Insurers trained us. Now we work for you.

An injury claim starts the moment the crash or fall happens, long before anyone files a lawsuit. The other side’s insurer opens a file within days, and what goes into that file early often shapes what it offers later. Our job as your injury claim lawyer in Dallas is to make sure your side of the file is built just as fast.

In the first days we confirm who was involved and which policies may apply, ask for the Texas crash report, collect photographs and witness names, and send letters asking that video and vehicle data be kept. We also tell you what not to do: post about the crash, guess about your injuries, or sign a release before you know what your treatment will cost.

If you have already given a statement or spoken with an adjuster, that is not the end of the claim. Tell us what was said, and we will work from there. For the details of each case type, start with our pages on a personal injury lawyer in Dallas and an accident lawyer in Dallas.

The deadline. A personal injury lawsuit generally must be filed within two years of the day the claim arises (Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.003). Claims against a city, county or other government unit need written notice much sooner, generally within six months (section 101.101), and a city charter can set a shorter period.

The fault rule. Texas uses proportionate responsibility. You can recover if your share of responsibility is 50 percent or less, and your recovery is reduced by that share; above 50 percent it is barred (sections 33.001 and 33.012). This is why insurers work so hard to move a few percent of the blame onto you.

Your own coverage. Personal injury protection (PIP) and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage are part of every Texas auto policy unless you rejected them in writing (Insurance Code sections 1952.152 and 1952.101). PIP pays regardless of fault. Many people do not know they have it.

The crash report. Officers who investigate a crash with an injury file the Texas Peace Officer’s Crash Report with TxDOT within ten days (Transportation Code section 550.062), and the people involved can buy a copy through TxDOT’s online system. Our Texas injury law guide covers each rule with links to the statutes.

The most important thing you can do for your health and your claim is the same: get checked, follow the treatment plan and keep your appointments. Gaps in treatment are one of the first things an adjuster looks for. Keep every bill, receipt and note from your doctors, and write down how the injury affects your work and your days.

A Texas injury claim can include medical expenses, lost earnings, physical pain, mental anguish, physical impairment and damage to your vehicle, depending on the facts. What a claim is worth depends on those facts, the coverage available and the proof, so we do not guess at numbers. Read more on our injury lawyer in Dallas page.

If you were taken to a hospital, ask for the records from that visit as well as from your follow-up care. Dallas has several Level I trauma centers, including Parkland Memorial Hospital and Baylor University Medical Center, and each keeps its own records and bills. We request them for you once you hire us, so the demand shows your treatment from the first day to the last.

You should know who will handle your claim before you sign anything. Every Texas lawyer has a public profile on the State Bar of Texas website that shows whether the lawyer is eligible to practice, where the lawyer’s primary practice location is and whether there is any public discipline. Look up the attorneys you talk to, including ours.

Ask who will work on your file day to day, how you will hear about progress and what the fee agreement says about case costs. Ask whether the firm will handle your case itself. A claim you hand to LAWBOSS is handled by LAWBOSS attorneys: in Dallas, Michael Uvalle, Rolando Reyna, Jr. and Joseph Massey, with the firm’s litigation attorneys if a lawsuit is filed.

Be careful with anyone who names a dollar figure for your claim on the first call, promises an outcome or contacts you without being asked after a crash. Texas law limits written solicitation of accident victims, and a lawyer cannot honestly value a claim before the injury and the coverage are known. We tell you what we know, what we do not know yet and what we will do next.

Read more about the firm on our personal injury law firm in Dallas page and about the attorney relationship on our personal injury attorney in Dallas page.