Our empathetic and experienced personal injury team at The Barber Law Firm can provide you with personalized support and sound legal advice throughout every stage of your claim. Our lawyers will deal with the insurance companies and litigation process on your behalf to obtain compensation to cover your lost wages, medical and hospital bills, as well as funeral costs, should the accident have resulted in the death of a loved one.
When dealing with the overwhelming laundry list of tasks to take care of, from repairing or replacing your vehicle to trying to figure out how to pay the medical bills that you incurred as a result of your accident, it’s understandable that contacting a lawyer to discuss your case may not be front of mind. Unfortunately for Texans, strict laws are in place that limit the time period in which you have to file a claim, so securing the help of a passionate legal team is not something that you should put off. The last thing that you need is to finally contact an attorney only to learn that it’s too late to obtain the justice you deserve.
Ambulance, hospital, medical treatment, and surgery costs
associated with the auto accident
Initial consultations with our dedicated legal team are always completely confidential and offered at no charge. We will answer your legal questions without any obligation from you.
We have same-day virtual options by video conference or phone, and utilize up-to-date technology to ensure efficient, pain-free communications through text and email choices.
We have a large percentage of multilingual staff members to ensure accurate and convenient communication. We understand that being able to communicate effectively with clients is essential.
Our team has a strong commitment to doing what is right and an insatiable desire to win. Over the past 20 years, we have successfully fought for tens of thousands of real people just like you.
Forming a strong case can be daunting. Not only are you recovering from your injuries, but you will need to collect and submit all documentation needed to establish a claim in order to receive the fair settlement you deserve. Our attorneys have considerable skill, knowledge, and experience with car accident claims. They will help you by working with you, the medical providers and the insurance companies so that you can focus on your recovery. The following will be reviewed by the insurance company when evaluating your claim:
The best way to fight for your rights against insurance companies that seek to obtain the lowest possible settlement is to consult a personal injury attorney. Representing clients in Dallas, Fort Worth, and throughout the entire state of Texas, The Barber Law Firm will work for you to recover for your personal injuries due to an automobile, motorcycle, or truck accident that was caused by someone else’s negligence.
When you are involved in a car wreck, it’s important to know what to do–as well as what not to do–both at the scene of the accident and in the days, weeks, and months following your accident. While you’re likely shaken up and preoccupied after a car accident, the following guidelines can help protect your legal rights after your accident and increase your chances of a favorable personal injury settlement for your car accident claim.
After your car wreck, it is critical to obtain a copy of the car accident police report that was filled out by the officer that responded to the scene of the accident. A police report is often one of the most important pieces of evidence in a car wreck case.
Getting a copy of the police report for your car wreck is a relatively simple process. After your wreck, be sure to call the police to have someone come to the scene of the accident. The responding officer should give you a receipt that includes an identification number. To obtain your police report, you’ll just need to call the local police department and provide the number. If you weren’t given a receipt, or if you’ve misplaced the receipt, you can also get a copy of your police report by providing the date, time, and location of your car wreck.
There may be a small fee required to obtain your report but don’t let that put you off–this document can be invaluable when it comes to proving fault in your car wreck and recovering the compensation you deserve.
After a car wreck, the importance of a police report can’t be understated. The accident report is the “official” version of what happened during your accident, often stating who is to blame for the wreck, and is one of the key pieces of evidence that an insurance company relies on when determining fault and issuing compensation for your injuries. As such, a police report is one of the first things that an insurance company will look at to conduct its investigation of who was at fault in your car wreck. Without this document, a car accident claim will be incomplete, and can result in an offensively low settlement offer, or even an outright denial of your claim.
A police report is filled out by the officer who responds to the scene of the accident, and provides a summary of the officer’s investigation of the accident. This report contains all of the relevant details about your car wreck, including:
If you have been injured in a car wreck, a personal injury claim should be filed as soon as possible after the accident, since there is a limitation on the time you have to file a lawsuit.
A “statute of limitations” is a law which places a time limit on how long a person has to bring legal action against an at-fault party after an incident occurs. In Texas, the statute of limitations for personal injury claims—including car wrecks—is two years after the date of the accident. This means that if you are unable to resolve your car wreck claim, you must file a lawsuit within two years after the day that your car wreck occurred.
Although rare, there are exceptions to the two-year statute of limitations for car accident cases which can provide for an extension of time to file a lawsuit. These exceptions include the following:
Whatever you do, don’t wait until the last minute to seek legal advice from a personal injury attorney regarding your car accident–although two years sounds like a long period of time, settlement negotiations can take a substantial amount of time. If you aren’t successful in settling your case with the insurance company, gathering the necessary evidence to frame a successful personal injury lawsuit can take even longer. Don’t find yourself at the end of your statute of limitations period without an attorney–seek help from a personal injury lawyer early on in order to secure the best chance of a successful outcome for your car wreck claim.
The Barber Law Firm can discuss your situation with you immediately, and if we agree to handle your case, we will work on a contingent fee basis, meaning we only get paid when we win your case. For a FREE consultation, contact our Dallas, TX auto accident attorneys at 972-231-5800, or fill out our online form.
One of the most common misconceptions about car wrecks is that it will be too expensive to hire an attorney to help you with your claim—after all, depending on the work performed, it can cost hundreds of dollars an hour for a lawyer’s help in a case. Whatever you do, don’t let the fear of not being able to afford an attorney keep you from seeking the legal representation that you need and deserve after your car wreck. Rather than charging an expensive hourly rate, The Barber Law Firm’s legal team works on a contingency basis, which means that we only get paid if we are successful in obtaining financial compensation for your car wreck. In other words, if you aren’t compensated after your car wreck, you don’t pay us a dime, so you have nothing to lose by retaining The Barber Law Firm to help you with your personal injury claim.
The first step of filing an insurance claim after your car wreck is to report the claim to the insurance company. If you were not at fault in your wreck, the accident should be reported to the at-fault party’s insurance provider. At this time, you’ll most likely be required to provide the insurance carrier with information about your accident, including how severely you were injured in the wreck and what medical treatments you have sought so far for your injuries.
After this, the insurance company will conduct its own independent investigation of your claim. During this stage, you will be asked to provide more information about your car wreck, such as photos of the scene of the accident, the responding officer’s accident report, and the names and contact information for any bystanders who witnessed the car accident. You may also be asked to submit to an independent medical examination by a doctor chosen by the insurance company.
After obtaining all the necessary information about your car wreck, the insurance company will calculate how much they believe the losses are worth and reach out with a settlement offer. At that time, you can either accept the settlement if you are satisfied with the offer, or decline the offer and submit a counteroffer if you are unsatisfied with the amount that the insurance company offers you to make you whole after your accident.
Whenever you are dealing with an insurance company–whether that of the at-fault party or your own car insurance company–it’s important to keep your guard up and not get too comfortable with the person you are speaking with. No matter who you are speaking to on the other end of the line, whether it be the other party’s insurance company or your own, when it comes to insurance companies, be sure to keep the following in mind:
In the majority of car accident claims, the parties involved in the wreck will never see the inside of a courtroom–most car accident claims are settled well before the case ever goes to trial. Sometimes, however, it’s impossible for both parties–along with their insurance companies–to agree on who was at fault in the wreck or to come to a reasonable settlement agreement. If this is the case, our experienced trial attorneys will not hesitate to bring your case to court to have a jury determine fault and a judge determine a fair compensation.
If you are a first-timer in a courtroom, simply knowing how the trial process works can ease some of the nervousness that might accompany a personal injury case.
If your car accident case goes to trial, the jury’s verdict may not be the end of your case. Once a verdict is reached, it’s a pretty safe bet that the losing party–whether it be the Defendant or yourself–will be dissatisfied with how the case ended. In some cases, the losing party may file an appeal, which requests that a higher court amend or reverse the decision that was entered in your case.
If your car accident case goes to trial, it will likely be heard in a state district court. An appeal, however, is heard in an appellate court. During an appeal, the parties once again return to the courtroom, where the losing party’s attorney argues that the jury decided the case incorrectly. If an appeal is granted, your car wreck case will be sent back to the state trial court, and the entire case will be tried again by a different jury.
In rare instances, a party who loses at both the trial and appellate level may appeal once again to the Texas Supreme Court, which is the highest court in the state. The Supreme Court does not have to take on the case; rather, car wreck cases are generally only heard by the Texas Supreme Court if there is a unique issue in the case.
The appeals process is not a quick one by any means–if your car accident case is appealed, it can take months–or even years–for the appeal to be heard.
Drivers and passengers are often injured as a result of motor vehicle crashes every day on Texas roads and highways. Being a safe driver is not always enough since we share the road with so many other drivers. Unfortunately, about 20 percent of Texas drivers do not have auto insurance. Therefore, having Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) coverage and Personal Injury Protection (PIP) is extremely important.
According to data compiled in March 2023 by the Texas Department of Transportation, there were a total of 555,229 crashed in 2022. Unfortunately, there was not a day in 2022 that did not experience a traffic fatality on Texas roadways. According to TXDOT and the 2023 reportable automobile crashes, the following statistics are dreadful:
County in North Texas | Total Crashes in 2022 | Total Injuries in 2022 | Fatalities in 2022 |
Collin | 13,600 | 6,718 | 77 |
Dallas | 54,919 | 25,912 | 355 |
Denton | 11,893 | 4,676 | 51 |
Ellis | 3,193 | 1,337 | 33 |
Erath | 647 | 278 | 18 |
Hood | 812 | 424 | 11 |
Hunt | 1,608 | 829 | 15 |
Johnson | 2,750 | 1,151 | 37 |
Kaufman | 2,271 | 1,001 | 25 |
Navarro | 1,288 | 444 | 10 |
Palo Pinto | 613 | 200 | 5 |
Parker | 2,514 | 779 | 15 |
Rockwall | 1,814 | 588 | 6 |
Somervell | 161 | 61 | 3 |
Tarrant | 28,997 | 15,810 | 216 |
Wise | 1,154 | 414 | 23 |
All Texas Counties | 555,229 | 244,092 | 4,481 |
According to the Texas Department of Transportation, some of the most common contributing factors to motor vehicle accidents:
Texas Lawyer Kristopher Barber represents victims and their families who have suffered a death or sustained injuries as a result of someone else’s negligence due to distracted driving. Many times, victims will suffer pain and suffering, lost wages and medical bills caused by a distracted driving accident.
Every year in America about 421,000 people are injured in motor vehicle accidents (MVA) that involve a driver who is distracted. In Texas, there were 455 people killed in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted driving in 2016. There are many examples of distracted driver that you may not have considered.
If you have been injured in an accident where the driver was distracted, contact the police and seek medical treatment for your injuries immediately. It is also very important that you seek legal counsel in order to protect your legal rights. The Barber Law Firm is available for a free case evaluation for distracted driving cases. Lawsuits must be filed within a certain amount of time from the date of accident, so if you intend to pursue legal advice or a claim, contact a Texas distracted driving attorney. Click here for a free consultation from our experienced injury attorneys in the Dallas, TX area to ensure that you do not waive your right to possible compensation.
Texas injury attorney Kristopher Barber represents motor vehicle accident victims and their families who have been injured or even suffered the loss of a family member due an accident caused by texting and driving. These types of accidents can cause serious injuries, pain and suffering, lost wages and medical bills.
Texting and driving is the act of composing, sending and/or reading text messages, emails or similar use of the internet on a mobile device. This can result in fines, accidents, injuries, death and even a rise in auto insurance rates. A total of more than 330,000 individuals suffered injuries caused by texting and driving in Texas and around the country.
There are 3 types of distracted driving: visual, manual and cognitive. Texting and driving involves all three! Texting and driving requires you to take your eyes off the road, take your hand(s) off the wheel and takes your focus off of driving. This trifecta of distracted driving is extremely dangerous and causes thousands of auto crashes, injuries and deaths each year in Texas. Each year, more than 400,000 people are injured in crashes that involved distracted driving in Texas and around the country.
On September 1, 2017, Texas became the 47th state to enact a ban on texting while driving. House Bill 62 prevents drivers from reading, writing or sending an electronic message while their car is moving.
According to the HB 62 Analysis, “Distracted driving continues to be a significant factor in property damage, injury and death on this state’s (Texas) roads and highways.” The analysis stated that 40% of drivers between the ages of 19 and 39 say they text while driving. Drivers who text will on average take their attention off the road for 4.6 seconds out of a six second period of time. This is the same as driving 55 mph for the length of a football field. Additionally, according to Executive Director of the Texas Department of Transportation James Bass, 455 people were killed and more than 3000 were seriously injured last year as a result of distracted driving.
Currently over 95 Texas cities already have some type of hands-free ordinance in place. At least 45 of them have ordinances that are stricter than those set forth by HB 62. Argyle, Austin, Bedford, Denton, Floresville, Hill Country Village, Hurst, Lake Dallas, Little Elm, Midlothian, New Branfels, San Antonio, San Marcos, Watauga and Wichita Falls are among that group.
Failure to comply with the new state-wide ban could lead to a misdemeanor charge with a fine of $25 to $99, and repeat offenders can be charged up to a $200 fine. If an accident is caused by texting while driving and it results in a death or serious injury of another person, the driver can be charged with a Class A misdemeanor which comes with a fine up to $4,000 and up to a 12-month jail term.
If you have been injured in an accident due to distracted driver texting while driving, you should speak with an attorney. Click here for a free consultation from our experienced injury attorneys in the Dallas, TX area to ensure that you do not waive your right to possible compensation.
When choosing an attorney or a firm to represent your case there are a few questions you should ask them before deciding that they are the right fit for you.
At The Barber Law Firm, we focus only on personal injury law and that narrow focus has allowed us to help hundreds of Texans to obtain full compensation for their financial, and non-financial losses following a car accident. Our experience and integrity mean that we will be straight with you right from the beginning. If we can help you, we will do everything in our power to passionately pursue justice on your behalf. If we examine your circumstances and realize that you stand to gain more without our representation, we will be 100% transparent with you about that, and give you legal advice that will help you to make a success of your case.
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Absolutely nothing – at The Barber Law Firm, our personal injury consultations for car accident cases are 100% free, whether you decide to retain our office or not. You have nothing to lose by scheduling a consultation to speak with us after your car accident.
Special timeframes called “statutes of limitations” place a limit on how long a person has to file a claim against another party in a personal injury case. In the majority of Texas car accident cases, a person has two years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit against the other driver. It’s important to keep an eye on this time limit during the settlement process; if your claim isn’t settled out of court within the two-year time period, your attorney must file a lawsuit against the other party before the two-year anniversary of your car accident. After this time limit has expired, it is extremely difficult–and in most cases, impossible–to file a lawsuit against the other party to your car wreck to recover compensation for your injuries.
The type of compensation that you can recover in a car accident claim depends on a multitude of factors, including how badly you were injured in your wreck and the percentage of fault that was allocated to you for the accident. Typical forms of compensation that you may be entitled to receive include:
Unfortunately, there is no magic formula to determine the dollar amount of compensation that you can receive from your car accident claim. A number of factors must be considered in determining the potential compensation that you could be awarded after your car accident. In general, the more severe your injuries, the more compensation that you may be able to receive in a car accident case. Additional factors that can affect how much compensation you can be awarded in a personal injury claim include the amount of medical bills that you have incurred as a result of treatment of your injuries, whether your injuries are recoverable or whether they are permanent, and whether you were in any way at fault in your accident.
Most parties to a car accident claim never have to see the inside of a courtroom, as these cases are usually settled before they ever reach the trial stage. In some cases, however, insurance companies are unwilling to settle for a fair amount, and a case must move forward to trial. If your case does progress to the trial stage, don’t worry–our legal team prepares every car accident claim as if it will go to trial, so we are never caught off guard if the case progresses to that stage of litigation.
You don’t pay any upfront retainer or hourly fee for The Barber Law Firm to represent you in your car wreck case. We handle car accident cases on a contingency basis, which means that we retain a percentage of the compensation that you are awarded in your case. The percentage that is retained depends on whether or not a lawsuit must be filed to recover compensation in your case, as there is a substantially greater amount of work which must be put into filing a lawsuit and going to trial. If we are unable to recover any compensation for your case on your behalf, you don’t pay us a cent.
One of the many benefits of working with The Barber Law Firm is that, over the past 20 years, we have built a robust network of professional relationships with a variety of medical providers in Texas. As explained in the “How will I pay my medical bills?” question above, the medical providers for our clients will typically agree to have their medical bills paid later from the proceeds of the insurance settlement through a letter of protection. Treatment now, payment later – however, medical providers will normally only agree to this arrangement if they have written assurances from a good accident lawyer that future payment for their bills will come from the settlement proceeds.
Did you know personal injury laws in Texas only give accident victims a
LIMITED AMOUNT OF TIME to negotiate a fair automobile insurance settlement?
An experienced personal injury lawyer in Dallas can help make certain that the appropriate requirements for injury cases are met and clients receive fair compensation for their claims.
In 20 minutes or less,
we can give you a free
Tell Us Your Story. Complete the form below to speak to one of our top-rated personal injury attorneys and learn more about the legal options for your accident claim.
Legal Disclaimer: This website and the information it contains is for general information only about injury lawyers and claims. It does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. If you believe that you are entitled to an insurance settlement or compensation for a personal injury claim, contact The Barber Law Firm at 972-231-5800 for a free consultation with an experienced Dallas injury attorney.
*AVVO, AV, Super Lawyers, BBB, American Registry, Legal Leaders, and Million Dollar Advocates recognitions received by attorney Kristopher Barber. Locations other than Plano require an appointment prior to visiting.
Tell Us Your Story. Complete the form below to speak to one of our top-rated personal injury attorneys and learn more about the legal options for your accident claim.