A new guide from The León Law Firm explains the two-year Texas deadline to file a personal injury lawsuit, plus the shorter notice rules for government claims and the exceptions for minors and wrongful death.
-- The León Law Firm, P.C. has published a guide explaining how long injured Texans have to file a personal injury lawsuit, along with the exceptions that can shorten or extend that window. The full guide is available at https://theleonlawfirm.com/how-long-do-you-have-to-file-a-personal-injury-claim-in-texas/
Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003, most personal injury lawsuits in Texas must be filed within two years of the injury date. Once that period runs out, courts generally dismiss the case, no matter how strong the underlying claim.
The deadline affects many Texans each year. According to the Texas Department of Transportation’s 2025 Texas Motor Vehicle Traffic Crash Facts report, 244,534 people were injured in traffic crashes statewide in 2025, or one person every 2 minutes and 9 seconds. Of those, 17,420 people sustained serious injuries. Many of those cases involve hospital stays, time off work and insurance negotiations that can stretch for months, while the two-year clock continues to run.
The guide outlines several situations in which the standard two-year rule works differently. When the injured person is a minor, the limitations period generally does not begin until the person turns 18, which typically allows a lawsuit to be filed until age 20.
Claims against government entities follow a much shorter timeline. Under the Texas Tort Claims Act, § 101.101, written notice is generally required within six months of the incident, and some cities set even shorter deadlines. For example, the City of Houston’s charter requires notice within 90 days.
In wrongful death cases, the two-year period runs from the date of death rather than the date of the original injury. Those dates can differ when a person dies weeks or months after an accident.
In the guide, founding attorney Carlos A. León explains that Texas law offers no general exception for people who did not know the deadline existed, and that cases filed late are routinely dismissed. He also notes that waiting is risky even when time remains, because evidence disappears and witness memories fade.
The firm handles injury claims involving car and truck crashes, workplace accidents, premises liability and wrongful death across Texas. Information on its personal injury practice is available at https://theleonlawfirm.com/personal-injury-attorney/
For people who have already started a claim, the firm has also published an overview of how a Texas personal injury case moves from the initial investigation through settlement or trial: https://theleonlawfirm.com/personal-injury-claim-process-in-texas/
The León Law Firm plans to keep publishing plain-language guides on Texas injury law in English and Spanish, focusing on the deadlines and procedural steps that most often catch injured people off guard.
About The León Law Firm, P.C.: The León Law Firm, P.C. is a bilingual personal injury firm based in Sugar Land, Texas, led by founding attorney Carlos A. León. The firm represents injured clients throughout Texas on a contingency-fee basis, in both English and Spanish. Learn more at https://theleonlawfirm.com/about-law-firm/
Contact Info:
Name: Carlos Leon
Email: Send Email
Organization: The León Law Firm, P.C.
Address: 1 Sugar Creek Center Boulevard, Sugar Land, TX 77478, United States
Website: https://theleonlawfirm.com
Source: NewsNetwork
Release ID: 89206344
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