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The legal system can seem daunting. So we make getting help from our office quick and easy. Just contact us and get started on your free case review!
You Deserve Compensation
You work hard every day. So when you suffer an injury or illness, you deserve compensation. We’re ready to help you fight for what you may be owed.
No Costly Upfront Fees
You shouldn’t have to worry about costly upfront fees when you should be focusing on recovering. So you won’t owe us a dime unless we win for you.
Table of Contents
The Work We Take Off Your Plate
The days after a serious workplace injury quickly become overwhelming with insurance calls, paperwork, and difficult questions about your future. Robert White and Greta Braker personally handle every case, working directly with clients instead of passing files from one person to another.
Our hands-on approach has helped secure significant recoveries in catastrophic injury cases, including a $4,500,000 result and a $1,003,554 result, both in commercial truck accident claims.
Results may vary. Prior case outcomes do not guarantee similar results.
From the first call forward, we take over the parts that wear people down:
- Identify every company that shares responsibility for the site
- Demand and preserve the incident file, contracts, and equipment records
- Bring in treating physicians and life care planners to document the injury
- Handle all contact with adjusters, employers, and defense investigators
- File suit in the state district court or the federal courthouse serving Midland and Odessa
- Front the case costs, so nothing comes out of your pocket while it runs
Odessa work injury cases and Midland on-the-job injury claims get the same treatment here, starting with how the job actually ran on the day it went wrong. More than 235 Google reviews at a 4.6 rating come from people who sat through that process with us.
Tell us what happened on that job site, and our work accident lawyer team will give you a straight answer about your options before you owe us anything.
Put An Award Winning Lawyer On Your Side!
Does Workers' Comp Block a Lawsuit After a Job Injury?
Against your employer, usually yes, and that is the honest answer most sites bury. When an employer carries workers' compensation coverage, Texas Labor Code § 408.001 makes those benefits the exclusive remedy against that employer for a work injury. We do not handle workers' compensation claims, so that is not the work we do.
What the statute does not block is a claim against anyone else on that job site. It also does not block a family from pursuing exemplary damages when a worker's death was caused by gross negligence, meaning the employer knew about an extreme risk and went ahead anyway. Exemplary damages are a separate category aimed at punishing conduct rather than repaying losses.
Those two openings are where our cases live. Our work injury attorney team sorts out which one fits your situation during the first conversation, so call for a free case review and let us tell you which door is open.
What if Your Employer Opted Out of Coverage?
Then the exclusive remedy rule does not protect them, and you may be able to sue your employer directly. Texas is unusual here because Texas Labor Code § 406.002 makes workers' compensation coverage elective for private employers rather than mandatory. Texas calls an employer that opts out a nonsubscriber.
A nonsubscriber facing a lawsuit cannot lean on the usual defenses about your own carelessness or a coworker's mistake. Specifically, the case turns on whether the company was negligent, not on how the two of you split the blame. Plenty of West Texas outfits run without coverage, including construction crews, warehouses, and hauling companies working out of Monahans and Kermit.
Our on-the-job injury lawyer in Texas starts by finding out which category your employer falls into. Send us your hire paperwork and let us read it at no charge.
Companies That May Owe You Money Besides Your Employer
Most job sites in this region run on layered contracts, which means several businesses share the same footprint on any given day. When one of them creates the hazard, that company answers for it regardless of who signs your check.
Equipment claims work a little differently. A business that sold or rented a machine without building it can still be liable under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 82.003, in specific situations such as altering the product, installing it, or knowing about the defect before the sale.
Depending on the site, we look at parties like these:
- General contractors and site supervisors
- Subcontractors working alongside your crew
- Property owners who controlled how the work got done
- Equipment manufacturers, distributors, and rental yards
- Staffing agencies and labor brokers
- Trucking companies are moving material to and from the site
We handle oilfield accident claims, construction falls, and warehouse injuries the same way, by tracing those relationships through the contracts instead of guessing at them. Our work injury attorney team can tell you who else may share responsibility for what happened to you.
Where Proof Lives After a Workplace Accident
Every job site generates paper, and most of it sits with the companies involved rather than with you. We ask for it in writing early, before routine retention schedules start clearing it out. The records that carry a work injury case usually include:
- Toolbox talk, sign-in sheets, and pre-shift briefings
- Incident reports and internal investigation files
- Equipment inspection, service, and rental records
- Contracts between the companies working on the site
- Training files and certifications for the crew involved
- Photographs and video taken in the hours after the injury
One record sits with the state rather than with the company. A nonsubscribing employer has to tell the Texas Division of Workers' Compensation in writing that it carries no coverage, under Texas Labor Code § 406.004, and that notice of non-coverage runs on an annual reporting window that opens February 1. Checking the state's record is faster than waiting on the company to answer.
Checking it takes us minutes and settles a question that shapes the entire case. Bring us what you already have, and we will chase down the rest at no cost to you.
Injuries That Change a Household Overnight
Serious workplace injuries affect far more than the person who was hurt. They can disrupt an entire family's finances from the first missed paycheck, while medical expenses continue to grow. The injuries we see most often in West Texas are also the ones that require the longest recoveries and the greatest financial resources:
- Traumatic brain injury claims: Among the hardest claims to value, because the losses run for decades and rarely show up in a first settlement offer.
- Spinal cord and back injury claims: The category is most likely to end a career in physical work, which puts lost earning power at the center of the claim.
- Amputation and crush injury claims: The lifetime cost of assistive equipment belongs in the claim, and it is the line item that insurers push back on hardest.
- Burn injury claims: Liability on these West Texas cases often sits with a contractor or an equipment supplier rather than with the employer.
- Fall from height claims: Missing guardrails, unstable platforms, and unsafe elevated work areas are site conditions, which make these claims provable against whoever controlled the site.
Our work accident lawyer team brings in treating physicians and life care planners who put those futures into writing. Numbers built that way hold up when an insurer pushes back. Ask what a full picture of your injury would include.
Can You Still Recover After a Mistake of Your Own?
Yes, in most cases, and many injured workers assume otherwise and never call. Texas reduces an award by the share of responsibility assigned to the injured person, and Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 33.012 sets out how that reduction gets applied. Recovery ends only when your share climbs above 50%.
Nobody works a perfect shift, and a moment of haste does not erase a company's duty to run a safe site. Missing training and missing guards often carry more weight in that analysis than a worker's split-second decision. We build that comparison out of the site records.
Do not talk yourself out of a claim before someone reads the file. A review costs you nothing.
What Does a Serious Work Injury Cost Over a Lifetime?
More than the bills sitting on your kitchen table right now. A full accounting reaches forward as far as the medical evidence supports. Our West Texas work injury lawyer team accounts for losses like these:
- Hospital care, surgery, and rehabilitation
- Future procedures, hardware replacement, and attendant care
- Assistive equipment and home or vehicle modifications
- Lost wages, lost benefits, and reduced earning power
- Retraining when returning to the same trade is off the table
- Physical pain, disfigurement, and mental anguish
Early offers tend to arrive while the medical picture is still forming, which is exactly when a number is easiest to get wrong. We wait for the treating doctors and then put the figure together. Find out what a complete claim looks like before you respond to anyone.
A Clock Nobody Mentions at Discharge
Texas generally gives you two years from the date of the injury to file suit, and the exceptions are narrower than people hope. Claims involving a city, county, or state entity carry much shorter notice deadlines, sometimes measured in months. Waiting rarely helps and often costs.
Crews turn over fast in Crane and Stanton, equipment gets sold or scrapped, and site conditions change with the next job. Our work injury attorney team starts the preservation work long before a deadline becomes a problem. Call us early, even while you are still deciding what to do.
FAQs: West Texas Work Injury Lawyer
When workers are ready to file a third-party claim, we field these questions frequently.
Can My Employer Fire Me Over an Injury Claim?
Texas protects workers who file a workers' compensation claim in good faith from retaliation, though protections are narrower outside that setting because Texas is an at-will state, meaning either side can end the job for almost any reason. Tell us right away if your hours change, your assignments shift, or a write-up appears after you report an injury. We document that timeline from the first call.
What if I Am a Contractor Rather Than an Employee?
Independent contractors often have more options, not fewer. Without an employment relationship, the exclusive remedy rule usually does not apply, which can leave a direct negligence claim against the company that controlled the site. Bring your contract and your 1099, and we will read them together.
What Should I Do if OSHA Investigates My Accident?
Cooperate with the investigation and keep copies of every document you provide. An Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigation may uncover safety violations, witness statements, and other evidence that can strengthen your claim, even though OSHA does not award compensation to injured workers. Once the investigation is complete, we obtain the file and use its findings to support your case.
Can My Family Start a Case While I Am Still Hospitalized?
Yes, and that is often the right time. A spouse or parent can meet with us and get the evidence work moving while you are still recovering. We come to the hospital when that is easier on everyone.
Is There Anything I Should Avoid Posting Online?
Yes. Photos from a barbecue, a gym check-in, or a comment about feeling better all end up in a defense file, stripped of context. Keep your accounts private and let the medical records tell the story instead.
How Soon Will I Know Whether I Have a Case?
Often, during your first meeting. We can usually identify whether another company may be responsible, whether additional insurance coverage could apply, and what evidence should be gathered next. Final conclusions depend on reviewing the records, but you will leave with a clear understanding of the next steps rather than unanswered questions.
Bring Your Work Injury Case to Braker White
You held up your end on the job. When a company on that site did not, our West Texas work injury lawyers will build the case and carry it forward, so the recovery is the only job left on your list. Call Braker White at 432-580-5421 for a 100% free consultation, and we will start today.