Amputation Injury Lawyer In Houston, Texas | Limb Loss Accidents

Have you recently suffered an amputation in an accident here in Houston, Texas? You may be entitled to compensation from the negligent company, entity, or another liable party. The experienced Houston Amputation Accident Lawyers of Sneed & Mitchell LLP will fight for the full financial recovery you deserve. 

Amputation accidents are one of the most catastrophic situations victims can experience. When someone else's unsafe actions cause you or a loved one to lose a limb, you need exceptional legal representation to advocate for your rights and full compensation following this life-altering event. 

Why Hire An Amputation Injury Attorney from Sneed & Mitchell?

The record-setting Amputation Injury Team at Sneed & Mitchell understands the mental and physical burden faced by limb loss victims, and we hold the negligent party fully accountable for their actions. 

Sneed & Mitchell is recognized throughout Texas and established, with:

• Numerous Top Texas Verdict Awards;

• Over $100 Million won in verdicts and settlements;

• An 8-Figure settlement in an amputee accident case

• Cases against Top 100 and 200 Companies

• Recognition for excellence in the legal field; and

If you suffered a limb loss injury and would like to speak with a lawyer that handles amputations accidents here in Houston, call (713) 800-6676. Our attorneys at Sneed & Mitchell specialize in handling amputations and are experienced, tenacious, and committed to securing maximum compensation against the responsible parties.

Do I Need A Lawyer In A Houston Amputation Injury Case? 

Yes. While you are not legally required to hire a lawyer to take legal action after an amputation injury, going about it alone stacks the odds against you and prevents your ability to secure the compensation you’re entitled to. 

Amputation accident claims are not like typical personal injury cases. While standard injury claims focus on the current medical bills and the treatment needs, amputation cases are far more complex since these complications are both severe and result in permanent impairment.

There are many important reasons why amputation cases are complex, and why retaining expert counsel is critical to the success of your lawsuit. 

• Your accident may involve multiple responsible parties, such as a construction company, a machine manufacturer, and a distribution center, or perhaps an 18 wheeler company, along with the fleet operator's third party repair service and the commercial driver. 

• With multiple parties comes multiple insurance companies, and adjusters that aim to shift blame to limit or avoid their client’s financial responsibility, or outright blame you. 

• Amputation injuries require life care planning, which includes rehabilitation costs, medical equipment, medications, pain management, transportation needs, and mich more. 

• Your financial losses must be properly determined by an economist who is retained to assess your income losses now and in the future. 

• Pain and suffering in limb loss cases in more than physical, and insurance companies aiming to undervalue or ignore these impacts altogether.

• Because the costs of care and the emotional toll are so high, amputation cases tend to involve large demands and settlement packages, which causes defense counsel to fight even harder to avoid their client’s actual exposure. 

All the factors above make amputation cases complex and aggressively defended against. 

If you or a loved one has suffered limb loss due to someone else’s negligence here in Houston, hiring an experienced attorney will help you prove your case and entitlement to damages for your losses. 

When Should I Hire A Houston Amputation Accident Lawyer?

You should hire a Houston Amputation Accident Lawyer as soon as possible following the accident, if not immediately.  

If you haven’t already started receiving calls from insurance adjusters or company personnel, you will soon. After an amputation event, the entities most aware of your legal rights often rush to have you agree to premature settlement amounts or to sign forms that include a Release of Liability. 

Do not sign or verbally agree to anything before consulting with an attorney. 

Hiring a lawyer early in the process is always the best practice. The following conditions merit contacting with a lawyer that handles amputations today: 

• The accident left you severely injured. 

• There’s even a slight chance you could be blamed for your amputation.

• The accident involved multiple companies or entities.

• The official accident report is incomplete or does not accurately describe what happened.

• You are not sure how the hospital bills or treatment costs will be covered. 

• You are interested in learning of your legal rights. 

An amputation accident lawyer can also help you get to the bottom of what caused the incident in the first place. There are many causes of limb loss events, and being able to sort through all the complexities and pinpoint the specific cause or causes requires an expert. 

What Is The Average Amputation Injury Case Worth Here In Houston, Texas?

Although there’s no set value for amputation accident cases, on the low end the average settlement our attorneys have obtained for clients ranges between $1,000,000 and $4,000,000. However, every situation is different and every victim is unique, so these estimated ranges are not representative of what you or your loved one could be entitled to. 

The factors our attorney uses in limb loss cases to determine how much money you should receive includes: 

• What is the extent of the amputation and the related injuries you’re experiencing?

• What body part was impacted and was it mild, moderate, or severe?

• Are you expected to make a near complete physical recovery, or will you struggle with a permanent impairment or disability moving forward?

• What monetary sum do medical professionals believe is needed to support your recovery?

• Has your ability to work or earn an income been affected by the amputation?

• What are the out-of-pocket expenses to-date?

• What kind of emotional or psychological trauma have you experienced as a result of the accident?

• Do you share any responsibility for your amputation accident?

• Did you, or those around you, take the proper steps to immediately address your injuries?

• How old were you at the time of your amputation accident?

If you find yourself searching for an attorney to handle your limb loss case, choose the best legal counsel possible. The decision you make will have a significant impact on the settlement or verdict you ultimately receive. 

Our attorneys at Sneed & Mitchell have won more than $100 million for injured workers and have the experience, reputation, and skills to recover maximum compensation for you and your family. 

Frequently Asked Questions About Houston Amputation Accidents

What Exactly Is an Amputation Injury?

An amputation injury involves a loss or removal of a body part, usually a finger, toe, hand, foot, arm or leg. The nature of a limb removal can either be traumatic or surgical. Traumatic amputations complete or partial detachment of the limb, while surgical amputations are performed to treat crush injuries, burns, and gunshot wounds to prevent infection or further damage. 

The loss of a body part involves lengthy recovery periods, long-term medical care, and has the potential of the person suffering from phantom limb phenomena or a level of emotional trauma that further complicates the post-injury healing process. And even in situations where the appendage can be surgically reattached, the replantation procedure can still have life-altering effects on the victim's health, livelihood, and overall independence. 

Can I Sue Someone Personally In An Amputation Accident?

Yes, here in Houston you can sue someone personally in the aftermath of accident that caused your amputation. This often includes the driver of the truck or motor vehicle, as well as store shop owners or property owners that allowed dangerous conditions to exist and cause your injuries.

To bring an amputation accident personal injury claim, you will need to establish that the limb loss event was caused by the negligence of the liable party. Someone is considered negligent when they:

• Owed you a duty of care, which is the legal reponsibility to prevent you from being harmed. (This could be to keep a proper lookout, drive the speed limit, maintain a safe premises, place working locks on doors, follow OSHA standard, abide by federal trucking regulations, etc.)

• The person or entity violated the duty of care

  AND

• You were hurt as a result of their unsafe actions

When you sue someone for an amputation injury accident, the lawsuit must be filed against the defendant, which is the tortfeasor. The defendants are then usually be represented by the insurance companies, who retain defense law firms to try to pay you the least amount possible for what occurred.

What Do Lawyers Look For In Amputation Accidents?

At Sneed & Mitchell LLP, we act quick and investigate the caused of your tragedy by preserving key evidence and building a strong enough case to holds every responsible party accountable for your limb loss.

From the moment we are retained we work to do the following:

• Prove fault: Whether the amputation resulted from a workplace incident, car crash, machinery failure, or unsafe conditions, we investigate thoroughly to identify negligence or safety violations.

• Prove the intent of your injuries: Our team works with surgeons, rehabilitation specialists, and medical experts to show the full physical, emotional, and psychological impact of your amputation. Amputations often have related medical complications which also must be detected and added to your overall damage model.

• Prove the value of your damages: Evidence of your lost wages, medical costs, prosthetic needs, diminished earning capacity, and the pain and suffering you’ve endured. We retain economists and also have Life Care Plan completed to properly quanitify your future economic and non-economic losses.

Amputation injury claims require lawyers experienced with handling limb loss events. Our trial consistently fights for victims of traumatic amputations and has recovered over $100 million for injury victims. Insurance companies know how we litigate cases and pay our clients more than they normally would.

What Evidence Do I Need To Win My Amputation Accident Case?

Our Houston amputation accident attorneys will do the investigative dig and conduct an exhaustive investigation into how your amputation occurred. We'll work with you to gather every critical piece of evidence to strengthen your case and prove liability against the party that caused your limb injury.

Some of the evidence we work to secure early on the investigative process includes:

• Photographs the accident scene where the accident occurred

• Witness statements

• Progressive photos of your amputation injury

• Any existing video footage of the accident

• Accident reports completed by the Harris County Texas Sheriff's Office, Houston Police Department, or other first respondant

• Pre-and post-inspection reports if it occurred on a job site

• Any maintenance logs and inspection records in applicable situations

• Truck black box data (EDR or ECR recordings) cases involving 18 wheelers

• Medical records

• Any internal company communications relevant to the

If you can, you should start to journal your recollection of the event as soon as possible. Your notes also become evidence and be later used to refresh your memory of even the more minor details.

How Common Are Amputation Accidents?

Current statistics provide that about 185,000 people suffer amputations each year here in America, and over 2 million people are dealing with this physical ailment each day. New insurance claims data suggests the rate of injury is actually higher and that the overall population size will increase to 3.6 million in 2050.

As amputation wounds start to heal, the individual often begins needing various aid devices and home modicals. A basic below-the-knee prosthetic leg ranges from $3,000–$5,000, with devices that feature technology like computer-controlled joints and comfort controls ranging between $15,000 to $50,000, and more.

The average lifetime treatment costs for amputee patients is around $500,000. The physical and economic impact of having lost a limb causes a high prevalence of depression, with about 35% of patients experiencing clinically significant depression.

About 45% of all amputations were as a result of physical trauma; the other main causes are vascular disease and cancer. An overwhelming percentage of below-the-knee amputations are caused by automobile accidents and involve crush injuries and open fracture complications.

How Long Does Is Take To Settle An Amputation Accident Case?

The average amputation accident cases settles between 6 months to one-and-a-half years after the client has been retained. However, you exact timeline will depend on how severe the ampuation and related injuries are and how clear liablity is. Insurance companies also sometimes have internal policies that don't allow their adjusters to negotiate a case until after depositions are conducted.

For these reasons, our attorneys start preparing your case to be presented in trial from the very beginning. Being trial-ready forces the defendant and their insurance company to play by our rules. From the outset they quickly see our team retain case experts, conduct site investigations, send evidence preservation requests, and schedule depositions of witnesses with important informations.

At Sneed & Mitchell LLP, we move quickly because it allows our clients to secure the compensation they truly deserve and in as least amount of time as possible.

My Employer Has Workers' Compensation, Can I Still Have A Case?

If you're injured and your employer is a subcriber to the Texas Workers' Compensation insurance program, then you can still have a case if someone other than your direct employer caused your injuries to occur, which is called a third-party cases. But, many employers here in Texas actually opt-out of the official version of worker's comp and instead create their own sub-par version. In this situation they are considered non-subscribers and you can still pursue a case against your employer for negligence. Speaking with an attorneys is always the best decision and will help you learn of your additional rights and options.

The Damages Available To Amputation Injury Victims in Houston, Texas

The Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code allows plaintiffs that suffered an amputation to pursue both economic and non-economic compensation for their range of damages caused by the accident.

When preparing an amputation injury claim, it is essential to identify and document each type of loss the client has endured:

Economic Damages

• Medical Expenses: Includes emergency care, surgeries, hospitalization, prosthetics, physical therapy, and future medical needs.

• Lost Wages: Compensation for time missed from work during recovery.

• Loss of Earning Capacity: For individuals who cannot return to their previous occupation or face permanent work restrictions.

• Home and Vehicle Modifications: Costs to retrofit homes or vehicles for accessibility.

• Future Care Needs: Ongoing expenses for in-home assistance, mobility equipment, and medical monitoring.

Non-Economic Damages

• Pain and Suffering: Physical pain, including phantom limb pain, and lasting discomfort.

• Mental Anguish: Psychological trauma such as PTSD, anxiety, or depression.

• Disfigurement: Permanent physical changes caused by limb loss.

• Loss of Enjoyment of Life: Inability to engage in activities, hobbies, or everyday tasks.

• Physical Impairment: The long-term impact on movement, balance, or function.

Every amputation case must be evaluated on an individual basis to ensure the damages reflect the full extent of the injury. A strong legal claim under Texas law must account for both visible losses and the invisible toll these injuries take over a lifetime.

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If you or a loved one suffered a limb loss here in Houston, share the story with a trial attorney now by calling 713-800-6676, or leave us a message online and we'll contact you immediately.

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What Causes Most Amputation Injuries in Houston?

Some of the most common situations of amputation injuries in Houston include constuction sites, workplace accidents, and dangerous automobile collission.

1. Construction Site Amputation

Construction sites are some of the most dangerous workplaces in Houston, Texas. Equipment like cranes, scaffolds, forklifts, skid steers, and concrete mixers can crush or sever limbs in an instant. Still, however, investigating the accident to properly determine the liable company quickly gets tough as crews from different contractors use equipment from different manufacturers.

2. Workplace Accident Amputations

Workplace accidents cause thousands of amputations each year. Places where goods are produced, fabricated, assembled, and transported often require use of saws, presses, grinders, conveyor belts, forklifts, and other industrial machinery that is inherently dangerous and involves a high risk of severe injury. These warehouses and construction areas have a fast-paced nature, which when combined with sometimes inadequate training or safety protocols increase the likelihood of employees suffering severe injury to their hands, legs, or other parts of the body. 

3. Car Accident Amputations

Car accidents in Houston, Texas are a major cause of traumatic amputations. High-speed collisions on Interstate 45, Interstate 10, the Beltway, and other dangerous roads throughout Harris County often result in crushing injuries to limbs. Victims are often pinned inside mangled vehicles, or ejected through windshields or door situations, and this leads to severe damage to a person’s fingers, arms, legs, hands, or feet.

4. Motorcycle Collision-Related Limb Injuries

With motorcycle riders being fully exposed to the environment, even minor crashes often result in devastating injuries. In many cases, the damage to motorcyclists' arms, legs, or feet is so extensive that surgical amputation becomes the only option to preserve the impacted area of the body.

5. Truck Accident Amputations

With loaded semi-trucks weighing around 26,000 pounds, the sheer force involved in the wreck is enough to cause any form of a catastrophic injury or fatality. Even if a victim is not struck by the rig, being pinned beneath the carriage or hit by the trailer can still have devastating implications.

6. Power Tool Amputation Accidents

Power tools like saws, drills, grinders, nail guns, hydraulic cutters carry extreme risks when used without proper safeguards or employee training. A small mishap or defective device can sever a body part instantly. Our attorneys have seen these injuries happen on job sites, mechanic shops, and manufacturing plants across the State of Texas.

No matter where the accident happened, our team of attorneys can assist you by thoroughly investigating the accident location to prove the cause of your debilitating injuries.

Steps to Take After an Amputation Injury Accident Here In Houston

It can be difficult to know what steps to take following an amputation accident or crush injury, but the decisions you make should be for the purpose of protecting your health, and also preserving your legal right. Here are the essential actions to take in the minutes, hours, and days following the injury

Step 1: Call 911 For Emergency Medical Care. Your health must come first, and swift medical attention can mean the difference of life or death. First responders and trauma teams are trained to slow the bleeding, help prevent infection, address related injuries, and preserve as much function as possible.

Step 2: Document the Accident Scene. If you can, capture clear photographs or videos of the area, including of the equipment involved and the injuries you endured. Collecting the names and contact information of witnesses is also important and helps your attorney gather critical evidence supporting what transpired.

Step 3: Report the Incident Promptly. Notify all appropriate parties at the scene, which might include the police, your employer, a third-party contractor, or the premises' owner where the injury event occurred. If your employer is a subscriber to the Texas workers’ compensation program, you should file a Report of Injury to start the claims process and then contact an Amputation Accident Attorney to learn of your additional options.

Step 4: Speak with an Amputation Injury Attorney. An attorney who devotes a large percentage of their injury practice to handling amputation injuries is best suited to evaluate your potential claim and guide you through every step of the process. Do not speak with an insurance company without legal counsel, and be careful of signing company paperwork that might also serve as a waiver of your rights to a legal claim.

Our Amputations Accident Lawyers Understand The Long-Term Impacts of Limb Injuries

Traumatic amputations have significant long-term challenges that an attorney must account for when working to secure full compensation for a client. These injuries go far beyond the initial surgery and medical bills, and must include considerations of the victim's overall physical health, mental well-being, and quality of life.

Physical Consequences

The physical trauma amputees experience can have echoing effects throughout the rest of the body. New musculoskeletal problems can develop due to changes in posture and walking patterns. Finding the right prosthesis and learning to use it properly takes time, patience, and effort.

Over time, muscle imbalances, joint pain, and strain on other body parts can become more serious health issues. A person’s cardiovascular health may also be considered if the amputation is significant and reduces a person’s activity.

Attorneys that regularly handle limb-related cases also look for signs of phantom limb pain, which is nerve pain in the limb that is no longer there. All of these potential complications increase the level of pain and suffering clients deal with related to the initial accident.

Psychological and Social Impacts

Mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression are common after incidents of traumatic limb loss. Many amputees suffer body image issues and impacts to their self-esteem. These feelings often involve social isolation and challenges in social or work environments, which must be factored into the settlement amount so that amputees can attend mental health treatment for the time needed.

Long-Term Challenges and Support

Our attorneys are trained to detect a client’s functional limitations that affect mobility, daily tasks, and employment opportunities. These factors can significantly reduce a person’s quality of life and increase the amount of non-economic damages that should be fought for in litigation.

 Rehabilitation programs, counseling, and support groups play vital roles in recovery, but are costly. Comprehensive care from a team including surgeons, therapists, psychologists, and prosthetists provides the best support for physical and emotional healing but is estimated to range from $100,000 to $700,000 dollars.

Legal Rights of Amputation Victims in Texas

Amputation victims here in Harris County have significant legal rights to help them recover financially, physically, and emotionally. Texas law allows individuals who suffer limb loss due to someone else’s negligence the right to pursue civil lawsuits against the responsible parties that include a wide range of damages.

Texas law also gives amputation victims the right to a trial by jury. Although a majority of cases settle after depositions, the right to have your story determined is a powerful lever and a great option for cases that don't resolve in mediation.

For work-related amputations, victims may have rights under the Texas Workers’ Compensation system, and in cases with responsible third parties, they can still assert a civil lawsuit for their additional damages.

Due to the life-altering nature of amputation injuries, it’s crucial for victims to begin asserting their rights early by consulting a lawyer skilled in cases involving the loss of an extremity.

Example Of A Limb Loss Case Currently Being Handled By Our Amputation Accident Lawyers

Our law firm currently represents a woman who sustained both complete and partial digital amputations while operating a gearwheel depositor within a popular bakery.  The young lady was in the process of finishing her shift when was instructed by her manager to clean the gears of the grinder with the machine powered on to get it done quicker.

The unsafe and reckless order resulted in our client's hand being caught and crushed in the gears. It would then take around 40 minutes for her arm to be freed from the contraption. The incident caused a traumatic amputation of her middle finger, a partial amputation of her ring finger, and a severe crush injury to her little finger, which physicians are currently attempting to salvage. 

Our Amputation Accident Team here at Sneed & Mitchell have a strong record of advocating for victims of industrial negligence and unsafe workplace protocols. Our firm is committed to securing accountability, justice, and full compensation for our client’s profound and life-changing injuries.

What Is The Statute of Limitations In A Houston Amputation Accident Case?

In Houston, Texas, you have two years to file a civil lawsuit following the date of your accident. However, you should not consider this timeline when deciding whether you should consult with a lawyer today. The responsible company or individual has already likely informed their attorneys of the matter, and the evidence needed to properly advocate for your injury and losses will start to be erased as time continues.

With fast action, an attorney can quickly send the liable parties an evidence preservation letter, which forces them to properly preserve evidence that they could otherwise discard or erase. The right legal team will also contact witnesses and gather important information while the event is still vivid in their minds.

The Cost of Hiring An Amputation Accident Lawyer

At Sneed & Mitchell LLP, we handle all amputation accident cases on a contingency fee basis, which means that you pay no upfront fees. Our law firms covers all the costs associated with investigating your claim, like hiring the necessary medical experts, deposition costs, case expert fees, and prepping your case for trial. You also only pay us if we successfully recover a monetary award for you. If there’s no recovery, you owe us nothing, no fees, no hidden costs.

How Our Houston Amputation Injury Attorneys Can Help

At Sneed & Mitchell LLP, our mission is to hold negligent parties fully accountable for the devastating harm caused by amputation injuries caused to you or your loved one. Catastrophic injury claims often involve powerful companies, contractors, product manufacturers, or employers with vast legal and financial resources working to limit what victims recover.

Our trial attorneys are well aware of the delay and deny tactics companies use to avoid paying victims full value on legitimate claims. When you hire Sneed & Mitchell LLP, we don't allow our clients to be taken advantage of and apply pressure, leverage, and strategy to your case so that you receive the maximum possible recovery for the injuries.

Our firm is known for tenacity and compassion in amputation accident cases and handles the most notable limb loss cases in Houston, included the recent triple finger amputation that occurred at the popular Heights bakery just last month. We tirelessly advocate for fingers that have lost fingers, hands, arms and legs and have a comprehensive approach to every amputation case we handle.

Let us calculate the true value of your injury, including the cost of lifelong medical care, prosthetics, lost earning capacity, and emotional suffering. We take the time to truly understand you and your family's story, your challenges, and the road to recovery that you'll soon embark upon. Our personal connection with each clients is what fuels our commitment to achieve results the results that other firms cannot.

Contact Our Experienced Houston Amputation Injury Lawyers for a Free Consultation

If you suffered an amputation due to another's negligence, call (713) 800-6676 to speak with a Houston amputation accident attorney now. Our trial lawyers here at Sneed & Mitchell have over 60 years of combined experience and specialize in limb loss cases and holding wrongdoers accountable.

Sneed & Mitchell offers award-winning trial representation and has a long track record of success in amputation cases. We also offer FREE consultations, and you pay no fees unless we win your case. If you are unable to travel, our legal team is more than willing to visit you at your home or hospital room to further detail how we help you. 

For Spanish-speaking clients, we also have a dedicated team of Latino trial attorneys available to ensure that you can communicate comfortably and confidently throughout your legal journey.