Personal injury attorney in San Antonio: how your case works from the first call to court

Hiring a personal injury attorney means handing someone the work of proving your claim while you recover. It helps to know what that work is. This page walks through a Texas injury case the way it usually runs in San Antonio: what we do at each stage, what we need from you, how long each stage tends to take, and what happens if the case goes to the Bexar County courthouse. It is written by LAWBOSS – Uvalle Law Firm, PLLC.

Stage one: the first call and the fee agreement

The first conversation is free. An attorney asks what happened, who was involved, what insurance there is, how you were hurt and what treatment you have had. We tell you plainly whether we can help, and if we cannot, we say so.

If you hire us, you sign a written fee agreement. Texas law requires every contingent fee contract for legal services to be in writing and signed by the attorney and the client (Government Code section 82.065(a)). Read it before you sign, and ask about anything that is unclear: the percentage, whether it changes if a lawsuit is filed, and how case costs are handled.

Stage two: the first weeks, evidence before it disappears

Some evidence lasts and some does not. A crash report stays on file for years. Store video, traffic camera footage, a truck’s electronic data and witnesses’ memories do not. The first weeks are spent on the evidence that fades:

• The crash report. The CR-3 the officer filed with TxDOT, and requests to the agency for the photographs, video and notes that are not part of it.
• Preservation letters. Written requests to the other driver’s insurer, a trucking company, a store or an apartment complex to keep vehicles, data, video and records. A party that destroys evidence after being put on notice can face consequences in court.
• Witnesses. Statements while their memories are fresh.
• The scene and the vehicles. Photographs and measurements, and in serious cases an inspection of the vehicles before they are repaired or scrapped.
• The insurance. Notice to every insurer that may owe coverage, and a request for the at-fault party’s policy limits.

From this point, the insurers call us, not you. You do not have to repeat your story to an adjuster whose job is to find reasons to pay less.

Stage three: while you treat

This stage is mostly yours. Your job is to get well: go to your appointments, follow your doctors’ advice and tell them everything that hurts. Ours is to make sure the claim keeps up with you. We open your PIP claim so medical bills and lost income begin to be paid, collect records and bills from each provider as you go, and gather the affidavits Texas allows to prove that the charges were reasonable and the treatment necessary (Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 18.001).

How long this stage lasts depends on the injury. A sprain may resolve in a few months; a surgery and its recovery can take a year or more. We do not present a claim until your doctors can say what your recovery looks like, because a claim settled too early cannot be reopened later.

Stage four: the demand

When the medical picture is clear, we send the at-fault party’s insurer a demand. It sets out the facts, the law on fault, every medical record and bill, the lost pay, what the injury has done to your life and the amount we ask for, with a deadline to respond. A demand built the way an adjuster builds a claim file is harder to discount, and this is where our attorneys’ years on the insurance side matter most.

Stage five: negotiation

The first offer is rarely the last. The adjuster will question the treatment, the bills, the cause of the injury and your share of fault. We answer each point with the records. Every offer is yours to accept or reject, and we tell you what we think of it and why. If an offer is fair, it can end the claim here. If it is not, the next step is a lawsuit.

Stage six: filing suit in Bexar County

A Texas lawsuit is generally filed in the county where all or a substantial part of the events happened (Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 15.002), so a San Antonio crash is usually a Bexar County case. Injury suits are heard in the civil district courts at the Bexar County Courthouse, 100 Dolorosa. The local rules of those courts list fourteen of them: the 37th, 45th, 57th, 73rd, 131st, 150th, 166th, 224th, 225th, 285th, 288th, 407th, 408th and 438th Judicial District Courts.

Bexar County runs most civil district court cases through a central docket, with a Presiding Court that assigns hearings to an available judge and a Monitoring Court that handles trial settings and continuances (the 225th and 285th courts do not take part in those dockets). The local rules, updated effective July 1, 2026, set the pace:

• A schedule early on. A docket control order, with a trial setting and deadlines for naming witnesses, discovery and amended pleadings, is required in contested cases. The rules effective July 1, 2026 call for it within 45 days of the filing of the petition.
• A trial date within the state’s time standard. Texas Rule of Judicial Administration 6.1, quoted in the local rules, asks district courts to bring civil jury cases to trial or final disposition within 18 months of the appearance date, so far as reasonably possible.
• Mediation before trial. Every case set on the jury docket must be mediated no later than 45 days before the trial date (Local Rule 9.A).

Stage seven: discovery

After suit is filed, each side gathers the other’s evidence. Written questions and document requests go back and forth. Witnesses and the parties give depositions, which are questions answered under oath with a court reporter present. Your deposition is the one most clients worry about; we prepare you for it, sit beside you through it and tell you beforehand the kinds of questions the other side will ask. Medical witnesses and, in some cases, engineers or economists are named and give their opinions.

During this stage the defense may try to blame someone else. A defendant can ask the court to designate a responsible third party, a person it says caused or contributed to the harm, by motion filed at least 60 days before trial (Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 33.004). The jury then assigns that person a percentage too, which can reduce what the defendant owes.

Stage eight: mediation

Mediation is a meeting with a neutral mediator, usually a lawyer or former judge, who moves between the two sides to look for a settlement. Nobody can force you to settle at mediation, but many cases do settle there, because both sides by then know the evidence and the risks of a trial. In Bexar County the parties may agree on a particular mediator, and the court will honor that agreement (Local Rule 9.B).

Stage nine: trial

A small share of cases are tried. At trial a jury hears the evidence and answers questions about who was negligent, each person’s percentage of responsibility and the amount of each kind of damages. If your percentage is greater than 50, you recover nothing; otherwise your damages are reduced by your share (Civil Practice and Remedies Code sections 33.001 and 33.012). A defendant found more than 50 percent responsible is jointly and severally liable for the damages (section 33.013). After a verdict, either side may appeal, which adds time.

Stage ten: closing out the case

When a case settles or a judgment is paid, the money is paid into a client trust account. Before you are paid, liens and repayment claims are resolved: a hospital that treated you within 72 hours of the accident can hold a lien on the claim (Property Code section 55.002), and health insurers, Medicare or Medicaid may be entitled to repayment. You receive a written statement showing the recovery, the fee, the costs and each payment made on your behalf, and the balance is yours.

How long a San Antonio injury case takes

Stage	What decides how long it takes
Evidence	Mostly the first weeks; longer for trucking and government cases
Treatment	Your injury: a few months for a sprain, a year or more after surgery
Demand and negotiation	The insurer’s response; often weeks to a few months
Lawsuit to trial in Bexar County	The court’s schedule; the state standard for jury cases is 18 months from appearance
Closing out	Liens and repayment claims; usually weeks

What we need from you

• Keep going to your medical appointments, and tell us about every new provider.
• Send us every letter, bill and offer you receive about the claim.
• Do not talk to the other side’s insurer about the case, and do not post about it.
• Tell us if you move, change jobs or change your phone number.
• Ask us whatever you want to know. You should never have to guess where your case stands.

The Texas law behind every stage is summarized on our personal injury lawyer San Antonio page and set out in full on our Texas personal injury laws page. If you are still deciding who to hire, our best personal injury lawyer San Antonio page lists the questions to ask.