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If you are injured as a result of someone else’s negligence, you may have a claim against them for damages.
Most personal injury attorneys will not charge you anything up front. Most cases are handled on a contingency basis. Once the claim is resolved, the attorney will receive a percentage of the judgment or settlement. This percentage will usually run from 33% up to 50% depending upon the type of claim and where in the process it resolves.
Information is gathered from the accident scene forward. A defendant may attempt to alter defects or other evidence after an accident. The sooner your attorney starts collecting the evidence, the more accurate that evidence will be. Hire your attorney as soon as possible.
Never! The attorney or adjuster is not there to help you or to find the facts. Their job is to place the blame on another party (likely you), or to lessen their damages. They do this by creating other possible causes of the accident.
Many people do not feel hurt after the accident. The physical problems may not start for up to one week, or even longer. A trained doctor can discover signs of an injury such as muscle spasms and swelling that you may not notice yet.
Every case is different. Two people that have the same accident are likely to have very different damages and will recover differently. Defendant’s have different types and levels of insurance. There are infinite factors that affect the value of each claim. Your attorney will help you to get the greatest value possible for your claim.
All cases are different. Most claims are not even negotiated until you are released from medical treatment. This will give your attorney the amount of your medical bills along with estimated future medical expenses. A demand is then sent to the defendant’s insurance company. If the parties are unable reach a settlement regarding the demand, it will likely require filing a claim with the courts.
Workers’ compensation is an insurance policy that employers purchase in case employees are injured on the job. Workers’ compensation usually covers lost wages, medical treatment and permanent impairment following a work injury.
In Texas, the injured worker has the right to choose the doctor. If the employer has not joined a network for medical treatment, the injured worker can choose any doctor willing to treat them. If the employer HAS joined a network, then the injured employee must choose a doctor off of the list of approved doctors provided by the insurance company.
In most cases, you cannot sue your employer. The purpose of workers’ compensation insurance is to provide both a solution for workplace injuries and to limit an employer’s exposure to lawsuits. However, if another company or outside person was negligently responsible for the accident, you may be able to sue that third party. Check out our blog on this question for more information.
One of the purposes of workers’ compensation insurance is to provide benefits to cover lost wages after an accident. In Texas, these are called temporary income benefits.
In Texas, there are no settlements after a workplace injury. In most cases, a worker’s monetary recovery is limited to lost wages, permanent impairment, and sometimes a supplemental income benefit to bridge the gap and help people return to work after a serious injury. There could be a settlement if someone other than the employer was the cause of the accident and injury.
If your spouse dies as a result of a workplace accident, then you may be eligible for death benefits. Death benefits are often a lifetime benefit for a spouse. Any surviving children may be eligible for benefits as well.
Impairment rating disputes are one of the most common disputes in a workers’ compensation claim. All impairment ratings can be challenged by filing a request for a benefit review conference and starting the litigation process at the Division of Workers’ Compensation.
Yes! These benefits come from two different sources for two different reasons. Depending on your regular earnings, social security may get to offset how much they pay, but that doesn’t change the fact that you would be entitled to benefits.
Anyone who is unable to work is potentially eligible. All U.S. citizens and all green card holders may qualify.
If you have a serious medical condition that has kept you from working for the last year, or is expected to keep you off work for a year, then you need to talk to a social security lawyer about eligibility. There are other factors that affect your eligibility that you can read about in our social security disability blog.
The Social Security Administration has both an online application and a call-in application process for requesting social security disability benefits. Our office helps people file these claims all the time because hiring a lawyer has been proven to increase the odds that a claim is approved. It usually takes 30 to 90 days after filing an application to get an initial decision back from the SSA.
Most initial claims are denied. There is an appeals process that can be different from state to state. Most of the time, an appeal is filed by filing a request for reconsideration. If benefits are denied again, then a request for a hearing with a judge would be necessary. These are steps best taken with an attorney due to the differences in filing requirements and the significance of appearing in front of a judge for a hearing.
The system is set up so that you can pursue social security disability benefits without a lawyer. However, your odds go up when you use a lawyer. The application questions get answered in a way that argues your case. Deadlines don’t get missed. The right steps are taken at the right time. And hearings before a judge are handled the right way. You wouldn’t believe the difference a good legal brief can make when the judge rules on your case.
Absolutely! It is often that a serious medical condition changes our earning capacity drastically. If your earning capacity has been limited to where you can’t earn more than about $1,100.00 per month due to your medical condition, then you will likely qualify to get social security disability benefits even if you go back to work. That earnings level changes every year so keep in mind the need to check it periodically.
The information contained on this website is not intended to constitute legal advice or to form an attorney client relationship. The statements contained on the website are general statements that may or may not apply to individual situations. Nothing shall constitute or amount to an attorney client relationship until and unless an engagement letter/fee agreement has been executed and signed by the attorney and client and accepted by the attorney and client.
