The Texas Workers' Compensation claims process is very complex, especially in cases where the employer denies an injured worker's claim or tries to stop payments after they've begun.
To help injured workers understand the work comp claims process, our firm has provided this general outline of the workers' compensation process.
When you are injured on the job, you are required to report the injury to your employer within 120 days of being injured.
If you fail to report the injury to your employer within 120 days of being injured or within 120 days of learning that you have a work-related disease, you are not able to collect workers' compensation payments and your case ends here. An exception exists for cases involving progressive diseases.
Personal Injury
Under Texas law, employers are required to post a form where it can be seen and read by all employees. This form gives the contact information for the person who handles workers' compensation claims for your company. The form will provide the name, address, and phone number of the person you should contact should you get hurt on the job.
After you properly notify your employer of your injury, your employer must immediately report the injury to its work comp insurance company. The employer must also file a Report of Occupational Injury or Disease with the Bureau of Workers' Compensation within a set time frame. If an injury results in death, the employer is required to file the report with the Bureau within 48 hours.
At this point, the employer will either accept or deny responsibility for your injury. Please choose one of the statements below that best describes your situation:
Injured on the job? Put our experience to work for you
If you don't have a lawyer to help you with your workers' compensation claim, the deck is stacked against you. It is important to know your legal rights if you are injured at work. The lawyers at our firm have been helping injured workers for over 35 years. Let us put this experience to work for you.
Free Worker's Compensation Consultation
Don't have a lawyer to help you with your work injury claim? If you have suffered a work-related injury, you can contact our law firm for a free consultation of your worker's compensation claim by calling our law firm from anywhere in the United States. At our law firm, there is no obligation to use our services and we never charge a fee unless we get money for you. Have question for our Construction accident Attorney - click here
If you have been injured in a pedestrian accident, you may be eligible for compensation in a personal injury claim. And while you may be able to settle a small claim on your own, any claim involving serious and substantial injuries should be handled by a pedestrian accident lawyer.
There are several significant benefits to working with an experienced pedestrian accident lawyer, including these 4 advantages:
A pedestrian accident lawyer knows the damages to which you may be entitled - this includes current and future medical expenses, your pain and suffering and any lost wages from work, as well as how to calculate them. In addition, your attorney can negotiate with the insurance company for a fair settlement.
A pedestrian accident lawyer understands your state's negligence laws - this will help in analyzing evidence to defend your best interests throughout the claims process, including any degree of fault on your part that the insurance company will try to claim to reduce or deny the compensation you deserve.
A pedestrian accident lawyer knows the tricks and tactics commonly used by the insurance company - this may include getting you to say or sign something that can drastically reduce the value of your claim.
A pedestrian accident lawyer can take your case to court - if this is necessary, your attorney can argue your case at trial.
While minor injuries can often be easily settled without the help of a lawyer, long-term or permanent injuries can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills alone. Once you accept an offer from the insurance company, you are almost always barred from seeking additional compensation in the future, even if your accident injuries require future surgeries or care.
A pedestrian accident lawyer can make all the difference. You can learn more about the difference a pedestrian accident lawyer can make by visiting our article library.
While you can't predict whether a pedestrian accident in will happen to you or someone you love, you can be sure of your best course of action following an accident: seek medical attention and contact a pedestrian accident lawyer as soon as possible.
Recovering from your injuries after a pedestrian accident should be your main priority, not dealing with insurance adjusters and complicated legal paperwork. Before accepting a settlement offer, contact the Law Offices our office to set up a no-cost consultation with a pedestrian accident lawyer about your case.
San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyers » What to Expect in Your Personal Injury Case
We often find that our clients want to have a good understanding of what to expect in their case. In this article, we’ll walk you through the various aspects of a normal personal injury case
Upset driver After Traffic Accident
Contrary to popular belief, it is not as simple as filing a claim and the defendant voluntarily paying you for your suffering. In fact, most defendants will do anything to avoid paying you a fair amount and your ability to get adequate compensation is based on how well you convince the defendant that a jury would make them pay a large sum of money. All that is done by your attorneys is done for that reason.
The first thing you will do is talk to one of our experienced attorneys here at our Law Offices. You will need to call and speak with our legal staff who will need to ask you a few questions before scheduling an in-office appointment. They will briefly discuss the details of your claim and get a better understanding about how we might specifically be able to help you.
When you come in for your appointment with one of our attorneys they will go over every detail of your injury. We will need to know things like where you were injured, when you sought medical attention, and how your doctor has treated your ailment so far. If you were injured while working, the outcome of your personal injury claim will largely revolve around whether your employer is a subscriber or a nonsubscriber. This relates to the insurance coverage your employer pays for and whether you will be able to recover any damages beyond reimbursement for your actual injuries.
A large portion of personal injury lawsuits are comprised of discovery. Discovery is the legal term for the time period in which both sides uncover and research the facts of your claim. Our attorneys at our law Offices regularly rely on the testimony of expert witnesses to explain the details of your accident and the resulting injuries to a jury. These expert witnesses include expert physicians who will personally examine you and identify your injuries. We cannot fully understand the extent of your damages and how much you should be compensated until we definitively ascertain from a specialist how your injury will affect your short-term and long-term health.
Also, many times the defendant will have insurance companies fighting your claim. These insurance companies frequently hire their own doctors to examine you and your injuries. While this might seem somewhat intrusive, it is necessary so that we may ultimately help you seek justice and receive compensation for your injuries. If at any time you have any questions about the discovery process and how you will be expected to cooperate, our attorneys and legal staff here at our Law Offices are always available to speak with you.
Generally, the actual lawsuit will only last a few days in court. During this time our attorneys must convince the jury that you have been hurt due to the defendant’s negligence and that their action or inaction was the proximate cause of your injuries. Our attorneys at our Law Offices regularly utilize expert witnesses to fully explain the extent of your injuries and exactly how the defendant’s negligence caused your accident.
Often during trial the defense will attempt to introduce evidence and arguments to attack you personally and distract from the actual case at hand. You should be prepared for the defendant’s counsel to attempt using these offensive claims, but also know that this information will generally not be tolerated. Our attorneys are very skilled and experienced in handling personal attacks like these. We will do our best to limit these irrelevant claims and defend your rights in and out of court.
Many personal injury lawsuits are settled outside of court. This is achieved through negotiations between the two parties, mediation, and sometimes arbitration. Our attorneys will do our very best to make sure that you receive a fair and just resolution to your claim. Often times we find that you are greatly benefited from settling out of court instead of dragging out your claim for a potentially longer period of time.
Mediation is a great tool to use in reaching a pre-trial resolution. During this time we will use the evidence we have acquired during the discovery process and we will personally meet with the defendant’s attorneys to discuss your injuries and damages sustained. Our attorneys are very experienced in reaching creative solutions to benefit you and your family in generally a much faster process than if we actually took your case to trial.
Our Law Officers are incredibly qualified to handle your personal injury claim and are very skilled in helping our clients seek the compensation they deserve. Our goal is to help you and your family through this entire process. We will be with you through each step of the way and, with our assistance, your claim can reach a successful resolution and you can be adequately compensated for your damages.
The entire process of filing a personal injury claim can be incredibly complex and sometimes overwhelming for a victim who is unfamiliar with the legal system. The attorneys at our Law Offices understand that the process is likely foreign to you and that is why we would like to help you with your potential claim. We want you to be confident in choosing us to represent you and we want to make sure that your rights are sufficiently represented. We are dedicated to helping you through every step of the trial process and you can call us anytime, day or night, or visit this website
Legal Information Regarding Personal Injury Cases in San Antonio Texas
If you have suffered an injury due to the negligent conduct of another party, you may be unsure of what a personal injury lawsuit involves or even if you have the ability to pursue legal relief. Our Attorneys have been winning personal injury lawsuits for over twenty years and have the skill and expertise that is necessary to handle these types of cases. If this article doesn’t answer every question you have with regard to your potential personal injury case do not hesitate to contact us.
Frequently Asked Questions
Lawsuits have a negative stigma and some people wish to avoid them because they want to keep their cases out of the public eye. Frankly, the general public’s understanding of what a lawsuit is and how one works is inaccurate. Nevertheless, we typically only have to file suit in 10% or less of our cases. If it comes down to it, we will file suit and litigate, but our winning track record usually allows us to settle the case merely by threatening to file suit.
A personal injury lawsuit is little more than a formalized letter of intent. Whereby we tell the court our client has been injured and we think some person or business is responsible for the injures that you have suffered, and we would like the court to make both parties to come to an agreement.
The amount that a jury awards you is directly proportionate to your pain and suffering and the severity of your injury. If you have a minor or nominal injury you are not likely to be awarded a considerable sum of money. The goal is not to make you rich. The goal is to get you back to the point to where you were prior to the accident, or as the law books state, to “make you whole.”
Literally a lot. We have won in trials, settlements, and arbitrations.
Our firm focuses heavily on car and truck accidents, dram shop and drunk driver accidents, workers comp nonsubscriber injuries, defective drug cases, and a variety of other personal injury cases.
You have the right to access the court system and ask a jury to hear your explanation of events, and then either agree with you that you should be compensated. That’s it. As an injured party you don’t have any inherent right to be compensated. You just have the right to ask a jury to decide if you deserve compensation.
No one owes you compensation for suffering an injury. That’s not how the law works. You have an opportunity to prove to a jury that the defendant should owe you. But if you don’t understand the court system and you don’t understand how to gain leverage over a defendant then it is highly unlikely that you will be able to receive compensation. This is why an attorney is so important. If you don’t know the litany of documents that you are required to file then you can and probably will lose your lawsuit irrespective of the merits of your case by deviating from the required protocol. Attorneys like the ones employed at Our Attorney are not simply along for the ride. We will make your case for you so that you can get the recovery you deserve.
This depends on a variety of factors and that is something that you must discuss with your attorney in detail.
In our many years of practice, we have never once seen this happen. Anything is possible but it is very unlikely.
There are several different courts where you can file your case in that are located in Harris County. There is a district court, a county court, and federal court. The specifics of your case will determine which court is appropriate but they are all suitable venues in most circumstances.
We are paid on a contingency fee basis meaning that our fees are only paid contingent upon us winning your case. If we do not win you don’t pay us. In the event that your case is successful, the amount that you pay is a percentage of the winnings. The bottom line is that you literally do not pay us money unless we win.
Our Approach to Personal Injury Cases
We approach every personal injury case by first familiarizing ourselves with the facts and circumstances of your case. This begins with a free telephone consultation, which then usually results in a sit-down meeting with the client where we provide you with a more detailed explanation of what we can offer. If you would like to hire us at that point, then you will sign a contract. Keep in mind that you do not have to pay anything out of pocket.
We then begin to collect all of the evidence that will be needed to prove your accusations which typically involves the collection of documents such as police reports and OSHA reports, amongst other documentation. In addition, we will speak with any witnesses and have them provide their accounts of what occurred. Once we have gathered all of this information and have a more complete picture we then report back to the client and advise them of their options. We will then inform them of the direction that we would like to have the case go in. In the event that the client needs medical attention, we will meet with the physician and ensure everything goes smoothly with them as well.
Once all of this has occurred we will communicate with the defendant and attempt to reach a settlement. If they do not agree with terms that you find favorable then we will have to file suit. If the defendant forces us to litigate the case the typical turnaround is about one year. If we are able to settle the case, this can usually occur in about three to five months.
You may call us at any hour of the day to discuss your case with you and we are available to meet you at your home or place of business. If you have been injured you deserve to be compensated and we will do everything in our power to ensure that that happens. To discuss your case in greater detail, contact Our Accident Injury Attorneys today.Find more information on this website
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If another driver injures you and damages your vehicle, his insurance company might ask you for your medical records related to the accident. Should you provide your records to the driver’s insurance company? Should you talk with the other driver and his insurance company at all? What should you do if you are injured? How can you protect yourself after you’ve already been hurt? Find more information here.
If you are hurt in a car wreck, after seeking medical attention the first thing you should do is call a lawyer. Car, truck, van and other vehicle accidents seriously injure tens of thousands of Texans every year. On average, someone suffers serious injuries in a car wreck in Texas once every few minutes, every hour of the day, all year long. If you are wounded in a car wreck, call our Law Offices. We’re ready to help you enforce your civil justice rights.
Your medical records will form some of the most important evidence in your lawsuit against the driver who hit you. Records from doctors, nurses and EMTs are the best way to reliably prove the harm done to you in an accident. And proving the harm done to you is the best way to achieve a fair recovery.
A common tactic by insurance companies in lawsuits is to ask people for medical records. If you send your medical records to the other driver’s insurance company, you are taking risks. Some of those risks are as follows:
The records you send may or may not be accurate.
They may or may not relate to the injury you suffered in the wreck.
They may or may not help you achieve a fair result.
Another reason insurance companies ask you for your medical records is trickier. If the other driver’s insurance company asks you for records and you send them yourself, you are showing the insurance company you do not have an attorney. You are also showing that you do not know what you’re doing. These are great reasons for the insurance company to take advantage of you as much and as quickly as possible. Insurers make fair offers to injury victims when those insurers are forced to. When you do not have a lawyer, you do not force insurers to do anything. You are at their mercy. Get a proven personal injury lawyer to protect your rights. Your lawyer is best qualified to make the important decisions about your records.
You do not need to send insurance companies your records in order for those companies to get your records. All an insurance company needs is for you to sign a simple authorization form, and the company can go get your records itself. These authorizations are called many different things: sometimes “HIPAA” authorizations, meaning they comply with a federal law known as the Health Insurance Protection and Accountability Act of 1996. If you sign a medical records authorization, a healthcare records authorization, a HIPAA authorization or anything else like that, you risk the insurance company getting your full medical records, even those unrelated to the accident.
San Antonio car accident lawsuit attorney
Do you have a legal issue or question?
The Bottom Line
Your attorney is the one who should make the decisions about any documents to turn over to anyone when it comes to your injury. Let the attorneys at our Law Offices bring their decades of experience to work for you and your loved ones. Call our Law Offices at 1-(210) 820-3434 to visit with our staff members right now.
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Did You Know?
Our Attorney has been fighting for car accident victims` rights for over 20 years. Call us to discuss your case. 210-820-3434.
Our firm is often contacted by prospective clients who have been injured in a car accident, who are fed up to deal with an insurance adjuster on their own. The problem is that many of these people have already said all the wrong things to the adjuster, and have damaged their case beyond all repairs. To help you avoid the same fate, this article will explain what you can say to an insurance adjuster.
All the situations that you make the experience when you are involved in an accident cannot all be discussed throughout this article. The most important piece of advice that we can offer you is to hire an attorney from the beginning.
The role of an insurance adjusters
Insurance adjusters aren’t there to help you; they are not your friend. They are there to help the insurance company. Thousands of our former clients and other individuals have told us stories of insurance adjusters lying or misleading them, resulting in a lot of lost time, heartache, and money. Every dime they give you is money directly out of their profits; they will find all possible ways to limit the money they payout.
Things you can say
There’s nothing wrong with telling an insurance adjuster were, the date, and the time of day the accident happened. There is nothing wrongful with telling the insurance adjuster what kind of car you drive, and who your insurance carrier is. You just don’t want to tell them anything about your injury. Insurance adjusters will use all the information that you give them to create a defense to your recovery efforts, don’t be subject to this.
What if the info I’m telling the insurance adjuster is harmless?
Do you have a legal issue or question?
If we had a dime for every time we were told something was harmless but wrecked their case, we’d be rich. Most of our clients are intelligent, hard-working people. However, since you’ve likely never experienced a legal case such as this, don’t make the assumption you can wing it. Every word that you say is significant to an insurance adjuster. The questions that they ask are designed so that they elicit information that is only helpful to them.
The last thing you can and always should tell an insurance adjuster is that they’ll have to talk to my attorney. Our best cases for our clients are where we’re hired from the beginning and client doesn’t have to talk to the insurance adjuster at all. If you have been injured as a result of an accident don’t just hire an attorney, hire the attorneys with experience, past success, and the ability to win your claim. The attorneys at Grossman Law Offices are here to help you through the recovery process. To schedule, your appointment with us call. We would like to schedule a time to discuss the merits of your case with you.
Insurance Policy Inapplicability
Some Insurance Carriers Will Simply Argue that They Don’t Cover Your Accident Rather Than Disputing Liability
A secret weapon in the insurance industry’s arsenal is a defense that we refer to as insurance policy inapplicability. In a nutshell, if the insurance carrier can allege that the actions of their driver were outside the scope of what the policy covers, then they are able to not pay you even though their driver caused the accident. This article will explain what an insurance policy is, how insurance companies can manipulate the policies, and what we can do to help. Please visit our website.
We all understand that not all insurance policies cover the same issues. For instance, if you cause a car accident, you wouldn’t expect a claim filed your home or life insurance because those two policies only cover certain situations. When an insurance carrier can argue that the scope of a policy does not include the type of situation on which your grievance is based, then you are literally barred from receiving compensation for that policy. So when a car insurance carrier can explain that the situation surrounding your accident is not covered, they are often essentially saying “sorry but you have the wrong type of coverage.”
An Example
Our firm was contacted by a woman who suffered from minor injuries in an accident when her car was sideswiped by a fellow commuter. Her claim had been denied and she contacted us hoping we could remedy the situation. She explained that the person that hit her was probably in a rush and not paying attention, but in order to make her story sound more compelling, she explained to the insurance adjuster that he hit her in a fit of road rage.
She thought this would frighten the insurance adjuster into making a quick settlement because she figured, who would want to defend someone like that. Her plan backfired and the insurance carrier denied the claim on the basis that they do not cover intentional torts (deliberate acts), the policy only covers negligence, and if he hit her on purpose the insurance policy does not apply. She admitted she exaggerated thinking would help, and since we cannot in good conscience help someone who was being dishonest we could not represent her in her case.
How Insurance Policies are Supposed to Work
As you have probably gathered insurance policies cover negligent acts that are mistakes or derive from ordinary recklessness. An insurance policy, may not apply when an insured driver is racing, either on track or street, or when the driver is driving drunk.
The Problem
Insurance carriers love nothing more than to argue that it doesn’t apply because they don’t have to argue that their driver wasn’t liable, only that his actions aren’t covered so you only have recourse against him. The problem is that insurance carriers will unfairly claim that the circumstances of your accident fall outside the scope of what their policy was designed to cover.
Our Attorney has over twenty years of experience and have dealt with literally thousands of car accident cases. We know how to deal with the insurance companies to make sure that they accept responsibility for their driver’s actions. We will help you through the entire process and deal directly with the insurance company on your behalf and get you the fair settlement that you deserve. Call today for a free consultation at
Consider the following:
Comfort Level - Are you comfortable telling the lawyer personal information? Does the lawyer seem interested in solving your problem?
Credentials - How long has the lawyer been in practice? Has the lawyer worked on other cases similar to yours?
Cost - How are the lawyer's fees structured - hourly or flat fee? Can the lawyer estimate the cost of your case?
City - Is the lawyer's office conveniently located?
Texas law allows injured drivers and passengers, and the families of the loved ones who have died or were injured in car accidents, to file a lawsuit against those responsible for the accident.
Legal responsibility, called “liability,” for a car accident often depends upon proof that another driver was at fault. The other driver, however, does not have to intentionally cause the crash. Proving the other driver operated the vehicle in an unsafe and unreasonable manner under the circumstances, known as negligence, is sufficient evidence to demonstrate liability.
In certain cases, non-driver factors lead to a car accident. These factors can include roadway hazards, poorly-marked construction sites, construction site debris, sand, or gravel on roadways, and other dangerous road conditions. Keep in mind, the deadline under Texas to bring a lawsuit, known as the statute of limitations, can be as short as six months for claims against governmental agencies.
When should you contact a car accident lawyer?
If you or a loved one has been involved in an automobile accident, you should discuss your case with an experienced auto accident attorney immediately. If too much time goes by before an injury lawyer takes on your case, certain evidence in your case may become impossible to acquire, witnesses may become out of reach, and insurance companies may disadvantage you. Our law firm handles exclusively personal injury claims and wrongful death claims.
Once we accept your automobile accident injury claim, we immediately begin working to obtain for you the maximum compensation allowed by law. We will:
Conduct a thorough investigation
Acquire all available evidence needed to prove and maximize your claim
Work with auto accident reconstruction experts to prove that the other party is at fault
Utilize medical experts to support your claim for the full extent of your injuries
Common Car Accident Injuries
Car accidents can be extremely traumatic. While some of the more fortunate accident victims are able to walk away from crashes without injuries, the sad truth is that many people don’t. In fact, too many car crashes that occur on Texas roadways are catastrophic—some of which result in death.
Because car crashes are usually violent, injuries are common. In fact, across the United States, there are about 1.6 million injury-causing car crashes every year. Whatever your injury and whatever the resulting cost, a San Antonio car accident lawyer from our firm can help you seek compensation to pay for your recovery.
Brain Injuries
Some of the most serious injuries resulting from car accidents are traumatic brain injuries. Symptoms of a brain injury can be mild, moderate, or severe, depending on several factors involved in the accident.
Unfortunately, brain injuries don’t always show symptoms immediately. If left untreated, even a minor brain injury can cause permanent damage; this can happen when the brain swells and creates too much pressure inside the head.
Spine and Back Injuries
Spine injuries can leave victims paralyzed. Typically, these types of injuries are caused in conjunction with injuries to the vertebrae, discs, or the spinal cord itself. In fact, broken bone fragments and disc material can damage the spinal cord, which carries signals between the brain and the rest of the body.
These injuries often lead to a severely decreased quality of life. This—in addition to your medical expenses—should be factored into your final settlement. With the help of a San Antonio car accident lawyer from our firm, it will be.
Neck Injuries and Whiplash
Neck injuries are some of the most common injuries that happen in car accidents. In many cases, whiplash, injury to the soft tissues of the neck, is unavoidable and results from the head’s forward momentum during a crash.
Other neck injuries include cervical dislocation, disc injury, and neck strain.
Internal Injuries
Seat belts, airbags, and other parts of the interior of a vehicle can all cause internal injuries during a wreck. The most at-risk organs include the bowels, kidneys, liver, lungs, and spleen.
Internal bleeding and injuries to your internal organs are all but certain to carry a heavy financial burden and long-term medical implications. Your San Antonio car accident lawyer will ensure that your medical needs, both current and future, are fully factored into your financial award.
For more information , Please have a Click on car accident attorney in San Antonio
Have you ever wondered what a personal injury lawyer might be able to do for you? Many have, and many more should be looking into this kind of thing. If you have sustained an injury through no fault of your own, you may have a claim to be made for compensation. Injuries are not something that should just be brushed over.
A personal injury lawyer can help you with these cases and are able to provide the following benefits.
Consulting- Lawyers are best known for giving advice to their clients. They are able to offer solid advice about legal matters that people may have questions about. It is an important function for them because there are so many questions out there, and quite often fewer answers. Having a personal injury lawyer around who can answer some of these questions is critical to getting things moving in the right direction.
Offer Emotional Support- You may not believe it, but attorneys can have big hearts too. They do not look at their clients simply as ways to make money. They truly do feel sorry for these people for the predicament that they are in. During the times that follow a personal injury, it can be difficult to deal with certain things emotionally. Lawyers can often be someone to talk to about these important issues. Even if they do not deal with this directly, they can at least offer references to places that you might be able to find the support that you are looking for.
Serving As Your Advocate- The biggest and most important role that a lawyer plays is serving as your advocate in court. They work to make sure that you are fairly represented and get everything that you deserve out of the court proceedings. This is a nice thing to have around because you do not want to get run over in the courtroom. There are some people who do indeed have this happen to them, and it is a very unfortunate thing. If you allow your lawyer to work for you doing what they do, then there is a far lower chance of this happening.
These are just three of the things that a lawyer is able to offer you. They are so great at what they do, and there is little to compare them to in terms of the amount of support they offer. You would be foolish to turn down the opportunity to use the services of a lawyer that you really trust. They do not get paid unless you get paid, so you do not have to worry about not being able to afford one.
The monetary benefits of hiring a personal injury lawyer to get the justice you deserve to you are great. Make sure you take that into consideration when thinking about hiring a lawyer. There are few other things in life that are so important both to your financial health and to the justice system in general. That is why you must make the move to get yourself an advocate today.
