At all times I knew he was behind me and that my best interests were his best interests. Above and beyond, he is an exemplary attorney and someone that I would definitely recommend to anyone.

-C. Arguetta
Automobile Accident Case

Houston Car Accident Lawyers

Houston Auto Accident Attorney Michael Grossman Explains What to do if You’ve Been Injured in a Car Accident

Everybody in Houston needs a car to get around, and with all of those drivers on the roads and highways, accidents will inevitably occur.

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If you have been injured in a car wreck, then you may be entitled to file a lawsuit to recover compensation for your injuries from the party or parties who caused the accident.

The Houston automobile accident attorneys at Grossman Law Offices want to help you understand your rights and the obstacles you will face, so that you can best recover the compensation you deserve for the pain and suffering that has been inflicted upon you. You have the right to seek restitution for the medical bills you’ve incurred, the property damage to your vehicle, any lost wages and the emotional or mental anguish you have suffered. However, your chances of recovering the compensation you deserve without an experienced lawyer are slim to none, for your case may be far more complex than it appears.

Our attorneys have been litigating personal injury lawsuits involving auto accidents for 20 years, and we want to provide you with the following information to familiarize you with the legal process and help you determine if you do, in fact, have a case. It should be noted, however, that this informative article is no substitute for the advice of an attorney regarding the specific issues at work in your case.


When Can You File a Personal Injury Lawsuit After an Auto Accident?

There are three prerequisites for every personal injury claim involving a car accident:

  • The victim suffered a physical, emotional or mental injury.
  • Another person caused the victim’s injury by neglecting a legal responsibility owed to the victim. In most auto accident cases, the liable party commits some sort of negligent act that ignores the responsibility of all drivers to provide for the safety of the other motorists, passengers and pedestrians around them on the road. This can mean the responsible party caused the accident directly or contributed to the chain of events that led to the wreck.
  • The injury inflicted monetary loss to the victim, known as damages. A personal injury lawsuit allows victims to be compensated for the damages that they have suffered from the party or parties who caused the harm.

In order to have a winnable personal injury lawsuit, you accident must be able to meet all these requirements. In all likelihood, you still have questions about the specific circumstances of your case, and the Houston auto accident attorneys at Grossman Law Offices are here to help answer any questions you might have. Call us today for a free consultation at 1-855-392-0000 (toll free), and we can help you feel more comfortable about your legal situation by answering any questions you might have. In order to recover from the injuries you’ve suffered, you must receive financial compensation for the harm done.

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When Do You Need a Houston Auto Accident Attorney?

If the only damage you suffered in your accident was to your car or property, then you likely will not need an attorney – the car insurance companies will likely compensate you adequately for repairs to your car or funds for a replacement if the damage to your vehicle is irreparable. If you have been injured in the accident, on the other hand, you need to protect your rights by contacting a Houston auto accident attorney as quickly as you can after the accident. If you encounter certain any of the following red flags, then you must contact an attorney immediately if you want to recover the compensation to which you are entitled:

  • An insurance company asks to record your statement, and then tries to trick you with a barrage of confusing questions.
  • The other driver in the accident acts aggressively towards you or refuses to cooperate.
  • You have never heard of the other driver’s insurance company.
  • You cannot afford to go see a doctor to a lack of funds or medical insurance (Our lawyers can help you find medical treatment with a payment plan you can afford).
  • Before the extent of your injuries is known or the facts of your case have been established, the insurance company offers you a settlement.
  • The insurance company is not offering you a fair settlement to fix or replace your car.
  • The insurance company has not provided a rental car as agreed to in your policy.
  • Either the insurance provider or the liable party gives you a “bad feeling” during any part of the compensation process. If your gut tells you something is wrong, then it probably is.

Over the 20 years that our attorneys have been litigating personal injury lawsuits involving car accidents, we’ve witnessed virtually every conceivable contingency involving car accident cases, and we’ve heard about countless incidences of deserving victims who were denied compensation due to the underhanded tactics of other drivers or their aggressive insurers. Grossman Law Offices offers you our experience and skill to protect your legal rights and ability to secure the damages you deserve.


What Obstacles Will You Likely Face?

The main barrier in your way to securing the compensation you deserve will come from the aggressive insurance adjuster protecting the monetary interests of the insurer. The more money you are seeking for compensation, the harder the insurance company will attempt to protect the policy. Much like with housing in which expensive homes often employ elaborate security systems, insurance companies will put much more effort into trying to defend a policy against a larger claim. While you might be new to filing insurance claims, insurance adjusters do this for a feeling, and they know how to avoid financial responsibility by deflecting blame on you, the victim. Insurance companies are in business to make money, not help people recover from their injuries. Insurance adjusters are solely motivated by increasing company profits. If they can make it appear as if the victim has been partially liable for his or her own injuries, then they can limit the compensation owed. If they can prove the victim was the sole proximate cause of his or her injuries, then they can deny the claim completely.


Low-Ball Settlement Offers

In some instances, insurance providers come to victims with settlement offers in hand. Do not accept this offer or sign an agreement not to sue without first consulting with an attorney of your choosing. When victims are not protected with legal counsel, the insurance companies will often trick them into accepting an unfair and inadequate settlement offer just to resolve the situation. When the insurance company makes such an offer, it virtually always means that they think they will lose more at trial. Many accident victims are so desperate to obtain closure following an accident that they will agree to accept this low-ball settlement. Don’t let this be you because the settlement is likely far less than you deserve and much less than you could obtain through a lawsuit or with your lawyer aggressively negotiating. More importantly, never sign anything that waives the right to seek legal action against the insurance company. If you do so, then there is nothing even the best attorney in the world can do to help you obtain the compensation to which you are entitled. An experienced Houston auto accident attorney can help make sure that you are fairly compensated for the harm that has been done to you and protect you from making the mistake of taking an inadequate settlement.


He Said, She Said – It’s Your Word Against Theirs

As with most things in life, different people can experience the same incident and view it in entirely different ways. Reality, after all, is a matter of perception. Thus, in auto accident cases, there are often differing opinions as to what happened and who caused the accident. In order to identify all of the parties who caused the accident and prove your claim, you need evidence. To find this evidence, you need an attorney with years of experience investigating accident scenes. Relying on the testimony of the victim often results in the victim paying for his or her own damages because the case cannot be proven. The Houston auto accident attorneys at Grossman Law Offices conduct a thorough investigation as soon as we’re hired, and we know how to find the evidence that proves the liability of all responsible parties. We will gather forensic evidence and eye-witness testimony that will take the onus of proving your case off of your own testimony. We examine the scene of the accident, measuring the distance from skid marks to the point of impact. We search out and view any video or photographic evidence. We scour over police reports, and we sequester and inspect all of the vehicles involved in the wreck. We give our clients a better chance of receiving the equitable restitution they deserve by building a sturdy case using all the evidence uncovered by our expert investigative skills.


Proving Up Damages and Swaying the Jury’s Opinion

Not all juries respond favorably to all victims – depending upon their view points and the circumstances of the specific case. In many cases, such as soft-tissue injury cases like sprains, whiplash and pulled muscles, juries are often skeptical of the extent of a victim’s injuries. In reality, these injuries can take months of physical therapy to heel and can often conceal much greater injuries. Without a lawyer skilled in establishing the equity of the damages a victim has suffered – what is known as proving up damages – victims who suffer soft tissue injuries in many cases cannot convince a jury of the severity of the harm. Thus, these plaintiffs are denied the compensation they deserve. Our attorneys have a rolodex stuffed with medical experts who we’ve used to testify on virtually any type of injury a car accident victim could suffer. An expert medical professional can sway even the most reluctant juror.


Multiple Parties Could be at Fault

In many auto accident cases, more than one party committed some form of negligence that contributed to the cause of the accident and the subsequent injuries involved. Of course, the first place to point the blame is on the drivers involved, but there could have been several other negligent parties who led to the accident. If a mechanical malfunction helped cause the accident, then the manufacturer could be liable in the case of a design flaw or the mechanic could be liable in case of a maintenance error. If the driver who injured you was drunk, then you may be able to file a claim against the drinking establishment that served him or her under Texas dram shop laws. If multiple parties are involved, then you will need to file separate claims against all of them if you want to ensure that all the people who have caused your injuries are forced to pay for them. Just as importantly, you will need the help of an experienced Houston auto accident attorney to help establish the relative degree of negligence all of the parties so you know how much damages to pursue from each party. Our attorneys can use our extensive experience assessing damages in other cases to make this process go smoothly.


What a Houston Auto Accident Attorney Can Do for You

Michael Grossman and the Houston auto accident attorneys at Grossman Law Offices want to help you return to your normal life by securing the compensation that will help you rebound from your injuries. We can do a number of things to help you navigate the complex legal process with as much ease and as little hassle as possible:

  • Take over all of the legal work, so you can concentrate on getting better.
  • Serve as a buffer between you and the insurance company, insulating you from their prying questions.
  • File your claim with the insurance company or assume the mantle of negotiations if the claim has already been filed.
  • Conduct a timely and diligent investigation, including: finding surveillance video or photos, locating and interviewing witnesses, measuring details of the physical scene, sorting through the details of police reports, collecting any data from data-logging equipment that might have been involved in the accident, logging all evidence we find so it’s admissible in court.
  • Help you find medical treatment if you don’t have adequate insurance or funds to pay for a doctor.
  • Prepare a demand packet.
  • Negotiate an equitable settlement with the insurance company to spare you the uncertainty of a jury trial.
  • Prepare each case with the assumption that we’re going to trial. Even if a settlement is the goal, a stronger case generally leads to a larger settlement.

Our Houston auto accident attorneys have dedicated the last 20 years of our lives to making sure our clients receive fair compensation, and we will do whatever we can to help you too.


Is This a Do-it-Yourself Job?

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If you opt to handle your own personal injury lawsuit following an auto accident, then you will likely end up empty-handed. Despite glorified depictions in movies, people who attempt to represent themselves without any prior legal experience usually lose. Sure, you can do a Google search to learn about the laws involved in your case; you cannot learn how to litigate your case on the Internet. There is just no substitute for the years of experience necessary to master the complex processes inherent with personal injury lawsuits. A successful lawyer can’t just know the law, but he or she must also know how to follow the proper procedures and apply knowledge of the law in court. If you don’t know the correct procedure, then your claim will fail. Moreover, a history of success in court is integral to the success of your case. Our lawyers have won millions and millions of dollars from every major insurance company in the country, and they know it. Thus, they are much more likely to negotiate with us than someone with no experience whom they think they can beat in court. Often times, our clients receive equitable settlement offers prior to a trial because the insurance companies fear our experience. Think of it like this: if you were having heart surgery tomorrow, would you want the chief of staff performing the surgery for the hundredth time, or would you want a first-time intern. You go with experience.


We Can Help

The Houston auto accident attorneys at Grossman Law Offices have complied 20 years of experience defending the rights of injured car accident victims. We’ve seen all of the tricks employed by insurance adjusters and defense lawyers, and they know we have a long track record of beating them.


Helpful Information

Our attorneys have written the following informational pages to help you get a better understanding of the law regarding your car accident case.


Some of Our Most Recent Successful Cases
$550,000.00 Recovery - Wrongful Death / First Party Dram Shop
A young woman lost her life after a bar over served her to more than three times the legal limit resulting in her burning to death in a single-vehicle accident. Witnesses stated that she was so intoxicated that she could barely make it to her vehicle without assistance. Through litigation, our attorneys ascertained the necessary evidence to prove that the establishment provided alcohol to an obviously intoxicated person, thus resulting in her ultimate demise.
Total Recovery:
$550,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$220,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$25,000.00
$47,500.00 Recovery - Automobile Accident (Broken Leg)
(policy limits) Recovery for client who sustained a broken leg in a car accident.
Total Recovery:
$47,500.00
Attorney Fees:
$19,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$168.00
$225,000.00 Recovery - Automobile Accident (Back Injury)
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.
Total Recovery:
$225,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$95,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$2,500.00
$41,000.00 Recovery - Commercial Vehicle Accident (Soft-Tissue Injuries)
Recovered for client suffered soft-tissue injuries when her car was side-swiped by a dump truck.
Total Recovery:
$41,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$13,666.00
Litigation Expenses:
$50.00
$350,000.00 Recovery - Wrongful Death / First Party Dram Shop
Our firm was hired by the minor child and parents of a young man who was killed in a motorcycle accident after being over served alcohol at a South Padre Island bar. The plaintiffs hired our firm to investigate the claim on the basis that the decedent was over the legal limit at the time of his death. In initial attempts to settle the case out of court, the defendants denied liability. Suit was filed soon thereafter.

The defendants initially argued that the decedent never consumed alcohol on their premises. Through physical evidence and deposition testimony to the contrary, we were able to conclusively prove that the decedent had indeed been drinking at the establishment.

The defendants then asserted allegations that the decedent's minor child was not actually his biological child, which would bar his claim entirely. A DNA test was performed and this argument was defeated.

The defendants then asserted the safe harbor defense. Our attorneys argued that the defendants did not qualify for safe harbor protection due to the fact that their servers were not all licensed providers. However, while this element was being addressed, our attorneys focused their attention on addressing the second element of the safe harbor defense regarding the bar's encouragement of the over service of alcohol. The defendants claimed that they would never serve the double-shot Bacardi cocktails that witnesses claimed the decedent drank several of. We sent private investigators into the bar to order the same drinks that the decedent consumed on the night of his death and the very same bar tenders who over served the decedent, without hesitation, served copious amounts of alcohol to the investigators, all of which was captured on hidden camera.

Once the safe harbor defense was defeated, the defendants argued that the decedent's BAC was low enough at the time of his death (as recorded by the hospital) that he would not have necessarily appeared obviously intoxicated to the servers and therefore the bar should not be held liable even if he had been over served. Eyewitness testimony refuted this.

Additionally, our firm's testifying medical expert reviewed the medical records related to the emergency helicopter flight that transported the decedent to the hospital after his accident. She determined that the EMS technicians administered numerous blood transfusions while in flight. Armed with this newfound data, our medical expert reverse extrapolated and determined conclusively that the decedent's BAC was actually in the range of .19-.21 at the time of the accident, though it was drastically diluted by the time he arrived at the hospital, which accounted for the relatively low BAC found in the hospital's medical records. This testimony proved to be pivotal in the case, resulting in a successful recovery for our clients.
Total Recovery:
$350,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$140,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$40,000.00
$1,150,000.00 Recovery - Automobile Accident (Brain Injury)
(policy limits) Recovery for a child who suffered an in utero brain injury as a result of a rollover car accident.
Total Recovery:
$1,150,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$379,500.00
Litigation Expenses:
$20,000.00
$300,000.00 Recovery - Wrongful Death / Third Party Dram Shop
(policy limits) An incredibly intoxicated driver drove head-on into a vehicle, killing several of the vehicle's occupants. The defendants had limited assets, yet an alternative policy was uncovered, which the defendants argued was non applicable. Under threat of litigation, our attorneys negotiated a settlement for the policy limits.
Total Recovery:
$300,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$132,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$0.00
$125,055.00 Recovery - Automobile Accident (Back Injury Requiring Surgery)
Recovery for client who suffered a back injury resulting in surgery in a car accident.
Total Recovery:
$125,055.00
Attorney Fees:
$41,684.00
Litigation Expenses:
$435.00
$25,000.00 Recovery - Automobile Accident (Soft-Tissue Injuries)
Recovery for the victim of a automobile accident.
Total Recovery:
$25,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$8,250.00
Litigation Expenses:
$100.00
$250,000.00 Recovery - Wrongful Death / Commercial Vehicle Accident
(policy limits) A young mother was killed in an accident involving two commercial vehicles, one an 18-wheeler. The accident occurred as the young woman was a passenger in a vehicle that was traveling down a highway in the early morning hours. Without warning, the vehicle in which she was a passenger collided with a stalled 18-wheeler that parked in the right of way, resulting in catastrophic injuries that claimed the young woman's life soon thereafter.

The authorities initially faulted the driver of the vehicle in which the victim was a passenger, stating that he was using an electronic device rather than paying full attention to the roadway. However, the 18-wheeler was indeed blocking the roadway and plaintiff alleged that the vehicle did not follow the requirements of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act in regard to providing adequate reflective or laminated warning at specific intervals. Further, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendant failed to remove his vehicle from the roadway when he first noticed signs of mechanical failure.

Had he simply moved to the shoulder of the road, plaintiffs argued, his lack of adequate warning signs would have been inconsequential. An initial settlement has been obtained in this case, yet litigation has commenced in full against the remaining defendant, and is currently ongoing.
Total Recovery:
$250,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$78,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$370.00

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