Cedar Park Car Accident Lawyer

With the sheer number of cars on the roads in the United States, it stands to reason that car accident incidents are the most common form of personal injury case that we deal with here at Chris Morrow Law, PLLC.

Careless or negligent drivers have the potential to cause serious, life-threatening injuries, and tragically, in many cases, they can take the lives of a loved one. This can leave you facing financial uncertainty, rising medical costs, time off work, and property repairs.

If you or a loved one have been involved in an accident caused by a negligent driver, you are entitled to recover all of the damages you have suffered as a result, and you may be able to pursue compensation for the pain, suffering, and mental trauma you have been subject to as a result.

For the best chances of seeking this compensation, you should contact an experienced Cedar Park car accident lawyer immediately.

At Chris Morrow Law, PLLC, we deal with car accidents on a daily basis, and we can assign a dedicated personal injury lawyer to your case. They will investigate the auto accident, calculate your damages on your behalf and negotiate with the insurance company on the other side of the table. This will allow you to take a step back and focus on your recovery and mental well-being while your personal injury attorney does all the work for you.

Chris Morrow Law, PLLC – The Attorney That Works

A personal injury law firm needs strong leadership, and here at Chris Morrow Law, PLLC, we are proud to be led by an attorney of Chris Morrow’s caliber. His impeccable reputation as both a first-chair trial lawyer and for aggressive and reliable advocacy, paired with his attention to detail and his clients, is a winning combo.

Chris Morrow strongly believes that reliable representation should not be a privilege but a choice for all victims, regardless of their financial situation. This is why we offer a free consultation to any victim of a personal injury accident. During this free consultation and case evaluation, you can receive some no-strings-attached advice. After the meeting, you are free to walk away more informed than you entered, or you can agree to representation, and we can spring into action.

Another way we make our representation accessible to all is through our fee structure. We work on a contingency fee basis here at Chris Morrow Law, PLLC. This means that you don’t pay upfront to retain us, and you don’t pay us anything unless we win you a settlement. This means you can pursue your claim without any risk on your behalf. That’s how confident we are in our abilities.

What Different Types of Compensation Are Available to Me Following a Cedar Park, TX, Car Accident?

There are a number of different damages that you might suffer following a car accident in Cedar Park, TX. Part of your personal injury claim will be the recovery of these damages.

Car accident victims might suffer emotional trauma, mental distress, and, often, physical injuries of varying degrees. Physical injuries can lead to medical expenses and medical bills adding up and for those that have no medical insurance, this means finding the costs yourself.

If the accident happened because of the negligence of somebody else, you are entitled to claim all of your damages back, both economic and non-economic. This is one of the most important jobs your car accident lawyers carry out. Car accident claims often have a large number of damages attached, and calculating them in a fair and reasonable manner is important.

The first stage of calculating your damages is to consider what your economic damages are worth. The next stage will be for your attorney to use that figure, and their experience in similar cases, to calculate what your non-economic damages are worth.

These two figures will make up the base of your settlement figure and this will be sent to the other party. This opens up the negotiations between your attorney and the other parties’ loss adjusters and legal team.

Economic Damages

Your economic damages are those that you have incurred that can be quantified with a solid number and price tag. Examples of economic damages are your medical bills, lost wages and any repair costs for your car.

You can support these claims easily as there will most likely be receipts or invoices to back them up. This makes it important to keep hold of all invoices for medical bills and car repairs.

Non-economic Damages

Calculating your non-economic damages is a more difficult task. The experience of your Cedar Park car accident lawyer here is important, as the more cases they have dealt with that are similar to yours, the better they will be able to work out your non-economic damages.

Your non-economic damages are the damages that are harder to quantify. They will not have solid prices attached and a lot of the calculations will be down to the judgment of your car accident lawyer.

Common non-economic damages that occur in most cases are pain and suffering, which covers the physical pain you have been through as well as your mental and emotional suffering.

Another common non-economic damage is the loss of enjoyment of life. This occurs when you can no longer do the things that you used to do before the accident due to the injuries or mental trauma. If you can no longer drive your car, play a sport or you are scared to get into a vehicle, this affects your enjoyment of life and should be compensated for.

Here are some of the non-economic and economic damages you should make yourself aware of:

Claiming for Medical Bills in Cedar Park, TX

Medical care costs a lot in Texas and even if you are lucky enough to have a strong level of medical insurance coverage, if your injuries are serious and require long-term treatment or costly procedures, you may exceed it fairly quickly. This can mean that you either find the money yourself, out of your own pocket, or you go without treatment.

Fortunately, if you obtain representation from a skilled car accident lawyer, together, you will be able to pursue the recovery of all of your medical bills, both past and future. Past medical bills are simple enough to calculate. You will have receipts and bills to support your claims. This makes it massively important to keep records of all your treatment costs and the corresponding receipts and invoices.

For your future medical costs, your lawyer may call in medical experts to consider what your long-term treatment costs might look like.

It is a smart idea to keep a medical diary and each day fill in how you are feeling, how much pain you are in and whatever medical treatment you have received on that given day.

Claiming for Income Lost Due to the Recovery Process Following Your Cedar Park, TX Car Accident

Following a serious car accident, it is likely that you have suffered injuries that will require you to take time off work to some degree. For the majority of people, this will result in a loss of income. This isn’t fair to the victim and it becomes even more worrisome and anxiety provoking if the victim is the main provider for their family.

Together with your Cedar Park car accident lawyer, you will be able to claim all past lost wages back and any potential future lost wages too. If you have been injured severely enough that you will never be able to work in the same job, ever again, your lawyer might decide to pursue a lifetime of lost wages in the settlement.

Claiming for Pain and Suffering in Cedar Park, TX

Pain and suffering damages are designed to reimburse you for the physical pain and mental/emotional suffering you have been through as a result of the injuries and accident.

Here are some examples of what could classify as pain and suffering in Cedar Park, TX.

• Anxiety around cars/roads.
• Post-traumatic stress.
• Emotional distress.
• Depression.
• Sleep issues.
• Flashbacks.

Claiming for Property Damage in Cedar Park, TX

If you have been involved in a car accident whilst driving your own car, truck or motorcycle, you may have repair costs or the cost of replacing your vehicle if it was a write off. You can claim all property damage costs back.

Claiming for Losing a Loved One in Cedar Park, TX

There is no more terrible outcome for a car accident than the loss of life of a loved one. If this has happened because of the negligence of someone else, you deserve to be compensated for your grief.

We know that no amount of compensation will ever ease the grief or bring a loved one back. However, filing a wrongful death claim does provide financial security while you grieve and compensates you for your grief, the loss of service, and helps with funeral costs.

What To Do After A Car Accident In Texas

We sincerely hope that you are reading this article preemptively. However, if you have just been involved in an accident and are unsure of what to do at the scene, here are the steps you should follow if you want to maximize your chances of seeking the full compensation you deserve.

Check Injuries and Move To Safety if Possible

The first thing you need to do is to check yourself for injuries. If you know you have hit your head, feel pain in your neck or shoulders, or know you have fallen from height, you need to remain still and wait for an ambulance. If someone tries to move you, tell them that you suspect you might have injuries to your back or neck and for them to call an ambulance and inform them of what has happened.

If your injuries allow it, you should move away from any further danger if you are in any.

Call An Ambulance

If there are any injuries whatsoever, you need to call an ambulance so that they can treat them. This includes other people on the scene.

This is extremely important because only the ambulance team is qualified to diagnose and treat injuries and if you make that judgment call yourself, you might miss an injury that could prove fatal.

Adrenaline and shock can mask pain and injury, and certain injuries like internal bleeding or head trauma may have no outward symptoms until they develop into more serious problems.

The ambulance team will also fill out an unbiased accident report relating to the injury and accident scene which can be obtained later on by your attorney and used as evidence.

Call The Police

When it comes to traffic accidents, we always advise you to call the police on the scene. They can divert traffic and make the scene safer for everyone involved. If there are aggressive parties, a police presence usually calms the situation down. If there are drivers that you suspect were under the influence of alcohol or drugs, the police will be instrumental too. In DUI cases, they will administer a BAC test, which will prove crucial in your case later on.

Collect Evidence

Once you have called the ambulance team and the police if necessary, if your injuries allow it, now is the perfect time to collect your evidence on the scene. A great way to do this is to record a video with you talking over the top and recalling what happened. This video/statement combo is extremely strong evidence, as it will be fresh on your mind and fresh on the scene.

Taking photos of the scene is another great way to record evidence, just remember to take as many as you can. The more evidence you can collect, the stronger your case will be.

Exchange Information and Witness Statements

If you were lucky enough to have co-operative witnesses on the scene who are willing to help, you should strike while the iron is hot. Ask them if they mind you recording a brief statement before collecting their details. This is a great way to ensure their reliability as they will only need to confirm their statement later on down the line.

Remember to also collect their contact details, such as a name, address, email and number.

Seek Medical Attention

We recommend that you seek medical attention in one way or another. If you did not receive it from the ambulance team, get checked out by your doctor as soon as possible afterward.

You will want to do this to evidence that you sought medical attention quickly after the accident, and the doctor will also ensure you haven’t got any hidden injuries that were masked by adrenaline or shock at the time.

Call Your Insurance Company

Depending upon your insurance policy, you may have a certain period in which to inform your insurance company that you have had an accident. However, when you speak to them, keep it brief and to the point and do not accept liability in any way. Do not say you feel okay and do not apologize. You can also inform them that you wish them to liaise with your attorney from this point forward.

Hire A Cedar Park Car Accident Lawyer

The quicker you get your Cedar Park car accident lawyer involved, the better your chances of seeking and winning the full and maximum compensation that may be on offer to you. If you call them on the scene, they will be able to advise you what to do and what to say so that you do not forget to collect evidence, for example.

They will quickly get in touch with the witnesses, confirming their stories and they will begin their own investigations into what happened. The sooner you get in touch, the sooner you can relax, knowing your case is in capable hands.

Investigating A Car Accident In Cedar Park Texas

As soon as you have agreed upon representation, your car accident lawyer will begin investigating. In order to assign liability, they will look to prove four important elements. The most important element is that the other party did, in fact, act in a negligent manner and that they owed you a duty of care at the time.

There are certain questions they may ask you in order to ascertain this:

• Are there any witnesses to the accident who are willing to testify?
• Did the other party violate any traffic laws, for example, by engaging in reckless driving?
• Was there an official emergency services report filled out?
• Did the other driver admit fault or say anything that could be seen as an admission of liability?
• Was the other driver under the influence of alcohol or drugs?

The 4 Elements to Prove in a Car Accident Case

In order to qualify for a valid personal injury case, there are four important elements that must be proven. Your attorney will want to prove these four as soon as possible, as they will be expected to prove all four if your case proceeds to the courtroom.

• Duty Of Care — The first thing to prove is that the person responsible for your accident owed you a duty of care at the time they acted negligently. There are numerous reasons why a person might owe you a duty of care. When you get behind the wheel of your car, you automatically assume a duty of care to all other road users. Other examples are doctors owing a duty of care to their patients and business owners owing a duty of care to their customers.
• Breach — The next thing to prove is that they breached this duty of care by behaving in a negligent manner. An example of this would be ignoring a stop sign. A reasonable driver would have followed the stop sign.
• Causation — You sustained car accident injuries as a result of the other party breaching their duty of care.
• Damages — You suffered economic and/or non-economic damages as a result.

Negligence Explained

We have talked about negligence a lot in this article and in a personal injury case; it is worth familiarizing yourself with what negligence really is.

Negligent behavior is any behavior that is seen as different from how a reasonable person under the same circumstances would act. A drunk driver is negligent, for example, as a reasonable driver would not get behind the wheel of a car after drinking.

Contact One of Our Car Accident Lawyers Today

When it comes to a car accident claim, you will be dealing with car insurance companies. These insurance companies deal with the most claims of any insurance company, and this means that they usually employ the strongest and most aggressive legal teams to fight claims against them.

Without representation, it will be you vs. them and this puts you at a massive disadvantage. You will also be responsible for fighting your case alone, which is not the position you want to be in if you have serious injuries to deal with.

Here at Chris Morrow Law, PLLC, we are passionate about fighting for our clients. We never want victims of an accident to feel stressed and alone, unable to seek representation because of the fear of financial burden if they lose.

Call us today to make use of our free consultation and free case evaluation and if you wish to proceed, you can do so in confidence, without fear of losing. If we don’t win your case, you don’t pay our fees, it’s as simple as that.