I was in a car accident, and when you are first in a car accident, you don't really know the full extent of your physical injuries until afterward. Three days after the accident (I experienced) exceptional pain. After taking off of work and then going to see several doctors that's where the amount of time of me leaving work began to pile up on me, and I thought, "Ok, I need to go see an attorney." I found Mr. Grossman, and he helped me out substantially.
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D. Flores
Automobile Accident Case
Dallas Car Accident Lawyer
Accident Lawyer Michael Grossman Discusses the Basics of Car Accident Cases
Most people are involved in a car accident at some time or another in their lifetimes. Sometimes these accidents are minor fender benders resulting only in slight property damage. In other cases, accidents can result in grave consequences causing injuries with lifelong effects.
No matter how minor or how severe your accident, you need to make sure that your rights are protected. In some car accident cases you may be able to fight for your rights on your own. In other circumstances, it pays to have a Dallas car accident lawyer on your case. In this article, Dallas car accident lawyer Michael Grossman explains some of the basics of car accident law so that you’ll know what the legal process entails and whether you should consider hiring an attorney. In this article, we’ll discuss:
- What you’ll need to prove your case
- What it means if an insurance company is involved in your case
- When you can handle your own claim and when an attorney can help
- How to choose the right lawyer for your case
If you have additional questions regarding your legal rights, or if you aren’t sure whether you need a lawyer, call us at 1-855-326-0000 (toll free). At no cost to you, we’ll tell you our opinion.
What it Takes to Win
In litigation involving car accidents, the burden of proof generally falls on the plaintiff to prove his case. The defendant is presumed to be not liable for the plaintiff’s injuries. Only once the plaintiff uses evidence to prove that the defendant should be held responsible for the plaintiff’s injuries will the plaintiff be entitled to recover anything.
As the plaintiff in a car accident lawsuit, the first thing you’ll need to prove in order to win your case is that the defendant breached the duty of care that he owed you. Nearly all drivers owe each other a duty of care to drive reasonably in order to avoid hurting other motorists and pedestrians. If a driver accidentally or intentionally drives in a way that a reasonable person wouldn’t, even for a split second, he is said to have violated his duty of care. For example, if a person drives while under the influence of alcohol, and speeds through traffic while swerving in and out of lanes or runs a red light, in most cases he will have breached his duty of care.
Next, in order to recover, an accident victim must demonstrate that his injuries were caused by the defendant’s breach of the legal duty he owed the victim. Since other drivers or pedestrians may have been involved in your accident, it’s common for a defendant to try to argue that one of these third parties, or even you, was to blame for the wreck. Proving that the defendant in your case caused your accident usually requires evidence that a Dallas car accident lawyer can help you locate and present to the judge and jury.
Finally, you’ll need to demonstrate that you suffered injuries for which you should be compensated. The injuries you have suffered as a result of your accident are probably immensely apparent to you. You may have a stack of repair bills and hospital bills that you can’t pay. Maybe you’ve been in pain every day since the wreck occurred. Or perhaps you’ve been unable to return to work since the accident. Just because the extent of your injuries is clear to you, don’t expect the judge and jury to take your word for it. You’ll need to calculate just how much you’re entitled to be compensated and bring evidence of your injuries to substantiate your calculations.
The Role of Insurance
In Texas, every vehicle is required by law to have insurance, but the reality is that many drivers elect to break the law and drive uninsured. Whether the driver responsible for causing an accident was insured or uninsured can make a big difference in the outcome of your case.
If the other driver was insured, you’ll be negotiating your claim with an insurance company and its adjusters. The good news in this situation is that, because there is an insurance policy in place, theoretically there is money available to compensate you for your injuries. The bad news is that this money will probably not be readily available. Instead you’ll probably have to fight for it. Insurance companies don’t exist to help people; they are businesses which exist in order to make money. Whenever they have any discretion to do so, insurance companies use investigators, lawyers, and adjusters to try to deny accident victims’ claims or pay accident victims as little as legally possible.
On the other hand, if one or more drivers involved in your accident didn’t have insurance, the driver who caused the wreck may be expected to foot the bill for your injuries entirely on his own. Though you won’t be dealing with sophisticated insurance companies and their teams of ruthless professionals if there’s no insurer involved in your case, you may face a different challenge. If the defendant involved in your case were rolling in money, chances are that he’d have bought insurance for his car. Often, uninsured defendants are unable to properly reimburse accident victims for their losses. If you and the defendant in your case are uninsured, a Dallas car accident lawyer can perform an asset check on the defendant to see exactly how much the defendant is worth, even if the defendant is trying to hide his resources. If the defendant is truly financially incapable of paying you, however, there’s little that can be done to overcome this situation. It’s a sad reality that many plaintiffs are never able to recover what they should be owed from an uninsured driver.
Signs you Need a Dallas Car Accident Lawyer
It’s rarely a good idea to represent yourself after you’ve been hurt by someone else, but some car accident cases present exceptions to this rule. Generally speaking, if the only injuries you suffered in a wreck were injuries to your car or other property, you probably can handle your claim on your own. On the other hand, if you sustained any sort of physical injury to your body, it’s best to have a lawyer on your case.
If you haven’t been injured personally in a wreck, it may be possible for you to protect your legal rights without the assistance of an attorney. This is because in cases involving mere property damages, insurance companies are generally bound to follow strict guidelines when determining how much to compensate accident victims for their losses. In these kinds of cases there’s little wiggle room for an insurance company to use discretion to rip you off.
If you’ve been involved in a wreck and only your car has been damaged, the first step to recovering for your property damage is to exchange information with the other driver. Be sure you take down his contact information and information about his insurance. Drive your car, or have it towed, to a mechanic. The mechanic will submit the repair bill directly to your insurance company. Your insurance company will pay the mechanic, and then send the bill to the other driver’s insurance company for reimbursement. Occasionally, the two insurance companies will dispute which of them should ultimately be responsible for footing the bill. When this happens, the two companies are typically able to come to an agreement on their own, without your intervention. If the amount in dispute is over $5,000, however, you may need to get involved and may need to hire an attorney to assist you with your claim.
Cases in which you’ve suffered physical injuries are much different because insurance companies don’t need to follow guidelines when deciding how much to compensate you. Instead, they’re perfectly within their rights to refuse to pay you anything. In order to recover, you’ll need to meet your burden of proof as we’ve discussed above. If your injuries are in any way physical, such as whiplash, broken bones, head injuries, or back injuries, or require one or more doctor’s visits either now or in the future, you should consider hiring a Dallas car accident lawyer to assist you with your claim. In these cases, having a lawyer on your side can make the difference between recovering a large settlement and recovering nothing.
Even if your accident didn’t leave you with any bodily injuries, there are many other situations in which you should consider hiring a lawyer for assistance with your claim. If you ignore these warning signs and continue to pursue your claim without an attorney, you run the risk of not recovering what your case is really worth.
- The other driver gives you trouble
If the other driver involved in your accident starts giving you trouble, this could be an indication that he’ll make it hard for you to recover for your injuries. If a driver refuses to give you his contact or insurance information, or if he doesn’t want you to call the police to report a wreck, these could be signs that you’ll need a lawyer to help you protect your rights.
- You can’t afford healthcare
After a car accident, the costs of getting treatment for your injuries can be high. Many people living in and around Dallas don’t have health insurance, and those who do have health insurance may not be able to afford their deductibles or may find that the treatment they need isn’t covered under their plan. After a wreck, some accident victims avoid getting the treatment they need because they are worried about the financial repercussions of taking time off from work to get care.
If you’ve been injured in a car accident, getting medical help is not only critical to your health, it’s also important to your legal case. The Dallas car accident lawyers at Grossman Law Offices can make sure that you get the medical care that you need, even if you didn’t think you could afford it. We’ll put you in touch with a doctor who will work with you and take your circumstances into consideration. Additionally, we can explain how the wages you lose when you take time off of work to get medical help may be reimbursable by the defendant in your case.
- The insurance company tries to pressure you
Insurance companies are in business for profit, not in business to help people. After an accident, insurance companies will often pressure accident victims to try to get them to settle their cases for small amounts of money. If you accept a settlement from an insurance company rather than taking your case to trial, you’ll be giving up your legal right to sue the defendant for more money to compensate you for your injuries. As long as you get a fair settlement offer, a settlement is a good thing—you get your money faster and without the uncertainty always involved in a jury trial. On the other hand, if you accept an unfair settlement offer, you’ll be forever waiving your rights to collect what your case is really worth. Don’t trust an insurance company that offers to settle your case before you’ve hired an attorney. Always have settlement offers reviewed by a lawyer before you accept.
Additionally, consider hiring an attorney if the insurance company involved in your case takes any one of the following actions:
- Harassing you with repetitive phone calls and endless questions.
- Trying to get you to admit that you aren’t really hurt, or that you caused the accident.
- Refusing to provide you with a rental car while your car is still in the shop.
- Making you a settlement offer and telling you it is “more than you’re entitled to” or “the best they can do”.
- Telling you that they will pay your medical or repair bills after you submit them for payment, and then refusing to pay once you’ve sent them in.
- You have a bad feeling about how your case is being handled
If you don’t like how your claim is being handled by the insurance company, trust your instincts! Always keep in mind that the insurance company’s interests are directly opposed to yours. While you’re trying to collect what’s fair for your injuries, they’ll be hard at work trying to deny your claim or pay you as little as possible. If you’re worried about how your claim is being handled, call the Dallas car accident lawyers at Grossman Law Offices. We’ve won cases and settlements against nearly every major insurance company in the country. Insurance companies know about us. We can get their attention and make sure that your claim is handled properly.
How to Choose the Right Dallas Car Accident Lawyer for your Case
There are a lot of lawyers in the Dallas area. Choosing the one that’s right for your case may seem like an overwhelming task. While the process of choosing an attorney is very important, it doesn’t need to be difficult. At Grossman Law Offices, we recommend that you interview two or three lawyers before settling on the one you want to handle your case. Ask each attorney about his track record for settling and winning cases like yours. Find out what he thinks the strengths and weaknesses of your case are, and see if he can put you in touch with a former client whose case was similar to yours. Ultimately, you should be looking for a lawyer who has experience winning cases like yours and who you can trust.
At Grossman Law Offices, our Dallas car accident lawyers have been handling car accident litigation for the past twenty years. We’ve seen all kinds of accidents and all kinds of injuries. Chances are that we’ve already seen a case similar to yours and that we’re accustomed to negotiating with the very insurance company involved in your case. In every car accident case that our lawyers take, we handle every aspect of our clients’ claims. Some of the services that we offer in every case that we handle include:
- Calculating how much your medical bills will ultimately amount to and sending a demand to the defendant for that amount before your bills come due.
- Conducting investigations to identify all of the parties responsible for your wreck, including drivers, pedestrians, passengers, manufacturers, and others.
- Taking all calls from the insurance company and their adjusters so you won’t be bothered by them.
- Submitting your medical and repair bills directly to the insurance company, so you can concentrate and getting better rather than on paperwork and meeting deadlines.
- Gathering and preserving evidence such as photographs, witness statements, police reports, and measurements that you’ll need to prove your case.
- Helping you get medical treatment, even if you didn’t think you could afford to see a doctor.
- Using our reputation to pressure the insurance company to pay you the highest settlement possible.
- Mediating your case.
- Taking your case to trial if necessary.
If you’d like more information regarding what our Dallas car accident lawyers can do to help you or if you’d like a free individualized consultation, call us at 1-855-326-0000 (toll free). Our team is available around the clock to take your call any day of the week. We’ll be happy to explain your options and tell you how we can be of service.
Recovery for client who suffered soft tissue neck injuries in a relatively minor car accident.
$41,500.00
$16,600.00
$918.00
Recovery for client who suffered soft tissue neck injuries in a car accident.
$40,000.00
$13,333.00
$50.00
Our firm was hired to pursue a claim against a negligent following a rear-end car accident. The plaintiff was driving her vehicle in traffic on I-30 in Dallas, TX when the defendant approached from behind and collided with her vehicle, pushing it into the vehicle in front of her. The plaintiff sustained disc compression and herniation at C3-4 which required surgery to rectify. The defendant's ultimately accepted liability but heavily disputed the damages. Under threat of litigation, the defendants raised their offer. Our attorneys continued to aggressively negotiate on behalf of our client and a satisfactory result was eventually obtained.
$225,000.00
$95,000.00
$2,500.00
Recovery for car accident victim who suffered back injury resulting in surgery.
$100,000.00
$33,000.00
$100.00
Recovery for woman who suffered a back injury in a car accident.
$80,565.00
$32,226.00
$1,600.00
Recovery for client who suffered nerve damage and required steroid injections as a result of a car accident.
$150,000.00
$50,000.00
$4,800.00
Recovery for the driver of car that was side-swiped by an 18-wheeler. Plaintiff suffered muscle aches, pains & dizziness.
$30,000.00
$10,000.00
$500.00
(policy limits) A husband and father of three was killed when the driver of an 18-wheeler veered into oncoming traffic, striking the young man's vehicle and several others. The defendant was employed by a small construction company that operated only a single 18-wheeler. As such, the defendants were largely underinsured and were not financially solvent.
Furthermore, the defendants had an eroding insurance policy and numerous other parties were intent upon filing claims of their own since the 18-wheeler struck multiple other vehicles. This created the need for an aggressive and rapid response before the other claimants could erode the policy.
Defense counsel made it clear that they wished to litigate the case despite the insurmountable liability arguments that our attorneys presented. They intended to designate a third party as a responsible defendant since the accident happened in a construction zone, even though it was abundantly clear that the construction zone played no role in the crash.
Additonally, the defendants made it clear that they wished to downplay the extent of the damages by virtue of a character assasination on the decedent. Fortunately for our clients, our firm has successfully litigated against the defendant's insurer in nearly a dozen cases, so the carrier was quite aware of our courtroom capabilities. We presented a sample lawsuit to the defendant's insurance carrier and informed them that the lawsuit was to be filed the moment that they refused to settle.
Additionally, our attorneys submitted a Stowers' Demand with a brief window of time for the defendants to respond. We made it abundantly clear that we intended to seek punitive damages and that we would assert the full limits of the carrier's exposure under the Stowers' Demand should the carrier not offer policy limits.
The defendant's attorney adamantly persuaded the carrier to litigate, however, our attorney's threats of litigation, past track record, and incredibly aggressive pre-litigation actions convinced the insurance carrier to disregard their own attorney's advice and to settle the case, lest they face our attorneys in court.
Had our clients been represented by virtually any other firm who did not have our specific track record or who would have not recognized that this case required special and immediate attention coupled with an abnormally aggressive stance, the client's would have certainly been tied up in litigation for years, with the limited supply of funds rapidly depleting since the other claimants who did not need to litigate would have essentially had right of first refusal.
$1,000,000.00
$333,333.00
$0
Recovered for client who suffered soft-tissue back injuries and leg contusions in an 18-wheeler accident.
$90,000.00
$30,000.00
$562.00
The mother of a young man hired our firm to investigate the death of her son following a fatal car accident. The incident occurred as one of the two vehicles involved ran a red light and drive into the path of the other. The defendant was driving a work vehicle for a construction company. The defendant survived the accident and stated to police that the decedent caused the accident. The police could not conclusively determine who was at fault, yet the police report strongly implied that the decedent was likely at fault based on the statement provided by the defendant.
The plaintiff's mother was not convinced. Through a thorough investigation, we ultimately determined that the stoplight that the defendant claimed that our client ran, in fact, worked on a timer whereby the light was always green between certain hours unless a vehicle traveling on the intersecting road had been stopped at the right light for more than 30 seconds. Based on an analysis of the vehicles and tire markings, it was conclusively determined that both vehicles were traveling at the speed limit, which clearly indicates that the defendant driver had not accelerated from stop, rather, he was traveling at the speed limit, which would not have triggered a green light for the defendant.
The logical implications of this information is that the light could not have been red for the plaintiff, and it certainly would have been red for the defendant. As a consequence of this information, the case was resolved through litigation.
$335,000.00
$134,000.00
$63,000.00