University Park Texas Medical Malpractice Lawyers
Written by: Hastings Law Firm | Reviewed by: Brady D. Williams | Updated: May 6, 2026
Hastings Law Firm understands the profound impact medical errors can have on the lives of patients and their families. If you live in the University Park area and you or a loved one were injured by a healthcare provider’s negligence, or a dangerous pharmaceutical, our team is here to provide the guidance and compassionate support you deserve. As Texas’s trusted authority in healthcare injury cases, our firm has exclusively focused on this complex field of law since 2005. We are dedicated to helping injured patients find the answers and justice they deserve, and we invite you to contact our team for a free, confidential case review.
Compassionate Legal Support for Victims of Medical Negligence in University Park, Texas
A healthcare provider’s mistake can leave you with serious injuries and an uncertain path forward. Residents of University Park deserve answers and accountability when medical care falls short of acceptable standards. The close-knit neighborhoods surrounding Southern Methodist University and the George W. Bush Presidential Center are home to families who trust their healthcare providers to deliver competent care.
Hastings Law Firm has dedicated its practice exclusively to medical malpractice since 2005. Our team of attorneys, nurse consultants, and patient advocates focuses solely on representing patients harmed by negligent medical care. We understand the legal and medical complexities of these cases and can help you find the clarity you need.
Contact us for a free case evaluation to discuss what happened and learn about your legal options.
Understanding Medical Malpractice Laws and Patient Rights in Texas
Under Texas law, professional negligence is defined as a healthcare provider’s failure to adhere to the accepted standard of care, resulting in preventable harm to a patient. Medicine involves inherent risks, and complications can arise despite diligent efforts, so a negative outcome does not automatically constitute a legal claim. To successfully prove a case in court, four specific legal elements must be established by the plaintiff.
- Duty: A formal provider-patient relationship existed at the time of the injury.
- Breach: The physician or hospital failed to meet the medical standard of care.
- Causation: This breach directly resulted in the patient’s injury.
- Damages: The patient suffered quantifiable harm, such as physical pain or financial loss.
Establishing these elements requires more than just medical records; it demands expert testimony to explain how a competent provider would have acted differently. If a doctor follows safety protocols and the patient still suffers, it is generally not considered malpractice. However, if the injury stems from a violation of safety rules, the provider must be held accountable.
Damages and Caps for Medical Malpractice Claims
Financial recovery in Texas injury litigation falls into three distinct categories based on the nature of the loss. The state legislature has implemented specific regulations governing how much compensation a victim can receive for certain types of harm.
- Economic Damages: Reimbursement for financial losses like hospital bills, rehabilitation, and lost wages.
- Non-Economic Damages: Compensation for intangible losses, including pain, suffering, and loss of companionship.
- Punitive Damages: Penalties intended to punish the defendant for malice or gross negligence.
While economic damages are uncapped, Texas law explicitly caps non-economic damages at $250,000 against physicians and $500,000 total against institutions. This statutory limitation significantly impacts how attorneys value a case, making it vital to accurately calculate all economic losses to maximize the potential settlement.
Product Liability and Dangerous Pharmaceuticals in Medical Injury Cases
Device-related injuries often stem from manufacturing defects or failure to warn rather than specific physician error. A surgical mesh that degrades inside the body or a drug with undisclosed side effects can cause devastating harm regardless of how carefully the physician performed.
Our legal team evaluates whether your injury resulted from negligent care, a dangerous product, or a combination of both. Identifying all responsible parties, from the surgeon to the pharmaceutical manufacturer, strengthens your case and can increase the compensation available to you.
Top-Rated Medical Malpractice Lawyers Serving University Park
Securing justice for clinical errors requires a legal team familiar with the local medical landscape in University Park and the broader Dallas healthcare system. Hastings Law Firm represents injured patients throughout Texas, including those in University Park and the surrounding Dallas area.
Residents here often rely on a network of local clinics, urgent care centers, and regional hospitals for their medical needs. Specialized treatment may require referral to larger Dallas medical centers, creating coordination gaps that can lead to error. Our trial attorney team knows how to investigate these complex care pathways and identify where negligence occurred.
What to Look for in a Medical Malpractice Law Firm
Choosing the right advocate involves verifying that the firm dedicates its practice exclusively to medical negligence rather than general personal injury. Generalist firms that handle car accidents or slip-and-falls often lack the sophisticated medical knowledge and expert networks required to prove complex clinical claims.
Experience matters significantly in these high-stakes disputes. Ask whether the attorneys have tried cases before juries or primarily settle. A firm that handles medical malpractice exclusively and prepares every case for trial negotiates from a position of strength because insurance carriers know they are willing to go to court.
Our team includes former defense attorneys who once represented hospitals, giving us insight into opposition strategies. We also employ nurse consultants and Board Certified Patient Advocates who can interpret medical records and identify breaches in the standard of care.
Our Injury Attorneys Come to You
Virtual consultations and home visits ensure that residents in the 75205 and 75225 areas can access high-quality legal counsel without traveling. We conduct consultations by phone, video conference, or at a location convenient for you.
Our attorneys conduct consultations by phone, video conference, or travel to you for depositions or case preparation meetings. Your focus should remain on healing while we handle the legal work.
Tenacious Advocacy for University Park Residents Injured by a Medical Facility or Healthcare Provider
Patients in University Park often navigate a complex care network ranging from local clinics to major institutions like Parkland Memorial Hospital and Citra Urgent Care – Park Cities. While these facilities serve thousands of patients annually, errors at any point in the care process can have severe consequences.
Many patients begin their care journey at a local urgent care center or primary care office before being referred to specialists in the greater Dallas metro area. Each transition creates potential for miscommunication. A concerning test result might not reach the specialist in time.
Discharge instructions from one facility might contradict orders from another. Errors can happen during triage, transfer, specialist consultation, or follow-up appointments.
Options including Citra Urgent Care – Mockingbird/West Love serve as entry points where initial assessments shape the entire course of treatment.
A serious medical injury disrupts every aspect of daily life. A parent recovering from surgical complications may miss months of their child’s soccer games at Caruth Park. A professor at Southern Methodist University might lose an entire semester to rehabilitation.
Medical negligence can occur across many settings: hospital operating rooms, outpatient surgery centers, specialty practices, urgent care clinics, and primary care offices. A delayed diagnosis at a nearby clinic can prove just as devastating as an operating room error. The Texas medical malpractice litigation team at our firm has decades of experience handling claims arising from every type of healthcare facility.
The Hastings Law Firm Difference
Results matter, but what truly sets us apart is how we achieve them. Every verdict, every settlement, and every courtroom victory comes from one guiding promise: To treat each client’s fight for justice as if it were our own.
This balance of skill, experience, and empathy reflects our core philosophy that justice should not only compensate the injured, but also make healthcare safer nationwide.
Types of Medical Errors and Patient Safety Failures Our Law Firm Handles
Clinical negligence manifests in various forms, ranging from surgical mistakes to systemic hospital failures. Our attorneys handle claims involving the following categories of preventable harm.
Surgical and Procedural Errors
Operating room mistakes, such as wrong-site procedures or retained foreign objects, represent some of the most severe breaches of trust in medicine. These errors include operating on the wrong body part, leaving instruments or sponges inside patients, damaging nerves or organs, and administering improper anesthesia. Surgical errors often result from communication breakdowns, fatigue, or failure to follow established safety protocols.
Birth Injuries and Maternal Care Issues
Obstetric negligence occurs when a provider fails to respond to fetal distress or manages labor complications improperly. Failure to monitor fetal distress, delayed cesarean sections, improper use of forceps or vacuum extractors, and medication errors can cause conditions like cerebral palsy, brain damage, and maternal hemorrhage. These injuries can affect a child’s entire life and require extensive medical intervention.
Misdiagnosis and Delayed Diagnosis
Diagnostic errors happen when a physician fails to identify critical conditions like cancer or stroke despite clear clinical evidence. Misreading imaging studies, ignoring symptoms, and failing to order appropriate tests are common causes of diagnostic errors. Early detection often makes the difference between a good outcome and a catastrophic one.
Hospital Errors
Systemic failures within a facility, such as inadequate staffing or poor infection control, create dangerous environments for patients. Inadequate staffing, poor infection control, communication breakdowns between shifts, and failure to follow safety protocols all create dangerous conditions for patients. Hospitals have a duty to maintain systems that protect patient safety.
Medication and Pharmacy Mistakes
Pharmacy and prescribing errors involve incorrect dosages, dangerous drug interactions, or administration of the wrong medication entirely. These mistakes often result from illegible prescriptions, similar drug names, or failure to review patient allergies. A single medication error can lead to organ damage, severe reactions, or death.
Dangerous or Defective Medical Products
Product liability claims arise when defective implants or pharmaceuticals cause harm independent of the physician’s skill. Hip implants that fail prematurely, surgical mesh that causes chronic pain, and medications with undisclosed risks can all form the basis for legal claims. Manufacturers have a duty to ensure their products are safe for their intended use.
Filing a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in Dallas County and the Texas Court System
Litigation for incidents in University Park generally proceeds through the civil courts in Dallas County. Cases are generally filed in the jurisdiction where the injury occurred or where the defendant practices medicine. Most claims are heard at the Dallas County District Courts – George L. Allen Sr. Courts Building.
The path to a verdict or settlement involves several critical phases.
- Complaint: Filing the initial petition and serving the defendant.
- Discovery: Exchanging medical records and taking depositions.
- Motions: Resolving procedural disputes before trial.
- Trial: Presenting evidence to a jury for a final verdict.
While many cases settle during negotiations, our firm prepares every claim as though it will go before a jury. Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, victims typically have exactly a two-year statute of limitations from the date of the negligence to file a lawsuit, making immediate action essential.
What To Do If You Believe You Were Harmed by Healthcare Negligence in University Park, TX
Taking immediate steps to preserve evidence is crucial for the viability of a future negligence claim. If you suspect you have been a victim of professional medical negligence, certain actions can protect your rights.
- Secure Records: Request complete copies of your medical chart immediately.
- Document Everything: Keep a journal of symptoms and conversations with providers.
- Maintain Care: Continue following medical advice, but consider a second opinion.
- Stay Silent: Do not post about the incident on social media.
- Seek Counsel: Contact a lawyer before speaking to insurance adjusters.
Avoid discussing your case on social media or with insurance representatives before consulting an attorney. You should request copies of all medical records related to your treatment as soon as possible, as these documents are the foundation of your claim.
Contact an experienced medical malpractice lawyer promptly to evaluate your claim before the statute of limitations expires.
Patients Across Texas Trust Hastings Law Firm to Fight for Justice and Full Compensation
Hastings Law Firm distinguishes itself through the leadership of Tommy Hastings, a specialist board-certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. This distinction is held by fewer than two percent of Texas attorneys. He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and has been recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer.
Our legal team includes former defense attorneys who previously represented hospitals and insurance companies. This insider advantage helps us anticipate opposition strategies and counter them effectively.
In-house nurse consultants and Board Certified Patient Advocates review medical records and work alongside our attorneys to build compelling cases.
We prepare every case for trial from day one. This approach signals to defendants that we will not accept inadequate settlement offers. Families seeking experienced malpractice representation can contact our Dallas legal team for a free case review.
Contact Our University Park Texas Medical Malpractice Attorneys Today for Help
Victims of clinical errors can initiate the recovery process today by requesting a comprehensive case review. Our certified patient advocates offer free, confidential case evaluations to help you understand whether you have a valid claim.
You pay no attorney fees unless we secure compensation for you. This contingency fee structure means you can pursue justice without financial risk.
Contact Hastings Law Firm Medical Malpractice Lawyers for a free case evaluation to take the first step toward accountability and recovery.
