Call Now
713-521-0059
Get the exam first. It is free, it does not require a police report, and for an adult it is available within 120 hours. The Houston hospitals that perform it are listed on our Houston SANE exam locations page.
If you are able to, report to the police now. You are not required to, but the same early evidence that builds a prosecution builds a civil claim.
Then call 713-521-0059, or message us, and say it happened this week. We will tell you what your case needs and get it started, beginning with written notice to whoever holds the video and records so it is kept. There is no guaranteed response time, but we typically respond within 12 to 24 hours of a call or message.
The first days are about medical care and evidence. The rest of the month is about records, support and deciding, without pressure, whether a civil claim is something you want to pursue. Nothing in the first 30 days commits you to a lawsuit.
The step that cannot wait is the preservation letter to whoever holds the video. Call 713-521-0059. We will tell you what your case needs and get it started, beginning with written notice to whoever holds the video and records so it is kept.
For an adult, Article 56A.303 of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires a hospital to perform the forensic exam if you arrive within 120 hours of the assault and consent. It is free under Article 56A.304(f), and it does not require a police report. The Houston hospitals are listed on our Houston SANE exam locations page.
The exam also includes preventive medication and testing. If you are able to, report to the police in these first days. You are not required to, and the exam does not depend on it, but the same early evidence that builds a prosecution builds a civil claim, and it is strongest when collected now.
When you call, we identify who owns and operates the property or service, who manages it and who holds the cameras and logs. Then we put each of them on written notice to keep what they have. This is the step that stops the business from recording over its video on schedule. See the cameras. You do not have to decide anything else to have this done.
The Houston Area Women’s Center hotline, 1-800-256-0661, is free and answered around the clock. Its advocates can connect you with counseling. Texas crime victims compensation under Chapter 56B of the Code of Criminal Procedure can pay for counseling, lost wages and medical care beyond the exam, with no conviction required. The application has its own deadline, which our crime victims compensation page explains.
Your kit is kept whether or not you report, and you can track it. See how long a rape kit is kept in Texas.
Listen. Put the businesses on written notice to keep their video and records. Gather what you have: the screenshots, the receipts, the names.
Identify the business entities behind the property and request the records once they are preserved. Tell you plainly whether a civil claim may exist and what it would involve, including what the other side would ask about. Our what happens after you call page walks through it.
What a lawyer does not do in the first month is file a lawsuit. The deadline to sue is measured in years, not days. For an adult, Section 16.0045(b) of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code generally gives five years for a claim arising from sexual assault. A claim against a business may be governed by a two-year period under Section 16.003. Both have exceptions, and the right one depends on the defendant. See how long you have.
Do not sign anything a business gives you, and do not accept a refund or credit in exchange for a signature. Do not give a recorded statement to a business or its insurer. Do not post about it. Do not delete anything from your phone.
Every statute and case linked above was read at its primary source. Texas statutes change every legislative session and case law is constantly changing.
This page is general information about Texas law. It is not legal advice about your situation, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
If you remember nothing else from this page, remember these.
When you call, we listen first. Then we do what your case needs. That usually begins with written notice to the hotel, apartment complex, bar, rideshare company or anyone else holding video and records, so the evidence is kept.
Where the case calls for it, we bring in the right experts and, where it serves you, co-counsel with the resources a case like this demands. That decision is made in writing, with your consent, and it does not increase your total fee.
We tell you plainly whether a civil claim may exist and what it would take. Schiffer Law Firm is a Houston firm and has handled injury cases in Harris County for 50 plus years. There is no charge to talk, and no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery.
Written by Jacob Schiffer, Attorney, Schiffer Law Firm. State Bar of Texas No. 24105175.
Call 713-521-0059.
No. The deadline to sue is measured in years. The only time-sensitive steps are the exam and the preservation letter.
Puts whoever holds the video and records on written notice to keep them, gathers what you have, identifies the businesses involved and tells you plainly whether a claim may exist.
Texas crime victims compensation can pay for counseling and other costs with no conviction required. It has its own application deadline.
No. Calling starts the notices to keep evidence and a conversation. Whether to bring a claim is your decision, made later.