PJC General Negligence 2024

PREFACE This Committee, the Pattern Jury Charges Committee on General Negligence, Intentional Personal Torts & Workers’ Compensation, was aided by the fact that an earlier State Bar committee had pioneered the use of pattern jury charges in the origi nal volume 1, published in 1969. That committee was composed of— Judge Walter E. Jordan, chair W. James Kronzer, Jr. Judge Charles W. Barrow Judge James R. Meyers Royal H. Brin, Jr. Judge Phil Peden Judge Lewis Dickson George E. Pletcher Judge Clarence A. Guittard Judge Truman E. Roberts Gus M. Hodges Preston Shirley Judge Quentin Keith Dean W. Turner Rollins M. Koppel Judge Frank M. Wilson Notwithstanding, the Texas Pattern Jury Charges has greatly changed from its 1969 predecessor, both in content to reflect extensive developments in Texas substantive and procedural law and in format to make it more easily usable by lawyers and judges. The objective of the Committee for the 2024 edition was to review and revise this volume to ensure that it accurately reflects Texas law. Consequently, an essential part of the Committee’s work is to monitor Texas case law developments as well as the enactment, amendment, or abrogation of statutes that implicate or affect topics addressed in the most recent edition of what many refer to as “the Green Book” and then update its contents accordingly. Sometimes this work even results in the incorpo ration of a new topic or issue altogether. The Committee also annually reviews each chapter to determine whether the authorities cited remain good law or should be updated to reflect new, clarifying, or superseding authorities. Accordingly, a few of the major changes in this edition are— • updated instructions and commentary for disfigurement damages, • new instruction addressing how a jury should handle evidence from a deposition, • new and updated workers’ compensation instructions and commentary on the subject of lifetime income benefits, • new instructions regarding multilingual jurors, and • updated commentary regarding a separate submission of physical pain and mental anguish. Our Committee consists of trial attorneys, appellate practitioners, members of the judiciary, and legal scholars. These Committee members, whose names appear on a preceding page, spent an incredible amount of uncompensated time researching and drafting this publication with the goal of providing pattern questions and instructions that will aid both bench and bar in preparing the appropriate jury charge. Their hard

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