Car accidents · Subcategory
Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer in Texas
When the at-fault driver was intoxicated, the civil case and the criminal case proceed on separate tracks with different burdens of proof and different remedies. The criminal case prosecutes the driver under the Texas Penal Code; the civil case recovers money for the injured person and is governed by Texas tort law, the Texas Insurance Code, and (where applicable) the Texas Dram Shop Act. Crucially, the civil case can move forward regardless of how the criminal case ends: an acquittal does not bar civil recovery, and a conviction does not guarantee it.
Why the civil case is independent of the DWI prosecution
The criminal case uses a beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard and produces a conviction, probation, or jail time. The civil case uses a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard and produces money damages. Different burdens, different remedies, different counsel. A criminal conviction is admissible in the civil case under Texas Rule of Evidence 803(22) as evidence of the conduct underlying the offense, which is helpful but rarely necessary; we can prove intoxication civilly even where the DA declined to charge or the criminal case is still pending. We routinely move forward with civil discovery while the criminal case is open, and we coordinate with the criminal defense counsel only to the extent necessary to manage Fifth Amendment issues in deposition.
The Texas Dram Shop Act under Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 2.02
Texas law provides a cause of action against a licensed alcohol provider — a bar, restaurant, club, or liquor store — when (1) the provider sold or served an alcoholic beverage to a person who was obviously intoxicated to the extent that they presented a clear danger to themselves and others, and (2) that intoxication was a proximate cause of the resulting damages. The statute is narrower than most people assume. 'Obviously intoxicated' has been interpreted to require visible signs — slurred speech, stumbling, glassy eyes — observable to the server at the time of service. Proving this requires receipts, server testimony, surveillance footage, and (in larger cases) expert toxicology. When it applies, the liquor-liability insurance carried by the establishment is a significant additional coverage layer above the impaired driver's personal policy.
Exemplary damages and the felony cap exception
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 41.003 allows exemplary damages on a finding of gross negligence. Driving while intoxicated almost always supports a gross-negligence theory; the conduct involves an extreme risk and a conscious disregard for others' safety. Exemplary damages are generally capped under § 41.008 at the greater of $200,000 or twice economic damages plus non-economic damages up to $750,000. The cap, however, does not apply where the conduct constitutes certain enumerated felonies under § 41.008(c), including intoxication assault (Tex. Penal Code § 49.07) and intoxication manslaughter (Tex. Penal Code § 49.08). That carve-out is decisive in serious-injury and fatality cases; uncapped exemplary damages change the negotiation posture entirely.
Evidence that establishes intoxication for the civil case
We build intoxication evidence from the police investigation file (post-crash BAC, field sobriety test results, officer observations), from any bar or restaurant the driver visited (receipts, surveillance, employee testimony), from witnesses at the scene who interacted with the driver, and from the driver's own admissions in deposition or social-media posts. We have settled cases on intoxication evidence even where the BAC sample was excluded from the criminal case on Fourth Amendment grounds; the civil case is not bound by criminal-procedure suppression rulings. Independent civil evidence stands on its own.
Frequently asked
Questions Texas accident victims ask us
- Yes. The criminal case punishes the driver — fines, jail time, probation — but does not pay you for your injuries or your medical bills. Restitution ordered in a criminal case is usually limited and slow to collect. The civil case is what compensates you for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and (in serious-injury or fatality cases) exemplary damages. The two cases run on separate tracks with separate lawyers and separate burdens of proof.
- Your civil case can still proceed and can still succeed. The criminal case uses a beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard; the civil case uses a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard. Civil cases regularly succeed against defendants whose criminal cases were dismissed or acquitted; the most famous example is the O.J. Simpson civil judgment. We have built civil intoxication cases on police-investigation evidence that was suppressed in the criminal case under Fourth Amendment rules that do not apply in civil court.
- Sometimes, under the Texas Dram Shop Act (Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 2.02). The statute requires proof that the provider served the driver while the driver was obviously intoxicated to the point of presenting a clear danger to others, and that the over-service was a proximate cause of the resulting damages. The proof typically requires receipts, surveillance, server interviews, and toxicology. When the statute applies, the bar's liquor-liability policy is usually a significant additional coverage layer.
- Yes, when the conduct rises to gross negligence under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 41.003; driving while intoxicated typically does. Exemplary damages are generally capped under § 41.008, but the cap does not apply when the conduct constitutes certain enumerated felonies under § 41.008(c), including intoxication assault and intoxication manslaughter. In serious-injury and fatality cases involving DWI, uncapped exemplary damages are often in play.
- Two years from the date of the crash under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003 for the personal-injury claim against the driver, and a similar limitations period applies to dram-shop claims against the licensed provider. Wrongful-death claims also generally carry a two-year limitations period. The pendency of the criminal case does not extend the civil limitations period; civil suit must be filed within the statutory window regardless of where the criminal case stands.
- Usually no. Civil cases routinely proceed in parallel with open criminal cases, though the defendant may invoke the Fifth Amendment in civil depositions, and the civil judge sometimes stays parts of discovery if the criminal trial is imminent. We coordinate with the criminal defense counsel as necessary, but we do not wait; evidence preservation and witness work are too time-sensitive to delay.
- Often, yes, and identifying them is critical in any DWI case with serious injuries. We look at the driver's personal umbrella policy, any household resident policies, employer commercial coverage if the driver was on the clock, the dram-shop liquor-liability policies of any establishments that served the driver, and the client's own stacked UM/UIM coverage. Drunk-driving cases also produce some of the largest exemplary-damage exposures, which can drive a carrier to offer more than its policy limits to settle a clear gross-negligence case.
- Potentially. A passenger generally has a clean personal-injury claim against the at-fault driver; being a passenger of a drunk driver does not disqualify you from recovery. The narrow exception is if the passenger knowingly accepted a ride with a driver they knew was impaired and that decision was a substantial cause of their own injury. Even then, the analysis is usually a comparative-fault question, not a complete bar.
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