Terrell Personal Injury Tag Archives

Published on: May 31, 2018

Guest and Gray Law Firm: Terrell’s Trusted Legal Team

Guest and Gray, P.C. is committed to providing Kaufman county communities with the best possible civil litigation services. We are a full services law firm. When people ask us what kind of law we do, our response is always “its is better to explain what types of we DO NOT do,” which is basically two areas of law: bankruptcy and tax.

At Guest and Gray, there is literally no case too big. Our firm has grown to a point where no case is too big or too complex. Whether it be complex civil litigation involving business and corporate legal disputes, breach of contract, real estate law, personal injury or probate and estate planning, Guest and Gray has the lawyers that you need to help you with any legal issue.

TERRELL IS GROWING

Published on: April 30, 2018

Why Every Motorcycle Rider Needs to Carry Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage

by Guest and Gray Law Firm

Motorcycle accidents happen in a blink of an eye. The biker is often left with very little time to maneuver to safety, causing them to lay the bike down or simply take the hit straight on. As a result, the injuries that motorcycle riders and passengers incur are regularly more severe than that of those in the vehicle that hit them.

Injuries mean hospital stays, lost wages, long recovery, hospital bills. Big ones. In a typical motorcycle accident here in the Dallas and Fort Worth areas, the amount of medical bills can exceed $100,000 in just the first few days of treatment. We have had countless cases where injured bikers have been in the hospital for weeks, and even months, at a time.

IT DOES NOT TAKE A BIG ACCIDENT TO GET BIG INJURIES IN MOTORCYCLE CASES

Published on: December 26, 2017

Client Focused Personal Injury Attorneys

by Guest and Gray Law Firm

At Guest and Gray, we understand that customer service and client satisfaction is key to our success. Keeping clients happy is business 101. However, it is easier to do that when you are genuinely happy to provide the service. It is easier when you have a top notch team in place that has been working together for years. It is easier when you care about the service you are providing. When people come to my office, they are hurting. They are worried about their medical bills as well as their light bills and putting food on the table for their family. Here at Guest and Gray, we do not lose sight of that fact. We focus our personal injury practice locally in the Rockwall, Kaufman and Dallas county areas. Why? because we care about this community and the people in it. We care because we live here. You are our neighbors. What a cool job to get to fight for your neighbors when someone has negligently harmed them!

It is a job with a lot of responsibility. Many local Rockwall, Terrell, Forney and other local residents come see me every week and tell me the story of how they have been injured and how that has affected them and their families. Accidents don’t just hurt the person, it hurts their families too. It effects everything they do. Spouses and parents have to spend additional time caring for an injured family member. Watch them receive treatments in the hospital. The worst is when a loved one has been lost due to an accident. That is truly a life-changing event for that family.

It is our goal to show this community the other side of personal injury attorneys. Not the side you see on TV that brags about cherry-picked cases where the clients have received large sums of money. Yeah, we have those but you are not just a dollar sign to us, and we hope we are not that for you either. The law only provides so much remedy to an injured party and the end result of each case is a cash-payout, but our goal is to make sure that you are brought back to where you were or as close to that as possible. We look at every avenue of recovery. Every angle.

Published on: December 18, 2017

The Insurance Company Has A Team Of Attorneys. Do You?

by Guest and Gray Law Firm

It is a virtual guarantee. If you are injured in an accident, not only are you going to be dealing with an adjuster who works for a potentially billion dollar insurance company like Progressive or State Farm, but you will also have to deal with the fact that the insurance company also has teams of lawyers working for them as well. If there is even a possibility they can deny your claims, they will. They also will take a calculated risk making you low-ball offers thinking you will take it just to get some bills paid.

Do not allow yourself to become a victim of the insurance company. They will smooth talk you and act like they are working in your best interest. They may even tell you that “this is how it is always is” or that your claims are “worth less than this” but more likely than not, they are trying to get one over on you. Remember, they work these claims for a living. This is their job. The goal of the adjuster and the insurance company attorneys is to limit liability for their own clients and the insurance company. It is not to make sure that you are taken care of. In fact, they do not even owe a duty to you at all. Their duty is only to their own insured (the at-fault driver).

That is why it is so important for you to speak with and hire an attorney when you or a loved one has been injured in an accident. The odds can be stacked against you. You need someone who fights the insurance company on a daily basis. When an attorney comes into the fold for you, the insurance company will take notice. At Guest and Gray, we fight on a daily basis to get our injured clients the compensation that they deserve and the insurance company will know that. We have been helping clients in the Dallas, Rockwall and Kaufman county areas for years. You are already dealing with the pain of recovering from an accident, so do not let yourself be taken advantage of by the insurance company and their smooth talking lawyers. Hire dedicated personal injury lawyers who fight for their clients everyday.

Published on: December 8, 2017

Guest and Gray, P.C.: Commercial Truck Accident Attorneys

by Guest and Gray Law Firm

Rockwall and Kaufman counties are major trucking routes with highways such as Interstate 30, Interstate 20 and Highways 80 and 175 passing through those counties respectively, along with other major highways intersecting them. Commercial trucking accidents are some of the most severe and potentially fatal types of accidents imaginable. An 18-Wheeler truck loaded with thousands of pounds of cargo can weigh upwards of 40,000 tons, or 80,000 pounds. That is a massive amount of destructive force which is why trucking accidents often result in debilitating, life-altering injuries and even death.

Truck Accidents Can Be Fatal

Data from the US Department of Transportation shows 2,485 passenger vehicle occupants died in “large truck accidents” in 2014. The most deaths happened in 1979, when 4,226 people in passenger vehicles died in large truck accidents. That’s a 41.1% drop from 1979, which represents good progress, however, the number of deaths per accident has risen. This is true despite increased federal regulations on trucking companies and truck drivers, respectively. Quite often the cause of trucking accidents is due to a trucking company forcing drivers to violate federal regulations and drive for longer periods of time without sleep than allowed by law, truckers going against their own companies rules and regulations to meet strict delivery deadlines, and driver fatigue or equipment failure.

Published on: December 5, 2017

Personal Injury: No Fee Until We Win

by Guest and Gray Law Firm

Have you been injured in an accident in Rockwall or Kaufman county? At Guest and Gray, P.C., we take all of our Rockwall and Kaufman county personal injury cases on a contingency basis. This means that there is no fee until we recover. We feel that this is the best possible way to ensure that all of our clients are able to receive the same great legal service regardless of ability to pay. Additionally, we know that our personal injury clients have often been severely burdened by the cost of their injuries, loss of income, or the loss of a loved one.

We also feel a deep sense of connection to our community. We want to protect the citizens of Rockwall and Kaufman county from negligent drivers and deep-pocketed insurance companies who do not have the victim’s best interests at heart.

DO NOT SETTLE FOR LESS

Published on: October 30, 2017

4 Things to Know About Truck Accident Cases in Texas

by Guest and Gray Law Firm

Truck accidents have become what seems like an every day occurrence here in the Eastern Dallas-Fort Worth area. Rockwall and areas to the east along interstate 30, such as Royse City, are growing at a rapid pace. Along the highway 80 and I-20 corridors respectively in Kaufman county is developing from Forney to Terrell with new businesses springing up in the area on a weekly basis. On top of that, Rockwall, Forney and Terrell are also seeing a housing boom. Especially Forney. That brings construction traffic with cement trucks, work trucks, delivery trucks and everything else.

Growth is one thing, but the fact that the Texas’ economy and the National economy are both doing well means that shipping of products to market is also increasing to meet the demands of consumers. That compounds the issues here in Rockwall and Kaufman counties. Not only are we seeing massive growth, but our two counties fall within major trucking corridors. We have interstate-30 heading northeast through to Arkansas, highway 80 heading east Texas and Louisiana, and highway 20 which stretches straight through to Florida and is the single largest trucking corridor in Kaufman county. Kaufman county also has highway 175 to the southeast towards east Texas and Cedar Creek Lake and beyond. All told, hundreds of thousands of vehicles pass through Kaufman county highways each day and much of that traffic is big rigs carrying all sorts of products and equipment to their destinations here in Rockwall and Kaufman counties and all throughout the country.

That being said, here is a quick primer on the 4 things you need to know about trucking accidents:

Published on: September 1, 2017

What About My Pain and Suffering?

by Guest and Gray Law Firm

Here at Guest and Gray, that is a common question when talking to new and potential clients. Pain and suffering is a real thing. It can be the pain from recovering from a broken arm, but also the suffering you feel as your body tries to heal. So, if you have been injured in a motor vehicle or motorcycle accident, and it was not your fault, you are likely going to be able to recover for not only your injuries sustained in the accident but also for the pain and suffering associated with those injuries. David HagEstad and Scott Gray, our Dallas, Forney and Rockwall county personal injury attorneys are well versed in the area of pain and suffering and have successfully obtained favorable settlements for our clients over the years and have put together this short guide to help you understand the process of recovering monetarily for your pain and suffering.

How Much is My Pain and Suffering Worth?

The funny thing about Texas law is that there is no set method for calculating pain and suffering in any given case. It is determined on a case by case basis. Some firms may try to get you to click their website because of a calculator they supposedly have to determine how much you should get for you injuries. Those are likely not going to be accurate because no attorney can ever guarantee how much you should get in any given case. This is especially true early on when the full extent of your injuries, and the overall time period of your recovery, are still unknown. However, as experienced personal injury attorneys, we can tell you that the two main indicators of pain and suffering that you should be aware of are the extent of your injuries and the amount of your medical bills. These key indicators will help guide us in determining a fair dollar figure for your pain and suffering, i.e. calculating your pain and suffering.

Published on: May 21, 2017

The Insurance Company is Not Your Friend

by Guest and Gray Law Firm

The insurance company is not your friend. I feel like I say this to every potential client, and I get the same response “they’ve been really friendly so far.”

Then we get into the claims process and get down to brass tacks and the client quickly realizes that, had they gone into this without an attorney, what would have been considered “fair” by the insurance adjuster’s definition would have been much different and less zeros on it.

Case in point, I was speaking to a friend recently I had not seen in nearly a decade and it came up that he had been involved in an 18-wheeler accident a few years back. He told me how he had tried to go it alone for a while against the insurance company, in part because they seemed to be on his side and they accepted liability right away. He was hurt pretty bad in the accident and required shoulder surgery and weeks of rehabilitation. However, in his initial meeting with the insurance company’s adjuster, they offered him $1,500. He said he couldn’t believe it and as he said it, he seemed to think that I should be surprised too, but I wasn’t.

Published on: April 20, 2017

Fatal 18-Wheeler Wrecks: The Three Most Important Things Your Attorney Needs to Do Now

by Guest and Gray Law Firm

Time is of the essence if you or a loved one has been involved in an 18-wheeler wreck. The trucking company and the insurance company is going to take steps to eliminate evidence of wrongdoing on their part. You need to hire an attorney and get them working on protecting the evidence related to the accident because it has a very funny way of disappearing.

For instance, there was a fatal 18-wheeler accident involving Forney resident, Latonya Child, in Fate, Texas near Rockwall off of Interstate 30 just the other day. Absolutely horrific tragedy. The driver of the truck obviously did not stop. Although this information is generally applicable to all accidents, but if I were advising this family as a lawyer, or even as a friend, I would say: hire an attorney and do it now. I have handled too many 18-wheeler wreck cases involving incapacitating injuries and deaths to say any different. That family, and any other family involved in such a tragic accident needs someone to tell them that the insurance company is not their friend and does not have their best interests at heart, no matter what the insurance company says. They need someone to protect their rights and make sure that the person who decided to be negligent on that day and take away their loved one pays for what they did. Period.

It is vitally important to the injured party’s case that an attorney take certain actions to protect evidence in the days and weeks following an 18-wheeler wreck. The three main things an attorney needs to for anyone in such a situation send spoliation letters (evidence protection letter), get an accident reconstruction specialist out to the scene of the accident, and get ahold of all the witnesses and take their statements.