Houston & Texas Railway Co. v. Oram

Citations

• 49 Tex. 341

Syllabus

<p>1. Diligence and care required op railroads.—It is the duty of a railroad company to use ordinary care to provide such cars, road-beds, tanks, &c., as are reasonably safe. A failure to do this, is negligence chargeable to the company; and it is responsible in damages to an employee for an injury resulting, without his negligence, from a tank, or other appendage of the road, so negligently constructed as to subject the employee to unnecessary and extraordinary danger which he could not reasonably anticipate or know, and of which he was in fact not informed.</p> <p>2. Ordinary care—Negligence.—Touching negligence, it is proper to charge the jury, that ordinary care and caution is*such care and caution as a prudent man would exercise under similar circumstances.</p> <p>3. Measure op damage in negligence—Counsel pees.—Counsel fees for the prosecution of plaintiff’s demand, in cases of tort for negligence, are not a natural or proximate result of the injury, and are not to be regarded in such cases in estimating actual damages.</p> <p>4. Counsel pees.—In cases where counsel fees may be considered in estimating damages, reasonable cash fees and expenses alone can be allowed.</p> <p>5. Same—Contingent pees.—Where the only testimony touching the amount of counsel fees was that contingent fees of one-half the amount recovered were usually contracted for, it was error to submit to the jury counsel fees as a matter to consider in finding the amount of damages.</p>