Best Personal Injury Lawyers Dallas, TX (2024) (2024)

There are six million people in Dallas, Texas who could potentially experience an injury in an accident—and then be in need of great personal injury attorney. Whether you’re simply curious or need to find representation, you’ve come to the right place.

Forbes Advisor considered many options to determine the best personal injury lawyers in Dallas, Texas. Our editorial team uses a rubric that considers many factors, like years of experience, awards and honors, education and employment backgrounds and more. Find the best personal injury attorney for your case today.

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• Charla G. Aldous
• Frank L. Branson
• Robert D. Crain
• Laura Benitez Geisler
• David C. Greenstone
• Juan C. Hernandez
• Andrew L. Payne
• Todd Ramsey
• Paula Fisette Sweeney
• Linda Turley

Texas personal injury laws aren’t the same as they are in every other state. If you need to file a personal injury lawsuit in the Lone Star State, you should contact a great personal injury lawyer—like those listed in this article—as soon as you can.

Waiting to talk to an attorney can mean missing out on any chance of recovery at all, as you only have two years to file a lawsuit. An experienced personal injury attorney will be able to guide you through all the specifics of Texas law, but here are just a few ways that Texas laws are unique.

Statute of Limitations in Dallas

You’ve heard that everything’s bigger in Texas. Well, not statutes of limitations.

You must file a personal injury case within two years of the initial injury, or you can’t recover.

If you were injured by someone who worked for the government—including employees of Dallas or Fort Worth or any of the other towns, cities or counties around the Dallas area—you may have even less time. Some Texas cities require you to give notice within 45 days of the injury if it was caused by a city employee.

Determining Fault in Dallas

There are a few different rules used to decide fault. One of the most common is used in Texas, called “modified comparative negligence.”

This rule deals with how courts will award damages when both parties are partially to blame for the injury. Imagine a car accident with $10,000 of damages to your vehicle. At trial, you were found to be 10% at fault and the other driver 90% at fault. In Texas, you will be awarded only $9,000 (after reducing your award by the percent you were at fault).

Importantly, though, if the other driver countersued for $20,000 in damages to their car and the jury finds them more than 50% responsible for the accident, this bars them from recovering anything.

This is different from states that use the regular comparative negligence rule, where the other driver would be allowed to recover 10% of their damages, getting back $2,000 of the $9,000 they had to pay you.

Some states use a rule called contributory negligence that is even more strict. In these states, you are not allowed to sue for anything at all if you were even 1% responsible for the accident.

Caps on Medical Malpractice Awards in Texas

Texas has put caps on how much juries can award plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases. These caps only apply to noneconomic damages, however. Any treatment costs or lost wages are not capped, but noneconomic damages like pain and suffering are capped at $250,000 per defendant.

There is also a cap on medical malpractice wrongful death. It was initially set at $500,000 and is indexed for inflation, making it currently around $2 million.

There are many types of personal injury lawyers. Some specialize in car accidents, while others specialize in workers’ compensation or class action lawsuit injuries. As you shop to find a personal injury lawyer in Dallas, you want to make sure that you choose a lawyer who has the experience for your accident type. You’ll also want a lawyer who’s professional, affordable and well-respected.

Most personal injury lawyers offer a free consultation. Here’s a list of what you should be asking.

What Type of Experience Do They Have?

Before you go any further in a consultation, ask the attorney about their experience with your type of injury. If you were in a car accident, you want a lawyer specializing in car accidents. If you were injured at work, get a lawyer with experience in workers’ compensation claims and labor laws. If you were hurt when a product malfunctioned, you want a lawyer with experience in product liability cases. Finding someone who has the experience means they will understand what needs to happen with your case. They’ll be able to navigate legal hurdles, medical access and insurance coverage on your behalf.

How Do They Communicate With Clients?

When you are injured in an accident, you can feel left out on an island alone with a lot of frustration and confusion. Good communication helps you feel like the process is working and that you have a team on your side. Talk to the lawyer about their communication process. Because personal injury cases can take a long time, look for an attorney with a regular schedule of communication with you when progress is slow. Of course, you want a lawyer to communicate with you quickly when there are timely notices that you need to review and address.

How Expensive Are They?

Personal injury attorneys usually work on contingency rather than charging an hourly fee. This means they get a percentage of your settlement and don’t get anything if you don’t get a dime. When it comes to their fee, look for someone who falls within the normal range of contingency fees. Dallas personal injury lawyers usually charge between 33% and 40%. For a lawyer with a lot of experience, the higher contingency fee may be worth it since they typically negotiate a higher settlement.

What Percentage of Their Business Comes From Attorney Referrals?

This is not an obvious question, but it’s an important one. You want a lawyer who is respected by their peers. Being referred to by other lawyers who are willing to stake their own reputation on how good a personal injury attorney performs is a good indication of skill. Good attorneys will also give you references to talk to, which will help you set better expectations about the process and success rate of the lawyer.

How Professional Is Their Office?

This isn’t a question you’ll ask the lawyer but is, instead, a sense that you get at your first consultation. You want someone who comes across as organized and on top of all the details of their clients’ cases. A tidy, well-run office is a good sign that the lawyer is not only competent and capable, but has the bandwidth to take on another client.

Dallas statutes have a significant impact on personal injury claims. Here are a few examples of how they can affect your personal injury claim:

• Texas Statute of Limitations. Although there are some exceptions, the deadline for filing a lawsuit in the state is typically two years from the injury date.
• Tolling of the Statute of Limitations. The statute of limitations may be paused in cases involving minors, incapacitated plaintiffs or defendants who have fled the state.
• Statutes of Repose. Texas Statutes of Repose may bar you from filing a lawsuit after a certain time, even if you did not discover your injury until much later. In Texas, such claims usually involve defective products.

Texas statutes could also impact your personal injury claim in other ways, so it is crucial to consult a Dallas personal injury lawyer to protect your rights.

Personal injury law covers many accidents and incidents in which victims could be compensated. For example, if you were injured or sustained property damage due to another’s recklessness or negligence, you could file a lawsuit and receive compensation. Here is a run-down of some of the most common personal injury claims in Dallas:

• Car Accidents. In Dallas’ busy and congested traffic, car accidents occur daily. If another caused your crash, you may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, lost wages and more.
• Premises Liability. Property owners must maintain a reasonably safe environment. Premises liability claims can arise in slips and falls, assaults, dog bites and other incidents.
• Medical Malpractice. You could have a medical malpractice claim if a medical professional, such as a doctor or nurse, provides substandard care, resulting in an injury. Common medical errors include misdiagnosis, surgical mistakes, medication errors and birth injuries.
• Work Accidents: Workplace accidents can include falls, getting caught in machinery and exposure to toxic substances.

If you’re injured in any kind of incident due to another’s fault, seek the guidance of an experienced personal injury lawyer in Dallas. They can walk you through the legal process and help you recover the compensation you deserve.

In most personal injury cases, you must file a lawsuit two years after the accident. However, you may have longer in certain circ*mstances, including when the defendant leaves the state, to avoid legal proceedings or your injury not being discovered during the two years.

Missing the deadline to file a lawsuit could bar you from recovering compensation. If you file too late, the court could simply dismiss your case. Therefore, consult an experienced Dallas personal injury lawyer to understand your legal rights and obligations.

Every personal injury case is unique, with no average time to settle. How long it takes to resolve your case can depend on various circ*mstances, including:

• The scope and permanence of your injuries
• The damages you seek
• The willingness of the other side to agree to a fair settlement
• Whether you have some fault in the accident

While a claim with moderate injuries and low value may settle in two months or so, a contested claim with high damages could take years to conclude.

To come up with the Best Personal Injury Lawyers in Dallas in 2024, Forbes Advisor considered many factors. Forbes Advisor’s mathematical analysis considers and weighs the information collected to calculate a specific rating and reviews these results to find the best attorneys in a given practice area.

Within the model, we take into account factors that legal professionals and consumers value in an attorney’s qualifications. After assigning weighted scores to hundreds of data points, we narrowed the field down to our top choices based on:

• Legal experience
• Special licenses and certifications
• Ethics and bar disciplinary measures
• Legal thought leadership
• Education and employment background
• Scholarly lectures and writings
• Awards and honors

Forbes Advisor collects public data from a variety of sources, including state bar associations, court records and other published sources on the internet. This information should not be considered comprehensive, however. It might not include additional relevant information on an attorney’s legal skills and experience.

Each lawyer listed here has their own merits. Bear in mind that our list relates to these lawyers’ legal backgrounds, but does not evaluate their personalities or their knowledge of the law. One attorney may be more suitable than another for your specific legal situation.

One thing that can’t be quantified, though, is the rapport you establish with your attorney. Personality goes a long way when teaming up with an attorney, especially when going through a potentially difficult legal situation. These rankings should serve as a reference and potential starting point in your search for the right lawyer for you and your legal concerns.

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