• What does "personal injury" really mean and who can bring such a claim?
• How will I pay for medical care?
• How long should I seek medical treatment?
• Can I still bring a claim if my medical bills were paid by health insurance?
• Right after my wreck I thought I was going to be fine, but every day I seem to hurt more. What should I do?
• Can you recommend a doctor for me?
• Who pays my medical bills and lost wages?
• If I do not hire an injury attorney, can I handle the claim on my own?
• When should I hire a personal injury lawyer?
• How long will my case take to resolve?
• Will the person I am suing have to pay anything?
• How much is my injury case worth?
• How much of my time will a claim or a lawsuit take?
• Who makes the decision to settle or go to trial?
• Can I force the defendant's insurance company to settle?

What does "personal injury" really mean and who can bring such a claim?
If you have suffered an injury to your body as a result of someone else's negligence, then you have a legal right in the State of Texas to bring a personal injury claim. If a death resulted, then the family has a right to bring a claim called "Wrongful Death." There are time limits, usually two years in Texas, which you have to bring a claim. To achieve the best result, you normally would hire a personal injury attorney to help you on these claims, except if the injuries are minor.

How will I pay for medical care?
If you are injured in an accident and are fortunate enough to have health insurance, then you should use it to pay for your medical expenses. If you are covered by worker's comp, then you need to use that form of insurance for your medical care. With both of these forms of insurance, there will likely be a need to pay the insurance company back out of any injury settlement you may eventually receive. However, you should still use the insurance--that is why you have it.

If you are not covered by these types of insurance, then hopefully you have PIP coverage on your automobile policy which can be used for a limited amount of medical expenses.

But if you have none of these kinds of insurance, we can refer you to medical providers in your area who will treat you under a Letter or Protection. In such a situation, the doctor agrees to delay billing until your personal injury case is resolved. So you have several options, and you should not let yourself go without proper treatment for your injuries.

How long should I seek medical treatment?
This is a question for your treating doctor to answer. You should seek medical treatment until you are well. Everyone heals at a different speed. The length of your treatment should not be your focus; you should focus on getting well and seek treatment accordingly.

Can I still bring a claim if my medical bills were paid by health insurance?
Yes. Texas recognizes the collateral source rule which says you can indeed recover for you medical bills even though the bills were paid by PIP (Personal Injury Protection), by health insurance or by worker's compensation insurance. The insurance company will probably assert a subrogation right to get reimbursed for a portion of the amount that they paid out. This subrogation concept can be confusing and is routinely handled by the Anderson Law Firm on behalf or our clients. Click here for information on Medical Liens and Subrogation.

Right after my accident I thought I was going to be fine, but every day I seem to hurt more. What should I do?
We hear this all the time. With broken bones, the pain is immediate, but with some other injuries, the pain sometimes takes a day or two to progress. If you find yourself in pain, our advice is to seek medical attention as soon as you can. A medical professional can offer you treatment options and medication to alleviate the pain if necessary. Another thing you should do is call an experienced personal injury attorney for legal guidance.

Can you recommend a doctor for me?
Yes, we sure can. We deal with different types of doctors every day and are always glad to provide options to our clients, whether they have health insurance or not. If you don't have health insurance, we can refer you to a doctor who will not require payment until after your personal injury case is resolved. The key is for you to get well and to do so will in all likelihood require medical treatment.

Who pays my medical bills and lost wages?
We evaluate all available insurance sources to try to make sure our clients are well compensated for their injuries. Of course, we mainly look to the at fault party's liability insurance to make sure that they pay for what they should: which is your medical bills, lost wage and pain and suffering.

Those clients who have health insurance are also encouraged to use that insurance for their medical bills. If a client has PIP insurance coverage on their own car (or on the car they were in at the time of the accident), then that insurance company should pay both the medical bills and 80% of the wages up to the PIP limit. Using all forms of available insurance helps make sure that our clients are well compensated for their injuries.

If I do not hire an injury attorney, can I handle the claim on my own?
Sure, but you should expect that you will probably be taken advantage of by the insurance company and will end up getting less money that you deserve. For minor claims (such as car wrecks with very little damage to the automobiles), it is possible to handle your claim on your own. But if you have a serious injury, then you are much better off with an attorney. We know how to prepare the evidence, handle the case, work the negotiations--plus we have the leverage of the great American jury trail system. If you go at it alone, you are basically going to a gun fight with out a gun. Not smart.

When should I hire a personal injury lawyer?
You should hire a Texas personal injury lawyer as soon after the accident as possible. An experienced attorney can make sure that the necessary evidence is collected and preserved (witness statements, pictures...). Also, you will need to focus on getting better--not dealing with the investigation and the insurance company adjuster. Plus, the sooner you let the attorney deal with the insurance company, the better your claim will be positioned for a future settlement. We see mistakes made by people who try to represent themselves, and sometimes these mistakes make it very difficult to obtain a favorable settlement.

How long will my case take to resolve?
We would love to be able to give a definite time frame, but it all depends on when or if the insurance company offers the right amount of money. The value of a case cannot usually be determined until the injured person has completed their medical treatment. Once that is finished, we order the remaining medical records and then submit all the records and bills, and other evidence, to the insurance company. We include a demand for payment. If an agreement is reached, then the case is over in a relatively short period of time after the injured party has recovered.

But if no agreement can be reached, then a lawsuit is filed and the process can move rather slowly. We understand the frustration that any delays can cause our clients and we do everything in our power to move all of our cases along as quickly as possible. We will ask the court to set the case for trial as early as possible, as we know the trial date ends up dictating either a settlement or a jury trial.

Will the person I am suing have to pay anything?
Almost every injury case involves liability insurance only so just about all personal injury settlements come exclusively from insurance proceeds. The person who caused the injury does not come out-of-pocket any money. In situations where a passenger is injured and the wreck is the fault of the driver of the same car, I have brought cases against friends of my clients. Those friends have never personally paid a dime and, to my knowledge, have never resented their friends for bringing the claim as that is why they have insurance--to pay for their mistakes.

How much is my injury case worth?
This is impossible to answer without knowing specific answers about the particular case. Generally, all cases are evaluated on who was at fault, the type and severity of the injury, the type of medical treatment, the long term affects of the injury, whether the injured party lost wages and the ever important category of "pain and suffering." See our detailed discussion of how a case's value is evaluated.

How much of my time will a claim or a lawsuit take?
For most of our clients, the time they must spend on their injury claim is very limited. That is one reason to hire an attorney. We take the time and mental burden off of your chest. After the initial interview, we take control of the matter and do all of the work. You will then be able to focus on getting your health back and getting your life back in order.

If your claim cannot be resolved before filing a lawsuit, then the amount of time you must spend is increased, but it is still very manageable. You must work with your attorney on answering questions the other side sends (called written discovery) and you will need to attend your deposition and a mediation. But all meetings are scheduled ahead of time and work schedules can easily be accommodated. If your case goes all the way to trial and does not settle ahead of time, then there will be more time spent preparing for and attending trial. But most cases settle without the need to go to trial.

Who makes the decision to settle or go to trial?
The ultimate decision on settlement is made by the client. We feel it is the attorney's job is to get the case in the best position possible to convince the insurance company to pay a fair settlement. We offer guidance to the client as to what we think is fair and what we would expect the possible range of jury verdicts should the settlement offer be rejected. We outline all of the possibilities and give our recommendation. But in the end, the client must make the final decision.

Can I force the defendant's insurance company to settle?
No, you can't. But as your attorney, what we can do is position your case so that if the insurance company does not offer fair money that is acceptable to you, then we will present the case to a jury. A settlement takes two sides agreeing on an amount. Sometimes the insurance company just doesn't agree with the plaintiff on a case value (or vice versa). In those situations, it is up to a jury to decide who is at fault and the compensation to be paid to the injured party.