What are the steps of a personal injury lawsuit in Texas?

Filing: the case gets a cause number

Litigation begins when the petition, the document laying out who did what and what is claimed, is filed and the defendant is formally served with citation. Texas gives a served defendant until roughly three weeks later, the Monday following twenty days, to file an answer, which will deny nearly everything as a matter of course; the denial is procedure, not a verdict. The court assigns a docket control order setting the deadlines that will govern the next year, and the petition itself is a strategic document, its parties, claims, and requested discovery level are choices that echo through the whole case.

Discovery: where cases are actually won

The longest stage is discovery, the formal exchange of evidence. Written discovery moves first: required disclosures, requests for production that pull documents, video, and data, interrogatories that pin the other side to sworn written answers, and requests for admission that force yes-or-no commitments. Then come depositions, sworn testimony from the parties, witnesses, and corporate representatives, where the defense meets you and your lawyer meets theirs. Fights over withheld evidence get resolved by motions to compel, and stonewalling costs defendants credibility with the judge. By the end of discovery, both sides can see the trial, which is precisely why most cases settle after it rather than before.

Experts, motions, and the mediation checkpoint

On the docket's schedule, each side designates experts, treating and retained physicians, economists, engineers, and produces their opinions, followed often by expert depositions and challenges to unreliable opinions. Defendants routinely file motions for summary judgment arguing some or all claims fail as a matter of law; surviving that motion is itself a valuation event. Nearly every Texas court then orders mediation before trial, the structured settlement conference where a large share of filed cases resolve, and where the file built during discovery does the talking.

Trial, and what the sequence means for you

The cases that remain go to trial, jury selection, openings, witnesses and cross-examination, closings, verdict, and post-trial deadlines and appeals can follow. Two truths run under the entire sequence. First, your active work is concentrated: written discovery responses, a deposition, mediation, trial if it comes; your lawyer carries the rest. Second, none of the stages is wasted motion, because carriers price cases on how the file will look to a jury, and every stage either builds that file or exposes that it was never built. Silver Key Law litigates each stage as trial preparation, which is exactly why most of its cases never need the last one.

Injured in Arizona? Some rules on this page are Texas-specific. Arizona differs on points that change outcomes, including pure comparative fault and government-claim deadlines. See our Arizona answers or call (888) 508-6967.

Related: How Long Will My Case Take? · Mediation Explained · Submit Your Case · All Common Questions

This page is general information about Texas law, not legal advice about your specific situation. Deadlines and outcomes depend on facts; talk to a lawyer about yours.