Totaled truck, broken leg, hospital stay and now in rehab. Of course no injuries to him.
He has insurance. I've never been in this situation before. Assume that I'll need a personal injury lawyer.
What's other folks experience with this type of situation?
Looking for info on the process and any "gotchas" I need to be looking for.

Thanks!

Contact Zone416 via PM.

A lawyer will take about one third of what you get. You want all medical covered, and include any future problems that may arise of the injury. Lost wages and of course plenty for pain suffering and other problems that may arise. Also you want damages to the truck. Also tell the adjuster if the truck is not totaled you want diminished value for the vehicle. My wife recently retired from State Farm as an auto claims supervisor. I will ask her about your situation and get back shortly.

Just spoke with wife and she read your situation she advised with all that I previously posted and for pain and suffering on your part to ask for 2 times your total medical bill. She agreed to first try to neg. with other insurance company and you save a third of what the settlement is. If you cannot neg. or reach a settlement to your satisfaction then you litigate. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the insights!

You can get gross negligence damages from a drunk driver. You may be able to go after the establishment that overserved him, if applicable. If you can't get policy limits from his insurance, you might go the lawyer route. But know if you want a good local PI attorney, they are going to take 40% after expenses. He's not a nice guy, but Rob Ammons is successful in Harris County.

Sounds like it's Hammer Time.

The Law Hawk, call him

Read all the recent post after mine this morning. A great point was made that if the driver was coming from a local establishment or store, you might then think about legal action against the business for selling alcohol to someone who was under the influence. The business will have deep pockets and will more than likely settle out of court. I would not commit to giving 30-40 % to a lawyer until I found someone whom I was comfortable with and paid him for an hour of his time to evaluate the case. Remember they will tell you the world is flat to get your case, you have everyone by the gonads now pull real hard on them. Hope this drunk pays dearly for his actions. I hope he was put in jail for the sheriff's office. I would love to know what his blood alcohol was.

The sheriff hauled him off in the back of a squad car. Won't have the official report until middle of next week.
Will update this post when more info available.

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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Sounds like it's Hammer Time.

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Doing the highest volume/most obnoxious advertising does not a good lawyer make.

Wife got hit by a drunk driver that fled the scene, luckily someone chased the guy and got his license plate.

By the time the cops got him he was sober.

Wife was knocked unconscious, car was totalled, and I had to figure out where she was when she wasn't at home, Ben Taub....this was back in the day before cell phones.

Wife ended up getting over $100K from the Jury....although her neck is still somewhat messed up all these years later.

Used Lance Lubel as the Attorney.

GoAgs92 said:

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Wife got hit by a drunk driver that fled the scene, luckily someone chased the guy and got his license plate.

By the time the cops got him he was sober.

Wife was knocked unconscious, car was totalled, and I had to figure out where she was when she wasn't at home, Ben Taub....this was back in the day before cell phones.

Wife ended up getting over $100K from the Jury....although her neck is still somewhat messed up all these years later.

Used Lance Lubel as the Attorney.

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Beto?

On a related note, when I was in HS, my dad was at a concert and went to sit back down in the seat when it collapsed and cut off half of his ring finger. He had to drive himself to the hospital and they were able to reattach it (also had a couple of additional surgeries). He tried to work with the venue to have them cover his medical expenses, but they kept ignoring him, so he had no choice but to get an attorney involved. Once the attorney was involved, they came to the table to play ball and a settlement was reached. After the attorney got his cut, my dad was left with about $10k more than what his medical bills were. He was willing to give up the 30% in order to be made whole. The attorney and I both were telling him he could get a lot more than what they settled on, but he said he wasn't doing it to get rich.

Gurrrrl you better call I just got hit .com.







jk. Good luck in your situation.

ccolley68 said:

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The Law Hawk, call him

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He's in Dallas.



Get a lawyer and look up Dram Shop Laws.

AJerry said:

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The sheriff hauled him off in the back of a squad car. Won't have the official report until middle of next week.
Will update this post when more info available.

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If you are considering litigation, then do not post anything to the internet (TexAgs, Facebook, etc.). It will be found and used in any way possible against you.

I sent you a PM. Let me know if I can help. If you hire a lawyer, make sure they really focus on personal injury exclusively, and not also criminal, family, etc... Lots of jacks of all trades masters of none. Board certification is always a good indicator. Dramshop cases are tricky...but can definitely work out.

MAS444 said:

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I sent you a PM. Let me know if I can help. If you hire a lawyer, make sure they really focus on personal injury exclusively, and not also criminal, family, etc... Lots of jacks of all trades masters of none. Board certification is always a good indicator. Dramshop cases are tricky...but can definitely work out.

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Most personal car insurance has a limit of 30k or something like that. If they have an umbrella, you can get more. 18 wheelers are required to hold $1 million policies.

Most of these personal injury attornies are slimy. They take a high cut and get you medics care with their doctors. It's a scam. There are some legitimate attorneys. I have worked with Seth Ellerin. He is honest.

30k is the minimum insurance liability limit in Texas. But people can have 50k, 100k, 250k, ...1MM+ in personal auto liability limits.

Lots of people talk about this stuff and don't really know wht they're talking about. Talk to someone who does.

The following is per Texas Insurance Laws.

"If you buy insurance to meet the state's financial responsibility law, you must buy at least the minimum amount. The current minimum liability limits are $30,000 for each injured person, up to a total of $60,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage per accident. This basic coverage is called 30/60/25 coverage.
Because of car prices and the high cost of medical care, the minimum amounts might not be enough to pay all of the other driver's costs if you're at fault in an accident. Other drivers could sue you to collect the difference. Consider buying more than the minimum limits to protect yourself financially."

He may not have enough insurance to cover all of you damages and make you whole again. This is especially true when you consider lost wages and future medical problems you may have as a result of the accident. I would find out what insurance coverage amounts he has from his insurance company and fact that into your decisions. Again if he was coming from a bar, or any place that sold or supplied him alcohol, they are possibly liable also. I would also speak to your insurance company for their opinion. 30,000 does not cover most major accidents where someone is seriously injured.

Call Johnny Garza at adame & Garza in houston. Used to work for me and also at Abraham Watkins. Good Lawyer and Aggie. Well versed in personal injury law.

I can't help you op but I genuinely hope you destroy and ruin him personally and financially to whatever extent you can legally get away with and more even if illegal and you can get away to it. Good luck! Happy life ruining!

My wife advised that you google and read up on the Texas Drama Shop Act that was passed by the Texas Leg. As I previously said depending on where he is coming from, others may be liable. As stated above, this guy needs to pay a lot for his bad judgement. I hope you have no serious effects of your mishap. Hope advice helped.

Researching laws (especially personal injury) for yourself is like going to webmd to diagnose your sickness....

Go research personal injury attorneys and find one you are comfortable with...The insurance companies aren't in the business of doing whats best for you.

buddybee said:

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The following is per Texas Insurance Laws.

"If you buy insurance to meet the state's financial responsibility law, you must buy at least the minimum amount. The current minimum liability limits are $30,000 for each injured person, up to a total of $60,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage per accident. This basic coverage is called 30/60/25 coverage.
Because of car prices and the high cost of medical care, the minimum amounts might not be enough to pay all of the other driver's costs if you're at fault in an accident. Other drivers could sue you to collect the difference. Consider buying more than the minimum limits to protect yourself financially."

He may not have enough insurance to cover all of you damages and make you whole again. This is especially true when you consider lost wages and future medical problems you may have as a result of the accident. I would find out what insurance coverage amounts he has from his insurance company and fact that into your decisions. Again if he was coming from a bar, or any place that sold or supplied him alcohol, they are possibly liable also. I would also speak to your insurance company for their opinion. 30,000 does not cover most major accidents where someone is seriously injured.

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Exactly! I was hit by drunk driver in August and learned about this. I just bumped mine and wife's up to 50/50/100 because of the cost of cars and hospital care. Not much difference in premium.

I always recommend everyone have above minimum liability coverage limits. As a practical matter, though...unless you're obviously very wealthy, there is very little chance anyone is going to try to come after your personal assets.

What's more important is making sure you have Personal Injury Protection ("PIP") and Uninsured/Under-insured ("UM/UIM") coverage.

When a negligent driver has no liability coverage or inadequate liability coverage, UM/UIM steps in the place of the negligent driver's insurance (or lack thereof) when they cause you personal injury damages (medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, impairment, etc...) in a crash. There are lots of uninsured and minimally covered drivers out there...and if you're in a bad wreck like OP's, this is a HUGE benefit. You can really be put in a bad place financially without it.

PIP automatically pays your own medical bills, lost wages and other out of pocket losses in the event of an accident, regardless of fault. Common coverage amounts are 5,000 and 10,000, but some carriers offer much more. This is relatively cheap coverage.

I'm happy to answer any questions anyone may about this stuff from a lawyer's point of view.

To sleep better at night, I would recommend carrying a million dollar umbrella policy on both your auto and homeowners policy. The price is very cheap.

Agree.

Every insurance agent and plaintiff's attorney agrees.

buddybee said:

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To sleep better at night, I would recommend carrying a million dollar umbrella policy on both your auto and homeowners policy. The price is very cheap.

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Right, after you max out all other coverages.

Call a good plaintiff lawyer. Maybe tony buzbee.

Since he hurt you when he was drunk, the damages aren't dischargeable in bankruptcy. So he should be extremely motivated to settle at policy limits because you may be able to get to his exempt assets (401k and equity in house) otherwise.