Longview Brain Injury Attorney

What Is a Traumatic Brain Injury?

A traumatic brain injury is any disruption of brain function caused by an external force to the head. That definition, drawn from CDC guidance, covers a wide spectrum. It includes concussions at one end and severe structural damage at the other.

TBI involves two phases of injury. The primary injury happens at the moment of impact: tissue tears, blood vessels rupture, neurons shear. The secondary injury develops over the following hours or days as the brain swells, bleeds internally, and loses access to oxygen. Secondary injury is why a person who seems alert at the accident scene can deteriorate significantly within 24 hours.

Physicians classify TBI by severity using the GCS The GCS score at emergency admission is one of the first pieces of evidence your attorney will request. It establishes severity at the time closest to the injury event.

The distinction between closed and open head injuries also matters. Closed head injuries occur when the brain moves inside the skull without penetration. Open head injuries involve a foreign object entering the skull. Both types can produce equally serious outcomes, but the mechanism affects which experts are needed and what evidence to gather. This page covers catastrophic harm claims under Texas law.

What Do TBI Severity Tiers Mean for Your Case?

Mild TBI, also called concussion, carries a GCS score of 13 to 15. Loss of consciousness lasts less than 30 minutes. Post-traumatic amnesia resolves within 24 hours. Despite the label, mild TBI is regularly underestimated. Insurance adjusters use the word "mild" to argue that no serious long-term injury occurred. Persistent post-concussive syndrome, which can include chronic headaches, cognitive slowing, and mood changes lasting months or years, is a well-documented outcome of even low-severity TBIs.

Moderate TBI registers a GCS score of 9 to 12. Loss of consciousness extends from 30 minutes to 24 hours. This tier carries a high rate of permanent cognitive changes, including problems with memory, executive function, and processing speed. A neuropsychological evaluation is essential for moderate TBI cases. Standard brain imaging often looks normal even when significant functional deficits exist.

Severe TBI is a GCS score of 3 to 8. Loss of consciousness exceeds 24 hours or structural damage is visible on CT or MRI. Many severe TBI patients require intensive care, surgical intervention, and months of inpatient rehabilitation. The damages in severe TBI cases are calculated across decades of projected future medical needs.

Two conditions deserve special attention regardless of severity tier. DAI DAI is frequently present in motor vehicle crashes because of the rotational forces involved. Standard CT scans miss it. Your attorney should ask whether your treating physician ordered a diffusion tensor MRI if DAI is suspected.

ICP Elevated ICP is a life-threatening emergency in the hours after severe TBI. Whether ICP monitoring was performed and how long it remained elevated are medically and legally significant facts.

The severity tier directly determines the scope of the life care plan, the projected loss of earning capacity, and the range of damages available. An attorney who does not understand these distinctions cannot evaluate the full value of your claim.

Common Causes of TBI in Longview Cases

Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of TBI across all age groups nationally. Longview sits at the intersection of US-259, US-80, Loop 281, and SH-149. The I-20 corridor brings substantial semi-truck and commercial vehicle traffic through Gregg County. High-speed roadway collisions generate the rotational forces that produce the most serious TBI patterns.

Workplace accidents are the second major category in this region. Construction, oil and gas support services, and warehouse distribution work are all significant employers in Gregg County. Falls from elevation and struck-by events in industrial settings are leading mechanisms of occupational TBI. Texas is the only state that allows private employers to opt out of workers' compensation coverage. When your employer is a non-subscriber, your injury claim proceeds as a standard negligence lawsuit with no recovery bar for your own contributory conduct.

Slip and fall accidents, particularly in commercial retail, hospitality, and healthcare settings, are a consistent source of TBI claims. Fall-related TBIs are most common among adults 55 and older. Nursing facility falls involving inadequate supervision or environmental hazards create premises liability claims against the facility operator.

Motor vehicle crashes on Longview roads produce TBI at higher rates than lower-speed urban collisions. Ask any attorney you're evaluating whether they have handled TBI cases specifically, not just car accident cases. TBI requires medical experts that general accident attorneys may not regularly retain.

When symptoms appear after an accident, Good Shepherd Medical Center at 700 E Marshall Ave, Longview TX 75601, is Longview's Level II trauma center and the first stop for acute TBI evaluation and stabilization. Cases requiring specialized neurosurgery may transfer to UT Health Tyler approximately 40 miles west.

Emergency Response and Medical Documentation

Good Shepherd Medical Center's emergency department performs the initial CT scan at admission. CT is the standard first-line imaging for head injury. It identifies hemorrhage, skull fractures, and gross structural damage quickly. What CT does not reliably capture is diffuse axonal injury, microhemorrhages, or functional deficits. MRI, particularly diffusion tensor imaging, is required when DAI is suspected.

The documentation created in the first 24 to 72 hours is foundational to your legal case. The GCS score at admission, the CT and MRI reports, the neurology consult notes, and any surgical records establish severity at the time closest to the injury. Gaps in this documentation are difficult to repair later.

Neuropsychological evaluation comes later, typically after acute treatment ends. A neuropsychologist administers a battery of standardized cognitive tests measuring memory, processing speed, attention, and executive function. These scores document cognitive deficits that do not appear on imaging. Insurance adjusters consistently challenge TBI claims where neuropsychological testing was not performed.

Rehabilitation records from inpatient or outpatient cognitive rehab programs establish the permanence of functional deficits over time. A treating physiatrist or neurologist documenting plateau in recovery is strong evidence that the deficits are long-term.

One consistent pattern in TBI cases is gaps in treatment. Patients are discharged from the emergency department without a neurology follow-up referral. Symptoms are attributed to stress or anxiety. Treatment stops. Insurance companies use these gaps to argue that the injury resolved. Consistent, documented follow-up care with specialists is both medically appropriate and legally protective.

Ask any attorney you're considering how they build the medical record in a TBI case. A capable attorney will explain exactly which specialists they work with and how they develop neuropsychological and life care plan evidence.

Proving Negligence in a Brain Injury Case

Every Texas personal injury case requires proof of four elements. Duty: the defendant owed a legal duty of care to the plaintiff. Breach: the defendant failed to meet that duty. Causation: the breach directly caused the injury. Damages: the plaintiff suffered documented losses as a result.

Duty and breach are usually straightforward in accident cases. A driver owes a duty to operate a vehicle safely. An employer owes a duty to maintain safe working conditions. Breach is established through police reports, traffic citations, inspection records, and eyewitness accounts.

Causation is where TBI cases get contested. Defense experts argue pre-existing conditions, insufficient collision forces, or alternative causes for the symptoms. They also argue that the impact was not severe enough to produce the claimed injury. Plaintiff experts counter with biomechanical analysis, neuroimaging, and peer-reviewed medical literature linking the crash mechanics to the specific injury documented. This expert dispute over causation is the central contested issue in most TBI cases.

The insurance company's investigation begins immediately after the accident. Their adjuster is gathering information to evaluate and limit their exposure, not to help you understand your rights. They may request a recorded statement. You are not obligated to provide one before consulting an attorney.

When you evaluate attorneys for a brain injury case, ask specifically whether they have retained biomechanical experts and neuropsychological experts in prior TBI cases. Ask how they handle defense IME challenges. These are testable questions. An attorney experienced in TBI litigation can answer them concretely.

How Texas Law Applies to Brain Injury Claims

Statute of Limitations

Texas gives injury claimants two years to file a lawsuit under CPRC Section 16.003(a). The Statute of Limitations clock begins on the date of the injury, not the date of diagnosis.

The discovery rule can delay the start of limitations in narrow circumstances. When TBI symptoms were not immediately apparent and the injury was inherently undiscoverable through reasonable diligence, courts may allow limitations to begin from the date the injury was or should have been discovered. This is an exception, not the rule.

For injured minors, CPRC Section 16.001 tolls limitations until the minor turns 18. A child injured at age 14 has until age 20 to file. There is no mid-stream tolling for adults: a disability that arises after limitations begins does not pause the clock.

Missing the two-year deadline extinguishes the right to sue permanently. Texas courts do not have discretionary authority to extend it. This is a hard cutoff.

Proportionate Responsibility

Texas uses a Proportionate Responsibility system. Under CPRC Chapter 33, if you are 50% or less at fault, you recover your damages reduced by your fault percentage. At 51% or more, you recover nothing.

Insurance adjusters build their defense strategies around pushing plaintiff fault percentages above 50%. In a crash case, they'll argue the plaintiff was speeding, distracted, or made an evasive maneuver that contributed to the collision. Independent accident reconstruction is the primary counter to this tactic.

Joint and several liability is limited in Texas. Under CPRC Section 33.013, a defendant at 50% fault or less pays only their proportionate share of damages. Only defendants with more than 50% responsibility face joint and several exposure. Defendants can also designate responsible third parties under Section 33.004. Plaintiffs have 60 days after designation to add those parties as defendants.

Ask any attorney you're evaluating how they handle proportionate responsibility disputes in TBI cases. The specific answer should include how they select and retain reconstruction experts and how they develop the comparative fault narrative before the insurance company builds theirs.

Morris & Dewett approaches proportionate responsibility disputes at the evidence stage, before litigation. We retain reconstruction experts early and document fault evidence before opposing counsel builds a counter-narrative. View our results to see how that approach has performed.

Damages in a Texas Brain Injury Case

Economic Damages

Medical expenses, both past and future, are typically the largest economic damages category in a serious TBI case. Economic damages include all documented financial losses: past bills, future care costs, and lost earning capacity. Past expenses are documented through billing records. Future expenses require a Life Care Plan.

Life care planners are certified professionals who work with treating physicians to project what care a TBI patient will require over their lifetime. The plan itemizes specific procedures, frequency, and cost. It is the foundation of future medical damages and is scrutinized by defense experts. A credible life care plan from a qualified planner carries far more weight than a physician's general estimate.

Loss of Earning Capacity For working-age TBI patients, loss of earning capacity is often the largest single damages category. A vocational expert evaluates the plaintiff's education, work history, and post-injury cognitive limitations to define their current earning ceiling. An economist converts that difference into present-value dollars.

Home modification costs, caregiver costs, and assistive technology are documented separately from medical expenses in the life care plan. These categories are frequently undercounted in cases without a full life care analysis.

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages compensate for losses that have no price tag. Pain and suffering, mental anguish, and impaired quality of life are the main categories. Loss of consortium is available to the injured person's spouse as a separate Texas claim, compensating for the loss of companionship and support.

Texas does not cap non-economic damages in standard personal injury cases. For most TBI claims arising from accidents, there is no ceiling on pain and suffering damages. The exception is medical malpractice. If the TBI arose from surgical or hospital negligence, CPRC Chapter 74 applies: $250,000 per healthcare provider for noneconomic damages and $500,000 across all defendant institutions.

Exemplary Damages (Gross Negligence)

Exemplary Damages Under CPRC Section 41.008, exemplary damages require clear and convincing evidence of fraud, malice, or gross negligence. The cap is the greater of two times economic damages plus noneconomic damages up to $750,000, or $200,000.

TBI cases involving drunk driving, intentional vehicular assault, or documented employer safety violations that rise to gross negligence can qualify for exemplary damages. The cap does not apply when the defendant's conduct constituted certain felonies including murder, aggravated assault, and sexual assault. If the TBI resulted directly from an intentional felonious act, there is no statutory ceiling on exemplary damages.

Gross negligence is a higher standard than ordinary negligence. It requires that the defendant subjectively recognized an extreme risk and proceeded anyway. A drunk driver who got behind the wheel after multiple prior DWI convictions is a stronger gross negligence case than one without a prior record. Document the full context of the defendant's conduct early.

Investigating a Brain Injury Case

The most time-sensitive evidence in a TBI case is electronic. Vehicle black box data records speed, braking, and throttle inputs in the seconds before impact. It can be overwritten within 30 days of an accident through normal vehicle use. Surveillance footage from nearby businesses and traffic cameras is typically stored for 30 to 60 days before being overwritten. Electronic logging device data from commercial trucks documents driver hours and location.

A preservation letter is sent to all potentially liable parties immediately upon attorney retention. The letter demands preservation of all electronically stored information and physical evidence. Failure to preserve after receiving a letter creates Spoliation exposure for the defendant.

Accident reconstruction experts establish the mechanics of the collision. In TBI cases, the reconstruction feeds into biomechanical analysis. A biomechanical expert uses crash data to calculate the forces applied to the head. Those force calculations are then linked to the specific brain injury mechanism documented in the treating physician's records. This chain from reconstruction to biomechanics to neurology is the foundation of causation proof.

The defense insurer will arrange an independent medical evaluation (IME) with their own physician. That physician is hired and paid by the insurer. Their reports consistently minimize injury severity. Your attorney needs to identify the weaknesses in the defense IME methodology and prepare to challenge it through depositions and counter-expert testimony.

Ask any attorney you are evaluating whether they have taken depositions of defense IME doctors in TBI cases before. This is a specific, answerable question. An attorney who regularly handles these cases will have done it. View our results for context on how we've approached comparable claims.

What Happens at Good Shepherd Medical Center

Good Shepherd Medical Center holds a Level II trauma designation from the American College of Surgeons. Level II centers are capable of providing initial definitive care for most TBI presentations, including surgical intervention. Patients with Longview-area TBIs do not typically require transfer to a higher-level center for initial stabilization.

The neurotrauma team at Good Shepherd handles acute TBI stabilization, ICP monitoring, and emergent craniotomy when indicated. The hospital also operates an inpatient rehabilitation unit where early cognitive and physical rehabilitation begins for patients with moderate to severe TBI.

Not every TBI patient receives appropriate specialist follow-up after emergency discharge. Patients with mild or moderate TBI are sometimes discharged with instructions to follow up with a primary care physician who may lack TBI expertise. That gap in specialty care creates both medical risk and legal risk. The absence of specialist notes in the medical record is used by defense experts to argue that the injury was minor.

Pediatric TBI cases and patients requiring neurosurgical subspecialty procedures may transfer to UT Health Tyler or Children's Medical Center Dallas. The receiving facility and all inter-facility transport records become part of the medical evidence chain.

The attending physician's discharge notes, the initial GCS score, and any surgical reports from Good Shepherd are among the first records your attorney will request. Obtaining them quickly, before the 30-day electronic data windows expire for collision evidence, is part of early case management.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to file a brain injury lawsuit in Texas?

Texas law under [CPRC Section 16.003(a)](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.16.htm) gives you two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit. Missing this deadline permanently extinguishes your right to sue; Texas courts have no discretion to extend it. The discovery rule can delay the start of limitations in limited circumstances when symptoms were not immediately apparent, but this is an exception and requires specific legal analysis for each case.

What is the Glasgow Coma Scale and why does it matter for my case?

The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is a 15-point neurological assessment measuring eye opening, verbal response, and motor response at emergency admission. A score of 13 to 15 indicates mild TBI, 9 to 12 indicates moderate, and 3 to 8 indicates severe. Insurance companies use low GCS scores to argue minimal injury. Your attorney uses the same score to document severity at the time of injury, before secondary injury and medication effects change the clinical picture.

Can I sue if my TBI was caused by a workplace accident in Texas?

Yes, though the route depends on your employer's workers' compensation status. Texas is the only state that allows private employers to opt out of workers' compensation coverage entirely. If your employer subscribes to workers' comp, your recovery is through the workers' comp system. If your employer is a non-subscriber, you can file a standard negligence lawsuit. Non-subscriber cases are favorable to plaintiffs because the employer loses the defenses of contributory negligence, assumption of risk, and the fellow-servant doctrine.

What is diffuse axonal injury and how is it proven in court?

Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) is widespread tearing of axonal nerve fibers caused by rapid acceleration and deceleration forces, the same forces present in many vehicle crashes. Standard CT scans often miss DAI entirely. MRI, specifically diffusion tensor imaging, is required for diagnosis. In litigation, DAI is proven through a combination of the MRI findings, the biomechanical analysis of crash forces, and neuropsychological testing showing the cognitive deficits consistent with axonal disruption.

How is loss of earning capacity calculated for a brain injury?

Loss of earning capacity requires two experts. A vocational rehabilitation expert evaluates the plaintiff's work history, education, skills, and post-injury cognitive limitations to determine their current earning capacity. An economic expert takes the difference between the pre-injury earning trajectory and the post-injury ceiling and converts it to a present-value number accounting for inflation, career progression, and worklife expectancy. In severe TBI cases, loss of earning capacity is routinely the largest single damages category.

What are exemplary damages and when are they available in Texas TBI cases?

Exemplary damages are Texas's term for punitive damages under [CPRC Section 41.008](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.41.htm). They require clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with gross negligence, fraud, or malice. In TBI cases, gross negligence applies most directly to drunk driving incidents, employers who ignored documented safety violations, and intentional assaults. The statutory cap is the greater of two times economic damages plus noneconomic damages up to $750,000, or $200,000. The cap does not apply when the conduct constituted certain felonies including murder and aggravated assault.

What if the other driver was uninsured when they caused my TBI?

Texas insurers are required under [Tex. Ins. Code Chapter 1952](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/IN/htm/IN.1952.htm) to offer uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage with every auto policy. If you have UM/UIM coverage and the at-fault driver has no insurance or insufficient insurance, your own policy compensates you up to your coverage limits. Texas law requires that the insured be given the option to reject UM/UIM in writing; if no written rejection exists, the coverage defaults to your liability limits. Review your policy declarations page to confirm your UM/UIM limits.

Does Texas cap damages in brain injury cases?

Texas does not cap economic or non-economic damages in personal injury cases arising from accidents. There is no ceiling on medical expenses, lost earnings, or pain and suffering in a standard TBI lawsuit. The exception is medical malpractice: if the TBI resulted from surgical or hospital negligence, CPRC Chapter 74 limits noneconomic damages to $250,000 per healthcare provider and $500,000 across all defendant institutions. Exemplary damages are separately capped under CPRC Section 41.008 unless the conduct involved a qualifying felony.

Can I handle an insurance claim for a brain injury without a lawyer?

You can, but the structural disadvantage is significant. The insurance company's adjuster handles TBI claims daily. They are trained to identify gaps in treatment, obtain recorded statements that limit liability, and use the word "mild" to minimize recovery. A TBI claim involving cognitive deficits, future medical needs, and lost earning capacity requires life care planners, vocational experts, neuropsychologists, and biomechanical experts. Assembling that expert network, managing their work, and presenting it effectively in negotiations or at trial is what an experienced attorney provides. Most TBI attorneys, including Morris & Dewett, handle these cases on a contingency fee basis: no payment unless there is a recovery.

What is Texas nonsubscriber workers compensation and how does it affect my TBI claim?

Texas allows private employers to opt out of the state workers' compensation system under [Tex. Labor Code Section 406.002](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/LA/htm/LA.406.htm). Employers who opt out are called non-subscribers. If your employer is a non-subscriber and your TBI occurred on the job, you sue your employer directly for negligence rather than filing a workers' comp claim. The significant advantage is that non-subscribers lose the three common-law defenses: contributory negligence, assumption of risk, and the fellow-servant doctrine. You only need to prove the employer was negligent. This is a more favorable legal position than standard negligence litigation against a third party.

These answers reflect Louisiana law as of January 2026. For case specific advice, consult with a Louisiana personal injury attorney who can evaluate your particular circumstances.