Texas Personal Injury Attorney

You will get better results if you have a legal representative in your corner. If you accept an insurance company’s settlement offer without getting legal advice, you’ll never know if it was fair.

Personal injury attorneys understand the legal issues and know how to evaluate injury claims. While attorneys can’t guarantee you’ll receive a specific settlement amount, they can negotiate with insurers and defense attorneys until they reach the best agreement possible.

Never try to handle your claim on your own. During a consultation, the attorney listens to your version of events and describes your legal options. You can then decide how you wish to proceed.

Personal injuries occur every day, and can affect anyone. Older adults and young children are often the most vulnerable. Some common causes include:

• Premises liability accidents: Premises accidents often occur because an owner fails to maintain their property or warn visitors about a hazard. Falls can cause serious injuries, especially among older adults over age 60. Children can become drowning victims in community, commercial, or residential pools. In one year, drowning accidents claimed 87 children’s lives in Texas and 453 Texas children sustained injuries in near-drowning accidents.

• Vehicle accidents: The Texas Department of Transportation (TDT) Crash Statistics report documented 249,241 vehicle accident injuries and 3,639 people sustained fatal injuries in one year. TDT records indicate that “there were no deathless days on Texas roadways” that year.

• Commercial vehicle accidents: 37,515 of the accidents that occurred in one year involved tractor-trailer rigs, buses, and other commercial vehicles. These accidents caused 1,367 serious injuries and 611 fatalities.

• Motorcycle accidents: 418 motorcyclists lost their lives in crashes in just one year.

• Pedestrian and cyclist accidents: In one recent year, 1,414 pedestrians and cyclists sustained serious injuries and 693 died in accidents.

• Workplace injuries: In one year alone, 90,900 workers sustained injuries while performing job-related duties that caused them to miss time at work. The injured employees were oil rig workers, educators, agricultural workers, and people in many other occupations.

• Dog attack injuries: Dog attacks are a major problem in Texas. San Antonio, Dallas, and Ft. Worth are in the top 10 on the United States Postal Service’s Dog Attack National Ranking List. Houston is number one for the second year in a row. In Texas, to hold a dog’s owner liable, you must prove the dog is aggressive or that the owner knew the dog had previously harmed someone.

Often, more than one person or entity contributes to the causes of a single accident. Under the Texas Proportionate Responsibility Statute, a person or entity is responsible for an injured person’s damages according to their percentage of responsibility.

That’s why it’s important to investigate each case thoroughly and determine the responsible parties as soon as possible.

• Vehicle accidents: A vehicle operator often shares liability with the vehicle’s owner. Owners sometimes are negligent if they allowed someone to drive their vehicle knowing they had a poor driving history.

• Tractor-trailer and bus accidents: When a commercial vehicle driver is operating within the scope of their employment, their employer is also legally responsible for their actions. Employers can be held liable if they knew or should have known that the driver had a poor driving record. Under federal guidelines, commercial trucking companies are responsible for monitoring employee drinking and drug use.

• Workplace accidents: Often, an employee injured on the job may only collect Texas workers’ compensation benefits. If a non-employee, non-employer owned premises, or defective product causes the injury, the employee also has a right to make a claim against the responsible third parties.

• Oil rig accidents: Injured land-based oil rig workers recover benefits under their employer’s workers’ compensation coverage. Offshore workers receive benefits under the Jones Act and other laws. Injured employees also have a right to seek damages from third parties if their negligence or a defective product caused their injuries.

• Premises incidents: Property owners and their security, maintenance, management, and pool maintenance contractors share liability for known premises defects, dangerous conditions, or unsafe operations. Tenants share liability if they contribute to an injury or the injury occurs on a part of the premises that’s under their control.
• Dog bites: An owner is responsible for a dog’s acts if the dog is aggressive or has bitten others in the past.

If you suspect you may have a claim, consult a personal injury attorney. When you’re seriously injured, a personal injury attorney is the best person to give you an honest opinion about your injury claim. Insurance companies look out for their own bottom line, and even your own insurance company is not exactly on your side.

When you’re injured, a personal injury attorney can work on your behalf. They can investigate the circumstances, evaluate your injuries, and assess the legal issues. If you have a valid claim, an attorney can pursue it on your behalf. A personal injury attorney works for you and can describe the best course of action in your particular situation.

Not always. When you’re injured on someone’s property, they’re not automatically responsible. If you want to recover damages, you must prove that the owner was negligent. You must show that they had a duty to keep you safe and that they breached that duty. Often that means proving that the owner knew or should have known about a dangerous condition but failed to correct it. That’s something we can help you with by investigating the circumstances of your accident.

You must have evidence to prove your case. If you’re injured, call for an ambulance. Then, if possible, document any dangerous conditions that contributed to your fall. Your phone is a great tool for this purpose. Use the camera to take pictures of the surrounding area while you have the opportunity. When a defect causes an accident, property owners sometimes correct it before the insurance company investigates.

If you’re in an auto accident, and your injuries or other circumstances don’t prevent you from doing so, take photos or video of the scene before you leave.

A near-drowning occurs when a person ingests water in a pool or other water source and loses consciousness. Unless someone notices them right away, they stop breathing. The victim often suffers anoxic brain damage. Brain damage can cause physical, cognitive, and emotional problems. Children are the most frequent near-drowning victims.

Workers’ compensation fulfills your employer’s obligation to pay for your bills and lost wages if you are injured at work. If a non-employer or subcontractor caused your injury, or if your employer failed to carry workers’ comp coverage, you have a right to file a claim for damages against them. You may also have rights against a manufacturer if a defective product caused your injury. Your rights of recovery are more complicated if you work offshore.

Your duty to report an accident to your insurer depends on the type of accident, the type of insurance, and the policy requirements.

• Health insurance. When you enter a hospital for treatment, the admissions department usually requests your health insurance information before they treat you. No matter how you were injured, healthcare providers take the position that you are responsible for your medical bills. They don’t get involved in liability disputes. If your insurance carrier or HMO has subrogation rights, they may contact you to discuss your version of an accident.
• Auto insurance. If you are involved in an auto accident, your auto insurance policy will require that you give your insurance company the information they need to properly investigate your claim. They must determine if you’re liable for the other driver’s damages. Auto policies often include medical coverage to pay some of your bills. If the other party was at fault but has no insurance, your insurance company may set up an Uninsured Motorist claim to pay your liability damages.
• Workers’ compensation insurance. If you sustain a workplace injury, make sure your employer files a claim with the Texas Department of Insurance Workers’ Compensation Division. They will determine if you qualify for medical and lost income benefits.

An uninsured motorist claim is a liability claim you make against your own insurer. Uninsured Motorist and Underinsured Motorist coverages aren’t mandatory in Texas but an insurer must offer you the coverage.

If you have UM and UIM coverage, your insurer pays your personal injury costs if a negligent driver injures you but:

• The at-fault driver has no liability coverage or liability bond;
• A hit-and-run driver leaves an accident scene unidentified;
• The at-fault driver’s insurer denies coverage or is insolvent; or
• The at-fault driver doesn’t carry the state’s minimum liability coverage.

Subrogation is an insurer’s right to recover the amounts they pay on behalf of their insured. If your insurance company pays your claims and someone else is responsible, they may send a notice advising them of their rights. Even if they don’t notify the responsible party of their financial interest, your policy requires you to protect their interests if you file a lawsuit or settle your claim.

Subrogation gives your insurer the right to a portion of your settlement as reimbursement for the medical bills they paid on your behalf. Auto insurance policies often have subrogation rights for medical bills, vehicle damages, and Uninsured Motorist coverage.

No two liability claims are alike. An injury claim’s value is specific to the circumstances and is based on your injuries, your lifestyle, your marital status, your medical bills, any temporary or permanent disabilities, and many other factors.

Responsible parties initiate their defenses long before plaintiffs and defendants come together to negotiate, mediate, or try a case.

• Reporting: When a negligent party chooses to avoid responsibility, they often begin by submitting a biased report to their insurance carrier. Sometimes they delay the report or wait until the plaintiff files a lawsuit. Reporting delays and misinformation put plaintiffs at a disadvantage when dealing with insurance carriers.

• Negotiation: Insurance carriers sometimes make low settlement offers as part of an overall negotiation and defense strategy. This sometimes forces plaintiffs to file a lawsuit and incur costly trial expenses. Insurers realize that many law firms don’t have the resources to pay trial costs. Injured plaintiffs must weigh the benefits of settling for less than they think they deserve versus incurring additional litigation expenses.

• Evidence: Defendants sometimes withhold important information because it can make it harder for a plaintiff to prove their case. When a plaintiff doesn’t have access to all of the relevant evidence, it becomes a powerful defense tool.
• Affirmative defenses: Defendants sometimes push a case to trial hoping to get it before a favorable jury. They may use affirmative defenses such as:
• The defect was open and obvious.
• The plaintiff assumed the risk.
• There was no defect.
• There was no negligence.
• The plaintiff has proportionate responsibility

At George Salinas Injury Lawyers, we prepare the cases we take on to overcome insurance company and defense attorney strategies. During the early post-accident stages, we conduct comprehensive investigations and case evaluations. We spend time identifying and understanding each element of our clients’ accidents and injuries. Long before we begin negotiations, mediations, or trials, we use our firm’s resources to evaluate the evidence and develop a persuasive presentation.