Houston Car Accident Lawyers
Under Texas car accident laws, anyone who is injured because of another motorist’s negligence has the legal right to be compensated. This can sometimes be handled through an insurance company or through a personal injury lawsuit.
Regardless of how compensation is received, it’s meant to cover medical bills, pain and suffering, lost income, and any other form of damages that arise from the car crash. Unfortunately, these cases aren’t always as simple as they should be. Injured victims are often left dealing with medical bills and other expenses while fighting with insurance companies over what they’re owed.
If you were injured by another driver’s negligence, a Houston car accident lawyer can provide candid legal advice and aggressive representation. Having an experienced personal injury law firm fighting for the best possible resolution offers the greatest chance of receiving a fair settlement offer or court award.
At the Law Office of Denise Adkison-Brown, we’re prepared to take on the insurance company and liable parties to ensure you get the compensation and justice you deserve. Proving that monetary damages are owed is a complex process following vehicular collisions, but with a car accident injury lawyer on your side, your chances are greatly improved.
Contact our law firm today for a free consultation, and let us help you find the best way forward with your case.
The High Personal Costs of Houston Car Accidents
The aftermath of a car wreck can look detrimental at the accident scene. Unfortunately, the financial outlook can be even more daunting. Car accidents happen every day in Houston, but they never get any easier for those who experience them. That’s because there are high personal costs that come after most accidents.
Even though the negligent driver’s insurance company should theoretically pay for your losses, the truth is that they’ll often try to minimize your settlement payment. The fact is that these companies are for-profit businesses, and the more they pay you to settle an insurance claim, the less money they can distribute to executives and shareholders.
Dealing with the difficulties faced when the insurance company refuses to make a fair offer is daunting, but the real cost of car accidents comes when you see just how much you’ll lose. Most of us have encountered trouble even when dealing with property damage with our own insurance company, but in more serious accidents with other insurers involved, damaged property is often the least of your worries.
You’ll have to face expensive medical bills, the possible need for continuing treatments, lost wages due to time away from work, potential mental and physical therapy, job retraining, and a host of other financial, physical, and emotional damages.
The treatment and care of catastrophic and disabling injuries—such as traumatic brain injuries and severe spinal cord injuries—are exceedingly expensive. Unfortunately, they’re just the tip of the iceberg. A young person who is disabled may need several millions of dollars worth of surgeries, treatments, drugs, and nursing care over a lifetime. Some traffic accidents are even fatal, leaving the family in emotional turmoil.
A qualified lawyer that handles Houston car accidents can fight hard and advocate aggressively for your complete compensation amount. Insurance companies will try to convince you they have your best interests in mind, but far too many people learn the hard way that this isn’t the case.
How Can a Houston Car Accident Lawyer Help?
A knowledgeable attorney can answer all of your questions after a car accident in Houston. He or she will thoroughly investigate the collision, review the evidence, and interview any witnesses. If it becomes necessary, your attorney will seek additional help with your case from medical authorities and accident reconstruction experts.
Some victims try to handle these steps on their own following car accidents, but this is typically an unwise decision. The fact is that Houston car accident injury lawyers have access to more resources than the average person, and when it comes down to brass tacks, you should be more focused on getting better rather than trying to prove your case.
Even if your case is seemingly cut and dry—as is the case when liability is clear—it’s still wise to have an auto accident attorney on your side. That’s because car insurance companies will do everything they can to trick you into accepting an unfair settlement offer.
What you need is an attorney who deals with insurance adjusters frequently and can stand up for your rights. For an even better shot at fair compensation following car accidents in Houston, you should have an attorney who has worked for these companies in the past. Houston car accident lawyer Denise Adkison-Brown has done just that.
She spent a decade defending insurance companies and liable parties involved in accidents, so she understands all their strategies and how to ensure they don’t reduce the compensation you’re owed.
Our team of Houston car accident lawyers works with every legal tool available to protect our clients’ rights. If you become our client, we’ll fight to get you a fair settlement from the liable party’s insurance company—but if that doesn’t work out, we’re ready and willing to take your case to trial.
And since we offer a free initial consultation and work based on a contingency fee, you can rest assured that you won’t pay a dime unless we win your case. You deserve to recover compensation for your injuries, and if a law firm can’t help you in that endeavor, you shouldn’t have to pay out of pocket.
What Should You Do After a Car Crash?
If you’re injured in a car accident, the first thing you should do is contact authorities. Cases involving motor vehicle accidents will rely heavily on the facts, so it’s important to have police officers respond and document those facts.
If you’re able, you should also take photos of the entire accident scene—along with damage to the vehicles—and gather the contact information of the other driver and any witnesses to the collision. You should also ask for the other driver’s insurance company information. When an officer arrives, make sure your statement is in the police report.
Even with witnesses and photographic evidence, putting your statement on the record immediately following the accident is essential.
If you’re unable to do any of this because of serious injuries, don’t be afraid to ask bystanders or the police officer to gather such information for you. Regardless of whether you’ve suffered a serious injury, though, your next step should be to seek medical attention.
You may hesitate to do this if you feel fine and don’t have health insurance, but this can prove detrimental down the road. Many of the most common car accident injuries don’t cause immediate harm. In fact, even serious damage to the body may go unnoticed during intense periods of adrenaline following a collision.
There are also effects from certain injuries—such as whiplash and head injuries—that may not become apparent until long after the incident.
Even if you feel fine, get checked out within 24 hours of any traffic collision. From that point, do not stray from your doctor’s instructions for medical treatment. Failing to follow your physician’s orders could result in your injury worsening, and this could give insurance adjusters a chance to blame you for your own injury.
This can seriously affect the insurance claims process, and if your case goes to court, the jury may decide that the severity of your injury is partially your fault. Any car crash can be detrimental, but it’s vital that you don’t do anything to make matters worse.
Who’s at Fault in Houston, Texas Car Accidents?
Many people believe there are concrete rules to who’s at fault in certain types of car accidents, but any Houston car accident lawyer can tell you this isn’t the case. For instance, there’s a common belief that the driver in the back during rear-end crash accidents is always at fault.
This simply isn’t the case. There are too many factors involved in collisions to make broad assumptions, and this is why the information in the accident report becomes so vital in these cases. Additionally, Texas car accident law makes the issue of liability even more complex.
That’s because the Lone Star State utilizes comparative negligence rules. This means a driver could be partially at fault for their accident and still have a valid personal injury claim. The nuance here is that the victim’s eventual court award will be reduced by their percentage of fault.
For instance, consider a situation where a victim was speeding down the road and T-boned a car that ran a red light with a drunk driver behind the wheel. The jury may feel that the speeding was 10% of the reason the wreck occurred, but they still think the drunk driver was 90% at fault.
In such a situation, the victim’s award would be reduced by 10%. Fortunately, in serious car accidents, such an award can still go a long way in covering lost wages, future medical costs, and other losses. Such rules regarding liability can go far beyond a single negligent driver and victim.
What if a car accident in Houston occurred when a speeding driver swerved into oncoming traffic—causing a head-on collision with a drunk driver—because a deer carcass had not been removed from the road by local authorities? What if that driver was unable to regain control because their mechanic replaced their wheels and used a brand recalled for tire blowouts?
Such an incident shows just how complex liability can be. This is why it’s so important to speak with an experienced legal team before discussing anything with the insurance carrier of the responsible parties involved in your crash.
Choosing Between Houston Car Accident Attorneys
After suffering an injury out on the road, it becomes necessary to choose between Houston car accident lawyers. After all, there are thousands of lawyers operating in the city, and many of them offer services for those who suffered a personal injury in an auto accident.
The important thing to remember is that not all experienced car accident lawyers are equal. There is more than one great attorney in Houston, but you need to find the law firm that’s best for your particular case. By keeping the following requirements in mind, you’ll find legal representation that can take on the insurance companies and fight for your case in court if it goes to trial.
- Look for long experience as an attorney: An attorney who passed the bar yesterday may be a genius, but they don’t have experience in their field. Your Houston car accident attorney should have years of experience practicing law.
- Find an experienced houston car accident lawyer: Experience as a lawyer isn’t enough. Your attorney must have related experience. A law firm that handles very few car accident cases simply doesn’t have the right experience—even if they’ve practiced law for decades.
- Find someone with trial experience: Since it’s possible to settle with an insurance company without a trial, over 95% of cases never see the inside of a courtroom. If you’ve suffered car accident injuries, though, you should still find Houston car accident attorneys with trial experience.
- Check online reviews: Before choosing a Houston car accident lawyer to handle your car accident claim, check out their reviews online. It’s common for a law firm to have a bad review or two, but you need to check out what folks are rating them on average.
- Find a free consultation: You shouldn’t have to pay huge amounts of money just to find out if you have a valid car accident claim. Find a law office that will provide a free consultation to get you started.
Find a contingency fee basis law firm: Any Houston car accident attorney confident in their abilities works on a contingency fee basis. This means they don’t get paid unless you get paid. Because you shouldn’t lose money when seeking compensation or justice.
It’s a fact that car accident cases are complex. Evidence from the crash will need to be examined, and witnesses will need to be interviewed. This all needs to happen quickly to ensure you get the compensation you deserve. To handle such complex issues, though, you need access to car accident lawyers who know what they’re doing.
Houston car accident attorneys at the Law Office of Denise Adkison-Brown meet all the requirements described above. In fact, Denise spent a decade handling cases for insurance companies and at-fault parties before shifting to helping accident car accident victims.
With more than two decades in law, she is the experienced Houston personal injury attorney you need to ensure you get fair compensation from the negligent driver’s insurance company.
Reach out to Houston Car Accident Injury Lawyers Now
If you are looking at overwhelming medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost time at work, permanent or long-term disability, or any other losses related to car accident injuries, our firm will fight for the compensation you deserve.
Receiving a settlement that doesn’t account for future medical expenses, lost wages, mental healthcare, and other accident-related damages simply isn’t the ideal path. Don’t let an insurance company take advantage of you by signing their paperwork or making a statement prior to speaking with a Houston car accident attorney.
Your legal representation can negotiate a better settlement on your behalf, and they can help navigate personal injury litigation if necessary.
Experienced legal help is your right. If you’re one of the many injured car accident victims who need help due to the actions of negligent drivers, your health and future may be at stake. Don’t waste time wondering whether you have a car accident case.
Contact us today by calling filling out our contact form so a Houston auto accident lawyer can reach out to you shortly. We’ll schedule a free consultation to sit down and talk, and we’ll help you understand the best way to move forward with your car accident case.