Your Personal Injury Lawyer in Pharr

You can file a claim independently if you choose. However, we’d advise against it. Personal injury law can be complex, especially if multiple parties are potentially at fault for your accident. Without a personal injury attorney, you may not know about all your options and miss out on crucial avenues for recovering additional compensation. You may even end up settling for less than your claim is worth. Even with legal knowledge, it’s easy to underestimate the impact of your injuries, and gathering evidence and dealing with insurance adjusters while in pain can be challenging.

When you choose our Pharr personal injury attorney, you can have peace of mind that we will fiercely advocate on your behalf and work to achieve maximum compensation while you put your health and well-being first.

The value of a personal injury claim can vary significantly based on the type and severity of your injuries, your emotional distress, the strength of the evidence supporting your claim, and how willing the other party is to accept liability.

More severe injuries tend to more severely impact an accident victim’s life. For example, a person who is paralyzed after a spinal cord injury will need significant rehabilitation, may be unable to ever work again, and will likely suffer anguish and loss of independence. In this situation, an injury victim could expect a substantial settlement.

No two individuals are the same, and injuries impact everyone differently, so it’s not possible — or helpful — to provide an “average” figure. For an accurate idea of how much your claim might be worth, we’d advise contacting our Pharr personal injury lawyer. We will never make false promises or guarantees, but we can draw on our years of experience successfully resolving similar claims to provide a ballpark.

You can also use our personal injury claim calculator to determine how much your claim might be worth based on the costs you’ve incurred, but remember that this will not consider the unique facts of your case and should only be treated as a general guideline.

Our Pharr personal injury law firm works on a contingency fee basis, meaning we only get paid when we secure compensation for you. Our fees are a pre-agreed percentage of your final settlement or court award. We will explain our fee arrangement before you agree to representation so that you’re never stung by unforeseen costs.

If you need additional evidence to support your claim — such as testimony from a particular medical expert or accident reconstruction to show how your accident happened — we will outline the costs and how it might affect your final settlement. We will offer advice and guidance, but you are always in control and the final decision is yours.

In Texas, the time limit for filing your personal injury claim (called the statute of limitations) is two years from your accident. This is the final deadline for filing a lawsuit, but that doesn’t mean you should leave it until the last minute. That’s because most insurers will want to assess your accident and potentially negotiate a settlement before resorting to formal legal action.

It takes time to gather evidence and negotiate with insurance adjusters (especially if they drag their feet), so two years can fly by. To give yourself your best chance of recovering the compensation you deserve, we recommend contacting a personal injury attorney as soon as possible after your accident.

Our Pharr personal injury lawyer has helped countless Texans secure justice and compensation after accidents of all types, including:

• Auto accidents involving cars, trucks, motorcycles, and commercial vehicles
• Workplace injuries and construction accidents
• Premises liability claims, including slips and falls at stores like H-E-B and Walmart
• Medical malpractice cases
• Product liability claims for defective products
• Catastrophic injuries such as traumatic brain injuries, burns, and spinal cord damage
• Wrongful death claims
• Oilfield accidents.

This list is not exhaustive, so if you don’t see your injury type listed, we encourage you to contact us about your specific situation — our free case review allows us to understand your circumstances and explain how we can help secure the compensation you deserve.

If you’ve been hurt in an accident that largely wasn’t your fault — even if you were partly responsible — you may be able to recover compensation from the responsible party. However, to do that, you must show negligence. There are four elements you must prove.

First, you must demonstrate the defendant owed you a duty of care. This might be a store owner’s duty to keep their premises safe for visitors, or it may be a driver on the road, who automatically owes a duty of care to other motorists.

Second, you must show they breached this duty. This can be through action, such as speeding or running a red light and crashing into you, or inaction. For example, a waiter can be negligent by failing to clean up a spillage or placing a wet floor sign, or an employer might ignore workplace safety protocols, leading to an accident.

Third, you must show that this breach directly caused your injuries. In other words, you must prove the accident directly resulted in your injuries. If you’re hurt in a car accident, medical records, your police report, eyewitness testimony, and photographs of your injuries can help demonstrate you suffered your injuries during the accident, not afterward in a separate event.

Finally, you must demonstrate damages — your injuries, caused by the accident resulting from a breach of duty of care, led you to suffer losses. These can be financial losses like lost wages from being unable to work or the loss of enjoyment from not being able to enjoy activities you used to.

Proving these elements requires substantial evidence. Our Pharr personal injury attorney can take care of the process for you. We’ll track down witnesses and gather statements, collect evidence, and speak to our network of experts, who can offer specific insight into your injuries and how they affect your life, your long-term work prospects, how your accident happened, and who caused your accident.

You might think you don’t need an attorney if you’ve only suffered minor injuries. Maybe you can claim on your insurance and avoid all the hassle of dealing with other parties, or perhaps you think you can handle the process on your own and save on legal fees.

However, going it alone can be risky. Let’s take the first scenario: you claim on your own insurance. That might seem like the easiest way to cover your bills and fix any vehicle repairs if you’re in a car accident, but it can come back to bite you later when your insurance premiums skyrocket — sometimes for several years.

Or, if you handle your claim independently, the burden of proof is still the same, no matter how severe or minor your injuries. You will still need to gather evidence of negligence, and you’ll likely be dealing with experienced insurance adjusters and attorneys whose job is to minimize your payout. They might even twist your statements to argue you are majorly responsible, which could prevent you from recovering any compensation. Just as likely, though, they’ll offer you a settlement, and it might sound like a great deal. You can resolve your claim quickly, get a nice payout, and move on with your life.

Unfortunately, those offers rarely come close to what you truly deserve for your injuries — even if they are only minor. And, your injuries could get worse. What might seem like a mild headache could be a traumatic brain injury, or minor pain could gradually get more and more intense, leading you to rack up more expensive medical bills for medication and treatment. It might even be chronic, leaving you in pain every day for years.

Insurance companies often push for quick settlements in minor injury cases before the full extent of injuries becomes apparent. Once you accept a settlement, you cannot pursue additional compensation if your condition worsens. Our Pharr personal injury lawyer can ensure you understand the potential long-term implications of your injuries and help you avoid settling prematurely.

The clock may be ticking, and you may be keen to resolve your claim and get the compensation you’re owed, but it’s worth taking the time to vet potential law firms and make sure you pick the right Pharr personal injury lawyer for you.

First, look for experience handling cases similar to yours. No two cases are the same, but you want to feel confident that your attorney understands the unique laws and regulations governing your case and has a track record pursuing similar claims. For example, a car and a truck might both be vehicles, but when it comes to claiming compensation, there are many factors a personal injury lawyer must consider, like issues of liability and federal trucking regulations.

You also want to consider an attorney’s local knowledge. You could pick a top-rated firm in Houston or Dallas, but if they’ve never set foot inside a Pharr courtroom, you’re already at a disadvantage. Our Pharr personal injury lawyer has spent years practicing in courtrooms across the RGV and knows the judges, court staff, and unique preferences and filing requirements that can make a difference in your case.

Take advantage of free consultations to evaluate potential attorneys. A free case review is a chance to see if you have a claim and understand how much you might be entitled to, but it’s also an opportunity to gauge an attorney’s approach to your case. Do they seem quick to pressure you into making a decision and make big promises about guaranteeing a result? If so, this could be an indication they will encourage you to settle your claim as quickly as possible — even if they could fight for more.

Consider their communication style, too — do they listen attentively and reassure you? Do they explain how you’ll get updates on your case, including how often and who you can contact if you ever have questions? You ultimately want to choose an attorney who communicates in a way that works for you. If you want to be able to speak to your attorney often, you won’t necessarily want to pick a large firm with unmanageable caseloads that make it impossible for you to get through on the phone, let alone actually speak to the lawyer handling your case.

Another question for you to ask your attorney about is their trial experience. Personal injury cases rarely get to that stage, but if the at-fault party refuses to make a fair offer, you might consider filing a lawsuit. Is your attorney willing to go to trial, or will they refer you to someone else? Will it affect their fee? An attorney with little trial experience might show they’re a fierce negotiator, but it can also mean they prefer to settle as quickly as possible so they can move on to the next case — even if you have a strong chance of getting more compensation in court. Dr. Louis Patino is a seasoned trial advocate, recognized as Litigator of the Year by the American Institute of Trial Lawyers.

Finally, read independent reviews and testimonials from past clients. Our five-star reviews reflect our approach to every case, the care we give to every client, and the exceptional results we achieve.