award for a plaintiff who sustained cerebral palsy during birth due to a ruptured uterus. Firm partner Hartley Hampton has over 45 years of litigation experience and formerly served as president of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association and the Houston Trial Lawyers Association. He has been named one of America’s best medical malpractice lawyers by U.S. News and World Report since 2008.

Common Birth Injury Defendants in Texas

If you’ve ever wondered why birth injury cases in Texas tend to be so complicated, it’s typically because they include more than one defendant. A Texas birth injury lawsuit commonly includes several healthcare professionals, providers, and even medical systems. In the state of Texas, some of the major healthcare facilities that are frequently named in birth injury lawsuits include:

About Texas Birth Injury Cases and Birth Injury Law

Virtually all jurisdictions have an applicable statute of limitations determining how long an injured party has to initiate legal action. In Texas, the statute of limitations for medical malpractice cases of any kind is generally two years. However, injured parties under the age of 12 have until their 14th birthday to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. 

Texas does have a narrow exception to medical malpractice statutes of limitations. This allowance is known as the discovery rule. In scenarios where an injured party contends that there was no reasonable way for them to become aware of their injury within the two-year time frame, they can potentially claim an extension to the standard statute of limitation. However, they must demonstrate that they actively investigated and filed the suit within a “reasonable time frame” of discovering the injury. 

As in other states, medical malpractice awards in Texas are subject to caps under certain circumstances. For lawsuits against a single defendant, Texas statutes place a $250,000 per claimant cap on non-economic damages, which are subjective impairments such as pain and suffering, anxiety, and loss of quality of life. This cap increases to $500,000 per claimant in lawsuits against multiple defendants. There are currently no caps on economic damages, which are quantifiable losses such as medical expenses. 

A Successful Birth Injury Case Starts With Choosing the Best Representation

One of the most important things to understand about choosing the best Texas birth injury lawyer is that no two birth injury cases are created equally. Every scenario is different, and the best Texas birth injury attorneys know that there’s no “one size fits all” when it comes to advocating for the injured.

Therefore, you need to find a birth injury lawyer in Texas who understands not only the law’s complexities but also the nuances of your specific situation. You need someone who will be able to do their due diligence and paint a complete picture of what happened, why it happened, and who was responsible. That’s why choosing the best Texas birth injury attorney – one with proven results and recognition from professional peers and past and former clients – is the most essential component of a lawsuit’s success.