Dallas Injury Lawyer

Call or Text (972) 599-4100 if you need to discuss your case.  The initial phone consultation is free.  We will discuss your case and help you determine if you need help in pursuing your injury case, injury claim, or injury lawsuit.

You may also contact us by email.  If you have documents or photos you need us to review, email your information to douggoyen@goyenlaw.com.

You need to discuss your case with an experienced lawyer.  There are certain areas and factors an experienced lawyer will need to discuss to determine what can be done for your case.  Do not fall into the trap of trying to handle a personal injury case without a lawyer.  If you are not experienced in handling injury claims, you will be at a major disadvantage to the insurance professionals who are working against you in personal injury cases. 

The Law Office of Doug Goyen offers intelligent, aggressive, and effective assistance in getting the most out of your injury claim, injury case, or injury lawsuit.  

You need a personal injury lawyer who will be as tough, aggressive, intelligent, and persistent as is needed to get all the insurance proceeds available, and get the best possible result you can obtain for your injury case - that is what we offer.

The phone call to our office is free and so is the initial phone consultation with our injury lawyers. You have nothing to lose by contacting us regarding your case, but you may have everything to lose if you do discuss your case with competent lawyers. You need help with your personal injury case.   Take advantage of that help to ensure you are not left "out in the cold" by the insurance adjusters. 

See the following links if you have questions regarding these subjects:

Attorney's Fee in Injury Cases
Settling Injury Claims
Adjuster is Delaying Payment and "Investigating" Claim
Medical Care After an Accident
Notice of Hospital Lien Against Case
Should I Use My Health Insurance After an Accident?
Multiple Car Accidents and Injuries
What You Can Recover in Injury Cases

How can a personal injury lawyer help in my injury case?:

1)  How much of my time will this take in dealing with the insurance company?  If you hire our attorneys, a personal injury lawyer from our office will keep in contact with the automobile insurance company or liability insurance company regarding your injury claim.  You can then avoid the nightmare and frustration of being on hold for hours, and making call after unreturned call to the insurance adjuster handling your claim.  Your lawyer will take over contacting the insurance claims departments regarding your personal injury, and we gather the information they need to evaluate your claim and get the best settlement available. 

2)  What information do I need to give the insurance company to complete their investigation?  Investigating the claim:  If you don't know the insurance claims business, the claims department can send you on wild goose chases, and you will not know the difference.  Our office knows what is needed by the insurance company to evaluate and settle your case.   We can take the guess-work out of it for you.  Often things can change that complicate what seemed to be a straightforward case.   Experienced personal injury lawyers know what the traps are in your particular case, and know what they need to prevent things from going wrong, or to correct things when things have gone wrong with your insurance company.   We know when the insurance company is "dragging their feet".  You will likely not know the difference and may get extremely frustrated when dealing with your adjuster.  Our personal injury lawyers know what documents are needed by your insurance company, and where to get that information, and how to get it in the fastest, most efficient way possible. 

We determine who the responsible parties are and what the insurance available is and what sources of recovery are for those responsible parties.  We find out all those who will need to pay, and who will be responsible for the damage, injury, and other claims that need to be paid.   

3)  Should I talk to the liability insurance company if I have an injury claim?  If not, why not?:  Avoiding harmful admissions:   You can sometimes say things innocently that the insurance company can try to spin in a way to make it sound as though you admitted fault, or admitted you weren't hurt, etc.  If you say something yourself that is twisted by the insurance company, they can uses it as an "admission" because it was "you" that said it to the adjuster.  On the other hand, if your lawyer speaks to the insurance company on your behalf, we can relay what we determine is the relevant information regarding the cause of the collision and injury information to the insurance company.  We can relay the information that is relevant to the case, and recognize questions insurers often ask that are designed to help them avoid paying a claim.  We can relay your the costs and how the injury has harmed you both physically, psychologically, and financially.  We can relay that information in a legal way that ensures you answer the insurance company's questions in a truthful manner, and in a way that avoids stepping into the "traps" insurers often attempt to set for the unwary. 

If you speak directly to the insurance company's investigators or adjusters directly, then you are making "admissions" to the insurance company regarding the questions they ask you.  Admissions are usable in court against you - if you are the party to the case (the injured or harmed person) then your statements you make are usable against you later.  If you accidentally give the wrong number, distance, amount, time, location, or date when they question you regarding something about your case, injury or injury history, they can later use that information against you.  Later, when you realize it was really the 15th when you went to the doctor, and not the 14th, the insurance company may try to use your original statement against you and deny part or all of your claim for your mistake.  

Your lawyer does not have this legal restriction - since your lawyer is not a party to the case, anything we say is not an "admission" - it is 2nd hand info we pass on, and it is typically correct, but when it is wrong (if you give us a wrong day or time), you are not locked in to that statement as an "admission".  We simply tell them we got it wrong, and then give them the correct info, and they cannot use what the lawyer told them as an admission against your case. 

Your lawyer will know what information the insurance company needs to process the claim.  If your lawyer gets a date wrong when talking to the adjuster, the lawyer can go back later and correct the mistake, because the lawyer is not a party to the case and therefor is not making "admissions" as he talks to the insurance company's investigator or adjuster.  Your lawyer cannot make an admission for you - so if a number, distance, amount, time, or date is later found to be in error, we can go back and correct the error and give the insurance company the corrected information.  The insurance companies cannot use the "admissions" tactic against your lawyer.  If you let your lawyer speak on your behalf in dealing with your claim or case you have more leeway to correct information that may later need correction.  If the lawyer makes an error in relaying the wrong information and later discovers he misread, or misheard something, he can go back and correct it without being locked in to the original incorrect information. 

4)  What are the best places to look to make sure I get a full recovery?:  Types of insurance and recoveries available:   You may miss the biggest part of your claim recovery because you don't know what coverages to look for or ask for.  You want to make sure you receive a full recovery.  Often there are multiple types of insurance or responsible parties that may owe part or all of an injury case, claim, or lawsuit.   An experienced, smart lawyer will know what to look for in your particular situation. 

There may be multiple options available in a particular case to recover money. We investigate what options are available in your case in order to ensure you know all your options and have the ability to maximize whatever recovery you may have available in your injury case or claim.

5)  Who can I recover from?:  You cannot afford to miss the person who is actually legally responsible for your injury.  It may seem obvious to you, but sometimes the law requires a different result that what seems clear to you.  There may be more than one party, person, or company that is responsible for your injury or harm.  We investigate what caused the injuries, harms, losses, or damages. This is to determine what the law would consider to be "negligence", and then work from there to determine who owes for your personal injury.

A vast majority of auto accident cases are caused by someone, or a combination of people, who make negligent decisions that cause the accident and injury. Examples of negligent decisions that cause accidents and injuries are speeding, running lights or stop signs, changing lanes without ensuring the lane is clear, turning in front of oncoming traffic, drunk driving, driving while distracted by cell phones or smart phones, driving while fatigued and other actions and factors that cause a driver to not act as a reasonable driver would in avoiding collisions with others.

We investigate what you are able to recover on your case and then collect for those injuries, harms, losses, and damages from the resources of those who negligently caused the injury. Lawyers lump all injuries, harms, and losses into a term we call "damages" - which for a lawyer is anything you are entitled to recover in a negligence, accident, or injury case or claim.

6)  What can I ask for in compensation for my injury?:  Damages that are often recoverable in personal injury cases include the following: Money for pain and suffering and mental anguish,  past and future medical bills: the amount of medical bills necessary to treat your injury, both in the past and future, lost wages or earnings, physical impairment, disfigurement, property damage, among other types of damages.  See the links below for a more detailed description of these types of damages: 

Other examples of damages for harms, losses, or injuries that someone suffers can include the following categories:
Past and future lost earning capacity
Past and future lost income
Past and future physical impairment
Past and future disfigurement
Past and future mental anguish
Past and future pain and suffering
Property damage
Loss of use of your property
Storage
Total loss of property
Diminished value of property
Loss of body member or mental function
Loss of consortium (spouse, parental, child/filial)
Loss of services
Emotional/mental trauma (bystander injury)
Punitive Damages

Other damages that may be recoverable in accident and injury cases include prenatal injury, exemplary damages, prejudgment interest, attorney's fees, and court costs.

7)  How much will this cost? What we charge - Contingency Fee:   You owe nothing unless we recover for your injury case. This is referred to as a "contingency fee". A personal injury lawyer will charge a percentage of what they can recover for your injury claim, this is the most common way a personal injury attorney charges to represent clients - this is true in Texas and throughout the United States. It is a performance based contract where the lawyer is paid based on how he performs. This places the personal injury lawyer's interests with your interests. The more the attorney can recover for you, the more he recovers for himself. If the personal injury lawyer recovers nothing, you owe no fees.

A common contingency fee in Texas is 1/3 of whatever we can recover for your injury case.  For example, if we work 30-60 hours on a case where we believe liability is clear, and later the insurance company locates a bus full of nuns as witnesses who torpedo your case by testifying against you, and then we are unable to recover anything, then you owe nothing.    If the insurance company later finds information that shows there was no coverage for this particular case (examples often are:  the owner of the insurance claims his car was stolen, or the person driving was an "excluded driver" who was not supposed to be driving the car per the insurance contract, or the other driver missed his insurance payment and the policy was canceled for nonpayment), if there is no coverage due, but yet we put in many hours trying to help on your case, and there is no other way to recover against anyone regarding your case, then you owe nothing - because we are unable to recover anything - 1/3 of zero is zero.  

On the other hand, if we can recover $300,000.00 for your injury claim (prior to litigation), then we are typically paid 1/3 of the amount for the attorney fee, which would be $100,000.00 of the $300,000.00 (1/3 of the recovery).  If we are only able to recover $30,000.00, then the attorney's fee is $10,000.00 in prelitigation cases. 

So you can see, the better we do for you, the better we do for ourselves.  A contingency fee is a performance based contract.  If we perform well on your case, we get paid well.  If we cannot collect on your case, we don't get paid.  This is different from a family law or criminal law case.  In those cases, you pay your attorney a "retainer" of many thousands of dollars, and in many cases you periodically are required to deposit additional money into the retainer for your lawyer in those type cases - and win or lose - you pay the attorney - even if you lose, and you don't get your money back in cases with "retainers".  Contingency fees for injury cases are a superior method of paying lawyers.  It puts your lawyers interest the same as your interest - to recover as much as you are legally owed for your injury claim or case.  It forces personal injury lawyers to be selective in the cases we take.  We do not want to take a bad case where we will not win (where family or criminal lawyers, or other areas of the law are not as selective.  If they have a paying client, they will perform the service whether they think their client will win or not - because they are getting paid regardless).

You owe nothing unless we recover for you. This is referred to as a "contingency fee". A personal injury lawyer will charge a percentage of what they can recover for you, this is the most common way a personal injury attorney charges to represent clients - this is true in Texas and throughout the United States. It is a performance based contract where the lawyer is paid based on how he performs. This places the personal injury lawyer's interests with your interests. The more the attorney can recover for you, the more he recovers for himself. If the personal injury lawyer recovers nothing, you owe no fees.

Auto Accidents:  

We represent people who have been injured in an automobile collision:
 
Many people call them "accidents", but I try to avoid that terminology when possible.  It makes it sound like there was nothing your could do about it.  Typically collisions of vehicles are not "accidents".  They are usually the result of careless conduct, where the person knows what they are doing is careless.  Acting without using proper care (careless behavior) is not "accidental" behavior, it is intentional behavior.  If a person intentionally decides to speed, or to try to beat a red light, or to text on your phone, or to drive when intoxicated or too tired, or to put on makeup while driving, or to mess with your presets on your radio while driving in traffic, or to change lanes suddenly without checking to ensure the way is clear, etc, etc.  These are not "accidents" that lead to these collisions as most people think of accidents.  These are careless behaviors that are preventable that cause these injury collisions or injury "accidents". 

I may use the term "accident" from time to time, as it has been drilled into our mind as the term to use for automobile collisions, but the term is usually incorrect in most collisions.  In most cases, the collision is due to avoidable careless or negligent behavior, not accidental behavior. 

Auto Accidents with injuries: 

If a person is injured or killed by an automobile collision it can be life changing. If you are injured you will want to at least consult with an attorney. People don't expect an injury or accident to happen. Most haven't budgeted for the costs of having to go to the emergency room, take a ride in an ambulance, have a CT Scan, pay your deductible for your car, take time off from work due to an injury, take time off from work due to the hoops the insurance company is making you jump through. All this can put you in a big financial bind. If your injury is severe, then you don't have the time, and often you don't have the ability, to fight the insurance company for your financial needs. You are busy trying to heal, or trying to help your loved one(s) heal. If you have a high health insurance deductible, or worse yet if you have no health insurance, you are left feeling like there is nowhere to turn for help.

A Dallas injury attorney can take over handling the personal injury claims and case. Your attorney can help take the burden of dealing with the medical bills and billing, and with dealing with the automobile or other personal injury insurance companies that must be dealt with in order to recover financially from your injury, harms, losses, and damages caused by the accident or incident.

Property Damage only: 

Typically, if there is only property damage and no injury, you will not be able to find an attorney to represent your case.   The law does not allow recovery of attorney's fees in "negligence" cases - which is what an auto accident typically is.  You will then need to hire the attorney, either paying an hourly rate, or paying a contingency fee - and since you cannot get your attorney's fees back on negligence cases, you will be short the amount of money needed to repair your vehicle by the amount you need to pay your attorney to pursue the case. 

This should be addressed by Texas Legislators.  A law should be passed allowing the recovery of attorney's fees in property damage only cases.  But currently, that is not the law in Texas . . . so we do not handle property damage only cases in auto accidents. 

Dealing With the Insurance Company, With or Without a Lawyer:

Do not try to handle your own injury case without first consulting a lawyer.  You need to discuss your case with an experienced lawyer to determine if you need help in your situation.  Taking the wrong steps can keep you from recovering the money you will need to cover what happened in your case. 

If you are trying to handle your claim yourself, the auto or liability insurance company for the person who hit or who caused your injury makes no promises regarding paying your claims. You have no contract with them. They have no legal obligation to you. Their legal obligation is to their insured - to "defend" them, and to pay "if" (and only if) their insured is legally liable for a covered reason. They are looking for a reason to not pay your claim (coverage issues, liability issues, damages issues), so they can get out of paying. That is what adjusters are trained to do first, and to keep checking as the claim goes along, to see if there is a reason not to pay.

If you are thinking of representing yourself, you will want to consider Do You Need a Lawyer for Your Injury Case or claim. You will also want to consider what kind of cases you can and what cases you should not try to Settle Without a Lawyer.

Types of Coverage in Automobile Injury Cases:

Automobile Liability Insurance, Uninsured Motorist Insurance, Personal Injury Protection (PIP), Medpay Insurance, Property Damage & Collision Coverages for Your Auto.

If this sounds familiar, you need to call our personal injury law office today. We handle automobile accidents with injuries on a regular basis. We are in a position to help you negotiate a settlement with the insurance company. Auto accidents can be difficult to navigate. You need a lawyer with many years of experience. You need a lawyer with experience working both for and against insurance companies. Call for a free phone consultation regarding your case and what you should do to protect your rights.

Some of the Personal Injury areas we Represent:

1. Auto Accidents
2. Personal Injury
3. 18 Wheeler & Commercial Vehicle Injury Accidents
4. Motorcycle Accidents
5. Wrongful Death
6. Pedestrians Injured by Automobiles
7. Slip & Falls & Premises Cases
8. Workplace & Construction Injuries
9. Dog Bite Injuries
10. Bicyclers Hit by Automobiles

If you need help from a Car Accident Attorney, Personal Injury Attorney, 18 Wheeler and Commercial Vehicle Injury Accidents Attorney, Motorcycle Accident Lawyer, Wrongful Death Attorney, Pedestrian Injury Lawyer, Slip and Fall Lawyer, Workplace Injury Attorney, Dog Bite Lawyer, or Bike Accident Attorney we can help.

Contact us at (972) 599 4100 to speak to a Dallas injury lawyer about your case.