Your Personal Injury Lawyer in Alamo

While it’s possible to file a personal injury claim independently, doing so can put you at a disadvantage. Personal injury law is complex, especially when multiple parties may be liable for your accident. Without an experienced personal injury attorney, you might miss out on additional compensation you didn’t know you were entitled to. Insurance adjusters are skilled negotiators who handle claims every day, and they may try to minimize your payout or misinterpret the facts so they can deny your claim. Even with legal knowledge, gathering evidence and dealing with insurance companies while recovering from injuries can be overwhelming.

When you choose our Alamo personal injury attorney, you can focus on your recovery while we advocate on your behalf. We’ll handle every aspect of your claim, from investigating your accident and gathering evidence to negotiating with stubborn insurance adjusters and representing you in court if necessary.

Our Alamo 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 explain our fee arrangement before you agree to representation so you’re never surprised by unforeseen costs.

If your case requires additional evidence to support your claim — such as testimony from medical experts or accident reconstruction analysis — we’ll discuss those potential costs upfront and explain how they might affect your final settlement.

Our Alamo personal injury lawyer represents clients who have suffered all kinds of injuries in many types of accidents, 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 is not an exhaustive list. If you’ve been injured in any type of accident that wasn’t your fault, we would encourage you to get in touch to see where you stand.

In Texas, you must file a personal injury lawsuit within two years from the date of your accident. Filing a lawsuit is the first step in the formal process of going to court to pursue compensation from the person or party responsible for your injuries. However, before suing, there are several steps you will usually need to take:

• Beginning negotiations with the at-fault party’s insurance company
• Gathering and reviewing medical records
• Consulting expert witnesses
• Tracking down eyewitnesses and taking statements
• Ongoing negotiations with insurance companies, which can drag on for months.

Most cases are resolved with a fair settlement being offered by the insurance company, but that’s not always the case. If you miss the deadline for filing a lawsuit and have not accepted a settlement, you cannot take legal action, except in specific circumstances.

Your San Antonio and McAllen personal injury lawyer will demand the maximum possible settlement or judgment you deserve.

We can explain how much you might be entitled to based on the details of your accident. You can also use our personal injury settlement calculator to estimate your losses.

“Average” settlement claims can vary anywhere between $50,000 and $250,000, but these can be misleading. There’s a reason for the massive discrepancy between these two figures, and that’s because outcomes are based on several factors, including the severity of injuries and their long-term impact, the available insurance coverage, and the insurer’s willingness to settle. The reality, then, is that settlements can range from a few thousand dollars to multi-million-dollar payouts for life-changing injuries.

Rather than focus on averages, it’s more helpful to understand how compensation is calculated in your specific case. An experienced Alamo personal injury attorney can evaluate factors like:

• Past and future medical expenses
• Lost wages and diminished earning capacity
• Physical pain and emotional suffering
• Loss of quality of life
• Property damage
• Out-of-pocket expenses.

You can use our personal injury compensation calculator to help total your losses and get an idea of what your claim might be worth, but note that no calculator can provide a realistic estimate like an experienced attorney can.

To recover compensation in a personal injury claim, Texas law requires you to prove four elements:

• A duty of care
• A breach of duty
• Causation
• Damages.

But what do all of these things mean, and how do you prove them?

A duty of care is a legal obligation to prevent harm. In many cases, a duty of care is automatically owed. For example, if you’re driving, other motorists owe you a duty to drive responsibly, just as you do for other drivers. If you’re eating dinner at a restaurant, the staff and owner have a duty to keep their premises safe.

People can breach their duty in many ways. For example, a driver might be speeding or driving while intoxicated. Grocery store staff might breach their duty by failing to put out a wet floor sign after a spillage or by unloading heavy pallets in the path of customers. The evidence proving a breach can be as varied as the breach itself, but common examples include CCTV footage, police reports, and eyewitness statements.

To prove causation, you must show that the breach caused your injuries. Insurance companies will often claim they are not responsible because you cannot prove you suffered the injuries when you say you did — they might argue you already had an injury or that you were hurt later in an unrelated event. Eyewitness testimony and photos of the accident and your injuries can help you prove causation, but one of the most powerful pieces of evidence is your medical record. This is why it’s crucial to see a doctor after your accident — even if you initially feel fine.

Finally, you must prove you suffered damages. Damages can include medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Keep all documentation after your accident — bills, quotes, receipts, pay stubs, etc. Proving pain and suffering can be more challenging because it’s subjective and isn’t always visible — especially if you feel distressed but are putting on a brave face. Keeping an accident and pain journal can be helpful for your Alamo personal injury lawyer, providing a record of how your injuries affect you from day to day.

Many people think they can handle minor injury claims on their own, especially if they’re in a fender-bender crash or they’ve suffered a minor slip and fall. However, most people don’t realize that even minor accidents can quickly become complicated.

If you handle your claim on your own, you may not get a fair offer — especially if you’re going up against seasoned insurance adjusters and defense attorneys. But there’s another issue to consider: if you haven’t reached maximum medical improvement, your injuries could get worse. If you settle early, you cannot file a lawsuit later, as signing a settlement agreement releases the at-fault party from liability. This might not seem like a problem now, but if you need surgery and physical therapy and you can’t work for several months while you recover, you can quickly find yourself wondering how to afford it all.

Our consultation is always free, and we can help you understand whether professional legal help would be worth it in your specific situation. Plus, you will only pay fees if we win, and an attorney can often secure more compensation than when you go it alone — even after your legal bills.