It sometimes seems like car accident lawyers in Houston are everywhere. You can’t drive anywhere without seeing their billboards, and they have commercials running all the time. But how do you know which Houston car accident attorneys are good?
Well, here at Forbes Advisor we have put together a list of the very best car accident and personal injury lawyers in Houston to help you find the right lawyer for you. We also created a guide for what to look for when considering an attorney, so that you can find the perfect advocate for your case.
Best Car Accident Lawyers in Houston
Kurt Arnold
Sammy Ford IV
Michael T. Gallagher
Mark Lanier
Richard Warren Mithoff
Connie Pfeiffer
Andrew Sher
Reagan W. Simpson
Randall O. Sorrels
Judson A. Waltman
Car Insurance and Accident Laws in Texas
In the Austin, Texas area there’s a road that has a maximum speed limit of 85 miles per hour—the highest speed limit in the country.
Texas is the second most populous state in the nation, too. If you combine high speed limits and lots of drivers, you’ll usually get plenty of car accidents. If you’re unlucky enough to be involved in one, here’s a quick primer on the insurance and driving laws to know in the Lone Star state.
Texas Is a Fault-Based State
When there’s a car accident, sometimes it can be hard to figure out who’s to blame. In a few states—no-fault states—the responsibility doesn’t matter all that much. In these states, unless there are severe injuries or extremely costly property damage, each driver’s insurance covers their own harm and the fault is irrelevant.
Most states, however, are fault states—including Texas
In these states, the insurance companies investigate accidents and assign fault to one of the involved drivers. The driver who causes the accident, according to the insurance companies, will have to pay for it.
Of course, that driver will most likely have insurance, so it’s actually the insurance company who pays the cost.
Unlike in a no-fault state, where you are barred from suing except in extreme circumstances, in a fault-based state anyone injured in an accident can file a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance company or file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver for damages.
How to Find a Houston Car Accident Lawyer
Conducting a Google search for car accident lawyers in Houston yields hundreds of results. There are certainly many to choose from. Finding the best for you means asking the right questions when you are considering them. Remember that you don’t need to select the first lawyer you meet; there are lots of options. Take your time and find the best one for you.
Here are the most important things to consider when looking for a car accident lawyer in Houston.
Seek Referrals
An excellent place to start when looking for a car accident lawyer is to ask for referrals from friends, family and colleagues. There’s a good chance that you know more than one person who has needed a lawyer in an accident case. When you find someone who has a referral, ask them specifically what they liked about working with the lawyer. This will give you a good idea of what to expect in the interaction. Also, ask about things they didn’t like so that you get a broad picture of the relationship.
If you come up short with referrals, try searching for a car accident lawyer in Houston online. For example, go to Google and search lawyers and law firms using reviews. Consider both the overall rating as well as the number of reviews to get a good read on how satisfied clients are with the lawyers.
Ask About Expertise
Ask the lawyers you are interviewing what their expertise is. While some lawyers specialize in car accident cases exclusively, others are more generalists who practice personal injury law dealing with other cases such as workers’ compensation. You can work with either, but you do want to make sure that a generalist has worked on a lot of car accident cases and be sure that they know the ins and outs of the insurance game.
What Do They Charge?
Car accident lawyers in Houston will likely not charge an hourly fee to retain them. Injury attorneys work on contingency, which means they only get paid when you get a settlement. Their pay is a percentage of the settlement, so you want to be sure the fees fall in line with the industry standards of 33% to 40%. Settlement amounts usually factor these fees in so you aren’t losing money by having a lawyer work for you, but if someone is charging more than the standard, this might start to eat into what you take home from a settlement.
Can They Litigate?
Most car accident cases don’t ever see the inside of a courtroom because lawyers can negotiate directly with insurance companies to get settlements. However, if your case is one of the 5% that go to trial because of serious injuries, you want to make sure that your lawyer has the experience to litigate the case. Going to court is very different from negotiating with insurance carriers, so you want to find someone who has the experience to fight.
How Organized Are They?
You don’t want details about your case slipping through the cracks and getting forgotten about in negotiations or court proceedings. This means that your attorney needs to be organized. You can get a sense of organization from their office presentation. Everything should be in its place with files put away and not stacked on a desk. Take note of how the receptionist takes phone messages and how information is added to the file. A clean, organized office is a sign of a professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long after an accident can you sue in Texas?
How long does an insurance company have to settle a claim in Texas?
Can you be sued over a car accident in Texas if you have insurance?
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