If you are injured in a "tort" claim, you generally have the right to be compensated for your lost wages or lost income due to your inability to work or earn income due to your injury. In other words, if you cannot work due to your injuries, the at-fault party should be responsible to pay your lost income.

Generally, you are entitled to recover your lost income even if you use your sick leave and don't specifically lose any income. This is because you did lose something - the sick time that you would have had otherwise. Each state has its own specific rules about what lost income is recoverable

In Texas, you are entitled to be reimbursed your past wages with a reduction for the federal income taxes you would have paid on such wages. This means that in every case, an expert (usually an economist or a CPA) will be required to testify about your lost income and the taxes you would have paid on the income.

If there is evidence that it is probable that you will lose income in the future due to your injuries or the effects of the injuries, you can also be compensated for the probable future lost income. In this case you would have to have the expert testify to the present value of the lost future income with a reduction again for income taxes that would likely have to be paid on the income. (Generally, you would also want the expert to testify about the effect of inflation on your likely future income. This means that the expert would have to testify about probable future inflation, then discount the probable lost income for its present value and then reduce the income by probable taxes that would have been paid on the income.)

In summary, if you have any significant lost income due to injuries in a tort claim, you will likely need assistance from an experience personal injury lawyer who knows the law and can obtain the proper evidence to prove your lost wages as required by the law.