If your family lost someone in Dallas because of another person's or company's negligence, you may be entitled to bring a wrongful death claim. Nothing about that process replaces what was lost. But it can provide the financial stability your family needs going forward — and it can hold the responsible parties accountable in a way that prevents the same harm from happening to another family. See our overview of Texas wrongful death cases ?
Dallas context.
Major Roadways
I-635 (LBJ Freeway), US-75 (Central Expressway), the Dallas North Tollway, I-35E, I-30, and the President George Bush Turnpike.
Local Courts
Dallas County Civil District Courts at the George L. Allen Sr. Courts Building (600 Commerce St.) and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division.
Trauma Care
Parkland Health (Level I trauma), Baylor University Medical Center, Methodist Dallas Medical Center, and UT Southwestern Medical Center.
Why It Matters Here
Dallas has some of the most heavily trafficked freeway interchanges in Texas — the High Five at LBJ/Central, the downtown Mixmaster, and the I-635/I-35E split — that concentrate severe crashes. The metro produces a steady stream of serious injury and wrongful death cases.
The most serious traffic-related fatalities in Dallas tend to concentrate on the city's complex interchanges — the High Five, the downtown Mixmaster, the I-635/I-35E split — and on the heavy commercial truck routes running through the metro. The leading causes we see in our Dallas wrongful death practice are commercial truck crashes, drunk-driving crashes, motorcycle and pedestrian fatalities, and workplace fatalities. Each carries its own legal framework.
Who can bring a Texas wrongful death claim?
Texas wrongful death law (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §71.004) limits standing to:
- The surviving spouse
- The children of the decedent
- The parents of the decedent
If none of those eligible parties files within three months, the executor or administrator of the estate may do so (unless the eligible family members object). Separately, a survival claim belongs to the estate itself — covering the pain and suffering the decedent experienced before death.
What damages can be recovered?
- Loss of financial support the decedent would have provided
- Loss of household services — childcare, home maintenance, day-to-day work
- Loss of companionship, comfort, and society
- Mental anguish of the surviving family members
- Loss of inheritance — what the decedent would have accumulated and left
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Under the survival claim: the decedent's medical bills from the injury and pre-death pain and suffering
- In cases of gross negligence (e.g., drunk driving): punitive damages
The Dallas-Fort Worth metro has a substantial nightlife economy, and drunk-driving fatalities are unfortunately frequent. Beyond the at-fault driver, Texas's dram shop statute (Tex. Alco. Bev. Code §2.02) can hold a bar, restaurant, or club liable for over-serving a patron who was "obviously intoxicated to the extent that he presented a clear danger" and then caused a fatal crash. These claims open additional insurance and accountability paths most families don't realize exist. Get a free case review ?
The evidence that builds the case.
- The official crash or incident report and any criminal investigation files
- 911 audio, dispatch records, and first-responder statements
- Medical records, autopsy reports, and toxicology
- Surveillance video and dashcam footage — preserved within days
- For truck cases: ECM data, ELD logs, the driver qualification file
- For premises and workplace cases: prior incident reports, maintenance records, security footage
- For dram shop cases: receipts, server statements, video from the establishment
- Economic and life-care experts for damages calculations
Common Dallas wrongful death scenarios.
- Commercial truck fatalities on I-635, I-35E, I-30, and US-75 — Dallas is a major freight hub
- Drunk-driving fatalities originating from Uptown, Deep Ellum, and Lower Greenville
- Motorcycle and pedestrian fatalities at the city's busiest intersections
- Construction and industrial fatalities across DFW's active building sector
- Workplace fatalities at non-subscriber employers — a powerful Texas-specific claim
Texas deadlines.
Two years from the date of death to file (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §16.003). Cases against governmental entities require notice within much shorter windows — sometimes as little as six months. Texas applies modified comparative fault: you can still recover if you were 50% or less at fault. See our FAQ for more ?
How we work with families.
Wrongful death cases require something different from other personal injury work. The legal questions matter, but so does the way the family is treated through the process. We keep clients informed, we don't push for premature settlement, and we never charge a family a dime unless we recover. Our founder Shawn Barnett has lived through serious injury himself — the recovery, the long road back — and that perspective informs how we treat families who've lost someone they love.