When a dog attacks or bites a person, they may suffer severe injuries, sometimes affecting them for the rest of their lives. Elderly individuals and children are especially susceptible to dog attacks and injuries.
If you or someone you love suffered an injury in a dog attack, always retain legal counsel who can handle every step of the claims filing and litigation processes.
The compassionate San Marcos dog bite lawyers at DJC Law can handle every aspect of your dog bite injury claim, from filing a claim with the dog owner's insurance company to pursuing litigation in the state court system. We can also advise you on making important decisions throughout your case, including whether you should accept a settlement offer from the insurance company or pursue litigation.
Contact our office for a free consultation with a San Marcos dog bite attorney. We can advise you of your legal options and begin protecting your rights to compensation.
Why Choose Us to Handle Your San Marcos Dog Bite Case?
When the time comes to retain experienced legal counsel for your dog bite injury case, you want the best possible team of attorneys to advocate aggressively for your legal interests. The skilled San Marcos dog bite lawyers at DJC Law have the knowledge and experience to take on the insurance company, fight for your legal rights and interests, and pursue the highest monetary compensation available to you in your dog bite case.
While many personal injury attorneys aim to settle all their cases out of court, our legal team is not afraid to file a lawsuit in court and take your case all the way to a civil jury trial if necessary. We will take over every stage of your case, from negotiating with insurance company representatives to zealously advocating for you at your jury trial or binding arbitration proceeding.
Our office is at 2575 North IH 35, Suite 101, San Marcos, TX 78666. Let us secure the maximum monetary compensation you deserve to recover in your San Marcos dog bite case.
How Much Is My San Marcos Dog Bite Case Worth?
Dog attack and bite victims may suffer severe injuries that require ongoing medical treatment and care. Consequently, they may incur significant medical expenses along with lost income if they cannot work for a period after the dog attack.
The total monetary compensation that a dog attack victim may recover depends on the specific circumstances surrounding the attack, the injuries the bite victim suffers, and whether or not the bite victim suffers permanent injuries, such as scars.
First, dog attack victims may recover monetary damages for all their related medical bills and expenses. They may recover compensation for their past medical expenses and anticipated medical costs if a medical provider determines they may need to undergo surgery or other treatment in the future.
Additionally, if the bite victim has to miss time from work following their dog bite incident, they may be eligible to recover all of their lost income. If they suffer a severe injury in the dog attack, such as a permanent hand injury preventing them from performing work, they may recover compensation for loss of earning capacity. This is especially true if the dog attack victim has to switch jobs and take a pay cut as a direct and proximate result of their injuries.
In addition to a dog attack victim's economic damages, victims can also recover compensation for their intangible losses.
Those losses may compensate a bite victim for all their:
- Humiliation, such as from visible scarring
- Pain and suffering
- Inconvenience
- Loss of the ability to use one or more body parts
- Loss of sensation in one or more body parts
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Permanent disfigurement or disability.
Our experienced legal team can review your dog attack circumstances with you and determine which damages you might be eligible to receive as part of your dog bite claim or lawsuit.
We can also give you a ballpark figure of what you deserve in compensation. Our team will do everything possible to maximize the monetary damages you recover as part of your dog bite claim or lawsuit.
Where Do Dog Bites and Attacks Frequently Occur in San Marcos?
Dog bites and attacks in San Marcos can occur anywhere where dogs and people are in the same location, such as in:
- Parks located throughout the region, including dog parks
- Front or back yards
- Inside personal residences
- Veterinary offices.
If you suffered a dog bite injury anywhere in the San Marcos area, never wait to seek a consultation with a trusted attorney. Our team can immediately begin investigating the circumstances of your dog attack and explore available legal options in your case. We can file a claim with the dog owner's insurance company or pursue litigation in the court system on your behalf.
Proving a Dog Bite Case in San Marcos
Texas law offers dog attack victims several legal methods for pursuing monetary compensation from a dog owner whose dog caused them injuries.
First, a San Marcos dog bite victim can seek financial compensation on negligence grounds. In that scenario, a victim must establish that a dog owner failed to exercise control over their dog as a hypothetical prudent, reasonable individual should have.
To prove negligence, the victim must establish that:
- Another individual possessed or owned the dog
- The possessor/owner had a duty to show reasonable care in preventing their dog from injuring others
- The possessor/owner failed to satisfy that legal duty of care
- As a result, they suffered one or more physical injuries, such as in a dog attack or dog bite scenario
The law in Texas also applies a strict liability rule in cases where the dog has known mischievous, dangerous, or vicious propensities, and a dog bite resulted. A dog that previously bit someone is a dangerous dog. This is true even if the dog bite did not cause serious harm.
As part of a strict liability claim, the victim must establish that the dog in question previously bit another individual or behaved as if it wanted to bite that individual and that the dog's owner knew about the dog's prior conduct. If the victim can establish these legal elements, they can recover monetary compensation for their injuries.
Finally, Texas law allows dog bite victims to recover compensation from a dog owner based upon negligence per se. In other words, if a dog owner violates a safety law and an injury results, the dog owner is automatically negligent. In many cases, dog bite victims can allege negligence per se if a dog owner violated specific animal control laws, including leash laws.
Our experienced legal team can ensure your case satisfies the legal elements of your bite injury claim and secure the total compensation you deserve for your injuries.
Common Dog Bite Injuries
Whenever a dog viciously bites a person, they may suffer severe, debilitating, and permanent injuries. The injuries that a dog bite victim suffers will usually depend upon the victim's age, the specific circumstances involving the dog attack, and the body parts involved in the dog attack.
Some of the most common injuries that dog bite victims may suffer include:
- Open lacerations that require stitches and other medical treatment
- Infections
- Puncture wounds
- Teeth and bite marks on the accident victim's skin
- Permanent nerve damage in the affected areas
In addition to these injuries, when a dog attacks a person and forces them onto the ground, the victim may suffer additional injuries, including traumatic head and brain damage, broken bones, rib fractures, and soft tissue injuries.
If you sustained one or more of these injuries in a dog attack, you want experienced legal representation in your corner at every stage of your case. Our legal team can begin gathering the necessary documentation in your case and can submit those documents to the insurance company after you complete your medical treatment. We can then start negotiating favorable settlement compensation on your behalf.
Fighting the Homeowner's Insurance Company After a Dog Bite Incident
After suffering a dog bite injury, a bite victim will deal primarily with the dog owner's homeowner insurance company. This is because many homeowner policies cover injuries to others that result from dog attacks and dog bites. However, dealing with an insurance company is never a pleasant experience, especially if you try on your own (which you should never do).
Insurance companies have zero interest in fully or fairly compensating you, despite your serious dog bite injuries. Instead, insurance companies focus on their bottom lines and will do anything to avoid paying out significant settlement compensation in a dog bite claim or lawsuit. The reason for this is simple— insurance companies want to keep as much of their money in-house as possible.
To avoid paying out favorable settlement compensation to dog bite victims, an insurance company adjuster might contend that the bite victim somehow provoked the dog into attacking them. The insurance company may also argue that the dog bite victim's claimed injuries are pre-existing or that they are not related to the dog attack incident.
Our legal team understands the tricks and tactics that insurance companies routinely use to undervalue personal injury claims, including dog bite injury claims.
We can take on the insurance company directly and fight for your legal rights and interests. For example, we can retain a medical expert who can causally relate your claimed injuries to the dog attack incident. Additionally, we can point to favorable documentation in your case, including medical records, to demonstrate the severity of your injuries.
If the insurance company adjuster handling your dog bite claim still refuses to compensate you fairly, we can file a lawsuit and litigate your case through the state court system.
Our legal team will join you every step of the way, aggressively advocating for you and working to maximize your total monetary recovery.
Steps to Take After a Dog Bite Injury
After a dog bite, keep all critical documents in your case. These documents may include photographs of your visible injuries, related medical treatment records, medical bills, lost income documents, and pictures of the incident scene.
Once you choose us to represent you in your case, you can forward us that documentation, and we can include it as part of the settlement demand package that we send to the insurance company adjuster.
Next, you need to complete all your related medical treatment. For example, you may need to consult with a medical specialist or undergo a medical procedure, such as surgery. By completing your medical treatment, you increase your chances of achieving a favorable recovery and your likelihood of obtaining fair monetary damages in your case.
Once your medical treatment starts, call us about your legal claim. You have limited time to take action, and you don’t want to risk losing the compensation you deserve under the law. While hiring a lawyer might seem daunting, doing so will actually relieve stress from your life.
Once we are on board, our team will handle every part of your case, from insurance communications to litigation, if necessary. Seeking legal help is the biggest favor you can do yourself in this situation.
Speak With an Experienced Dog Bite Lawyer in San Marcos Right Away
If you suffered injuries in a San Marcos dog attack, never wait to retain the legal representation you need. At DJC Law, our skilled and compassionate lawyers can represent you throughout your case and strive to achieve the monetary result you need and deserve for your injuries.
For a free case evaluation and legal consultation with a personal injury law firm in San Marcos, please call us at (512) 888-9999 or contact us online.