West Texas Oilfield Accident Lawyers Standing Up for Workers
The Permian Basin powers the country, and the people who work it pay a price. From 2014 to 2019, more oil and gas workers died in the Permian than in any other basin in the country, 31.5% of the total, according to NIOSH. Often, an accident comes down to a decision someone made. In one of our West Texas cases, the crew tried to stop work because the wind was blowing at an unsafe speed. The operator’s company man told them to keep tripping pipe. Our client was thrown from the derrick and broke both of his legs. The company cut corners, and we made it pay: a $4.5 million settlement.
Examples of West Texas Oilfield Cases We Handle
Explosions & fires
Falls from the derrick
Falling pipe & equipment
Compressor & pressure failures
Rig moves & unsecured loads
Oilfield truck & crew vehicle crashes
Wrongful death
The companies on location won’t explain your rights to you, so here’s what you should know: If your employer carries workers’ comp, you generally can’t sue your employer. But you can go after the other companies that put you in danger: the operator, the drilling contractor, the service companies, and the people who built the equipment. To hold an operator responsible when you worked for a contractor, you usually have to show the operator controlled how the work was done, knew about the danger, and failed to warn you. Those are the facts we dig for. And if your employer chose not to carry workers’ comp, you can sue them directly. Texas law takes away their favorite defenses.
Our Midland oilfield accident lawyers and Odessa oilfield accident lawyers take on the biggest operators in the Permian Basin, from oil rig accidents to explosions at production sites. We will never be outworked.
West Texas Truck Accident Lawyers Holding Companies Accountable
West Texas highways carry long-haul freight on I-10 and I-20 and a steady stream of oilfield trucks hauling water, sand, crude, and equipment to and from leases. When the companies behind those trucks push drivers past their limits, families pay for it. In one of our cases, an oil and gas company required its employee to drive long distances while exhausted. He caused a head-on crash that left our client needing multiple surgeries. We held the company and its driver responsible and secured $3.75 million for our client.
West Texas Roads By The Numbers
962
Fatal crashes in the Permian Basin from 2018 - 2022
3.01
Deaths per 100 million miles driven in TxDOT’s Odessa District in 2022, the highest of any district in the state
Sources: Texas A&M Transportation Institute for the Permian Road Safety Coalition, via the Texas Tribune; TxDOT, via NewsWest 9
After a crash, trucking companies move fast to protect themselves. Electronic logs, engine data, and camera footage can be overwritten on a schedule. To win, we move faster, sending preservation demands to every company involved early in the case. We handle Midland truck accidents, Odessa truck accidents, and El Paso truck accidents, along with oilfield truck accidents involving water haulers, sand trucks, tankers, and crew pickups.
Serving Midland, Odessa, El Paso, Lubbock & All of West Texas
From the Permian to the Panhandle
Our West Texas office, at 1030 Andrews Hwy, Suite 204. Meetings by appointment only.
Oilfield, trucking, and industrial cases for clients in Odessa and across Ector County.
Truck and serious injury cases along the I-10 corridor.
Workplace and trucking cases, plus wrongful death claims, for families in Lubbock and the South Plains.
Burn injury cases and other serious injury claims for clients in Amarillo and the Panhandle.
Abilene & San Angelo
Serious injury and wrongful death cases for clients in Abilene, San Angelo, and the surrounding counties.
The oilfield doesn’t stop at the state line, and neither do we. Our New Mexico personal injury lawyers handle cases in southeastern New Mexico, where different filing deadlines and fault rules apply.
Catastrophic Injury & Wrongful Death Cases in West Texas
When someone gets hurt, we get answers. We also represent West Texans hurt in catastrophic injury cases of every kind, including car and motorcycle crashes, construction and plant accidents, railroad accidents, and dangerous property, along with families who’ve lost someone. In one case filed in Midland, a young man drowned where the state- and locally required safety equipment was missing. The defendants blamed his own conduct and an unknown medical condition. We overcame those arguments and secured $4 million for his family shortly before trial.
Know Your Rights After a West Texas Injury
Texas Injury Law at a Glance
2 years
To file most injury and wrongful death lawsuits
50%
The most fault you can carry and still recover damages
3
Defenses a nonsubscriber employer loses when a worker sues
Source: Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 16.003, 33.001; Tex. Lab. Code § 406.033
Texas gives you two years from the date of the injury to file, or two years from the date of death in a wrongful death case. Don’t wait that long. Evidence disappears fast.
Insurance companies lean hard on Texas’s fault rule. Your recovery is reduced by your share of the blame, and if you’re found more than 50% responsible, you recover nothing. That’s why shifting blame onto the injured person is so often their whole strategy, and why proving what really happened is so much of what we do.
If your employer opted out of workers’ comp, it can’t argue that you were partly at fault, that you assumed the risk, or that a coworker’s negligence caused your injury. You still have to prove the employer was negligent, and that’s where we come in. In a death case, the surviving spouse, children, and parents can bring the claim.
Talk to a West Texas Injury Lawyer Today: (888) 493-1629
At Arnold & Itkin, every case is personal to us. We’ll listen to what happened, tell you where you stand, and fight for what you’re owed, not what you’re offered. The consultation is free, and you pay nothing unless we win.
Call (888) 493-1629 or send us a message.
