Protecting the Value of Your Auto Accident Claim
In the aftermath of a car crash, people need answers to a lot of questions — who's going to pay for my emergency treatment? How do I know that my injuries have been diagnosed correctly? Can I recover money for time away from work? What about the damage to my car?
At our Law Firm, we work closely with our clients as we aim for two important goals: first, to keep you fully informed and advised about all of the practical, medical, and financial questions that can come up from the time of an auto accident to the completion of your physical recovery. Next, our objective is to help you recover the full value of your legal claims against the other driver and any available insurance coverage, including your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.
To learn about your legal rights following an auto accident, contact our Law Firm for a free consultation. Our clients generally find that our close interaction throughout each stage of the case not only keeps you current with the latest developments but also can lead to better results through settlement or trial.
There are two main challenges in any personal injury case — proving the defendant's responsibility for your losses and establishing the amount of your damages. Because we're committed to maintaining close contact with the people we serve, we'll be monitoring your treatment and recovery, together with any other losses related to your accident. More information here
The detailed documentation we gather along the way can make a huge difference in your eventual compensation on your personal injury claims. We'll also be able to help you overcome any obstacles you encounter in getting effective treatment, proper medication, or continuing therapy.
Our attorneys represent people who have been injured in all kinds of motor vehicle accidents, including:
* Auto accidents
* Truck accidents
* Commercial vehicle crashes
* Motorcycle accidents
* Bicycle or pedestrian injuries
* Drunk driving accidents
* Accidents suffered in Texas by out-of-state drivers
Another advantage our clients enjoy has to do with our thorough familiarity with the ever-changing provisions of Texas auto insurance law. It's easy to make mistakes in the early weeks following an accident when you're dealing with claims adjusters. Those mistakes can keep you from getting the full benefit of what could otherwise have been sufficient coverage to meet the full range of your losses.
To see how an energetic and knowledgeable personal injury lawyer can protect your interests on any auto accident claim, contact our Law Firm for a free consultation.
Wrongful death is one that occurs when the negligent behavior of a liable party (a person or some other entity) causes, or contributes to, the death of another person. However, that cold, abstract legal definition just doesn’t come anywhere close to describing the enormous feeling of loss that descends upon your family when you’ve learned that your loved one has been suddenly taken away from you by the actions of another.
And if the accident that caused this unfortunate fatality is the result of the careless behavior of that other person or entity, the devastation to your family can be total, and create unbearable and sometimes permanent psychological scars on you and the rest of your family survivors, in addition to instantaneously being thrown into deep financial distress that seemed so far away just a few days ago. Visit this webpage
Wrongful deaths can happen for so many different reasons and in a number of different ways: from a job-related accident to a vehicle wreck at the hands of a drunk driver to the tragic use of a defective product everyone thought was safe, to the careless actions of a trusted doctor. But they all often occur with virtually no warning, and in the blink of an eye. Such a sudden, shocking and unexpected loss can leave a bereaved family in an emotional fog as they grasp to deal with their swirling emotions in the immediate wake of their loved one’s death. The emotional wreckage suffered by some families after a loved one’s wrongful death makes thinking about seeking legal action an afterthought in the midst of their grief. The timing of those thoughts almost seems like an insult to their memory
However, pursuing legal action through a Texas wrongful death lawsuit can become the most important step in the healing process for a number of reasons. Our wrongful death attorneys offer the following information to help clarify why a family should not put a wrongful death lawsuit (or at least an investigation) on the back-burner, the issues that wrongful death plaintiffs can expect when they file such civil lawsuits, and how we might be able to assist you through your time of loss, sorrow and ultimately, your family’s recovery.
We can think of two reasons why a bereaved family such as yours should begin their pursuit of a wrongful death lawsuit sooner than later after losing a loved one because of a fatal accident: financial compensation and justice for their deceased family member. The stated purpose of a wrongful death lawsuit is to enable a grieving family to secure compensation for their loss from the party or parties responsible for this fatal accident. And even though no amount of money will ever return your loved one to you, it can greatly relieve you of the many financial burdens and dire economic need that such a loss creates on a family, like medical costs, funeral expenses, and pain and suffering (both your loved ones along with you and your family). Seeking compensation for wrongful death in Texas is important under virtually any circumstance. But timing is everything when winning this rightful and just compensation is especially critical in cases where a primary wage-earner has died. The financial remedy a family wins can help ensure that the surviving family is financially stable in light of their loss and that the lack of money will not add to their emotional ordeal. And allowing the circumstances behind the accident to go uninvestigated, even for a few days because you feel it might not be “appropriate right now,” could make the investigation of the matter all-the-harder.
The justifiable goal of a wrongful death lawsuit is for the negligent liable parties who are responsible for the fatal accident to be held accountable for their callous behavior. And since many fatal accidents may not result in criminal charges, most of the time a Texas wrongful death civil lawsuit is the only legal means that aggrieved survivors have to bring all negligent liable defendants to ultimate justice. The compensation that these negligent defendants must award to a plaintiff through a successful wrongful death case can be considered a punitive measure. Some even view it as just desserts. A high monetary award will make negligent defendants painfully aware of their actions that caused the death of your loved one. When we take on a wrongful death lawsuit anywhere in Texas, our clients get our best effort to ensure that they properly compensated; in addition to making sure that every liable party is held fully accountable. They may not go to jail for what they did. But they will pay.
Like you, we don’t want to see a similar fatal accident occur in the future due to the same negligent behavior by the same liable defendants. We want everyone who is even remotely responsible to be held fully accountable for the grief and pain they’ve caused you and your family. But again, remember, the longer a grieving family takes to put someone “on the case” means that much time the defendants, who usually know what they’ve done, have to cover their tracks and distance themselves from ultimately being held accountable.
Contact our Law Firm's wrongful death attorneys at our toll-free number 1(800) 862-1260 for a complimentary, confidential legal consultation. We can answer all your questions surrounding the possible pursuit of a wrongful death civil suit anywhere in Texas. Our goal is to help you get through this difficult time so that you and your family can be fully compensated for your loss from the guilty defendants who are fully accountable for their negligent behavior. And with that peace of mind, you and your family can move forward with your lives, and your loved one can truly rest in peace.
A skilled accident injury lawyer with our Law Firm knows how to locate and retain the ideal medical experts to thoroughly review your situation, determine whether your soft tissue injury lawsuit is justified, and then back up your claims in court. Our attorneys have the means and the skill to apply a thorough investigation of your case and craft this considerable evidence into an effective and compelling strategy that gives you the best chance to be compensated for your damages. 
Very few people have even the smallest amount of necessary knowledge to understand, or even know, why the specific soft tissue injury you received from your vehicle accident is having such a debilitating impact on your life. Expert medical witnesses must be sough-out and retained by your lawyer to determine the degree of your injury. They will communicate to the insurance company, or a civil trial jury if necessary, why your claim or case is reasonable and that you deserve to be compensated for those injuries. Expert witnesses, usually doctors themselves, have extensive experience in soft tissue injury cases because they’ve treated them. You can recover from this painful injury. But without the proper compensation to pay for it, recovery will be difficult. Your pain and suffering, your lost wages because you can’t work due to the constant agony of your injuries, or the disability you suffer as you continue your treatment will be a tremendous hardship.
As you have seen, accident claims and lawsuits involving soft tissue injuries can be very complex and pose too many obstacles for any victim to represent themselves, or unwisely choose inexperienced legal counsel. The amount of information you must first find, then present to prove your claim is a huge burden. The crucial ability to properly investigate the facts of the case and call on expert medical witnesses, not to mention the skill to see your lawsuit through the many surprising twists and turns created by insurance companies and their attorneys that lay between you and a successful damage award. These skills are clearly beyond the limited legal knowledge of a layperson, as well as that of many law firms that do not specialize in soft tissue personal injury. The soft tissue accident injury attorneys with our Law Firm have decades of experience in successfully negotiating, or litigating, these types of tricky cases.
Before you speak with an insurance company or accept even a single dollar of payment or compensation, sign anything, or attempt to file a lawsuit on your own, you MUST contact a competent lawyer. If you contact us for a free consultation, we will quickly tell you all your legal options. We can help you recover the rightful damage compensation for all harm done you due to you by the negligent driver who hit you and threw you into what feels like a bottomless pit of pain and agony.
Help you find proper medical attention if you still need it.
Contend with any insurance adjusters or insurance companies on your behalf.
Thoroughly investigate your injury claim and gather every bit of evidence to prove your case.
Contact and retain recognized expert medical witnesses to testify on your behalf.
Deal with all communications with all involved parties, compose, receive, and manage all correspondence. In other words, we take care of ALL the paperwork.
Prove all parties’ liability and the damages they caused to win the best and most fair compensation amount for your injury.
Tirelessly and aggressively negotiate a fair settlement for you with the defendants, insurance company, and the attorneys who represent them so that you may not have even to see the inside of a courtroom.
Faithfully and diligently work to present the best case possible for you in court if a trial is necessary.
We can determine if your claim is legitimate and if your injuries are significant enough to justify bringing this sort of insurance claim or case reasonably. We can share the actual merits of your case with you and outline the steps that need to be taken to realize success.
Contact the injury lawyers at our Law Firm for a free and confidential legal consultation. Our toll-free number is 1(800) 862-1260. We’ll answer your questions and explain all of your legal options. We want to help you seek justice and compensation to assist you on the road to recovery. We want to hold the negligent driver fully responsible for their behavior so that their negligence does not continue to harm other unsuspecting patients’ in the future: while we also bring you the peace of mind you have deserved for too long.
If you have been in a serious auto accident and have been injured, there’s a good chance you need someone to represent you who is familiar with Texas accident law. Accident law is complex, and negotiating with insurance adjusters to win a claim, and defense attorneys if your case ends up in court, is not an easy task. However, the experienced legal professionals at our Texas Law Firm know what you are up against and how you can overcome it.
We can help you seek compensation for your injuries so that you can get back on your feet. Our Law Firm is here to tell you a little bit about how Texas accident law works and how our firm can help you.
Texas is considered an at-fault state. A simple explanation of this term finds that, if you are injured in a car accident, you have the right to seek compensation from the person or entity that caused the auto accident. Determining whether or not another driver or party was at fault is generally determined by whether they broke Texas traffic laws or whether the party was negligent at the time of the accident. For instance, if another driver runs a red light and crashes into your car, that driver is liable for your damages because he or she broke the law by running the red light.
However, what if you are injured in a car accident due to a defect in your vehicle? The car’s manufacturer itself might be responsible for your injuries, or the manufacturer of a part of the tires might be liable even if technically, no traffic laws were broken. This is when the concept of negligence in the way a product is manufactured, designed, or installed is invoked. A car manufacturer or one that creates replacement parts for it is responsible for making sure that its vehicles (or parts) are safe. When this responsibility is ignored, that manufacturer can be held liable through various product liability laws. Liability and negligence are not always easy to establish, but our experienced attorneys know how to investigate a case and establish even very obscure forms of liability to ensure that you receive fair compensation for your injuries.
Passengers who negligently distract a driver who then hits you have been held liable for car wrecks in some cases. Employers who don’t maintain their company vehicles that are then involved in a wreck that our investigators determine were not properly serviced have even been defendants in a vehicle accident or wrongful death civil suit.
The bottom line is that if negligence is involved in your wreck in any way, you have the right to file an insurance claim if they are covered by a policy, or sue the defendant in open court if they are not. You can file a claim If their insurance company refuses to compensate you for your injuries, medical bills, pain and suffering, disability, and even wrongful death. Surviving family members can file a claim or case.
The time after being seriously injured in a car accident is often stressful and confusing to the victims and their families. Don’t add to the stress and confusion by letting an inexperienced attorney handle your case or represent yourself when you are unqualified to look out for your or your family’s best interests. We are uniquely qualified and fully prepared to fight for and win the fairest compensation for your total damage claims. If you or someone you know was injured in a car accident, contact an attorney at our Law Offices today at 1(800) 862-1260 (toll-free) for a free consultation and find out how we can help you.
If you have been injured in a car accident, then you may be able to recover compensation for your injuries from the other driver (if they were at fault in causing the accident). The same is true if you were involved in an accident with a big rig. However, the term “truck accident” is kind of broad and covers a variety of different types of accidents.
This article will explain:
What a truck accident is,
Who can recover for a truck accident, and
How we can help you seek compensation for your truck accident.
When most people think about a truck accident, they imagine 18-wheelers, however, truck accidents can include many different types of large vehicles. For example, if you were involved in an accident with a garbage truck and you suffered an injury, an 18 wheeler accident lawyer would be able to help you seek compensation from the driver the same way you would if an 18-wheeler had hit you. Basically, by truck accident, we mean any type of commercial truck, including:
Although it may seem easy to receive compensation for a truck accident case, the reality is that because of the type of defendant you will be dealing with, these cases can be rather complex to prove.
18-Wheelers,
Garbage Trucks,
City Buses,
School Buses,
Delivery Vans,
Work Trucks,
Industrial Vehicles,
And More…
Basically, if you were injured in a big rig accident due to the negligence of the driver, then you will be able to seek compensation for your injuries. This is true even if you are not driving a vehicle involved in the accident. Passengers who are injured in 18 wheeler accidents (caused by the driver’s negligence) can also receive compensation, even if they are passengers in the big rig.
You are able to seek compensation for all of the damages you have received which were caused by the driver’s negligence. For example, imagine after a truck accident, you were hospitalized for 2 months because of your injuries. You had several surgeries and will require months of physical therapy to fully recover. Also, you have been unable to go to work all of these months because of your injuries. In this case, you would be able to receive compensation covering all of your medical expenses, including all of the surgeries and future physical therapy. You would also be able to receive compensation for your lost wages (the amount you would have earned had you been able to go to work). Damages from a truck accident include:
Present medical expenses (including the cost of surgeries),
All future medical expenses relating to your injuries,
Lost wages,
Pain and suffering, and
Mental anguish.
How We Can Help You
Although it may seem easy to receive compensation for a truck accident case, the reality is that because of the type of defendant you will be dealing with, these cases can be rather complex to prove. Your best chance for success in your truck accident case is by hiring an experienced lawyer to represent you.
The attorneys at our Law Offices have over twenty years of experience and have helped hundreds of clients with their truck accident cases. We know what it takes to hold truck drivers and trucking companies accountable for their actions, and we can help you obtain the compensation that you deserve. If you have been injured in a truck accident, you should contact one of our truck accident attorneys today for a free consultation.
A non-attorney doesn’t have any of the necessary knowledge or experience to adequately investigate a complicated auto accident, or negotiate a fair settlement with insurance companies, or successfully represent him or herself in court. Litigating a vehicle accident injury case is quite complicated. Attorneys who don’t have a deep background in personal injury or auto accident cases don’t have any better chance than you of winning reasonable compensation. So why would you even entertain such a foolish idea, especially when five or six-figure compensation amounts are on the table?
Personal Injury
We guess that the defendant's insurance adjuster and their attorneys have already reached out to you and have even begun offering settlements. Before you speak with an insurance company, or attorney, or accept even a single dollar of payment or compensation from anyone, or sign anything, or attempt to file a lawsuit on your own, you must contact a competent lawyer. Everyone sitting at the defendant’s table wants you to accept a substandard settlement and save their own money. Don’t let them take advantage of you. We warn you to never talk about any details of your intentions, or anything else surrounding the injury, with anyone until you’ve retained your experienced lawyer to protect your interests. Failure to do this will undoubtedly cripple whatever compensation rights you and your family have.
There are many car accident attorneys in Texas. How can you decide which one is right to handle your case? Our Law Firm recommends interviewing at least two or three attorneys before choosing the one you want to hire. Ask each one about his track record for settling and litigating car accident cases. Find out what each attorney thinks the strengths and weaknesses of your case are. See if the lawyers can provide you with the names of former clients whose circumstances were similar to yours. Ask if you can contact them. Then reach out to them and ask the same question you asked the prospective attorney. If you do all of these things diligently, then you have a pretty good chance of selecting a lawyer whose experience in handling cases as yours gives you confidence and peace of mind that this is the lawyer you can trust with your case.
The Texas auto accident lawyers at our Law Firm have been handling car accident insurance claims and civil cases for over 30 years. We continue to win favorable verdicts and negotiate fair settlements against nearly every major auto insurer in the state. They recognize our name, as do their defense attorneys. That reputation is very elemental in securing special attention to our clients’ claims from these insurers. Our goal is to make sure that you recover as much as possible for your injuries and make this sometimes complicated legal process as easy as possible for you.
Put our years of experience to work for you. Know your rights, how to proceed with your claim, and how much compensation you can secure from your auto accident case. Call our Law Firm now at 210-503-7870 for a free consultation and find out how we can help you.
Texas Workers’ Compensation Laws: a Riddle Wrapped in an Enigma
Thanks to our lawmakers (and the insurance company lobbyists who influence them) understanding workers’ comp laws – and their loopholes – is more complicated than it was 10 years ago. Texas construction companies are not required by the state to purchase workers’ comp. So, all workplace injury matters are divided into two distinct types that require wholly different methods and strategies to resolve. Employers who carry worker’s comp are referred to as subscribers; while those who don’t are non-subscribers. In order to know how to proceed with your injury compensation claim, we must first learn whether or not your employer is a subscriber or a non-subscriber.
Workers’ comp benefits come out of a “pool” of funds that are replenished by private insurance carriers that participate in the state-managed program. Workers’ comp pays regardless of whether or not the injury is severe. And it also protects subscriber-employers from employee lawsuits; which is a huge benefit for them. But this protection generally dismisses the full legal rights of employees to be fairly compensated when the employer is generally negligent because it limits, or “caps” the monetary benefits an injured employee can receive through the program.
If your employer subscribes to workers’ comp, it will give some compensatory relief to you when you are injured on the job site. This is because it’s essentially “no-fault” insurance because those covered by workers’ comp are reimbursed, regardless of how the accident occurred or who was at fault. However, in the event of a serious injury, a large part of the time, the amount of money you receive doesn’t necessarily cover the actual expenses of an on-the-job injury; especially if you suffer some sort of disability and cannot work for a long period of time
But in order to receive damages from a non-subscriber to workers’ comp, an injury victim must file a lawsuit. Fortunately for the injured party, the latest workers’ comp legislation established lower standards of proving subscriber negligence. And these same standards also apply against a non-subscriber if the injured worker files in a civil case. So many times it’s moderately easier to prove true liability to a non-subscribing employer, general contractor or subcontractor for accidents on the construction job site.
Since construction is such a dangerous industry by definition, it would seem prudent that all such companies would purchase workers’ comp insurance. But still, some choose not to subscribe to the program, even if it is less expensive than traditional liability insurance. So some shifty employers prefer to take the risk of not subscribing to workers’ comp. Then, when an employee is injured on the job site, seriously or not, they try to avoid a lawsuit by offering to quickly pay the benefits you would generally receive from workers’ comp and ask you to sign what they will represent as a “standard workers’ comp release” in order to further their trickery and evade a lawsuit that could put them out of business. We’ve some of these clever documents and some are pretty good forgeries.
The many reasons why you need an experienced workers comp lawyer with our Law Firm to get to the bottom of your company’s workers’ comp status are probably beginning to pile-up. Once we have identified the nature of your employer’s workman’s comp standing, our attorneys will know how to proceed with your case.
The experienced construction accident lawyers with our Law Firm help injured construction workers deal with their challenging work-injury cases. We have spent decades accumulating the expertise required to help you receive the compensation you deserve. Put our experience to work for you. We can tell you your rights, how to proceed with your claim, how much compensation you can secure and aggressively represent your case or claim to its final resolution: be it through successful negotiations or a favorable verdict in civil court.
Call our Law Firm now at 1(800) 862-1260 (toll-free), for a free consultation and find out how we can help you.
Fortunately, train accidents are less common than car crashes. They do, however, happen more often than you might think, on a daily basis throughout Texas. The manner in which train crashes are portrayed in movies is different than reality.
On the big screen, a train usually crashes into a vehicle that has stopped in the train's path. In reality, most train accidents occur at night when a motorist actually ruins into the side of a speeding train at a railroad intersection. This happens most often because of poor lighting or because the train neglected to blow its own horn at the crossing.
No matter how your accident was caused, it is probably fair to assume that you incurred some serious injuries as well as financial losses. A motorist is very exposed in the family sedan when compared to the massive size and weight of a speeding train. Consequently, train crash victims are generally allowed it to pursue compensation for the sizable damages they will have suffered. These damages may include medical bills, car repair costs, lost wages because of hospitalization, possible future lost income, as well as compensation for pain and suffering. A train accident attorney is necessary in order to fully compute all of the damages that may be available to you.
It is, however, much more difficult to recover damages from train wrecks than from a car crash, since the process is more arduous with the complex laws governing train crashes. Accordingly, our attorneys and their colleagues have written this informative article to help explain the basics of train wreck litigation and to explain more simply your legal rights in these cases.
Since the injuries caused by a train wreck can be so serious, it is no surprise that the consequent medical bills may also be sky-high. Since this puts the immanent spectra of financial losses in the eyes of the railroad and its insurer, don't be surprised at the type of reaction you, as the victim, will get. They will roll out their best teams of attorneys, insurance adjusters, and accident recreation specialists with one common goal: to negate your claim as much as is possible. Because the insurance company stands to lose so much money their adjusters and lawyers will do whatever they can to attempt to show that your accident was your own fault. Expect these adjusters and attorneys to be ruthless and highly skilled. Without an experienced train accident attorney on your own side, you stand to have a short trial with negative results; this is literally the type of case when having the right attorney can make the difference between receiving a generous settlement and receiving little or no settlement at all.
We should also note that there exists a curious public bias against the victim in these types of crashes. Studies have shown that juries will actually have a slight bias that favors the train. Perhaps this stems from public opinion thinking that an automobile is so much faster and more maneuverable than is a bulky huge train. In any case, when the attorneys at Our Law Office become involved in a train wreck case we gather all the evidence possible at the scene of the accident; this may include witness testimonies, photographs, surveillance videos, measurement, police reports, bits of wreckage ... whatever we think will be helpful in bolstering your case. We then work to build up a strong, well-substantiated case that will simply present the true facts to a jury, in a persuasive and convincing manner. Finally, we go into court well armed and ready to convince the jury that true negligence was at the hands of the train, not with you. 
While a train accident can certainly cause a lot of pain and confusion in your life it does not have to stay that way. The train accident attorneys at our Law Offices have been litigating personal injury cases like this for over 20 years. During that period of time, we have won millions and millions of dollars for our Texas clients from major transportation companies and from their insurance companies. Consequently, these huge insurance companies are only too well aware of our stellar reputation and will often seek to settle out of court rather than face out tenacious and skilled attorneys in front of a jury. This can, of course, be beneficial to you, allowing you to spend less time in the whole legal process and enabling you to receive your settlement more rapidly and thus return more easily to your normal life.
If you or a family member has been injured in a train accident contact our Law Offices today. We are available 24 hours a day. We are pleased to offer a free consultation and we stand by ready to discuss your case with you and to answer all your specific questions.
After a car accident involving you or a loved one, you must protect your legal rights against those who would deny you fair injury compensation. Car accidents are a common occurrence and can be little more than a minor fender bender in a parking lot. But just as often, they can be destructive wrecks that cause devastating injuries and deep scars, physically and psychologically. The lives of the victims and their families are thrown into chaos after a serious auto accident in which they were reluctantly involved.
Personal Injury
After a serious accident involving injuries, you are entitled to seek compensation for the financial, physical, and emotional damages you suffered from the car crash. But without intimate knowledge of your case, it is impossible to compute the amount you may be entitled to. Due to the damages, you have a right to seek compensation depending on the unique circumstances of your case. We’re here to help you understand the need to hire an attorney with successful experience in personal injury if you wish to receive the fairest legal damages. You’re welcome to try and handle this matter on your own if you want or hire your nephew who just passed the bar. What we hope to do is explain some of the basics of auto personal injury cases for you. If you’ve been involved in a little fender-bender with no complications or injuries other than a headache, you can probably handle things on your own, so long as you’re cautious. If you call your auto accident a “car wreck,” we strongly urge you to quickly retain an experienced local auto accident attorney who knows the ropes surrounding Texas car accident litigation.
How do we determine whether or not we have a successful personal injury case against a defendant who should reimburse us for our injuries? All actual accident victims have a legal right to collect damages by proving the four elements of a car accident claim. Since you will be the one asking for compensation, the burden to you, the injured plaintiff, is to prove you are owed these damages by the defendants who only have to deny and disprove your claim.
There are four elements to proving injuries against a defendant. You must demonstrate your charges are true. They are duty, breach, causation, and damages. A brief overview of each is below:
Duty - The defendant owed you a duty of care to exercise a certain level of caution to ensure that you would not get hurt. Texas Civil Codes and Procedures set the level of duty that a person or organization owes to another depending on the circumstances of the situation that are considered within the relationship of the parties involved at the time. Proving that the defendant owed you at least some duty of care will probably be reasonably uncomplicated since nearly all drivers owe each other the general duty to drive reasonably to keep others safe. Unless there are unusual circumstances, and there are a few, the chances are that a general “reasonable person standard” applies to the defendant (or defendants) in your case.
Breach - In a vast majority of personal injury cases, plaintiffs and their attorneys need to clearly show that the defendant drove in a way that a reasonable person would not have driven. If the defendant in your case drives unreasonably only for the moments immediately leading up to your car wreck, he can be held responsible for the consequences of his negligent actions that caused you harm. Successfully proving that the defendant breached his duty of care is done when you and your attorney present evidence to remove any doubt that what the defendant did (or failed to do reasonably) caused the car wreck. The jurors in your case will consider your charges of the breach along with additional evidence that clearly illustrates the defendant’s actions (and malicious intent if it was present). During their deliberations, they rule the defendant behaved either reasonably or unreasonably. Offenses such as speeding, recklessness, driving at night without headlights, running through red lights, driving while intoxicated, and more can constitute a breach of the defendant’s duty of care, even if they may not have been legally charged for these offenses in criminal court.
Causation - You must now demonstrate that the defendant breached his duty of care through negligence. But simply showing that this person might have been negligent isn’t always enough to win your charges that the defendant is responsible for your auto wreck. Because in his attempts to deny causation, a defendant will often argue “unforeseeable circumstances” such as other drivers, pedestrians, or even you, caused the wreck instead. This argument is the last resort for an accident defendant to wiggle out of liability for your injuries. So expect them to swing from the floor and claim anything from a homeless person stepping in their way and forcing them to hit your vehicle, to their toddler threw a bottle of apple juice at the driver. Maybe it happened, perhaps it didn’t. But how do you disprove the defense? It’s up to you and your accident injury lawyer to thwart their excuses, or the happy defendant skips out of the courtroom. So it’s essential to have sufficient evidence to prove any defense that is thrown at you and nail down the defendant’s conduct that seriously hurt you.
Damages - It’s now time to establish the amount of money you are entitled to collect from the defendant and hand him the bill in court. The term “damages” isn’t limited to just your injuries and the bills that must be paid. It refers to the entire monetary value of your injuries (the sum of money) you’ll recover from the defendant if you win your case. Damages often include pain and suffering arising from your injury, present lost wages as a result of it, and loss of future earning capacity if your injury leads to long-term disability. Included, of course, is repair or replacement bills for your auto and any items of worth that were destroyed in the wreck. All these and even more might be available to surviving family members if the victim dies in the wreck. So you’ll need to calculate what you’re owed and provide airtight evidence to support your calculations.
You have your figure and the defendants have theirs (often less than your price tag). Damage amounts are almost always the most contentious issue in a car accident case or insurance claim. Defendants typically argue that they owe you much less than you might claim (if anything at all). They’ll accuse you of asking for a handout and say your requested amount is far higher than traditional payouts. Often the accusation that you’re filing a frivolous lawsuit isn’t far away either. This argument is usually the last stand a negligent defendant makes. So you must clearly show the jury that your requested damage amount is realistic and proportional to the harm done to you and finish your case strongly with clear evidence that proves your losses are the actual total of your damages. More on this website
Accurate determination of damages is as essential as the other three burdens of proof since you have only got one shot to receive compensation from any single defendant. There are no do-overs. But computing every individual loss is a challenge without an experienced auto accident attorney who knows the value of personal injury losses and how to effectively calculate them. How do you accurately represent an intangible loss such as pain and suffering, or that of your child? When calculating the loss of earning capacity, if you are permanently disabled, how do you account for hypothetical raises and promotions you would have earned had you continued to work? Perhaps you would have gotten a promotion or were hired away by another company at double your current salary. How can you calculate how much all of your medical bills will amount to if your treatment is not yet complete, and your doctor can’t tell how long it will last? We at our Texas Law Firm know how to account for and calculate every one of your damages. We make doubly certain that you recover as much as possible from your injuries.
Call us today. One of our accident injury attorneys will patiently listen to you, analyze your case, and explain your options. Our goal is to make sure that you recover as much as possible for your injuries and make this sometimes complicated legal process as easy as possible for you to bear.
The period after a car accident is often stressful and confusing. Don’t add to it and the confusion it creates by letting an inexperienced attorney handle your case or represent yourself when you are unqualified. With decades of experience, we are uniquely qualified and fully prepared to get you the best results possible. If you or someone you know was injured in a car accident, contact an attorney at our Texas Law Firm today for a free consultation and find out how we can help you.
