How Frivolous Defense Motions Create a Second Injury for Texas Accident Victims
When someone else’s carelessness turns your life upside down, you’re dealing with much more than just physical pain. You may be trying to juggle medical appointments, missed work, bills piling up, and the stress of not knowing what comes next. I often tell people that the accident is the first injury. That might be a broken bone, a head injury, or damage to your spine that changes how you live your life. For many Texans, there is a second injury that shows up later. It is not physical, but it is very real. It comes from the way insurance companies and defense lawyers use the legal system to wear you down with delays and needless legal fights.
Understanding the Second Injury Caused by the Legal System
I’m Brad Parker, the attorney you want but hope you never need. At Parker Law Firm Injury Lawyers, we see this second injury all the time. While you’re focused on healing, the insurance company is often focused on protecting its bottom line. One of the ways defense lawyers sometimes do that is by filing motions that have no real basis in fact or law. These are called frivolous defense motions. They are filed not to resolve a genuine legal dispute, but to delay your case, drive up costs, and pressure you into taking less than your claim is worth. You hear a lot in the media about “frivolous lawsuits.” What you do not hear as often is that large companies and their insurers can flood the system with frivolous defenses that clog the courts and drag cases out until injured people feel like they cannot take it anymore.
You do not have to face that alone. When my team and I take on a case, we know your fight does not end with the accident. That is where it starts. Our job is to protect you from that second injury. We step in between you and the insurance company, explain what is really going on, and use Texas law to push back when the defense crosses the line. My goal in this discussion is to help you understand what a frivolous defense motion is, how it can affect a Texas personal injury case, and how a focused trial firm like ours responds when the other side tries to play those games.
What Makes a Defense Motion Frivolous
In any lawsuit, both sides are allowed to argue their position. A defense lawyer has every right to challenge your evidence, to question how badly you were hurt, or to argue what the law means. That kind of disagreement is normal and expected. A motion becomes frivolous when the lawyer knows, or should know, that the argument has no support in the facts or the law. It is like pretending a red light was green when there is dashcam video showing the truth. The point is not to win on the merits. The point is to make your case more expensive, more confusing, and more exhausting.
A Real-World Premises Liability Example
Let me give you a concrete example. Imagine a case involving a dangerous property condition, which lawyers call a premises liability claim. Suppose a staircase in an apartment complex collapses because of long-term rot the landlord ignored. A legitimate defense might argue about how badly you were injured or whether you were partly at fault. A frivolous motion would look very different. The landlord might file a motion claiming they did not even own the property at the time of the collapse, even though public records clearly show they did. That forces your lawyer to spend time and money gathering and filing ownership documents to defeat an argument that never should have been made in the first place.
No-Evidence Motions and Building Code Violations
We often see this in building code negligence cases. Imagine a balcony rail that falls well below the required height, with inspectors’ emails warning the property owner. You get hurt when the rail fails. The defense may still file a no-evidence motion for summary judgment, claiming the code violation didn’t cause your fall, even though inspection reports and photos clearly connect the dots. Their goal is to catch your lawyer missing a deadline or forgetting an exhibit so the court might dismiss your case on a technicality. These tactics are common in cases with lots of documents, like premises liability or building code claims. The defense counts on the volume of paperwork to obscure their strategy, hoping procedural errors can work in their favor rather than the facts of the case.
When Advocacy Crosses the Line Into Abuse
It is important to say that not every motion you disagree with is frivolous. Texas law expects defense lawyers to be zealous for their clients. Sometimes that means making close calls or creative arguments. The problem comes when the lawyer acts in bad faith. For example, we sometimes see defenses that try to shift blame to a so-called phantom third party that does not actually exist, or that deny well-documented building code violations negligence even though the company’s own maintenance logs tell a very different story. When that happens, the line between advocacy and abuse has been crossed. You are no longer dealing with a fair fight. You are dealing with an attempt to misuse the judicial system and strip you of your rights.
Texas Law Tools That Push Back Against Frivolous Filings
Texas law gives judges tools to address frivolous filings, but those tools only work when a lawyer knows how to use them. Two key provisions are Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 13 and Chapter 10 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Rule 13 requires attorneys to certify that a motion is not groundless and is not filed to harass or delay. A filing is groundless when there is no reasonable basis in fact or law and no good-faith argument to change the law. If a defense motion in a building code violations case is filed in bad faith or without a reasonable basis, the court may impose sanctions designed to stop the misconduct, not merely reprimand it.
Chapter 10 imposes even stricter obligations. It requires attorneys to certify that legal arguments are warranted and that factual claims have, or are likely to have, evidentiary support. If a defense lawyer argues that building codes did not apply to a property when the law clearly says otherwise, the court may order the lawyer, the client, or both to pay the other side’s reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees. In serious cases involving repeated misconduct, discovery abuse, or disobedience of court orders, sanctions can be substantial.
Judges also have the authority to strike pleadings when the process is abused. This means a court can prevent a party from relying on certain defenses if misconduct continues. In cases involving disputed responsibility for building code violations, repeated misrepresentations or withheld ownership records may lead a judge to limit the defense’s ability to contest liability. Courts use these remedies cautiously, but when the conduct warrants it, an experienced trial lawyer should not hesitate to seek them.
How Our Firm Responds to Frivolous Defense Tactics
Knowing the law is only half the battle. The real question is what your lawyer does when the defense starts filing these motions. At Parker Law Firm Injury Lawyers, we keep our caseload intentionally small so we can stay on top of every filing and deadline in your case. We are not a volume settlement shop that pushes paperwork through a pipeline. We read every motion carefully and compare it to the actual evidence in your file.
When a defense lawyer claims there is no evidence of building code violations negligence, we respond with all the proof we have gathered. That may include expert reports, sworn testimony from depositions, city inspection records, maintenance logs, and photographs or video of the scene. Along with that response, we may file our own motion asking the court to impose sanctions if we believe the defense has crossed the line into frivolous territory. In that motion, we walk the court through exactly why the defense filing is groundless, and we point to specific dates, documents, and testimony that show the lawyer knew or should have known better.
Using Discovery to Lock in the Truth
Discovery is a major part of this strategy. Discovery is the formal process where both sides exchange information under the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. Through written questions, requests for documents, and depositions, we lock in the defense version of events. If a property manager in a premises liability building code violations case admits under oath that they knew about a broken railing months before your fall, it becomes much harder for the defense to later file a motion claiming they had no notice of any danger. When they do, we put their own sworn testimony in front of the judge to show that their motion does not match the evidence. That is one reason we push to get key witnesses under oath early rather than waiting until the last minute.
Judges in Texas are busy and do not appreciate having their time wasted. When we see a pattern of frivolous motions, we make sure the court is aware that it is not just a one-time mistake. We explain that this conduct slows down every other case on the court’s docket, not just yours. When the court understands that a defense lawyer is misusing the system as a delay tactic, judges are often more open to using their sanction powers to protect both you and the integrity of the process.
Timing, Deadlines, and Avoiding Procedural Traps
Timing also matters in any Texas personal injury case. There are deadlines that can limit how long you have to file a lawsuit or add new parties, and those deadlines can be complicated. Deadlines can be short and depend on your situation, so it is best to talk to a Texas injury lawyer as soon as you can. Defense lawyers sometimes file motions centered on timing issues and hope that confusion over dates or procedural rules will cause a mistake. By challenging frivolous motions right away and building a clear timeline of your treatment, incident reports, and filings, we reduce the risk that the other side can use the calendar against you.
Your Role in Defeating Frivolous Motions
You play a key role in this process. While we manage the legal strategy, you can support your case by staying patient, engaged, and preserving important information. Legal abuse often worsens when people act out of frustration and rush to settle. Understanding that some delays are intentional can help you stay grounded. From the start, we’ll ask you to save medical records, insurance letters, emails, texts, and photos related to your injury. In building codes or negligence claims, a simple cell phone photo of a broken step, missing handrail, or poor lighting can prove the danger existed. We help you organize this information so that when a frivolous motion arises, we can respond quickly with solid evidence and keep your case on track.
Building a Case That Withstands Abuse of the System
On our side of the table, we treat every motion as case-deciding. Our responses are tailored to your facts and the local judge, not copied from templates. We stay current on Texas sanctions law so we can clearly explain why certain conduct crosses the line. We also front-load discovery by requesting maintenance records, surveillance video, and internal emails early, making it harder for the defense to claim delay or surprise. When liability for building code violations is challenged, we are already prepared with ownership records, management agreements, and repair invoices.
Expert witnesses further protect your case from frivolous tactics. Defense motions often attack the technical basis of a claim. By retaining qualified experts early, including accident reconstructionists and building safety professionals, we present clear, reliable explanations of what failed and why. When the defense calls a claim speculative, sworn expert testimony shows the court that a no-evidence motion is not a legitimate dispute, but an effort to avoid the real issues.
Standing With You Through the Entire Process
All of this fits into a larger picture. In Texas law, nothing happens in isolation. A frivolous motion in a construction-related injury case might be tied to the duties that property owners have under our premises liability rules, the way negligence is proven, and the specific safety codes that apply to a building. Connecting those dots is part of how we protect you.
At Parker Law Firm Injury Lawyers, we never forget that behind every file number is a person and a family. We treat you like family, and that means telling you the truth, preparing you for the challenges ahead, and standing beside you when the insurance company tries to push you around. Fighting tirelessly for you, but we also make time to answer your questions and explain what is happening in plain English so you are never left in the dark. We work on a contingency fee basis, which means no fee unless we win, and we shoulder the financial risk of litigating against large insurance companies so you can focus on getting better.
If the legal process feels stacked against you, or the defense keeps filing confusing motions, you don’t have to accept it. An experienced Texas personal injury lawyer can help you identify what’s legitimate and what isn’t. We can meet with you to review your case, explain what has been filed, and clarify how Texas law may protect your rights. This information is for general purposes only and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is unique, so speak directly with a licensed Texas attorney for advice tailored to your situation. When you’re ready, reach out and ask the questions keeping you up at night. We are here to help you pursue justice and guide you through every step of the process.
