Houston Car Accident Lawyer

People injured by someone else's conduct, and the families of people killed by it. We act for claimants rather than for insurers or defendants, which matters because it determines whose interests the firm is structured around. In a wrongful death matter the statutory claimants are the surviving spouse, children and parents under § 71.004(a), with the separate survival claim belonging to the estate under § 71.021. Where a minor is injured, a parent or guardian brings the claim and a settlement may require court approval.

Four things, in roughly this order. Preserve the evidence that expires — camera footage, vehicles, electronic data — usually within the first days. Establish liability, which means gathering the crash report, scene evidence, witness accounts and any electronic record, and dealing with the contributing-factor codes the officer recorded. Document the damages, which requires complete medical records, wage evidence and often expert opinion on future care. Then negotiate with the insurer, and file suit if the offer does not reflect the loss. Most of the work happens before any negotiation begins.

Criminal defence, family law and business litigation are outside this practice. Within injury work, there are also claims that are not viable — where nobody else was at fault, where the injury cannot be connected to the incident by medical evidence, or where there is no insurance and no defendant able to pay. A firm that tells you that plainly at the first conversation is more use to you than one that signs the case and lets it drift. It costs nothing to find out which category a matter is in.

The fee is a percentage of what is recovered, and there is no fee if there is no recovery. It is set out in a written agreement you receive before signing. Case expenses — medical records, filing fees, expert reports, depositions, court reporters — are a separate category and the agreement should say how they are treated, including what happens to them if the case does not succeed. Ask for that in writing at any firm you consider, and read the expense provisions as carefully as the percentage.

Investigation and treatment run in parallel, and the case should not settle until you reach maximum medical improvement — settling earlier is irreversible if the injury proves worse than expected. Once treatment concludes, the records and bills are assembled into a demand, negotiation follows, and suit is filed if the response does not reflect the loss. If there is a recovery, medical liens and health insurance or Medicare subrogation are resolved before disbursement, which is why the settlement figure and the cheque are different numbers.

Houston and the surrounding metro from one office at 8313 Southwest Fwy Ste 102. That includes Harris County, plus Baytown, Galveston, Katy, Pasadena, Sugar Land and The Woodlands. Cases are ordinarily filed in Harris County, where the civil district courts sit at 201 Caroline Street, though a matter arising on the western edge of the metro may belong in Fort Bend or Waller County. We serve those areas from Houston rather than maintaining branch addresses, which is a distinction worth stating plainly.

Before the evidence expires, which is much earlier than the legal deadline. Business camera footage near a crash scene is routinely overwritten within days; vehicles are repaired or scrapped; electronic data in commercial vehicles is subject to retention cycles. Texas allows two years from accrual under § 16.003(a), but a governmental defendant requires written notice within six months under § 101.101, and insurance policies impose their own shorter notice conditions. Early contact preserves options; it does not commit you to anything.

When someone else's conduct caused it, there is a documented injury connected to it by medical evidence, and there is insurance or a defendant able to pay. That last element is the one most often overlooked: Texas requires only $30,000 per person from an at-fault driver under § 601.072, so a catastrophic injury caused by a minimally insured driver may be limited by that policy unless another defendant or your own uninsured motorist cover applies. Establishing what coverage exists is one of the first things worth doing.

Because a different body of law attaches to each, and it changes what must be proved and how fast. A truck case is built from federal compliance records held by the carrier, so preservation comes first. A rideshare case turns on which coverage phase the app was in, so the trip data matters most. A workplace case depends on whether the employer subscribes to workers' compensation. A maritime case depends on whether the worker is a seaman. Identifying which framework applies is not a formality — it determines the first week's work.

So you can check them. Most legal marketing describes the law in general terms that cannot be verified, and a reader has no way to tell an accurate summary from a confident one. Every statutory statement on this site cites the section it came from and links to the State of Texas's own published text. If something here is wrong, that link is how you would find out — which is the point. The same principle is why the attorneys publish bar numbers that resolve to the State Bar record.

Compare verifiable things. Every Texas attorney has a Bar number resolving to the State Bar's record showing licence status and disciplinary history. Ask whether anyone on the file is board certified and in what. Ask who handles the case day to day and how often you will hear from them. Ask for the fee agreement in writing before signing. And treat any quoted case value or timeline given before a medical record has been read as what it is — a sales figure rather than an assessment.

It is governed by your medical treatment more than by the legal work. A straightforward claim with completed treatment and clear liability often resolves within months. Disputed liability, serious or permanent injury, multiple defendants, a governmental defendant or a parallel criminal case all extend it, and filing suit adds the court's own timetable. What can honestly be said at the start is what the next three steps are and roughly how long each takes; a specific end date at the first meeting is a guess.