§ 86.001.Definition

One definition, and its breadth is the point.

"Claimant" means a party, including a plaintiff, counterclaimant, cross-claimant, or third-party claimant, seeking recovery of damages.

The four categories cover every procedural posture from which damages can be sought. That closes an avoidance route the chapter would otherwise leave open.

The chapter bars recovery by a convicted person for injuries sustained while committing a felony. Without this definition, someone barred as a plaintiff could raise the identical claim as a counterclaim after being sued — by the property owner, say, or an insurer — and argue the bar did not reach them.

The definition forecloses that. A convicted person seeking damages is a claimant however the claim arrives in the case.

"Including" is a term of enlargement under the Code Construction Act, so the four named categories are illustrative rather than exhaustive.

The definition also matters for the derivative claims provision. That section extends the bar to a claimant other than the convicted person — a wrongful death or loss of consortium claim — and it uses this same term.

Note that the chapter defines "convicted person" separately, in its own section, and the two definitions do different work: this one identifies who is bringing the claim, that one identifies whose conduct triggers the bar.