LAWBOSS: A Wrongful Death Law Firm in San Antonio for Families

Who we are

Michael Uvalle founded the firm after years working for several of the largest insurance companies in Texas. There he learned how insurers evaluate and defend injury and death claims: how they assess risk and liability, and how they decide what to offer. He decided to use that knowledge for injured people and their families. The firm calls this its insurance insider advantage.

He is not the only one at the firm who came from the other side. Ian Nelsen, a partner, was an adjuster and an insurance defence attorney. Jonathan Harris, Board Certified, Personal Injury Trial Law – Texas Board of Legal Specialization, a partner and the firm’s managing attorney of litigation, spent more than a decade as a senior trial attorney for a major automobile insurer. Howard Hill, a litigation attorney, spent more than 20 years with two of the nation’s largest auto and commercial insurers. Joseph Massey worked as a workers’ compensation adjuster and manager. For a family facing an insurer, that experience is practical: we know what the other side will look for, because many of us used to look for it.

The firm’s motto is “Work hard and do right”. Its values are integrity, determination, client-centred service and action. In a death case that comes down to a few things families tell us they need: someone who answers the phone, explains the law in plain words, keeps them informed without being asked, and never pressures them.

How we work with a grieving family

• At your pace. We do not ask a family to decide anything on the first call.
• Plain words. We explain what Texas law allows, what it does not, and what we think of your family’s claim, honestly.
• Questions welcome. Ask us anything about the claim, the fee or the process, as often as you need to.
• The family decides. We advise, but you decide whether to accept an offer, whether to file suit and whether to go to trial.
• Answered day and night. Our San Antonio office is open 24 hours, including weekends and holidays.

The kinds of deaths we handle

The family’s claim is always the same Texas wrongful death claim under Chapter 71 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, but the rules around it change with how the death happened.

Car crashes

Car crash claims turn on the crash report, the vehicle data and the insurance behind the driver, including the family’s own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. See fatal car accident lawyer San Antonio.

18-wheeler and commercial truck crashes

Federal rules on driving hours, driver files, testing and maintenance, records that are kept for only months, and the split trials Texas allows in these cases. See fatal truck accident lawyer San Antonio.

Drunk driver crashes

A driver who causes a death while intoxicated commits intoxication manslaughter (Penal Code 49.08), and the usual limit on exemplary damages does not apply to that conduct (Civil Practice and Remedies Code 41.008(c)). A bar or store that served someone who was obviously intoxicated can also be responsible (Alcoholic Beverage Code 2.02).

Motorcycle, pedestrian, bicycle and rideshare deaths

Riders, people on foot and on bicycles, and passengers in rideshare cars are among those killed on San Antonio roads. The questions are the same as in other crashes: who was at fault, what the evidence shows and what insurance applies.

Deaths at work

In Texas most private employers may choose whether to carry workers’ compensation (Labor Code 406.002), and must tell their employees whether they do (section 406.005). The choice changes the family’s claim:

• An employer with workers’ compensation. Benefits are the exclusive remedy against the employer for a work-related death (section 408.001(a)), but the surviving spouse and the heirs of the body may still seek exemplary damages if the death was caused by the employer’s intentional act or omission or gross negligence (section 408.001(b)).
• An employer without it. In a suit against an employer that does not carry workers’ compensation, section 406.033 says it is not a defence that the employee was negligent, assumed the risk or was hurt through a co-worker’s negligence. The family must still prove the employer’s negligence.
• Others on the site. A contractor, property owner or equipment operator who is not the employer can be sued in the ordinary way.

Deaths caused by a property owner’s neglect

Premises liability cases arise when an owner or manager leaves a dangerous condition in place: a fall from an unguarded height, a collapse, poor security or a hazard nobody warned of. The family’s claim depends on what the owner knew and what it should have done.

City, county and state vehicles and property

The Texas Tort Claims Act allows a claim when a death is caused by a government employee’s use of a motor vehicle or by a condition or use of government property (Civil Practice and Remedies Code 101.021). Written notice is usually due within six months (section 101.101), a city charter can set its own period, damages are limited and exemplary damages are not available.

Where we work

Our San Antonio office serves families across Bexar County and in New Braunfels, Schertz, Converse, Universal City, Live Oak, Leon Valley, Helotes, Boerne and Seguin. The firm also has offices in Houston and Dallas. Our areas served page explains how the courts and death investigation offices differ from county to county around San Antonio.

What to bring to a first conversation

Nothing is required. Many families call with no papers at all, and that is fine: we can obtain most records ourselves. If you have them to hand, these help us understand the situation sooner:

• any paper from the police or the crash scene, such as a card with a case or report number;
• letters or cards from an insurance company, an adjuster or an investigator;
• the name of the funeral home and of the hospital, if the person was taken to one;
• the family’s own auto insurance policy, if the death happened on the road;
• the name of the employer, if the death happened at work;
• a will, if you know there is one.

We will also ask about the person who died: their work, their family, and what they did for the people closest to them. There is no right or wrong way to tell us. Take the time you need.

What working with us costs

The consultation is free. No Fees or Costs Unless We Win. If we take the case, we work on a contingency fee: our fee is a percentage of what is recovered for the family, and there is no attorney’s fee if there is no recovery. The firm’s published terms are that we advance the costs of investigating and pursuing the claim, and that you owe no attorney’s fee and no case costs unless money is recovered. Your written fee agreement states the percentage and exactly how costs are handled, and we go through it with you before you sign.

To learn what we do on a case, step by step, see wrongful death attorney San Antonio. For the law itself, see wrongful death lawyer San Antonio. The firm’s main website is lawboss.com.

This page is general information, not legal advice for any particular death. Responsible attorney: Michael Uvalle, LAWBOSS – Harris, Nelsen & Uvalle, PLLC.

Questions people ask