Personal Injury FAQ
You have rights if you’ve recently been injured because someone else was negligent in Houston, Texas. However, it can be tough to know what to do or where to turn for help after you’ve been seriously injured. That’s where the Houston personal injury lawyers at Zehl & Associates Injury & Accident Lawyers can help.
Since 2006, we’ve helped accident victims and grieving families win billions in compensation after serious accidents across Western Texas. Now, we’re here to answer your most pressing questions and help you demand accountability for your injuries. To learn more about your legal options after an accident in Houston, TX, contact our Houston personal injury attorneys at (888) 603-3636.
Table of Contents
- Why Should I Hire a Houston Personal Injury Attorney?
- What Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Do?
- How Much is My Personal Injury Settlement Worth?
- What Damages Are Available for a Personal Injury Case in Texas?
- How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer in Texas?
- How Do I Know If I Have a Personal Injury Case?
- What is Negligence, and Why is It Important If I’ve Been in an Accident?
- Will My Personal Injury Case Go to Trial?
- An Experienced Houston Personal Injury Lawyer Can Answer Your Most Pressing Questions
Why Should I Hire a Houston Personal Injury Attorney?
While you don’t have to hire a lawyer to file an insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit, it’s one of the best things you can do after an accident.
When you’re represented by a Houston personal injury attorney:
- You’ll force the insurance company to handle your claim in good faith and engage in meaningful settlement negotiations.
- You’ll benefit from the law firm’s resources and the network of expert witnesses they’ve established over the years.
- You’ll be able to focus on your health and path to recovery while your attorney handles your legal claim.
- You’ll be protected against claims that you share responsibility for your accident, which could seriously hurt your ability to recover compensation.
Most importantly, you’re more likely to win and walk away with a higher payout (at least 3.5 times as much than those who handle their claims on their own).
Your choice of attorney in Houston, TX, can make a huge difference in how your case unfolds. Set yourself up for success by entrusting a team of award-winning Texas trial attorneys who’ve won over $1 billion in settlements and jury awards for clients like you. Call Zehl & Associates Injury & Accident Lawyers to discuss the details of your case today.
What Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Do?
When you hire a personal injury lawyer, you can expect them to handle all aspects of your legal claim for damages, including:
- Exploring and exhausting all of your legal options for a financial recovery.
- Investigating the circumstances of your accident to establish why and how it happened.
- Obtaining medical records, the accident report, physical evidence from the scene of your accident, photographs, video footage, and other evidence through discovery.
- Deposing witnesses and other parties with insight into or information about your case.
- Filing your claim and supporting documentation with the local court and/or insurance company within the two year statute of limitations.
- Bringing in expert witnesses and specialists to provide insight as we build your case and calculate what your damages are likely worth.
- Representing you during settlement negotiations with the insurance company and/or other parties.
- Offering advice and guidance when it’s time for you to make decisions about your case, like whether or not to accept a settlement offer.
- Having an accomplished litigator bring your personal injury lawsuit to trial, if necessary.
When you choose Zehl & Associates Injury & Accident Lawyers, you’ll get much more than an attorney to handle your case. You’ll get a team that’s invested in your story and in your future. We’ll be there to help you navigate one of the most difficult times in your life and work to get you the financial recovery you need and deserve.
How Much is My Personal Injury Settlement Worth?
No two personal injury cases are the same. There’s no standard settlement or payout to accident victims. Instead, the details that make a victim’s story unique will be the driving force behind valuation.
The extent and type of injuries you suffer will be one of the most important considerations. When you suffer a catastrophic injury, like a brain injury, spinal cord injury, amputated limb, or severe burn injury, the resulting costs can be extraordinary. For a brain injury, the average lifetime costs of treating a brain injury range from $85,000 to upwards of $3 million. This doesn’t factor in other financial costs or non-economic losses associated with the trauma.
That’s why there are a number of other factors that will impact the potential value of a personal injury claim:
- Can you continue working?
- Has your income or earning capacity changed?
- Has your life expectancy changed?
- Do you require personal care or nursing assistance?
- What out-of-pocket costs have you had?
- Has your quality of life changed? How?
- How old are you?
- What steps did you take to mitigate your damages?
- Do you share responsibility for the accident?
It’s important to identify all of your accident-related costs and consider all of the ways in which your life has changed because of your injuries. Working with an experienced personal injury attorney can help ensure that you cannot only win your case but also get every cent you deserve.
What Damages Are Available for a Personal Injury Case in Texas?
You may be entitled to compensation if another’s negligence or intentional wrongdoing injured you. You can recover damages for the economic and non-economic losses that you suffer.
You can pursue damages for the following:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Diminished earning capacity
- Physical therapy
- Rehabilitation
- Property damage
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Anxiety
- Mental anguish
- Depression
- PTSD
Damages allow you to be compensated for the financial losses and emotional toll that personal injury accidents take. Your Houston personal injury attorney at Zehl & Associates Injury & Accident Lawyers can help you pursue all available damages.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer in Texas?
Accidents are expensive. Asking for help shouldn’t make a difficult situation even worse. That’s why Zehl & Associates Injury & Accident Lawyers works on a contingency fee basis. It costs absolutely nothing to hire our Texas personal injury law firm.
In fact, you’ll only pay if our Texas personal injury attorneys win your case. Our fees, which are a pre-determined percentage of your recovery, come right out of your financial award. This means there are no out-of-pocket costs for you.
Contact our Houston, TX, law office to learn more about our fees and discover why you’ll want our award-winning team in your corner.
How Do I Know If I Have a Personal Injury Case?
You may have a personal injury case if:
- You’ve been injured because another person was negligent
- You got hurt because of a dangerous condition on someone else’s property
- You were injured because of a defective product
- You were injured on the job
- You were the victim of an assault or another criminal act
- You were bitten by a dog or attacked by an animal
Ultimately, you’ll generally have the right to file a personal injury claim if you were injured through little to no fault of your own. However, Texas is a modified comparative negligence state. You may recover compensation if you are less than 51% responsible for the accident. When someone else is responsible for your injuries, Texas law gives you the right to hold them accountable.
What is Negligence, and Why is It Important If I’ve Been in an Accident?
Negligence is the primary cause of action for personal injury cases in the state of Texas. Simply put, negligence refers to a person’s failure to act reasonably, which, in turn, causes property damage, injury, or death.
The specific elements of your case will depend on the type of personal injury claim you file. However, all negligence-based claims are based on four primary elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages.
When you file a negligence-based lawsuit in Texas, you’ll have the burden of proving:
- The defendant owed you a duty of care
- The defendant breached that duty of care to you
- You were injured as a direct and proximate result of the defendant’s conduct
- You’ve suffered damages.
You’ll need to establish your case by a preponderance of the evidence. A factfinder (jury) will have to be convinced that your story is more likely true than not. The best way to accomplish this is by having an experienced personal injury lawyer near you in Texas take the reigns on your case.
At Zehl & Associates Injury & Accident Lawyers, we’ve helped our clients win over $1 billion in damages, including several million and multi-million dollar awards. Put our extensive experience to work for you by calling our Houston law office today.
Will My Personal Injury Case Go to Trial?
It depends. In reality, most personal injury lawsuits settle before ever getting to trial. Only about 4 to 5 percent of cases actually get to the trial stage.
Many factors can affect whether a case settles or goes to trial.
- Are the parties willing to negotiate?
- Does the defendant accept responsibility for the plaintiff’s injuries?
- Is liability contested?
- Is there strong evidence to support the plaintiff’s claims?
- How far apart are the parties in terms of valuation?
You can accelerate meaningful settlement negotiations and decrease the likelihood of going to court by hiring an experienced Texas trial attorney to handle your case. When the insurance company or defense sees that you’re prepared to go to trial, they’ll be more inclined to sit down and make a deal.
An Experienced Houston Personal Injury Lawyer Can Answer Your Most Pressing Questions
Getting into an accident can change your life forever. Whether you were in a car accident, hurt in a slip and fall, or recently suffered the wrongful death of a family member, it’s important to know that you have rights. Hiring an experienced Houston personal injury lawyer is the best way to understand your rights. Doing so increases the likelihood of recovering the substantial monetary award you’re entitled to.
At Zehl & Associates Injury & Accident Lawyers, we’re top-rated Texas trial attorneys who’ve dedicated our careers to advocating for accident victims like you. Our case results speak volumes, with more than $1 billion in settlements and jury awards recovered.
Contact our accomplished legal team in Houston, TX, to learn more about your personal injury case. Schedule your free consultation to learn how we can help you move forward.