Practice Areas of Glasheen, Valles & Inderman Injury Lawyers

Potential defendants are usually covered by insurance. The insurance companies are notified immediately when an accident occurs, and they usually hire attorneys and expert witnesses to investigate the claim. It is important that witnesses be interviewed as soon as possible and evidence be preserved. Witnesses will often be more difficult to locate or will have a poor memory if they are interviewed much later after the accident has occurred. Evidence such as machinery parts or skid marks on the highway will disappear unless preserved quickly. Insurance companies have insurance adjusters who will contact you and try to be friendly. You should not trust the statements that insurance adjusters make to you. They are not working for you and will sometimes make misleading statements in an effort to trick you into resolving your case. Insurance adjusters also might record your conversations with them and use your statements against you in order to try to save money for the insurance companies.

The main thing we try to impress upon people is that it’s never too early to talk to an attorney, and it’s always too late. By that we mean that speaking with an attorney very soon after a crash or other accident in no way will harm you. Along the same lines, the longer you try to handle a claim on your own or delay hiring competent counsel, irreparable damage can be done in the form of recorded statements given to the insurance companies and evidence not being preserved. There is no risk or fee for speaking with an attorney and arranging an initial consultation.

The law provides that if a person is killed because of the negligence of another, then there is a wrongful death claim. The people who can make a claim on behalf of the deceased person in Texas are the parents, spouse and children of the decedent. The wrongful death claim recognizes that when a person is killed, then the parents, spouse and children of the decedent will have damages for the loss of that relationship. Wrongful death damages include loss of economic contributions and support from the decedent. Wrongful death damages also include loss of emotional support, love and affection from the decedent. Other wrongful death damages include damages for the mental anguish, pain, suffering and loss that the family has endured. Related to wrongful death claims is a survival claim. The law recognizes that when a person dies that the estate will have a claim for the medical expenses that were incurred prior to death and for any conscious pain, suffering, disability or other damages that the decedent suffered as a result of their injuries prior to their death. This claim for “pre-death” damages known as a “survival claim,” is owned by the estate and distributed according to the Will, or in the absence of a Will, according to the probate laws.

Personal injury claims are usually resolved by either settlement or by a jury. When a case is settled, it is the client’s decision of whether or not to accept a settlement offer. The lawyer will advise the client as to the potential value of the claim. Lawyers evaluate the potential value of a claim by predicting what a jury would do based on experience with similar claims.A jury can consider all sorts of damages in a personal injury case including medical expenses in the past and in the future, loss of earnings in the past and in the future as a result of the injury, physical pain and mental anguish in the past and in the future, compensation for impairment – that is loss of use, and disfigurement damages. The jury has discretion in awarding the sums. We can give you advice on the value of your claim based on our experience with some of our claims and similar jury results.

Most personal injury attorneys work on what is called a contingency fee basis, which means that you pay the attorney only if and when the attorney has successfully made a recovery in your case, either by settlement or by winning a jury trial. Our philosophy is that clients have enough to worry about, so clients at Glasheen, Valles & Inderman never pay us a dime out of their pockets directly; when you’re case is finished, the insurance company sends a check to our law firm, we take our percentage fee from that check, and send the remainder to the client.

In the rare event we are unable to make a recovery on your case, you still don’t pay us a dime, and that even includes case costs, court costs, expert fees, and any advances. There is truly zero risk in hiring a personal injury law firm like Glasheen, Valles & Inderman.

The answer to this question often depends upon your specific situation. In an automobile accident with fairly minor injuries, sometimes there is Personal Injury Protection insurance or “PIP” coverage that can help pay for your medical bills.

Other times your private health insurance will pay your medical bills. Once we settle your case, we may have to reimburse your private health insurance policy for medical expenses.

In other cases where our clients do not have health insurance, we can arrange medical treatment for our clients using a “letter of protection.” That means that we make an agreement with medical providers that if and when we make a recovery in your personal injury case, then we will pay the medical bills out of the settlement.

In some cases where our clients are unable to get medical treatment otherwise, our law firm will advance the cost of medical expenses in order to assist our client. Exactly how each medical expense is handled in each case will depend on the facts of each case and the circumstances of any potentially-available forms of insurance payment.

Learn more about loans.

The time it takes to resolve a personal injury claim depends very much on the type of case. We believe that it is important to prosecute claims as quickly and efficiently as possible. We usually like to have our client finish with their medical treatment so that we can fully and properly evaluate their injuries before we attempt to settle the claim. Sometimes we can assist a client with making advances to cover lost wages or living expenses while the client is waiting for the case to be resolved. Typically, automobile accident cases with fairly minor injuries can be resolved in about six months. More serious accident cases usually take anywhere from six months up to a year and a half or longer.

In Texas employers are not required to carry workers’ compensation. However, if an employer does not have workers’ compensation and an employee gets injured at work, then a claim can be made against the employer for the employer’s negligence, if any, that caused the injury. Our firm handles quite a few of these claims against employers who do not carry workers’ compensation. These claims are known as “non-subscriber” work injury claims. Because there is no limit on the damages in a non-subscriber case, there can sometimes be a substantial recovery. We have recovered in excess of a million dollars for many different clients with non-subscriber cases.