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The trafficker, and anyone who intentionally or knowingly benefited from participating in the venture that trafficked you. Chapter 98 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code gives you that civil claim. It is separate from any criminal case, it does not depend on one, and it reaches further than the person who did the trafficking. Schiffer Law Firm in Houston represents trafficking survivors in civil claims across Texas.
The step that cannot wait is the evidence, and most of it is not yours. It sits in the records of the hotel, business or platform involved, and those records are on an automatic timer. Hotel records, bookings and video are overwritten on schedules measured in days and weeks, and your civil claim needs them whether or not a prosecutor ever does. Our page on what evidence matters, and what disappears goes through it. Call 713-521-0059.
Section 98.002(a) provides that a defendant “who engages in the trafficking of persons or who intentionally or knowingly benefits from participating in a venture that traffics another person is liable to the person trafficked … for damages arising from the trafficking of that person by the defendant or venture.”
Read that second clause carefully, because it is the heart of the statute and the reason your claim can reach a business. It is not a secondary or derivative theory. It is an independent basis of primary liability, written into the same sentence as the trafficker’s own liability.
A defendant who knowingly benefits from participating in a venture that traffics is liable for damages arising from the trafficking by the defendant or the venture. The beneficiary answers for what the venture did, not only for what the beneficiary personally did. That is how a hotel, a motel, a landlord, a business or an owner who profited from a trafficking operation on its premises comes within the statute. You have to prove the knowledge and the benefit.
You do not. Section 98.002(b) is explicit: “It is not a defense to liability under this chapter that a defendant has been acquitted or has not been prosecuted or convicted under Chapter 20A, Penal Code, or has been convicted of a different offense or of a different type or class of offense, for the conduct that is alleged to give rise to liability under this chapter.”
No charge, no conviction, an acquittal, or a plea to something else. None of those ends your civil claim.
Sometimes. Section 98.0025, added in 2015, reaches shareholders and members of entities governed by Titles 2, 3 or 7 of the Business Organizations Code. It makes a shareholder or member jointly and severally liable where you demonstrate two things. The shareholder or member caused the entity to be used for the purpose of trafficking you. And the shareholder or member did traffic you for that person’s direct personal benefit.
It is a narrow provision with real requirements. Where the facts fit, it removes the corporate form as a shield.
Yes. Section 98.005 provides that a person who traffics, or who intentionally or knowingly benefits from participating in a venture that traffics, “and is found liable under this chapter or other law for any amount of damages arising from the trafficking is jointly liable with any other defendant for the entire amount of damages arising from the trafficking.”
The entire amount. Not a proportionate share. And the section reaches defendants found liable “under this chapter or other law,” not only Chapter 98 defendants.
Yes. Section 98.007 gives you, as a claimant in a trafficking action, the right to a confidential identity. That means a pseudonym and the absence of other identifying information such as your address, telephone number and social security number.
The court must inform you early that this is available and allow its use in all filings. It must use it in all proceedings and records, and maintain the records so as to protect confidentiality. Divulging your true identity without a written court order is punishable by contempt. Using it is your choice, not a requirement. Our page on suing without your name becoming public explains the other routes.
It depends on the Penal Code subsection your facts prove. Chapter 98 contains no limitations period of its own, which surprises people who go looking for one. The deadline comes from Section 16.0045 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, and it is offense-based rather than chapter-based.
You have thirty years where the underlying conduct violates Penal Code Section 20A.02(a)(7)(A), (B), (C), (D) or (H), or Section 20A.02(a)(8), which are the child and disabled-person sexual trafficking provisions. You have five years where the conduct violates Section 20A.02 generally.
Because the dividing line is the specific Penal Code subsection proven, there is no single number for a trafficking case. The answer depends on your facts, and we work it out with you before anything is filed.
No. Section 98.004 provides that the Chapter 98 cause of action is cumulative of any other remedy provided by law. You may have negligence claims, premises claims, or claims under other statutes at the same time, and we plead them together where the facts support it.
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.
Section 98.003 is mandatory on its first three items. If you prevail, you “shall be awarded: (1) actual damages, including damages for mental anguish even if an injury other than mental anguish is not shown; (2) court costs; and (3) reasonable attorney’s fees.”
Mental anguish damages stand alone under this statute. You do not have to prove some other injury first. Exemplary damages are additionally available under Section 98.003(b), in the factfinder’s discretion.
We start by identifying everyone the venture touched: the trafficker, the property where it happened, the businesses that took payment, and the owners behind them. Then the first step is written notice to each of them to keep their records, because the hotel and platform records that prove knowledge and benefit are the ones that disappear first.
Schiffer Law Firm is a Houston personal injury firm with 50 plus years of combined experience representing injured people and survivors across Texas. We represent trafficking survivors in civil claims in Houston and across the state, including claims against businesses and property owners that profited from a venture.
If you are an advocate or a counselor asking on someone’s behalf, you are welcome to call with a general question. We will not ask you for their name.
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.
The person who traffics, and anyone who intentionally or knowingly benefits from participating in a venture that traffics another person, under Section 98.002 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. A hotel, landlord or business that profited from the venture on its premises comes within the statute where knowledge and benefit can be proven.
No. Section 98.002(b) states that acquittal, non-prosecution, or conviction of a different offense is not a defense to liability under the chapter. Your civil claim does not depend on the criminal case.
Yes. Section 98.003 makes actual damages including mental anguish, court costs and reasonable attorney fees mandatory for a prevailing claimant. Exemplary damages may be recovered in addition.
Yes. Section 98.005 makes a liable defendant jointly liable with any other defendant for the entire amount of damages arising from the trafficking, not a proportionate share.
Yes. Section 98.007 gives you the right to a confidential identity in a Chapter 98 action, and the court must tell you it is available early in the case. Using it is your choice.