Texas Injury Law Blog : Dallas Accident Lawyer & Attorney : Fears Nachawati Law Firm : Personal Injury, Wrongful Death : Ft. Worth, San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Texas

The answer to this question depends on a law called the statute of limitations. A statute of limitations is a law that limits the amount of time in which you have to bring a personal injury lawsuit.

In Texas, the statute of limitations on bringing a personal injury lawsuit is two years. If you don’t bring your legal claim within two years of the date of your car accident (with certain exceptions), then you will be barred from ever bringing that claim.

What all this means is that you should hire a Texas personal injury lawyer as soon as possible after your car accident. By waiting too long to seek the advice of an attorney, you could lose your right to file a lawsuit – which means you lose your ability to seek compensation for your injuries.

To ensure that you preserve your legal rights, it is critical that you seek the immediate advice of an experienced Texas personal injury lawyer. While you may have two years within which to file your lawsuit, you should not delay in seeking the council of a qualified attorney.

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If you file a Texas personal injury lawsuit, the defendant’s lawyer will likely “depose” you. A deposition is the process by which the defendant’s lawyer asks you questions about the accident in order to gather facts about the case.

Before the questioning begins, you will be put under oath whereby you will swear to tell the truth in answering the questions. Your answers to the questions will be recorded by a court reporter. Sometimes depositions are recorded on an audio tape or by a video recorder.

If your Texas personal injury lawsuit goes to trial, the testimony you give in court will be compared to the answers you gave during your deposition. If there are any inconsistencies or discrepancies between the two, the defendant’s lawyer will ask you about them.

Depositions are a form of discovery. Discovery is a legal term that encompasses all of the various ways that lawyers gather facts and evidence in preparation for a lawsuit.

You have the right to have your lawyer present at the deposition. Your lawyer will be there to ensure that your best interests are represented and will spend time preparing you for the questions you can expect to be asked.

Your lawyer also has the right to object to questions that are improper, misleading, irrelevant or vague. The defendant cannot use the deposition process to harass you, and your lawyer will make sure that this does not happen.

Hiring an experienced Texas personal injury lawyer is the best way to ensure that your rights are protected during a deposition.

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Exemplary damages are often referred to as punitive damages. These are damages awarded to a plaintiff in a lawsuit when the defendant’s actions were malicious, willful or reckless.

Exemplary damages are in excess of the plaintiff’s actual losses. Rather than compensation, exemplary damages are intended to serve as a punishment and to make a public example of the defendant to warn others against engaging in the same type of conduct.

Fears | Nachawati is a Texas personal injury law firm. To receive free legal assistance from a Texas personal injury attorney, email us today or phone us toll free at 1.866.705.7584.

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Accident victims are sometimes nervous about meeting with a personal injury lawyer for the first time. For many accident victims, their personal injury lawsuit will be their first experience with the legal process.

To help you get the most out of your initial consultation, Fears | Nachawati has put together this list of documents that you should bring to your first meeting with your Texas personal injury lawyer.

The items on this list will help your personal injury attorney evaluate your case and determine whether you have a viable claim and how much compensation you are likely to receive.

Here are the most important types of information for you to bring to your initial consultation with your Texas personal injury attorney:

A written account of the accident: Write out a detailed narrative of how the accident occurred, including the events preceding and following the incident. Include as many details as possible. Your attorney will be able to determine which details are relevant to your claim.

Contact information for the person(s) who caused the accident: Take along a list of all the contact information you have for the person or people responsible for the accident, including their name, phone number, address, driver’s license number and insurance information, if applicable.

Contact information for witnesses: Make a list of the people who witnessed your accident, include as much contact information you have as well as a brief description of what you believe each witness saw.

Photographs: Bring along any photos you have of the scene of the accident as well as photos of your injuries and photos documenting any damage to your personal property, such as your vehicle.

Copies of accident reports: If an official report of the accident was made, such as a police report or a work accident report, bring copies for your attorney.

Medical bills: The amount of compensation you may be entitled to depends in large part on your medical expenses, so bring along copies of all the medical bills related to treatment for your injuries caused by the accident.

Medical records: Similarly, bring any documentation you have of the nature and extent of your injuries.

Repair estimates: If your personal property was damaged in the accident, bring copies of any professional repair estimates you have obtained.

Remember, you are not limited to the items on this list. You can and should bring along any other pieces of information or documentation that you feel will help your Texas personal injury lawyer in evaluating your case.

To receive a free legal consultation with an experienced Texas personal injury attorney, contact the law firm of Fears | Nachawati today. Simply email us or phone us toll free at 1.866.705.7584 for free legal assistance.

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Two men injured in the May 2^nd collapse of the Dallas Cowboys practice facility have filed a lawsuit seeking unspecified damages, including pain and suffering, against a number of defendants involved in the construction of the facility. The Dallas Cowboys are not amongst the defendants named in the lawsuit.

The victims bringing the Texas personal injury lawsuit are special teams coach Joe DeCamillis and scouting aid Rich Behm. DeCamillis suffered a broken neck, and Behm was paralyzed from the waist down.

The Texas lawsuit accuses some of the defendants of conspiracy. According to allegations made in the suit, these defendants knew for at least two years that the facility was unsafe but covered up this fact. It also accuses the defendants of negligence.

Defendants named in the lawsuit include: Cover-All Building Systems, the designer-manufacturer of the facility, which is based in Canada; Wrangler Concrete Construction, which laid the facility’s foundation; Pennsylvania-based Summit Structures, a subsidiary of Cover-All; and JCI, a Las Vegas consulting firm.

To read more about the Texas personal injury lawsuit over the collapsed Dallas Cowboys facility, click here for the complete story.

Fears | Nachawati is a Texas personal injury law firm that represents accident victims in pursuing legal claims against the responsible party. To receive free legal assistance from one of our Texas personal injury lawyers, email us at info@fnlawfirm.com or call us on our toll-free number at 1.866.705.7584 for a free consultation.

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In legal terms, “damages” are the amount of money you are awarded if your lawsuit is successful. There are different types of damages, and they’re given different names to specify exactly what it is that the defendant is paying for. The two most common types of damages are special damages and general damages.

General damages represent the types of damages that can’t easily be assigned a monetary value, such as pain and suffering, loss of consortium and emotional trauma. There is no evidence, such as bills or receipts, of a specific dollar amount, but they are losses for which the plaintiff deserves compensation nonetheless.

Special damages, by contrast, can be assigned a specific monetary value because these are compensation for the expenses you incurred as a result of the accident. Special damages include things like medical bills and lost wages. These are your “out of pocket” expenses.

One easy way to remember the difference between general and special damages is to think of them this way – general damages are the damages that can “generally” be attributed to the defendant’s negligence, such as the pain and suffering that all accident victims suffer. Special damages, on the other hand, are unique (or “special”) to you because no other plaintiff will have the precise amount of financial losses as you do.

If you have been injured in a car accident, we can help you get the full and fair compensation that you deserve. To receive a free consultation from a Texas personal injury attorney at Fears | Nachawati, just email us at info@fnlawfirm.com or call us on our toll-free number at 1.866.705.7584.

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Loss of consortium is a legal term that describes the negative effect that an accident can have on a marriage. If one spouse is injured in an accident, the other spouse may lose some of the love, support, affection, companionship and sexual relations that were a part of the marriage before the injury occurred.

Many people mistakenly believe that loss of consortium applies only to sexual intercourse. However, there are numerous different components of loss of consortium, such as comfort, assistance around the home, solace and moral support. As described above, loss of consortium generally refers to any disruption to a marriage that comes about as a result of a personal injury, not just physical intimacy.

To seek damages for loss of consortium, the non-injured spouse files a loss of consortium claim in conjunction with the personal injury claim being filed by the injured spouse.

At Fears | Nachawati, we know that marriages are built on special relationships and common goals. When a personal injury interferes with your relationship and your ability to enjoy your marriage as you have in the past, then you may have a claim for loss of consortium. We know that no amount of money can ever make up for the damage an accident causes to your marriage, but financial compensation can help ease the burdens of a personal injury.

Contact us today for free legal advice on loss of consortium and other issues related to personal injury claims. The Texas personal injury lawyers of Fears | Nachawati provide personal injury victims with a free legal consultation. Simply email us at info@fnlawfirm.com or call us toll free at 1.866.705.7584.

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One person is dead after a three-vehicle car accident in Amarillo, Texas.

The accident occurred when a Nissan XTerra, which was traveling northbound on Coulter, crossed the turning lane, striking the back-end of a Buick LeSabre in the southbound lane.

After striking the Buick, the XTerra then hit a Ford Mustang, also in the southbound lane, on the passenger’s side. The driver of the Mustang, 29-year-old Pedro Serrano, died from the injuries he sustained in the accident.

The driver of the XTerra, 18-year-old Cameron Meyers, suffered non-life threatening injuries for which he is still being treated. The driver of the Buick was unharmed.

The accident remains under investigation, with charges against Meyers pending.

To read the complete article on this Texas car accident, click here.

If you have been injured in a car accident, contact us at Fears | Nachawati today for a free consultation with a Texas personal injury attorney. You can reach us by email at info@fnlawfirm.com or by phone at 1.866.705.7584.

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A 27-year-old man diving for golf balls in water traps around a golf course drowned last Wednesday. The death is being considered an industrial accident.

The Las Colinas Country Club golf course hired Christopher Logan to retrieve the golf balls. Logan is scuba certified and worked for the golf course part time.

When Logan had not returned by closing time at 8 p.m., an employee went looking for him.

Logan’s breathing apparatus was found floating in the water near the 18^th hole. The pump which supplies air to Logan was not running. His body was later discovered submerged in the water. The death was ruled an accident due to drowning and carbon monoxide effects by the Dallas County medical examiner.

Because the drowning is being considered an industrial accident, it is being investigated by OSHA.

For more on this workplace accident, click here.

Fears | Nachawati is a Texas personal injury law firm that represents individuals who have been injured on the job. If you or a loved one has been hurt in the workplace, contact us today for a free legal consultation. You can reach us by email at info@fnlawfirm.com or by phone at 1.866.705.7584.

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Mediation in personal injury cases typically occurs after a lawsuit is filed, but before a trial before a jury or judge takes place.  Once an injury suit is filed, mediation is usually your last chance to resolve your case, absent a full-blown trial, and , many cases in fact settle at mediation.  During mediation, the mediator is a neutral arbiter between the parties and their goal is to try and resolve the injury claim in a manner that all parties can live with.  Your lawyer should explain to you how mediation works well in advance.  Typically, mediation lasts a half day or a full day, depending on the complexity of the case.  At the beginning of mediation, parties meet in one conference room where your lawyer makes a short presentation to the mediator and the party being sued concerning the facts of your injury case.  Sometimes, the attorney for the party being sued responds with a brief statement and the parties then break into separate rooms.  The mediator typically goes back and forth into separate conference rooms with monetary offers.  If the parties to the injury suit can come together on a settlement, the mediator drafts a short settlement agreement and the injury claim is finalized usually within 30 days following mediation.  If however, the parties are unable to come together on a fair settlement, the case will go to trial.  It is important to ensure your lawyer is willing to go the distance and take your case to trial if necessary.  Lawyers at my firm, Fears | Nachawati, attend mediation frequently, and more importantly, will absolutely take a case to trial if the negligent party (at fault party) is unwilling to pay a fair and reasonable settlement amount. If you have an injury claim and need legal help or advice, contact me at mn@fnlawfirm.com or by phone - 1.866.705.7584.

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Texas Governor Rick Perry broke his collarbone on the night of Tuesday, June 9^th while riding his bicycle near his home. Perry, age 59, also suffered minor abrasions to his right elbow.

Perry was treated and released from Seton Medical Center in Austin, Texas. He was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.

Perry has stated that the accident occurred while he was heading down a hill on a familiar biking trail. For reasons that are not completely clear, Perry went over the handle bars, landing on the backside of his right shoulder.

Perry’s injuries have delayed his trips to Corpus Christi, Galveston and South Padre Island to sign bills related to windstorm insurance reform and supplemental funding for the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

For the full story on Governor Perry’s accident, click here.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident, you need sound advice from a knowledgeable Texas personal injury lawyer. Contact us today for a no charge, no obligation consultation with one of the attorneys of Fears | Nachawati. You can email us at info@fnlawfirm.com or call our toll-free helpline at 1.866.705.7584.

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Many times, people injured in auto accidents wonder whether they have a case or what their legal options may be after being injured in an accident through no fault of their own.  In some cases, injured people are not even sure if they have a good legal case.  Most attorneys work on a contingency basis, meaning there typically are no out of pocket costs to clients for attorneys fees and expenses.  Some people are hesitant to involve an attorney, but as an attorney who cares about taking care of potential clients, I believe it certainly can be helpful to obtain accurate legal information from a personal injury attorney who can provide valuable help and, in some cases, representation that oftentimes results in a more favorable settlement for those injured by another person's negligence. If you have been injured in an auto accident, contact  our law firm by submitting our form to the left or call Fears & Nachawati Law Firm to set up a free legal consultation.  Fears | Nachawati Law Firm, Toll Free 1 (866) 705-7584.

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01/16/2008

This morning, Fort Worth Star Telegram reported that a head-on collision occurred in Grapevine Texas.

A Grapevine man was seriously injured this morning when the car he was driving collided with a tanker truck on a highway near Grapevine High School, police said.

The accident was reported shortly after 8 a.m. in the 2900 block of Ira E. Woods Ave.

The unidentified man was taken by helicopter ambulance to a local hospital, police said. His condition was unavailable. He was the only person in the car at the time of the accident.

The man was driving a 1989 Ford LTD eastbound on the highway when his vehicle drifted into the westbound lane, striking the tanker truck, police said.

The driver of the tanker truck was not injured, police said. The tanker was empty at the time of the accident, police said.

Police diverted westbound traffic on Ira E. Woods Ave. to S. Kimball Ave. for almost three hours as crews worked to remove the vehicles.

In many instances, reasons for accidents involving a tanker truck can be very inclear. For this reason, it is very important to act quickly in any personal injury case to insure that all legal rights are obtained. 

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November 20, 2007 - 4:07 p.m. CST

Late this afternoon, a major trucking accident occurred in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex resulting in serious injury to the driver.  In 18 wheeler accidents, it is important that vital evidence is preserved, including the black box, data recorder, the tractor, driver logs, tires, and any other important evidence or information relating to the accident. The Dallas Morning News covered the trucking accident:

One injured, lanes closed after tanker overturns on Highway 183 in Bedford, Texas

Commuters traveling westbound on State Highway 183 near Bedford should find an alternate route home, officials said Tuesday afternoon.

A fuel tanker truck traveling westbound on State Highway 183 overturned Tuesday afternoon near the northbound State Highway 121 ramp, causing officials to close traffic lanes while the spilled fuel is cleared.

One of three traffic lanes on westbound State Highway 183 and the northbound ramp to State Highway 121 were closed as of early afternoon, Bedford police Lt. Kirk Roberts said.

It’s likely the wreckage won’t be removed until 7 p.m., Lt. Roberts said, because workers are cleaning the fuel spill before they remove the overturned truck

The truck driver was transported in serious condition to Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital, police said.

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