Legal and family matters · 10 guides
Personal Injury Attorney: problems and fixes, explained by Courtny
Courtny Garcia is the only personal injury attorney member of BNI Preston Center. These guides are written for a Dallas–Fort Worth reader who has the problem right now: what is happening, what to check, when to call, and what it costs.
- Your family lost someone in a crash: who can file a Texas wrongful death claim Texas law decides exactly who may bring a wrongful death claim and when. Knowing those rules early lets a grieving family protect its rights without having to make rushed decisions. Who may bring the claim, in plain termsTwo claims, not one: wrongful death and the survival actionFamily members the statute leaves outThe two-year deadline and the rules that can shorten it
- You fell in a store or parking lot: when a Texas slip and fall is a real claim A fall in a store is not automatically the store's fault. Texas law asks what the owner knew or should have known, and the evidence that answers that question disappears quickly. The honest answer for anyone who just fellFour things Texas law asks an injured customer to proveHow long was the spill there? The question that decides most fall casesSteps to take in the first days after a fall
- Who pays the medical bills after a Texas crash: PIP, UM or the other driver's insurer The at-fault driver's insurer usually pays at the end, not while the bills arrive. In the meantime, your own PIP, MedPay, health insurance and uninsured motorist coverage do most of the work, in a particular order. Several policies can pay, and the timing is different for eachYour own PIP pays first, no matter who caused the crashMedical payments coverage and health insurance fill the next gapsThe at-fault driver's liability coverage pays at the end
- What a personal injury lawyer really costs in Texas, and what you take home Most injury lawyers in Texas cost nothing up front and are paid a percentage of what they recover. The real question is what comes out of a settlement before you see it, and the fee agreement answers that. Nothing up front, a percentage at the endHow a contingency fee works from the first call to the final checkAttorney fees and case expenses are two different thingsWhere the rest of a settlement goes before it reaches you
- Partly at fault, a minor crash, two years to file: injury myths that cost Texans Many injured people talk themselves out of a valid claim, or into a costly mistake, because of something they heard. Here are the myths I correct most often, starting with fault. Yes, partial fault does not automatically end your claimMyth: if I made any mistake, I should not botherMyth: I always have two years to fileMyth: if I feel fine the next day, I was not really hurt
- How long an injury case takes in Texas, from the crash to the check Nobody can honestly promise a settlement date on the first call. What I can explain is the sequence every injury case follows, and which parts of it move fast or slow for reasons you can understand. No honest lawyer can give you a date, but the sequence is predictableStage one: getting treated and building the fileStage two: the demand and the negotiationStage three: filing suit when the offer is not fair
- Hit by an 18-wheeler on a North Texas highway: what to do and what to preserve A crash with a commercial truck is not a bigger car accident. More parties, more insurance and federal records are involved, and the trucking company starts building its side of the story the same day. First steps after a crash with a commercial truckAt the scene, if you are ableWhy an 18-wheeler case is not just a bigger car wreckThe federal records that often tell the real story
- Handling your own injury claim in Texas: when it works and when to stop Plenty of fender benders never need a lawyer. Here is how to run a simple claim yourself, what paperwork you need, and the moments when doing it alone starts to cost you money. Sometimes you can, and this is where the line fallsClaims people usually manage well on their ownThe paperwork you need, whoever handles the claimRunning the vehicle damage claim yourself
- Before you sign with an injury lawyer: the questions that separate one firm from another Every injury firm promises to fight for you. The consultation is where you find out who will actually work on your case, how it will be built, and what happens if the insurer will not pay fairly. The questions that tell you the mostStart by confirming the basicsWho will actually work on my file?How will you build my case, and what if they will not pay?
- The adjuster called before you saw a doctor: what to do after a Dallas car accident Two days after the wreck, your neck hurts, the car is in a lot somewhere and a friendly adjuster wants a recorded statement. Here is how the weeks after a Texas crash actually unfold, what protects your claim, and what an injury lawyer does once you call. The phone rings before the soreness wears offWhy the other driver's insurer is in such a hurryWhat to do in the first week, with or without a lawyerWhen you probably do not need a lawyer, and when you should call one this week