Recommendations for collision attorneys?
Posted by Tanzinthorn@reddit | Dallas | View on Reddit | 20 comments
I was in a minor collision yesterday, rear ended at a stop light. Went to the ER on the advice of my mom, got a CT scan. Filed with both my and the other driver's insurance, and theirs has already contacted me saying the driver has admitted fault and they're ready to settle. They offered 1.1k bodily injury to cover the muscle relaxant prescription, missing work today, and I guess the suffering? I don't know what the breakdown is. When I talked to my own insurance later, they said I should never take the first offer, and look into an attorney for a consultation. Thing is, I've never been in a collision before or had need for an attorney in general, so I'm completely in the deep end here. They didn't have anyone to offer because they said it might be a conflict of interest (or something to that effect, I don't remember the exact phrasing) so no dice there. I especially don't want to get locked into an attorney that I'd end up paying a consultation fee for, since things have been super tight the last few months.
Any recs from people who have dealt with this kind of thing in the past would be super helpful
averagescore190@reddit
Sorry to hear you're dealing with that. I've hear some good things about Coby L. Wooten, Attorney at Law, P.C. They're a little ways away in Fort Worth but serve the DWF area: https://www.cobywootenlaw.com/
fordprobegt@reddit
For crying out loud can y’all stop suing over every minor vehicle collision. This is why insurance is so high. Ambulance chasing losers think they can get a quick buck out of everything. Just take the insurance payout you are already getting the (unnecessary) medical procedure for free.
Tanzinthorn@reddit (OP)
Honestly that's the gut feeling I've been getting, this has gone so smoothly and the other driver was very cooperative and nice about the whole thing. I'm looking into attorneys on recommendation from Progressive more than anything else.
badlyagingmillenial@reddit
Let me tell you a story.
10 years ago I was in an accident, guy ran a red light and I was going 40mph in a 35mph zone, no time to do much braking.
I walked away from the accident, shaken up but not in a lot of pain. I went to a bar to watch my friends band play afterwards. The next day I went in and got examined by a doctor, they told me nothing was wrong and to just take it easy for a couple days.
5 years later, my neck and back have started to give me issues and I was in daily pain. It got to the point where I was missing work, skipping out on dinners with friends, etc.
The accident that I walked away from "with no injuries", had damaged my cervical and lumbar spine in a way that didn't cause me pain right away. The pain showed up 5 years later. Now I have a herniated disc in my lower back, and spinal stenosis in my neck. I've spent thousands of dollars on dozens of doctor visits, xrays, mris, and medication. I've done 55 physical therapy visits plus hundreds of hours of working out and stretching on my own. I got a personal trainer and have been working out 2x per week for a year.
I've been told that if the injuries had been addressed right away, I wouldn't be in the pain I am today. But since we did, I will be in pain for the rest of my life and have to have back surgery later in life.
If I had to pick between a $1,000,000 insurance payout, OR not having any pain, I would pick no pain every time.
So, to my point: you have no idea what you're talking about, and you don't know how much suffering an accident will cause you in the future.
Get every penny you can.
tturedditor@reddit
Those chronic conditions are likely unrelated to your car wreck from years back. This is a bogus narrative.
badlyagingmillenial@reddit
I will go ahead and believe what my doctors have told me instead of some random on reddit.
tturedditor@reddit
I don't believe any doctor would attribute those conditions to a car wreck from five years earlier where you were pain free after the event. Especially spinal stenosis. It's not caused by an isolated minor trauma.
badlyagingmillenial@reddit
The spine surgeon, back surgeon, and multiple other physicians who have seen the MRIs and xrays and have examined me disagree. I'm going to keep believing what they tell me and you can fuck off, thanks.
JustMeInBigD@reddit
Absolutely this. I only did it because someone advised me to, and never will again.
Surfnazi77@reddit
Pi attorneys take a cut at the end anywhere from 30-40 percent if it doesn’t go to trial
nomadschomad@reddit
$1.1k is very low if there's any injury. I got t-boned by someone going 20mph, only had brusies/scrapes, didn't go to doc, and their insurance offered by $600 to get some massages... back in 2008.
rudepaladin@reddit
Just wait to take the bodily injury payout. You just got in a collision yesterday, if you get referred to physical therapy for any whiplash symptoms, they’ll cover that too.
Be realistic about your symptoms and pain levels. They may pay additional suffering
SleeplessInPlano@reddit
I would suggest avoiding the larger billboard firms. At least, the one I worked for was very slow. I'd recommend MAS law or a smaller firm. Smaller firms are more likely to pick up the phone.
CrookedFinger@reddit
Israel Perez is a good guy and an excellent litigator.
codysdad89@reddit
If you haven't experienced it already, please be aware that the moment your accident report makes it to the public record you're going to be flooded with scam/spam calls from people claiming to be your advocate- and they will have a lot of accident information from the police report. If your plan is to use a lawyer, only use one that you call & never one that calls you.
JustMeInBigD@reddit
This x 1000! I have gotten well over 150 calls since my accident 1 week ago.
JustMeInBigD@reddit
So, just be aware...when I signed with a law firm, they sent me to a chiropractor for about 10 weeks and miraculously settled for an amount that covered those medical "treatments", their fee, and my missed time from work (which I wouldn't have missed if not attending those treatments.) Now that chiropractor did not do adjustments - basically just physical therapy-type things, some pain mitigation, etc. It helped some, but I'm not convinced I wouldn't have improved the same over that period of time with no treatment at all.
I can't say if they (the attorneys) did a good or bad job or a bad job, but I regretted the whole thing. Obviously, your mileage may vary (pardon the horrible wordplay.)
Somehow I thought getting an attorney would get me more money for my car and it did not. So a fully paid off, quite old car was written off as a total loss and I of course had to get new transportation for what the settlement paid. (So keep in mind, that bad experience colors my upcoming opinion...)
My advice is...1) Insist that the ER bill be paid by the at-fault driver's insurance. It could very well be a lot more than the 1.1K they've offered you. And in some cases, your health insurance will not pay something that should be covered by liability insurance. The hospital might initially just bill you for a co-pay or whatever at first, but then your health insurance could deny it. Whatever you do, make sure that bill is 100% covered. 2)Look over the ER's writeup of your injuries. If it is something that could require further treatment now or flare up later, that could very well be worth taking legal action. 3) If your injuries don't require further treatment, try to get the initial medical offer upped based on the idea that your health insurance might reject the ER bill. (You'll need to find out how much the bill was and what amount if any was billed to your health insurance.) 4) Take these same steps for the "injury" to your car and how they plan to settle that.
Figuring that out should help you decide whether you need to pursue legal action.
InternalOpinion5410@reddit
If you are sure you don't have any long term issues approach the insurance company tell them to double there initial offer or you are happy to consult an attorney and chiropractor
Deputy__Dan@reddit
Hey I saw your post regarding the car accident and I’m so sorry to hear about that hope your doing better now. We’ll I was recently hit by another and my lawyer handled my case perfectly. Helped me fully recovered, answered all my questions as it was my first accident, and got me great money including my lost wages. I’d recommend at least getting in contract for a quick chat, I can share his number if your interested. Hope all is well.
MMD2023@reddit
I was just involved in a car accident on last Thursday, I was referred to Mas Law Firm, they got started immediately and I didn’t have to pay anything up front. Your insurance is right, never take the first offer especially from the other persons insurance company. Hope this helps!