Many of the most serious workplace injuries in Houston aren’t caused by the worker’s own employer at all. On busy industrial sites, construction projects, and oilfield operations, multiple companies share the same space — subcontractors, equipment suppliers, delivery drivers, and property owners — and any one of them can create the hazard that injures you. When that happens, The Moudgil Law Firm holds the responsible outside company accountable for your full losses.

Our Houston workplace injury attorneys handle the full range of workplace injury types, and third-party claims are often the most valuable cases we pursue. They’re also the most commonly overlooked, because injured workers are frequently told workers’ comp is their only option. It isn’t.

What Is a Third-Party Negligence Claim?

A third-party claim is a personal injury lawsuit against someone other than your employer who caused your work injury. Unlike workers’ comp — which is limited and bars suing your own employer — a third-party claim recovers your full damages and can be pursued at the same time you receive comp benefits. The “third party” is any negligent outside person or company.

Workers’ compensation is a trade-off: it pays limited benefits without requiring proof of fault, but in exchange it generally prevents you from suing your employer. That bar does not extend to outside companies. The Texas Department of Insurance explains how comp benefits work, but those benefits never include compensation for pain and suffering — which a personal injury claim against a negligent third party does.

Who Can Be a Liable Third Party?

In Houston’s multi-employer worksites, several outside companies may share responsibility for a single injury. Common third parties include:

• Subcontractors and other contractors — a different company on the same job site whose crew created the hazard
• Equipment and parts manufacturers — when defective or unguarded machinery causes injury, supporting a product liability claim
• Property and premises owners — when unsafe conditions on the site lead to harm, supporting a premises liability claim
• Negligent drivers and trucking companies — in crashes involving commercial vehicles while you’re working
• Maintenance or service companies — outside vendors responsible for keeping equipment or facilities safe
• Chemical and materials suppliers — when improperly labeled or handled substances cause injury

OSHA holds employers across a shared worksite responsible for protecting workers from recognized hazards, and a documented safety violation by an outside company can help establish that company’s negligence.

Third-Party Claim vs. Workers’ Compensation

Workers’ comp pays limited, fixed benefits and bars suing your employer, but a third-party claim against an outside company recovers your full damages — all medical costs, lost earning capacity, and pain and suffering. The two are not mutually exclusive: you can collect comp benefits while simultaneously pursuing a third-party lawsuit, often producing a far larger total recovery.

This is the central advantage of a third-party claim. Because the outside company isn’t your employer, none of the limits that apply to suing your own employer apply to them. You keep the speed and certainty of comp benefits while pursuing the much fuller recovery a lawsuit allows.

How Subrogation Works

If you collect workers’ comp and then recover from a third party, your employer’s comp insurer can seek reimbursement for what it paid — a process called subrogation. This sounds discouraging, but skilled handling of the subrogation lien often increases your net recovery, and an attorney can negotiate the amount the insurer is repaid.

Subrogation in Texas is governed by the Texas Labor Code, which gives the comp carrier a right to be reimbursed out of a third-party recovery. The interplay between your benefits, your lawsuit, and the lien is technical, and how it’s structured directly affects how much money you actually keep. We handle that calculation aggressively so the lien doesn’t quietly erode your settlement.

What If I Was Partly at Fault?

Texas follows a modified comparative-responsibility rule: you can still recover from a third party as long as you were not more than 50% responsible, though your recovery is reduced by your share of fault. Insurers routinely exaggerate a worker’s fault to cut what they pay, so how fault is documented and argued matters enormously.

This rule comes from Chapter 33 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Because liability is often divided among several companies on a worksite, proving how responsibility should be allocated — and keeping your share low — is a core part of building a strong third-party case.

Compensation You Can Recover

Through a third-party claim, you recover the full range of damages the law allows — not the fraction workers’ comp pays. That includes all medical expenses, lost income and earning capacity, and non-economic harm such as pain, suffering, and reduced quality of life.

Economic Damages

• Medical expenses — emergency care, surgery, rehabilitation, and future treatment
• Lost wages — past and future income, plus diminished earning capacity
• Out-of-pocket costs — medical equipment, travel, and home modifications

Non-Economic Damages

• Pain and suffering from the injury and its treatment
• Mental anguish — anxiety, depression, and PTSD after a serious accident
• Physical impairment and disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life

When a third party’s negligence proves fatal, surviving family members may bring a wrongful death claim for their own losses.

How Third-Party Claims Work: 5 Simple Steps

1. Free Consultation. We evaluate your injury, your employer’s coverage, and — critically — every outside company that may share fault. Schedule your free consultation today — no cost, no obligation.
2. Investigation. We preserve site evidence, safety records, and equipment data and work with experts to prove exactly who was negligent.
3. Medical Treatment. You heal with the doctors you choose while we document everything.
4. Settlement Negotiation. We present a trial-ready demand and negotiate aggressively against each liable company and its insurers.
5. Lawsuit & Trial. If the responsible parties won’t pay fairly, we file suit in Harris County and prepare your case for trial.

How The Moudgil Law Firm Can Help You

Immediate Case Action

When you hire us, we immediately send evidence-preservation letters, deal with insurers and company adjusters so you don’t have to, and connect you with top medical specialists if needed.

Maximizing Your Compensation

We increase your recovery through thorough documentation, expert testimony on future care needs, life-care planning for permanent injuries, and aggressive negotiation backed by genuine trial preparation.

Handling Everything While You Heal

You focus on recovery while we handle paperwork, deadlines, insurance communications, and lien negotiations to maximize your net recovery.

Contingency Fee Structure

You pay nothing unless we win. No consultation fees, no investigation costs, no expert witness fees — we advance all case expenses and only get paid from your recovery.

Meet attorney Pulkit Moudgil →

What Makes The Moudgil Law Firm Different?

Personal Attorney Attention

Attorney Pulkit Moudgil personally handles every case — you’re never passed off to a paralegal.

Local Houston Expertise

We know Houston courts, judges, and the insurance companies that defend the region’s largest employers.

Trial-Ready Preparation

Insurers know we prepare every case for trial, which pressures them into fair settlement offers.

Transparent Communication

You’ll always know your case status, with direct access to your attorney and honest case valuations.

Call for a Free Case Evaluation