A civil claim is yours to decide
A civil claim after a sexual assault is the harmed person’s own claim for the harm done to them. A criminal case is the State’s case against the person accused, brought by a prosecutor who decides whether to charge and what to charge, and it can lead to punishment and possible court-ordered restitution for qualifying losses. Restitution is not guaranteed and is not necessarily a complete substitute for civil damages or the separate Crime Victims’ Compensation program. The two cases run on different tracks. A criminal conviction requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt; a civil claim is decided on whether the evidence makes it more likely true than not. A civil claim does not require that the police were told, that anyone was arrested, or that a criminal case ended a particular way, and it can be brought whether a prosecution never happened, is pending, ended in an acquittal, or ended in a conviction. What the criminal system did becomes part of the record; it does not decide the civil claim.
Texas civil law recognizes an assault as a wrong the person harmed can sue over, and Texas courts define the civil wrong by borrowing the Penal Code’s definition of assault, which covers unwanted physical contact; a sexual assault is an assault in that sense. A civil claim is not “pressing charges.” It is your decision to make, against the people and organizations you choose, at the time you choose within the limits described below, and it can be made whether or not you ever speak to the police.
Who can be responsible
The person who committed the assault is responsible for it, and a civil claim can be brought against that person directly. Where governmental employment is involved, the individual claim also needs a separate review of capacity, conduct, employment scope, immunity, and procedural rules. The question the civil review adds is whether anyone else answers as well. An organization whose employee or agent committed the assault can be responsible for its own conduct in hiring, supervising, or retaining that person, and in narrower situations for the employee’s act itself; those employer liability questions, and how they differ, are explained separately. A property owner or operator can be responsible when a stranger’s crime on the property should have been anticipated and reasonable steps were not taken, which is the negligent security framework. Schools, religious organizations, care facilities, and government bodies each raise their own rules, including limits on claims against public entities, and those rules are reviewed when they arise rather than assumed.
Whether anyone other than the individual is answerable depends on facts about that person or organization: what it knew, what it did, and what it controlled. The presence of an employer, a landlord, or an institution in the story is the beginning of a question, not an answer to it.
What the record consists of
The record begins with your account, given at your pace and in as much or as little detail as you choose at the start. Around it sit the things that already exist: messages, calls, and social media exchanges before and after; the people you told and when; any report made to police, an employer, a school, or a landlord and what was done with it; medical and counseling records, with provider authorization, litigation disclosure, relevance, and applicable privileges considered separately; and, where an organization is involved, its own records of complaints, schedules, access, and policies, which are obtained through the legal process rather than by you. Video, receipts, ride records, and location data can place people and times.
A report made later rather than sooner, the absence of physical evidence, a prior or continuing relationship with the person, or a criminal case that went nowhere are facts the review addresses. None of them defeats a civil claim by itself, and none of them guarantees one. You do not need to gather more proof before asking for help, and the firm will not ask you to confront the person, return to a place that is not safe, or obtain an admission. Those are not your job, and attempting them can put you at risk.
Privacy in a civil case, and where it stops
Texas law allows a plaintiff who is still a minor, and that child’s parent or guardian, to bring a civil case for sexual assault under a confidential identity, with the true name known only to the judge, the parties, their lawyers, and anyone else a court specifically authorizes in writing, under an order that is enforced by contempt. Whether an adult, including an adult harmed as a child, may file under a pseudonym is a request the court decides in its discretion. Sealing court records is possible in some circumstances, but it requires a public hearing and a showing that a specific and substantial interest outweighs the presumption that court records are open, so it is not automatic. The firm explains what protection is realistically available before anything is filed.
Communications with physicians and mental health providers are privileged, and Texas separately protects communications between a survivor and an advocate at a sexual assault program, such as a crisis-center counselor or hotline worker. Filing an injury claim does not automatically open all medical or counseling records. Disclosure depends on the condition placed at issue, the particular relevant records, applicable privileges and exceptions, and court rulings. Counsel reviews those limits before filing; narrowing the harms claimed does not guarantee privacy. A HIPAA authorization lets a provider release your records to you or your lawyer; it does not decide what is discoverable. Two limits on confidentiality apply to every lawyer and every counselor in Texas: a person who has reason to believe a child has been abused must report it, and a person who has reason to believe an elderly or disabled adult has been abused, neglected, or exploited must report it, and those duties apply without exception to attorneys. The firm tells you where those lines are before you decide what to share.
Reporting, examinations, and support are separate choices
Whether to report to the police is your decision, and it is not a condition of a civil claim. Texas law allows a person who has not reported to law enforcement to have a forensic medical examination by a physician or a specially trained sexual assault examiner or nurse examiner within a time-limited window after the assault, and the forensic portion of that exam is paid by the State rather than billed to the person; having the exam does not obligate the person to a criminal case. Texas also runs a Crime Victims’ Compensation program through the Attorney General with its own eligibility and payment rules. That program, possible court-ordered criminal restitution, and civil damages are separate sources of recovery that may interact, including reimbursement for overlapping losses. None guarantees payment or necessarily replaces the others.
Support does not wait for a legal decision, and these organizations are available now:
- the Houston Area Women’s Center 24-hour sexual assault hotline, 713-528-7273 or 1-800-256-0661;
- RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline, 800-656-4673, with online chat at its website;
- the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, which maintains a directory of local crisis centers;
- the Harris County District Attorney’s Office victim services, the Houston Police Department’s Special Victims Division, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office Crime Victims Assistance Unit, and the Texas Attorney General’s Crime Victim Services, each of which explains what it offers to people who choose to report or to seek compensation.
None of these replaces emergency help: in an emergency, call 911.
Agreements with arbitration or confidentiality terms
An agreement signed before anything happened, such as an employment agreement, a membership contract, or an app’s terms, can contain an arbitration clause or a confidentiality clause. Two federal laws address them. One allows a person alleging a sexual assault or sexual harassment dispute to elect that a predispute arbitration agreement or class-action waiver not be enforced as to that dispute, and it provides that a court, not an arbitrator, decides whether the law applies. The other makes a predispute nondisclosure or nondisparagement clause unenforceable as to a sexual assault or sexual harassment dispute.
Each has its own start date: the arbitration law applies to disputes that arose after it took effect, and the confidentiality law applies to claims filed after it took effect, whenever the clause was signed. Both reach only terms agreed to before the dispute arose, so neither touches a confidentiality term in a later settlement. Whether a particular clause affects your claim depends on its wording, the dates, and current federal and Texas law; the firm reads the agreement before saying anything about it.
Timing differs by person and by claim
Texas sets time limits for civil claims, and they are not the same for everyone. A claim by a person who was a child when the conduct occurred is treated differently from an adult’s claim, and the time does not run while a person is a minor. A claim against an organization or a property owner can carry a different limit from the claim against the individual, and some limits are short. Which one applies depends on facts the firm has to review, so no single number fits every situation. The practical point is simpler: a first conversation earlier rather than later keeps choices open, and having the conversation does not commit you to anything.
The first conversation
A first conversation with Leatherwood & Schindler is paced by you. It does not require a full account of what happened, and it can begin with the questions above rather than with the event. It covers who was involved and in what roles, what has been reported to anyone and what came of it, what agreements exist, and what your goals are, including privacy. Submitting the site’s form does not create an attorney-client relationship, and the form is an ordinary web form: if you would rather not write anything down, call instead. Please do not send intimate images, recordings, or any material involving a minor through the form; the firm will explain how such material is handled if it becomes relevant. A consultation can start wherever you are ready to start.