Garland Personal Injury Attorney

Attorney Michael Grossman Can Help You if You've Suffered a Personal Injury in Garland, Mesquite & Rowlett

For the past two decades, Grossman Law Offices has assisted thousands of clients in countless types of personal injury and wrongful death cases.

Today most firms prefer what’s known as “general law” but we’ve elected to focus on two areas to give our clients the best possible assistance in those two arenas. This approach has helped our attorneys become better equipped and skilled and attain the kind of experience that few can match.

That’s why when you retain Grossman Law Offices for your legal assistance in your personal injury or wrongful death case you are teaming up with a group of lawyers who don’t just occasionally handle personal injury occasionally, but are rather a very qualified, successful firm that devotes all of its time to working cases just like yours.

We are here to assist victims of such things as brain injuries, spine injuries, soft tissue damage, any kind of catastrophic injury, broken bones, concussion or any other sort of bodily injury or assault. Our lawyers have 20 years of experience helping clients in Garland and Mesquite get compensated for a litany of matters including dog bites, birth injuries, 18-wheeler accidents, head injuries, and construction accidents to car crash cases, compensation resulting from being involved in a case of battery, slip and fall cases due to ice-wet floors, wrongful death cases, and lots more. Over the past two decades, we’ve prevailed in thousands of personal injury cases helping tons of clients get compensated for financial damage, pain and suffering, medical bills and any other kind of damages.

There are several subsets found within personal injury law and while we’ve worked all kinds of personal injury cases in Garland, Mesquite and Rowlett, there are multiple kinds of Texas personal injury cases that our personal injury attorneys at Grossman Law Offices are very experienced in.

What is a Personal Injury?

Anyone can get injured but that doesn’t automatically qualify them for having a credible legal case. The question then becomes: When does an injury qualify as a personal injury in the legal world? In judicial speak, the term personal injury is used to refer to the physical injury and the emotional consequences that are the result of the choices or inaction of another individual. Despite what popular culture says, you can’t automatically sue anyone that causes you to be injured for any purpose. The injured person, known in the judicial system as the plaintiff, is required to prove in court that the other person caused their injury. That other individual, referred to as the defendant, owed the victim a duty to not hurt them. For example, if there’s a drug-riddled man who attacks a cop and that cop hurts the man while defending himself, the suspect won’t be able to sue the cop because the cop didn’t owe him a legal duty to keep him safe. However, if your husband or wife flips out and assaults you, you’ll have the option to pursue a lawsuit against that person because they owe you a legal duty not to injure you. In both examples, an assault took place which led to an injury but only the second example could lead to a court case because the defendant violated a legal duty that the plaintiff was owed and in the first example, that wasn’t owed. The purpose of a personal injury claim is about showing the defendant had a responsibility to not harm you, showing their actions did cause harm and showing that harm caused credible injuries or emotional distress. It’s up to you, as the injured party, to prove your case. But to do that, you have to make sure you follow the rules and guidelines established by the court system, which can be a rigid issue. Most people permanently damage their personal injury case due to their unfamiliarity with the court system, the way procedures occur, how to file motions and pleadings, how to get necessary evidence admitted, etc. Every case has a fact pattern but the details of your case, regardless of how strong and positive they may seem, are worthless if you don’t know the guidelines under which to submit all of it in the official record. You need to realize: It’s not what you know, it’s what you can prove, and you can’t prove your case if you lack the ability to follow the necessary steps to get ALL the required facts of your case admitted. It may seem easy, but is far more complicated and another reason why you need the help of a qualified attorney for your personal injury case.

What Purpose Does a Personal Injury Lawsuit Serve?

There are two goals with personal injury lawsuits. The first is to assist victims in recovering financially from the stresses they’ve endured from the defendant’s actions. You may think it’s insensitive to say that money can help you with your emotional and medical issues you’ve endured, but the reality is that families are hit with huge financial burdens when personal injuries occur. Medical expenses, repairs, and other forms of bills can pile up, especially when the victim is the chief income earner and can’t return to work due to their injuries. The second goal with personal injury lawsuits is to give victims the ability to make sure those who are liable are held accountable for their choices. When you make sure defendants face justice, you lessen the chance that he or she will endanger others in the future.

What is a Solvent Defendant?

Since one of the aims of a personal injury lawsuit is to obtain money from the individual who caused your injuries, it’s usually a waste of time to file a lawsuit if the defendant has no means in which to pay it. Let’s say for instance that a homeless man hurls a rock from an overpass, and that rock hits your windshield and causes you to have a wreck. Even if the homeless man was clearly at fault for your injuries, there would be no point to bring a lawsuit against the man because the homeless man has no way to compensate you for your injuries. When a defendant has no way to pay you damages as a way of compensating you, the defendant is referred to as being insolvent. A defendant’s insolvency is a tragic issue for a plaintiff to be hit with, but it is something that does occur occasionally.

In a lot of cases, a defendant will say they’re insolvent but actually have plenty of assets to assist you with your injuries. When some people fear they’ll be involved in a lawsuit because they’ve hurt someone else, they’ll do whatever it takes to hide their assets and make it look like they’re insolvent. Many companies elect to do this quickly. If the defendant in your case has chosen to do this, and you can’t discover the true amount of their resources, chances are you won’t be able to get a proper indication about your case’s worth. At Grossman Law Offices, our personal injury lawyers do an asset check of the defendant in virtually every case we work in Garland, Mesquite and Rowlett. If the person liable for your injuries is trying to hide anything, rest assured that we’ll locate it.

How is a Personal Injury Lawsuit Won?

It’s a common misconception that the victim of a personal injury lawsuit will instantly have the ability to get paid by the party that caused their injuries. The Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code states that personal injury victims have the ability to pursue compensation for their injuries, but aren’t entitled to collect a dime. Since the defendant doesn’t automatically owe you anything, if you want to get help for your losses you’ll need to get a successful settlement or verdict.

We’ve seen plenty of jury trials watching sitcoms or movies, but the truth is that most cases never reach trial status. Instead, the bulk of them are settled out of court. Settling your case for an agreed upon sum is one choice in how to prevail with your lawsuit. When a settlement takes place, the defendant says they will pay the plaintiff a specific sum of money for their injuries even though it hasn’t been ordered by a judge. With that, the plaintiff also says they will not sue the defendant for more money down the road. If you elect to get a fair settlement offer, you’ll benefit with your time, expenses and also avoid the unknown factors that happen in a jury trial. On the flip side, if you’re manipulated into take an improper settlement, you’ll never be able to get what your case is truly worth. That’s why it’s critical to have a lawyer look over any settlement offer in a Rowlett personal injury case. Offers you’ve received before you retain legal assistance usually aren’t fair, but they’ll become binding once you take them. All that changes when you get an attorney who can use their reputation to persuade the defendant in your case into settling for a fair amount.

Getting a fair settlement isn’t just like your normal business transaction. It’s not like haggling for a price of a car or some other everyday purchase. It’s extremely bad to believe that since you have the track record of prevailing in the business world that you have the skills to negotiate a fair settlement offer. The only thing a defendant is concerned with is having to possibly dish out more money, especially when the defendant’s insurance company is involved. If they come forward with a $10,000 claim it’s because they know there’s a strong change the jury could eventually have them pay $50,000 for example. When a non-attorney tries to throw out a threat of a potential lawsuit at an insurance company, they are coming into a fight with no bullets. Stop and think about it: If you were to walk up and challenge one of the UFC champions to a fight, and you’ve never entered the octagon, they won’t waste a second with you and blow you off. But if you’ve been doing mixed martial arts and have a winning record, he will take you seriously. Insurance companies and defense attorneys take the same approach. The Garland personal injury lawyers at Grossman Law Offices have succeeded against every big time US insurance company in the last two decades. Insurers know about our reputation, and usually prefer to settle cases fairly with our clients than headed to court and take on our attorneys.

Some Texas personal injury cases don’t settle, and so they wind up in trial. To prevail in trial, you’ll need to give evidence to meet the burden of proof on each of the four factors of a personal injury claim. Those factors are duty, breach, causation, and damages. We’ll now address each of these in more detail:

Duty

To prevail in your case, the first step is to properly show what duty of care the defendant owed you. In various instances, all of us owe different duties of care to behave in a way that won’t cause others harm. The most well-known duty of care is the duty to behave in a way so that no one else is hurt. Though the “reasonable person standard” is the most used duty of care, the standard differs depending on the instance involved and the relationship between those individuals involved. Here are some instances where the reasonable person standard can’t be used:

• You probably have noticed signs in stores that are trying to protect you and ensure your safety. For instance, you’ll see one sign at a store warning about an oncoming step, that a floor was just mopped, or that you shouldn’t leave expensive items in your care. Most of us wouldn’t be concerned about friends needing to think about these things when they drop by for a visit, so what’s the point of businesses doing it? It’s because store owners owe customers who come to their stores a huge duty of care - far higher than the duty we owe to friends and family who come to our homes. But what happens when the visitor is a robber trespassing after hours, and not just a normal customers? Does the store owner owe the visitor the same degree of caution? In most instances, the answer is a resounding no. The applicable duty of care differs greatly depending on the visitor’s intentions.
• Doctors and other healthcare experts are professionals who have invested several years in learning how to properly treat and diagnose patients. Because of their years of experience and training, we expect more from this group in using their knowledge when assisting and diagnosing their patients. As a result, healthcare workers usually owe a higher duty of care to their patients than they owe to other individuals. For example, while on the job, a doctor has to use the care of a reasonable doctor, and not just the care required from a regular citizen.
• How much care does your boss owe you to ensure a safe workplace while your working on the job? The answer to this question has a lot to do with your manner of employment. If you are on staff and a salaried employee, your employer owes you a rather sizable duty of care, and must adhere to safe working conditions for your well-being. On the other hand, temp workers/freelancers, contractors and volunteers (in some cases volunteers are given a legal duty) have to shoulder their own burdens for making sure their work conditions are safe. Employers don’t have to worry about keeping a safe workplace when it comes to their duty of care.
• How cautious do we have to be to watch out for people riding in our cars? Some states have laws that provide clear distinctions between paying passengers and nonpaying people who are guests in our vehicles. In those places,a a driver has to be far more careful to protect the safety of a paying passenger than he does to protect a buddy needing a ride to his or her job.
• Children usually don’t have to meet the same guidelines that adults do. Instead, they usually face a far smaller standard of care, and that hinges on their experience and age. There are exceptions to this, however. For instance, children who participate in adult activities, like driving a car, will be held to the same standards and rules applying to adults.

To gain a fully understanding about the duty of care relating to your Texas personal injury case, the best decision you can make is to talk with an attorney. Texas civil law is linked to joint and several liability. That means numerous defendants can be deemed the proximate cause of a plaintiff’s injuries and the plaintiff has the option to sue each of them. It’s crucial to talk to a lawyer in order to make sure all the necessary people have been located and included. For example, when you’re hurt and your car is totaled by a drunken driver, under Texas law you can sue both the drunk and the establishment that over-served the motorist to the point of intoxication.

Breach

Once you’ve properly showed which duty of care relates to the defendant in your matter, you’ll then need to provide factual proof that the defendant broke the duty of care he or she owed you. When the reasonable person standard is used, defendants violate their duty of care when they act in a manner that regular people wouldn’t, or don’t take measures that normal people would to ensure the safety of others.

There are three manners in which defendants usually break their duty of care. The first is when a defendant breaches his duty of care through negligent behavior. Negligence is what we commonly refer to as a mistake or accident. If a defendant behaves in a careless manner even for a second, he can be found liable for the consequences of that result. The second way is through gross negligence, which is a far greater form of negligence. A defendant has committed a grossly negligent act when they do something that has a high probability of injuring other people. For example, a person who drives drunk is deemed grossly negligent and violates the duty of care owed to other drivers. The third way is that a defendant intentionally breaches his duty of care. It shouldn’t be a shock that if an individual does something with the goal of hurting another person he can be held liable for his actions.

After you’ve shown that the defendant breached the duty of care you deserved, you’ll have to show his or her choices caused your injuries. This can become difficult, especially if lots of people have played a party in your being injured. A lot of times defendants will choose to switch the blame from themselves to other parties, or even you, in hopes of dodging responsibility. If you don’t have enough evidence to show it was the defendant who hurt you, you’ll walk away being defeated.

Damages

The last step is that your lawyers will have to show how much you’re entitled to obtain in damages from the defendant. The total sum is often debated in Texas personal injury cases, so it’s key to be able to calculate your damages and have facts to provide credibility to your injuries so you can let others see your calculation was spot on.

It’s crucial to give enough factual evidence with every part of your personal injury case when you go to trial. If you don’t have evidence for even one of these elements, you’ll lose your lawsuit and get nothing for your injuries. A lawyer - whether in Garland, Mesquite or Rowlett - who focuses on personal injury cases, like those attorneys at Grossman Law Offices, can compile evidence you’ll need to succeed in your case and present it in a way to sway the jury in your favor.

What Damages are Available to Personal Injury Victims?

There are two forms of damages that can be obtained in most Texas personal injury cases. Special damages are the damages that assist the plaintiff with actual economic losses. Lost income, loss of earning capacity, and medical expenses may all fall under the realm of special damages. Even though these are tangible losses, totaling them can be difficult. For instance, damages for loss of earning capacity serve the plaintiff when they’ve been unable to earn extra income since their injuries don’t allow them to return to work. A logical way to total loss of earning capacity is to multiply an accident victim’s income prior to their injuries by the number of years left until he or she retires. This approach though is far too simple. The calculation of this type of damages must also factor in potential promotions and raises that the victim could have had if they kept on working. The time value of money must also be taken into account. The attorneys at Grossman Law Offices know how to total special damages and how to include all of these details.

The second form of damages that a plaintiff can recover is general damages. General damages assist a plaintiff with the non-economic losses they’ve been hit with following a personal injury like pain and suffering and other kinds of emotional suffering. Because of the intangible nature of the loss, putting a value on these kinds of injuries usually isn’t straightforward. In fact, the total general damages changes greatly with each situation, even when the injuries are strikingly similar. To figure out what your general damages may be, call a veteran personal injury attorney in Garland, Mesquite or our Rowlett locations.

How Grossman Law Offices Can Help

Because we work primarily on Texas personal injury claims, the attorneys at Grossman Law Offices are equipped to handle all facets of Texas personal injury cases. We handle parts of our clients’ claims from start to finish. We know how to spot the defendants liable for your injuries and make sure they’re held accountable.

If you want more information about what we can do to assist you or if you would rather get a free consultation regarding your particular legal issue, contact us toll free at 1-855-326-0000. Since our goal is to give strong communication to personal injury victims, we’re here 24 hours a day, seven days a week to talk to you and answer any question you have.