Personal Injury

As a personal injury lawyer and serious accident attorney in Austin, Texas, I know there is often confusion regarding these types of cases. If you have been injured by someone else's negligence, you might not need an accident lawyer, but you should protect yourself with quality information before you call an attorney or speak to an insurance company.  Learn what steps to take, and what mistakes to avoid, in order to protect your claim. And, if you need a personal injury attorney, learn how to select the right one for your case.

If you have been injured by someone else's negligence, as an Austin accident attorney and personal injury lawyer, Iwant you to know your rights before you discuss your injury claim with anyone. Not every case needs an accident injury lawyer, but every personal injury victim needs good information on how to pursue their claim.  The Todd Law Firm offers this information and more in a special report for Texas accident and personal injury victims.

Discover the truth behind popular insurance company myths surrounding injury accident cases and negligence.  Learn what steps to take and what mistakes to avoid regarding your claim, without having to set up an attorney consultation, and without having to talk to an insurance adjuster.
 
Insurance companies often take advantage of injured persons before they know their rights and before they have the chance to discuss their case with an accident attorney. They may even ask you to give a recorded statement, sign a medical release, or accept an offer to pay your medical bills. Beware these tactics. Order our free special report before you speak to a personal injury lawyer and before you talk to that 'friendly' insurance adjuster.

In recent years, the rights of personal injury accident victims have been under assault by the insurance industry, which spends millions of dollars to tip the scales of justice against you and make it harder for you to recover for your injuries. I never represents insurance companies, focusing solely on justice for Texas accident and injury victims and their families.  Educated at Austin’s own University of Texas undergraduate and law schools, I remained in the State Capital to start my own law practice in 1989 and have been Helping Texans Recover ever since.

Please review our web site and order our free special report to learn your rights. Then, if you feel you may have a legitimate claim and are ready to commit to pursuing justice for someone else's wrongdoing, contact us for a free consultation. We will listen to you, evaluate your claim, and give you an honest assessment of your case.  Let us give you the peace of mind you need and deserve.

What is a personal injury case?

Obviously, a personal injury case means that someone has been injured.  If you are in an automobile accident and the only thing injured is your car, you may have a property claim, but not a personal injury claim.  Our firm does not handle cases with only property damages, but there are other attorneys that do handle these types of claims.  We focus on accidents where there are serious physical injuries involved.  If you are in an automobile accident and both you and your car are damaged, you may have both a property damage claim and a personal injury claim.  If that is the case, usually your insurance company or the other party's insurance company will handle the property damage portion of your claim. 

Even if you were injured, not everyone who has been injured has a case against someone else. In order to have a legal claim regarding an injury, it needs to be the result of either someone else's intentional act, or someone else's negligence. 

If someone harmed you intentionally, you usually have a claim against them for any injuries you receive.  You may also be able to have them charged with a crime. On the other hand, if you are injured by someone else who did not intend to harm you, the question is a little more complicated.  You have to determine whether or not the other person's action was careless. "Negligence" is the legal term used to describe this carelessness. In general, negligence means that the other person failed to act the way a reasonably careful person would have acted in the same situation.

You also have to show that the other person had a duty not to act in the particular way that harmed you. You then must show that the other person breached that duty. You also must show that the action (or failure to act) of the other person actually caused your injury. Finally, you must prove what those injuries are, including past and future medical bills, past and future lost wages, pain and suffering, etc.

If a person is killed by the intentional act or the negligence of another, then that person, or their surviving family members, may have a "wrongful death" claim against the other party.  Even in a wrongful death claim, the case needs to be evaluated to determine if anyone was legally at fault, or "negligent", for what happened.

When discussing negligence, it is important to remember that it is usually a jury that decides whether or not someone was negligent when they injured you. Believe it or not, a jury could look at your auto accident where someone ran into the rear end of your car while you were sitting at a red light, and, for whatever reason, decide that person was not negligent under the circumstances, which means you would lose your case.

Particularly in this age of "tort reform", where the insurance industry has many spent many years and vast sums of money on a public relations campaign to convince the public that most personal injury claims are bogus, juries are often very reluctant to give much, if any, compensation to injured persons. Therefore, it is important that your case be presented as strongly and persuasively as possible.

You can never assume that your personal injury case is so clear-cut that you will automatically win.  Even an experienced personal injury lawyer cannot promise you what the outcome of your case will be if you go to trial (if any lawyer promises you a certain outcome at trial, you should get up and leave his office immediately).  The point of this is that there are no "easy" personal injury cases.  This is an important point to remember when evaluating, with the help of your attorney, the strengths and weaknesses of your case, the possible value of your case, and whether or not you should settle your case or take it trial.

Discover the secrets insurance companies hope you never learn.

If you have been injured, protect yourself and your family.
Before you speak to an personal injury attorney or an insurance company -

Click to learn more about our free special report:

"Texas Personal Injury Guide: What You Should Know Before You Call a Lawyer"

Click here to order your free copy