Auto Accident Attorneys in Houston

Attorney Michael Grossman Discusses What To Do After An Automobile Accident

After an auto accident involving you or a family member it is important to take the proper steps to protect your rights. During our lives, most of us will be involved in at least one or two car accidents.

While car accidents may most often be simple fender-bender type collisions, they may of course also range up to the horrific type crashes shown on the nightly news, where there is extensive property damage, serious injuries and even deaths. These latter types of wrecks can leave lasting scars on the lives of driver and passenger alike.

No matter how serious your accident, you are most likely to be able to seek compensation for the injuries that you suffered in the accident. The individual circumstances surrounding your accident will determine how much you are entitled to and will help determine the degree of difficulty you may face in receiving your claim. Michael Grossman and his colleagues at Grossman Law Offices have put together this brief informative article to explain how car accident litigation proceeds here in Texas.

How Good Is Your Claim

Since we have all probably been in an accident at some time or the other, how do you know if you have a case that is strong enough to sue someone for reimbursement for your injuries? Generally, to be successful in the courtroom you must be able to prove four critically important elements.

These four elements are duty, breach, causation, and damages. Lets discuss them now in more detail.

• Duty:

  You first must show that the defendant owed you a legal duty of care to ensure that you do not get hurt. This level of care is set by the law and varies depending on the relationships of the individuals involved as well as the surrounding circumstances. All drivers owe each other the legal duty to drive as a “reasonable person” would drive, so this should be fairly straightforward to prove.

• Breach:

  After proving that the defendant owed you a duty of care, you must next show that the defendant breached, or violated, this duty of care. This most generally will require you to prove that the defendant drove in a manner in which a “reasonable” driver would not have driven. Even if for only a moment that defendant drove in an unreasonable manner then he or she may be considered liable for any consequent injuries. The best way to prove this breach is via evidence, the more the evidence the better. Some typical breaches of a defendant’s duty of care when driving on our roads might include speeding, drunk driving, driving at night without headlights, running red lights and many more types of violations.

• Causation:

  After proving both duty and breach you now must prove that the defendant was negligent and that this negligence was directly responsible for causing your accident. Many times in a car crash there may be more than one possible responsible party; other drivers, pedestrians, and even you could be named by the defendant as potential suspects. Since the defendant wants to avoid fiscal responsibility for his or her actions that defendant will most likely do all that is possible to show that your injuries are not as serious as described, that your injuries were pre-existing, that some third party caused the accident or even that you yourself were responsible for causing your own accident.

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• Damages :

  Finally, you still must prove one more element. You must show that you are entitled to collect damages from the defendant. It is important here to differentiate between the term damages and the term injuries. If you receive a broken wrist in an accident, then that is your injury. If that broken wrist causes you to have $500 in medical bills then that $500 is the amount of your damages. Damages may include such things as medical bills, loss of income because of necessary hospitalization, loss of future earning capacity, auto repair bills and many other things as well.

  Damages are very often contested in a car accident case. Defendants in particular will argue that you are inflating the amount that you really are entitled to receive; they will attempt to portray you as merely looking for a handout. To be able to counter this tactic you must be able to show absolute proof of all your losses; this will substantiate your claim and will allow you to show the jury that you are indeed entitled to the amount requested.

  It is critically important to calculate all your damages comprehensively and accurately. You will only receive one shot at proving up these damages so accuracy is paramount. This, however, may be very challenging. How, for example, do you put a price tag on such intangible things as pain and suffering? In examine a case where a 30 year old with outstanding career prospects is paralyzed in a crash how do you accurately compute the loss of future income without including the financial impact of future raises, retirement plans, insurance benefits? The auto accident lawyers in Houston at Grossman Law Offices understand these highly technical calculations and can ensure that you receive every penny to which you are so entitled.

Insured and Uninsured Defendants

Although all drivers are required to carry insurance in Texas the reality is that many do not do so. Whether they do or do not carry insurance will end up having a large effect on how your case will proceed and on its ultimate outcome.

If both you and the other driver were covered by an insurance company then this may well be beneficial to you since you know in this case that at least there is money available to settle your claim. Sometimes, however, a driver will carry only the basic amount of insurance and that will not fully reimburse you for your losses. Also, just because there is money that might be technically available to you, that does not necessarily mean that you are going to see that money. Insurance companies are driven by profits, not by concern over the welfare of an injured motorist. They will consequently bring out their toughest adjusters, defense attorneys and accident recreation experts with the unified goal of discrediting your claim and deflecting blame away from the insurance company.

If, on the other hand, the other motorist has no insurance at all, then of course you won’t have to deal with all the insurance company representatives; rather, however, you will have to deal with the issue of the defendant’s solvency. If he or she does not have sufficient recourses then there is no point in launching a lawsuit since there would be no way for you to receive your damages.

On other occasions a driver will attempt to hide his or her assets in order to appear insolvent and thus escape financial responsibility for your injuries. The auto accident attorneys in Houston at Grossman Law Offices knows how to deal with this situation, by launching a full and thorough investigate into the assets of the defendant. If there are assets being hidden we will definitely find them and hold that defendant accountable.

Some Signs That You Will Need An Attorney

You Have Been Physically Injured

It is best to have a lawyer if you have suffered any type of injury yourself. There are no regulations governing how much an insurance company must reimburse you if you have been injured. Having a good lawyer will make them take stock of the situation and will decrease the chances that they will try to give you less than you deserve. This is particularly true if you have suffered any broken bones, head injuries or back injuries in the crash.

The Other Driver Is Difficult To Deal With

If the other driver is argumentative or gives you a hard time at the accident scene then that is a good indication that you may be facing future problems. Also, if the driver fails to give you proper insurance company info you may be facing issues as well.

The Insurance Company Pressures You To Settle or Otherwise Harasses You

Without a lawyer on your side, the insurance companies can be very difficult with whom to deal. Their interests are always diametrically opposite to your interests. They will have their adjusters try and trick you into saying that you were not that seriously injured or even that you caused your own accident. They will twist your words around and try to use them against you later on.

We have found the best solution to this at Grossman Law Offices. We simply refuse to allow these adjusters to talk with our clients. Rather we handle all discussion with them directly ourselves.

In other instances, the insurance company will pressure you to accept a settlement that is way below true and fair value. If you do agree to this you will effectively be signing away your rights to be able to sue later on when you have a lawyer on your side. These offered settlements are almost always way below the true value of your damages.

Insurance companies have also learned that in many cases the injured victims of a crash may be financially strapped, facing a seemingly endless parade of medical bills and car repair bills. Consequently, they will often dangle a small amount if cash in front of a victim, hoping that this will entice that victim to sign away their rights for a quick fix of money. Don’t allow the defendant to get away with this! Contact an auto accident attorney in Houston if you suspect this is happening in your case.

You Cannot Afford to See A Doctor

If like many people in the Houston area you cannot afford to carry medical insurance you may wonder how you will be able to see a doctor. Or you may not feel correct about taking the time off from work to go see a doctor. Or you may find out that even though you do have insurance, the amount of coverage is not enough to cover your medical bills.

Seeing a doctor and receiving proper treatment, however, is critically important, both for your own health and for your lawsuit. We at Grossman Law Offices probably can help you here as well. We have worked for decades with many area physicians and have built up excellent relationships with them. If you cannot afford to see a doctor yourself we can try to have you see one of the physicians with whom we have worked. We also can explain to you how time and money lost from taking time off from work to get medical help can be made up to you when you receive the settlement from the defendant.

You Have A Bad Gut Feeling About How Your Case Is Being Handled

If you get this bad feeling, then trust your gut instincts! Insurance companies once again are in business to make money, not to worry about your welfare and health. They can be very creative in the ways in which they can deny your claim. If any of the following circumstance apply, then do call our auto accident attorneys in Houston:

• You are offered a settlement even before the full extent of your injuries is known.
• The insurance company offers you less than what is due on your car loan.
• The insurance company neglects or refuses to provide you with a rental car while yours is being serviced.
• After telling you that they will pay your claim as you submit bills, the insurance company then refuses to do so.
• The insurance company takes way too long to get back to you after you have made inquirers.
• The insurance company tries to tell you that a settlement offer is “all that you are entitled to” or that “it’s the best you are going to get.”

If none of these circumstances apply and if all that has been damaged is your vehicle then it is possible that you may be able to handle your own case, without an attorney. In these situation the insurance companies are bound by strict guidelines on how much they have to reimburse you for repairs to your car. These guide lines allow little wiggle room so it is unlikely that the insurance company will be able to negatively impact you here.

After such a car accident, exchange contact info and insurance company info with the other driver. After having your car towed to your mechanic for repair, have that mechanic submit his bills to your insurance company. They will pay the mechanic and will then submit that bill to the other motorist’s insurance company. If the two insurance companies differ about final payment they should be able to settle this disagreement with no participation from you by a process called subrogation. If car damages exceed $5000, however, you should retain an attorney to be sure of receiving full settlement.

How To Select The Right Attorney

There are many law firms in the Houston area, so how do you go about making the best choice finding your auto accident attorneys in Houston Texas? Michael Grossman recommends that you interview at least two or three lawyers before making any decision. You should ask each attorney about his or her track record for litigating and settling car accident cases. Ask each lawyer what they see as the relative strengths and weaknesses in your case. Have each lawyer provide you with the names of at least two or three references from people who were involved in similar types of accidents. Only hire an attorney when you are comfortable with him or her and when you know that there is an inherent level of trust established.

The attorneys at Grossman Law Offices have been successfully litigating car accident cases for over 20 years. During that period of time we have won millions and millions of dollars in settlement for our Texas clients from insurance companies based throughout the United Stays. These huge insurance companies are well aware of our outstanding track record and today will often seek to settle out of court rather than face our tenacious attorneys in front of a jury. This, of course, can be a benefit to you, allowing you to spend less time involved in the whole legal process and enabling you to receive your settlement earlier. Thus you will be able to get on with your normal life more rapidly.

If you or a family member has been injured in a car accident, contact our auto accident attorney in Houston at 1-855-392-0000 (toll-free). We are available to you 24 hours a day and are pleased to offer a complimentary consultation. Michael Grossman and his associates look forward to discussing your case with you and to answering all of your specific questions.