Paper that says "personal injury law".

Being injured in an accident that happened through no fault of your own can be a traumatic event. Victims often have a lot to deal with, including the injuries they have sustained, the time off work they now have to take and the quickly rising medical bills that they may have to pay. When the injury happened because of someone else’s negligence, you deserve compensation for your injuries, and you may be entitled to pursue the recovery of all the damages you have suffered as a result.

Pursuing the recovery of your damages can be a difficult affair, and placing an accurate sum on what your pain and suffering is worth so you can claim compensation is a task best done by an experienced personal injury attorney, one with victories in similar cases under their belts.

If you have been involved in an accident caused by the negligence of another party, your first step should be to arrange an initial consultation and case evaluation with a reputable law firm like Abraham Watkins. With a few simple questions, we will be able to tell you if your case is worth pursuing.

We offer this initial consultation to all new clients, and if we decide your case is a valid one, we will pursue it on a contingency fee basis, meaning there is no upfront cost and no cost for losing your case. If we cannot negotiate a settlement on your behalf or succeed in having your damages awarded to you in court, you do not have to pay us a penny.

Once we have taken over your case, you will have the space, time, and energy to focus on what is really important, your recovery.

Abraham Watkins – Representation from One of Texas’s Most Established Law Firms

Here at Abraham Watkins, we are proud of our long history of service to the state of Texas. As one of the state’s longest serving law firms we have a long history of successful cases under our belt, giving us a wealth of knowledge to draw upon. This gives us an edge and you an advantage when it comes to building a strategy with the best chances of securing a favorable outcome.

When it comes to personal injury law, our attorneys always go the extra mile, and never settle for less. Arrange a free consultation with one of our La Porte personal injury lawyers today at 713-535-9319.

What Can Personal Injury Attorneys Do For Me?

By securing legal representation from a skilled attorney, your chances of pursuing the maximum compensation is higher than if you pursue it alone. When fighting a personal injury claim, you are going to be up against the other party and their insurance company, and this means you will likely be up against an aggressive legal team that handles claims like yours every single day. Their sole job is to reduce the amount that the insurance company has to pay out, and unfortunately, that means fighting to devalue your claim.

Often, victims of accidents forgo representation because they believe they can either win more without an attorney, or they are worried that if they lose their case that they will have to pay out legal fees that leave them in a worse position financially.

In terms of winning more money, this is simply not true for the majority of cases. Most victims who pursue their case with an attorney end up winning a larger settlement overall, even after subtracting the attorneys’ fees.

On the second count, most attorneys that work on personal injury cases, do so on a contingency fee basis, and this means that you pay nothing up-front to hire them and pay them nothing if they lose your case.

Working this way means that the victims who come to us can fight for their compensation with confidence, without fear of losing.

Call us today at 713-535-9319.

What Damages and Compensation Can a La Porte, TX Personal Injury Lawyer Help Me to Recover

When it comes to calculating the damages you have suffered in an accident, there are two steps. The first is to calculate your economic damages.

Economic damages are damages you have suffered following an accident that have, or will have cost you money. These damages are easy to calculate. They have clear figures and prices attached and will often come with receipts or bills you can use as evidence when you come to present them in your case.

The second stage is working out what your non-economic damages are worth. These are the damages that are subjective. This means your attorney will need to decide what these are worth in their honest opinion. The main non-economic damage that will need to be considered, is your pain and suffering. These damages compensate you for the pain and emotional stress you have been put through.

The more cases your attorney has handled and won, the better they will be equipped for this task. The non-economic damages in a personal injury case are usually the most substantial consideration in the overall compensation sum that your attorney will be trying to negotiate on your behalf.

If your attorney has a lot of experience calculating the harder, subjective damages involved in a personal injury case, their sums and figures will be much harder to dispute. This makes it more likely that the other party awards your settlement, or if your case moves to court, more likely that you are awarded what your attorney is seeking on your behalf.

In order to help your attorney and your case, here are some of the most important damages to be aware of:

Medical Expenses and Bills – Past and Future

With the cost of medical care in the U.S., it is easy to see why medical expenses are often the most worrying part of suffering an injury in an accident. When victims sustain serious injuries, the cost of treatment can be extremely high. Serious injuries can quickly exceed a person’s healthcare insurance if they’re even lucky enough to have insurance.

When this happens, it is left to the victim to find the money to pay for their medical bills until they can recover them from the at-fault party.

Fortunately, with the help of your attorney, you can attempt to reclaim all of your medical costs, both past, and future. This means that you can claim for all of the bills you have already had to pay, and if your injuries are serious enough to require future treatment, your attorney will look to recover a figure that covers you for those future costs as well.

If you want to help your attorney and your chances of recovering compensation that accurately covers you for the medical expenses you will need to pay, you should keep hold of all of your medical invoices and expenses wherever possible.

You may also want to consider keeping a journal each day, listing your treatment, pain levels and overall mood.

Lost Wages and Earning Capacity

Another anxiety-provoking cost that many victims have to deal with, is the time off work that they need to receive treatment and recover from their injuries following an accident. For many victims, this means a loss of income. When victims are already facing rising medical bills, this can be even more devastating to deal with.

Your attorney will look to recover all of your lost wages in your claim, and this includes any future loss of wages or earning potential you may be facing. If, for example, you will never be able to work in the same type of job as you did before, your attorney may look to claim a lifetime of lost earning potential in your claim.

Pain and Suffering

In a personal injury claim, one of the most substantial damages that can be awarded are the pain and suffering damages. These damages are subjective, and this means that your attorney will need to decide upon the severity of the pain and emotional distress that you have been through as a result of the accident.

Loss of Enjoyment of Life

Your pain and suffering damages should also cover you for any loss of enjoyment you have suffered as a result of the accident. If your injuries or pain are so bad that you can no longer take part in sports or activities that you used to, then you should be compensated for this loss. For example, if you can no longer play baseball with your friends on the weekend or drive your motorbike due to back pain, then your attorney will attempt to claim compensation for this loss.

When it comes to calculating your damages in the most fair and reasonable way, the more experience your attorney can draw upon from previous cases, the better. Fair and reasonable damage calculations are much harder to dispute in either the negotiation for settlement or in court if the case moves that far.

What Types of Injury Do La Porte, TX, Personal Injury Lawyers Handle?

We see a wide variety of injuries and accidents here at Abraham Watkins, and this means we most likely have experience and victories in cases similar to yours.

Some of the more common injuries that may require a personal injury claim include:

  • Burns to the skin, abrasions, and lacerations (cuts);
  • Drowning and choking;
  • TBIs (traumatic brain injuries);
  • Injuries to the spine;
  • Animal bites and attacks;
  • Electrocution;
  • Back and neck injuries, such as whiplash and crushing; and
  • Broken bones.

These may be the most common injuries that are suffered, but they are not a comprehensive list of all the injuries we have handled. If you have suffered any injury in an accident that was caused by the negligence of another party, you may be entitled to raise a claim against them, and the sooner you involve your attorney, the better your chances of a successful claim.

What is the Process for Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer in the La Porte, TX Area

The process of bringing a claim against the party that caused you injury begins with choosing a law firm that you want to represent you. This may seem like a daunting decision, especially for those that have never needed an attorney before. Your choice of an attorney is extremely important and may be the difference between seeking a figure that accurately represents your injuries and damages or a figure that does not.

At Abraham Watkins, we understand the difficulty that you may be facing in deciding who to pick to represent you. This is one of the reasons why we always offer a free initial consultation and case evaluation to all new clients who have been involved in an accident. In this meeting, you can ask the questions you need to ask us, and in return, we can provide some immediate legal advice and evaluate your case. This gives us a chance to judge whether or not you have a valid claim.

If you have a valid case and you decide to pursue it with us by agreeing to our fee structure, we will start right away. We will take over the things like your paperwork and liaising with the other parties and witnesses. We will also  investigate your case and secure the evidence you need.

The Importance of Assigning Negligence

Negligent behavior, defined by Cornell Law School is:

“A failure to behave with the level of care that someone of ordinary prudence would have exercised under the same circumstances.  The behavior usually consists of actions, but can also consist of omissions when there is some duty to act (e.g., a duty to help victims of one’s previous conduct). “

If the other party has acted in a way that is seen as unreasonable, i.e, in a way that a reasonable individual would never have acted in an identical situation, they have acted negligently if they owed you a legal duty of care.

The Four Elements of a Negligence-Based Personal Injury Case

In any negligence claim, together with your attorney, there are four elements that need to be examined and proven for you to have a valid claim. If your case ends up in the courtroom, they will expect your attorney to prove each one and back their claims with evidence.

They are:

  1. Duty of Care – The at-fault party owed a duty of care to the individual who was injured at the time of the accident
  2. Breach of Duty of Care – The at-fault party breached their duty of care to the victim by acting in a way that is seen as negligent
  3. Causation – The injuries of the victim are a direct result of that negligence
  4. Damages – The incident led to the victim suffering from economic and non-economic losses

Maximizing Your Chances of Success after an Accident

Things to Avoid Doing After The Accident

Let us start with the things that you should avoid doing.

Never Apologize in Any Way, Shape, or Form

After an accident, the biggest mistake you can make is to apologize or admit fault in some way. Even in cases where the fault was clear, we have seen victims lose their cases because of something they said in the immediate aftermath of an accident.

Anything you say will be used against you following an accident so never apologize, admit fault or say that you feel fine, as this may lead to the insurance companies reducing their liability and your payout.

Never Allow an Insurance Company to Record Your Conversation

Personal injury cases are notorious for their history of huge payouts. To combat these substantial payouts, insurance companies have now begun to hire the most aggressive and highly trained legal teams that are available.

These legal teams will do whatever they can to reduce their clients’ liability. One method they may use is that they may try to ring you and get you to accept fault while recording your call.

If an insurance company gets in contact with you, you should inform them you do not want your call recorded, and you should also tell them that you wish for them to liaise with your attorney from this point onwards.

Once you have legal representation, you should tell all parties involved that they can liaise with your attorney instead of you.

Never Accept a Settlement Offer on the Spot

Another common tactic that we see used by insurance companies is the quick settlement tactic. When an insurance company is informed that one of their clients has been involved in an accident, they will run the numbers as quickly as possible so that they have a rough ballpark figure of what the claim may cost them. If they think their client is likely to be liable and they are likely to have to pay out eventually, they may offer a settlement that seems appealing but is much lower than the number they have calculated.

They will offer this quickly, in the days following the accident perhaps, in the hopes that the sum seems appealing enough that you accept it on the spot.

This is usually a mistake. Remember, once you accept a settlement, you forgo the right to seek any further compensation,

Things You Should Do at The Scene of the Accident

There are certain things you should try to remember if you are ever involved in an accident or are currently at the scene.

Prioritize Your Safety

In the aftermath of an accident, you must prioritize your health and well-being above all else. That means checking yourself for injuries and if possible, moving away from further damage before considering anything else.

Check for Injuries and Call an Ambulance

If there are any injured parties, you must call an ambulance to the scene so they can address the injuries and check for hidden problems. Adrenaline in the heat of the moment can mask symptoms of serious injuries that could later prove to be fatal.

Calling an ambulance to the accident scene also helps your attorney with proving causation, as there will be documented proof that you received medical attention for your injuries immediately after the accident.

Collect Evidence and Speak to Witnesses

If you are able to move around and do so, you should consider collecting evidence while it is fresh after you have called the relevant emergency services to the scene.

You should take pictures and videos and record a voice statement of what happened in your own words in case your memory becomes hazy later on.

You should also speak to any witnesses if you were lucky enough to have eye witnesses that are willing to cooperate. Collect their details and a brief statement from them.

Call a Personal Injury Lawyer

There is no better time to call an attorney than the present, and the sooner you get them involved, the better. They will be able to provide valuable advice on what to do, what to say, what to not do, and what to not say. They may also send their own investigative team to collect evidence, especially if you were taken from the scene in an ambulance.

Deadline after an Accident

In Texas, there is a statute of limitations that places a legal time limit on personal injury claims following an accident.

It states that you have no longer than 2 years from the date the incident occurred to make your claim or your case becomes barred.

Personal Injury La Porte TX FAQs

Is My Settlement/Compensation Guaranteed?

No attorney should ever guarantee a victory as this is unethical practice. They may tell you your case is strong and that your chances of success are good, but they should never tell you they can guarantee a victory.

How Long Does it Take to Recover Compensation?

The period of time that your case takes to complete and for you to recover your compensation will depend entirely upon its complexity and the skill and reputation of your attorney.

More complex cases, like those involved with wrongful death, will take longer than simple car accident cases, for example.

Do I Need to Go to a Particular Doctor for Treatment?

There is no law that states you must use a specific doctor or medical provider following an injury suffered in an accident caused by negligence. You are fully entitled to seek medical care wherever you want.

The one exception to this is if you are claiming workers’ compensation following a workplace injury. In this case, you may need to use your employers’ approved provider.

Should I Speak With an Insurance Adjuster?

You may not be able to avoid speaking to the insurance entirely, but you should always remember they are out for themselves. Keep your answers brief and tell them they can speak to your attorney for anything more.

Contact a La Porte, TX, Personal Injury Attorney at Abraham Watkins Today

If you, or somebody you love has been injured during an accident that was caused by the negligence of another party, it is normal to feel stressed and overwhelmed. We understand how anxiety-provoking it can feel when you are losing wages and having to pay medical expenses, and we are here to help

We will build your case and negotiate a settlement on your behalf, building a close-knit, confidence-inspiring attorney-client relationship where you are kept educated and informed throughout your entire case.

Over the years, we have helped countless victims win their cases and secure fair compensation for the injuries they have sustained.Arrange a free consultation with a La Porte personal injury lawyer at 713-535-9319.

Free Consultation

We offer a free consultation to prospective clients. If you have been injured and wish to speak to one of our attorneys in a no-cost consultation, please call us at (713) 222-7211. or toll free at 713-222-7211

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Our Awards

Best Law Firms - Badge 2024
Best Lawyers Best Law Firms US news 2023.
Abraham Watkins Best Lawyers Award for 2022.
Best Lawyers Best Law Firms US news 2021.
Best Lawyers Best Law Firms US news 2020.
Best Lawyers Best Law Firms US news 2019.
Best Lawyers Best Law Firms US news 2018.
Top 10 Wrongful Death US 2022.
Top 20 Motor Vehicle Accidents - 2022.
Top Verdict Top 50 Personal Injury
Top Verdict US 2022 Top 100
Number 1 settlement for wrongful death in Texas 2022.
Number 1 for Pedestrian Accident Settlements in TX for 2022.
Number 1 for Wrongful Death Settlements in TX for 2022.
Firm Award - Top 10 Motor Vehicle Settlements in Texas 2022
Best Premises Liability Lawyer Award.
Top 20 Best Lawyer Award for Abraham Watkins.
Top 100 Best Lawyer Award 2021 for Abraham Watkins.
2021 Top 10 Practicing Lawyers in Texas Award.
2021 Top 10 Personal Injury Verdict Award.
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