San Antonio Auto Injury Attorney

Hurt in an Car Accident in San Antonio? San Antonio Auto Injury Attorney Michael Grossman Can Help

If you’ve suffered an injury due to a car wreck on Interstate 10, I-37, Loop 410, or elsewhere in San Antonio, you may be able to seek compensation for your injury through a personal injury auto accident civil lawsuit.

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Auto accidents in Texas can result in serious to severe personal injury being sustained by a victim, and these types of injuries are often accompanied by high medical costs, lost wages, and other types of financial losses. In order to possibly receive assistance in being able to pay off those incurred debts, an injured car wreck victim in Texas can choose to seek legal action against the party or parties responsible for causing or contributing to the accident that resulted in their injury. To do so, an injured victim must bring a personal injury lawsuit against the negligent parties. San Antonio auto injury attorney Michael Grossman provides the following article to help inform you about your legal rights in the aftermath of suffering an auto accident injury. Furthermore, we’ll list the particular kinds of challenges that often arise in the process of a car wreck personal injury case in Texas, as well as the ways in which our San Antonio auto accident law firm can help you seek compensation so that the liable parties are held accountable for their negligent behavior.


Liability in San Antonio Car Wreck Accidents

The first issue that must be proven in a personal injury accident case is whether or not the defendant owed a legal duty to the plaintiff. In a vast majority of car accident cases, proving that such a legal duty was owed is fairly simple. Texas law requires that each driver on Texas roads owes every other driver on the road a legal duty to provide for public safety. In other words, a driver must operate their vehicle in a reasonable manner so as to mitigate, as much as possible, the opportunity for an accident causing injury to occur. When a car crash does happen in which a person becomes injured, the legal duty for public safety has been violated, and the injured victim can consider bringing a personal injury lawsuit against the negligent party. The question to ask yourself after suffering an injury due to a San Antonio car collision is whether or not the other driver acted reasonably. In most instances, the answer is likely no.

It should also be noted that Texas law does not demand that a defendant must award compensation to an injured car wreck victim. The only way that such a victim can hope to be awarded compensation is through initiating legal action against that defendant. It is only after a defendant has been compelled through legal action, and proven guilty of causing or contributing to an accident causing injury, that a defendant is then legally mandated to award compensation to an aggrieved party. This is one of the many reasons why contacting an experienced San Antonio auto injury attorney as soon as possible after suffering a car wreck injury can assist you in seeking full compensation for your injury.


Causation in San Antonio Car Crash Accidents

In addition to identifying who caused an accident, a plaintiff’s legal representation must also be able to show how the liable party contributed to a wreck resulting in your injury, known as proving causation. Words alone cannot prove causation; relevant evidence must be obtained from the scene of the accident so that a robust case can be built in your defense. When hired to work an auto accident personal injury lawsuit in San Antonio, TX, the car wreck attorneys at Grossman Law Offices will conduct a thorough investigation in order to uncover items like surveillance video or photos, police reports, evidence at the scene of the accident, and data from any data-logging equipment that may have been functioning prior to the accident. With many years of experience in conducting such investigations, we know what to look for in order to determine both who the liable parties are and how they may have played a role in the accident.

It should also be noted that liable parties can be a direct cause of an accident or a proximate cause of an accident. For example, a distracted driver that strikes a pedestrian would be a direct cause of the pedestrian’s injury. However, if the same driver was drunk at the time of the auto wreck, the driver would still be the direct cause, but a negligent bar could be a proximate cause. Since Texas dram shop law holds a negligent bar partially liable for drunk driving accidents that are caused by patrons that they allow to become intoxicated, the bar is considered to have a played a role in contributing to a drunk driving accident. Auto accidents in San Antonio, Texas can have one or more liable parties, which is another reason why enlisting the help of a San Antonio auto injury attorney is important. It’s vitally important to the outcome of a personal injury car wreck case that all liable parties are brought to justice, since each liable party is responsible for awarding compensation to a plaintiff based on their portion of liability for causing or contributing to the wreck. In other words, if an injured plaintiff incurs $100,000 of total damages and three defendants are held equally responsible for the accident, each defendant will owe the plaintiff $33,333. If one defendant is not located and held responsible for their role in the accident, an injured plaintiff may not be able to receive full compensation for their injury. With 20 years of experience in auto accident cases in Texas, San Antonio auto injury attorney Michael Grossman and his team at Grossman Law Offices can help you identify each liable party.

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Damages in a San Antonio Auto Accident Case

The purpose of a personal injury auto accident case is for the plaintiff to be compensated for their incurred damages, i.e. financial losses, that they’ve experienced as a result of their injury. If a victim has not experienced any type of financial loss in conjunction with their injury, they cannot pursue a personal injury lawsuit in Texas. However, auto accidents that cause injury often result in the victim sustaining some type of economic loss, which is mainly seen in the accrual of medical bills. Proving up damages in some instances is rather straightforward, such as when a broken bone occurs that will have a certain cost of medical care attached to it. On the other hand, many car wrecks can result in soft tissue injuries like whiplash, muscle pulls, or other types of injuries that may not be as easily diagnosed, or may even take weeks to months to develop. Furthermore, serious car wrecks in San Antonio can result in injuries that might require a victim to need continual medical care or numerous surgeries. Traumatic head injuries and spinal cord injuries can cause severe medical issues for an injured victim. In addition to accrued medical costs, damages in an auto accident personal injury case in Texas can also be sought in connection to lost wages, lost earning potential, property damage, and pain and suffering. Regardless of the level of injury that you’ve sustained, our San Antonio auto accident law firm can help correctly prove up your damages so that what you may be able to receive in compensation is commensurate with your actual amount of damages incurred. In other words, we want to help make sure that you’re fairly compensated so that you can make a full recovery from your injury.


Insurance Agencies and Auto Accidents in Texas

In many personal injury car wreck cases in Texas, an insurance company will likely be involved. In car accidents involving only property damage, like a fender-bender in downtown San Antonio, the guidelines set in place for insured motorists to receive compensation are fairly straightforward. While the process may be somewhat laborious and time-consuming, a properly insured victim is often able to have their car fixed or replaced within a reasonable amount of time without being treated unfairly. Much of this process is highly regulated, so auto insurers are sure to follow the rules. However, when an auto accident occurs that results in injury to a person, the rules can change. An insurer who knows the amount of money that their company could be held responsible for will likely attempt many different methods in order to have the claim severely diminished or completely denied, resulting in little to no compensation for an injured victim. In other words, if you’ve been injured in a car wreck in San Antonio, you will likely have to fight an insurance company in order to receive full and fair compensation for your injury. With two decades of experience against nearly every major insurer in the country, San Antonio auto injury attorney Michael Grossman can help provide for your best interests against even the most aggressive of insurance companies.


Uninsured Driver in a San Antonio Car Wreck

While most drivers in Texas carry auto insurance coverage, since it’s mandated by Texas law, there are many who choose not to purchase such coverage. Unfortunately, when these uninsured motorists cause a wreck resulting in an injury, the injured victim may have little legal recourse to seek proper compensation from the uninsured driver, especially if the victim does not have uninsured/under-insured protection on their own insurance policy. However, our attorneys may still be able to assist you in seeking compensation for your injury, even when an uninsured driver was involved in the wreck. Other liable parties may have been involved in the wreck or may have been a contributing factor to the auto accident before the uninsured driver struck your car. Consequently, these other parties may be held liable for the car wreck in which you may be able to seek compensation from them for your injury.


Why Do I Need a San Antonio Auto Injury Attorney’s Help?

As previously stated, auto accidents causing injury are seldom ever similar to auto accidents that only result in property damage. For the most part, two reasonable individuals and their insurance companies can work out a property damage only wreck without the need for intervention or assistance by a legal professional. However, when an auto accident causes injury to a victim, the victim will face an uphill battle in order to receive full and fair compensation for their injury from an insurance company or from the liable parties. As such, an injured victim can enlist the help of an experienced San Antonio auto injury attorney so that they have the greatest likelihood of receiving fair compensation through the successful outcome of a personal injury auto accident lawsuit. Choosing to defend yourself against insurance companies with much money to lose that hire highly-trained defense attorneys to argue their case is often a quick route to defeat. With the hard-won experience of helping our clients for the last 20 years, the San Antonio car wreck attorneys at Grossman Law Offices are familiar with the tactics often employed by such insurance companies. Consequently, we can make sure that you’re not being taken advantage of by an insurer that would rather make quick work of your claim than to see you fully compensated for your injury.


Seek Medical Attention As Soon As Possible After An Auto Accident Injury

In Texas, an injured victim has a legal duty to mitigate damages. In layman's terms, this means that an injured victim must take steps to seek proper medical attention within a reasonable amount of time after having sustained an injury. If an injury is allowed to progress past a certain point without medical attention having been received, a victim may not be able to pursue legal action against the party responsible for the initial injury. As such, it’s vitally important that you seek proper medical care as soon as you can after suffering an injury due to a car accident in San Antonio. If you do not have health insurance or cannot otherwise pay for an initial doctor’s visit, contact us toll-free at 1-855-393-0000. We may be able to assist you in finding medical care that will take your financial means into consideration so that you can receive proper medical care.

It’s also important to get checked out so that you’re fully aware of any medical conditions that may develop as a result of your injury. For example, some insurers will attempt to settle a claim shortly after an injury has occurred, hoping to settle the claim for less than if more severe medical problems present themselves in the future. A quick settlement offer from an insurer can sometimes be indicative of an insurer believing that they may be held liable for a larger sum of compensation in the future. Without an experienced attorney to help you know whether or not that might be the case, you may be relinquishing possible compensation that is more in line with your actual incurred damages.


Signs You’ll Need a San Antonio Car Wreck Attorney

The other driver is being difficult, whether in the immediate aftermath of the accident or at any point after the wreck has occurred. Some drivers may not provide their car insurance information; others may suggest that contacting the police isn’t a worthwhile endeavor. Both circumstances can often suggest that the liable driver likely doesn’t want to be held responsible for their actions. With our help, we can make sure that the liable driver or other liable parties are held properly accountable for their actions.

An insurance company may attempt to pressure you in some way. This can take on many different forms. For example, some insurers will attempt to get you to admit to being at fault for an accident by repeatedly asking you the same question, hoping to either trap you in your own words or waiting for you to somehow implicate yourself, even to a small degree, in the accident. They may offer you an out-of-court settlement before the full extent of your injuries is known or can be known in the hopes that the enticement of quick compensation will cause you to forgo any legal action against them or their client. An insurance company may fail to provide you with a rental car within a reasonable amount of time, which can be indicative of the fact that they’re taking more time to further investigate your case, hoping to find some way to exonerate themselves or their client from liability for the accident. Some insurers will offer to pay specific bills, only to deny payment on those bills once you’ve received medical help. Lastly, some insurers may make it sound like the compensation they’re offering you is all that you can hope to achieve in the hopes that you will not seek legal action against them for the actual, full amount of compensation that you’re likely due. In any of the instances above, a victim that has not had to deal with these types of insurers before will likely be taken advantage of, unless, that is, they have legal help from an experienced San Antonio auto injury attorney who knows how to deal with these types of insurance agencies.

Lastly, you should not discount your gut reaction to a situation. If you have reason to believe that a liable party or an insurance company may not be dealing with you in an honest and forthright manner following an auto accident, it’s within your legal rights to contact an auto accident attorney that can help you ascertain whether or not these opposing parties may be hiding something, or may be treating you in an unethical manner. We can help you seek justice against such parties in addition to discovering the cause or causes of an accident. Our goal is to help you in any way possible so that you may be able to receive full and fair compensation.

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Contact San Antonio Auto Injury Attorney Michael Grossman Today

By waiting even a moment longer to contact an attorney following an auto accident in San Antonio, you may be unintentionally doing damage to your possible auto accident personal injury case. As time elapses, evidence can go missing, or even be manipulated, and eyewitnesses can become increasingly difficult to find. Strong cases are most often built on the availability of a wide amount of evidence and the details that emerge from eyewitness accounts. Consequently, by choosing to wait too long, less and less evidence is often available to help prove your case.

Furthermore, our San Antonio car crash lawyers can help you in the following ways in order to seek compensation for your injury. We will:

  • Fill out the necessary paperwork, answer phone calls, and perform necessary correspondence.
  • Become the sole entity that deals with an insurance agency so that you don’t have to.
  • Conduct an exhaustive investigation into your auto accident so that all liable parties are identified and held accountable.
  • File claims on your behalf in connection to property damage bills and medical costs.
  • Assist you in locating medical care if you do not have the financial means to do so yourself.
  • Send a demand packet to the liable party’s insurance company so that you will not have to wait in order to pay for medical costs or property damage bills.
  • Seek to file suit where necessary against all liable parties
  • Mediate claims where possible so that a fair out-of-court settlement might be reached.
  • Fully represent you in a trial case if a court case is necessary.

Essentially, we will do everything that we can to ensure that you have the opportunity to be awarded full and fair compensation for your auto accident injury in San Antonio. With 20 years of experience and a well-earned reputation for helping his clients, San Antonio auto injury attorney Michael Grossman can help you toward a better tomorrow. Contact us toll-free at 1-855-393-0000 for free legal advice in which we can discuss the specifics of your auto accident case.



Some of Our Most Recent Successful Cases

$102,500.00 Recovery - Commercial Vehicle Accident (Both Legs Broken)
Recovery for client who suffered injuries to both legs in a truck accident.
Total Recovery:
$102,500.00
Attorney Fees:
$40,833.00
Litigation Expenses:
$19,984.00
$19,000.00 Recovery - Commercial Vehicle Accident (Pulled Muscle)
Recovery for client who sustained a pulled muscle in an 18-wheeler accident.
Total Recovery:
$19,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$6,270.00
Litigation Expenses:
$100.00
$700,000.00 Recovery - Commercial Vehicle Accident / Work Injury (Fractured Pelvis, Other Internal Injuries)
A loading dock employee suffered a fractured and damage to internal organs as the result of a crushing injury sustained when an 18-wheeler backed into him and crushed him between the trailer and loading dock.
Total Recovery:
$700,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$175,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$1,084.00
$350,000.00 Recovery - Wrongful Death / First Party Dram Shop
Our firm was hired by the minor child and parents of a young man who was killed in a motorcycle accident after being over served alcohol at a South Padre Island bar. The plaintiffs hired our firm to investigate the claim on the basis that the decedent was over the legal limit at the time of his death. In initial attempts to settle the case out of court, the defendants denied liability. Suit was filed soon thereafter.

The defendants initially argued that the decedent never consumed alcohol on their premises. Through physical evidence and deposition testimony to the contrary, we were able to conclusively prove that the decedent had indeed been drinking at the establishment.

The defendants then asserted allegations that the decedent's minor child was not actually his biological child, which would bar his claim entirely. A DNA test was performed and this argument was defeated.

The defendants then asserted the safe harbor defense. Our attorneys argued that the defendants did not qualify for safe harbor protection due to the fact that their servers were not all licensed providers. However, while this element was being addressed, our attorneys focused their attention on addressing the second element of the safe harbor defense regarding the bar's encouragement of the over service of alcohol. The defendants claimed that they would never serve the double-shot Bacardi cocktails that witnesses claimed the decedent drank several of. We sent private investigators into the bar to order the same drinks that the decedent consumed on the night of his death and the very same bar tenders who over served the decedent, without hesitation, served copious amounts of alcohol to the investigators, all of which was captured on hidden camera.

Once the safe harbor defense was defeated, the defendants argued that the decedent's BAC was low enough at the time of his death (as recorded by the hospital) that he would not have necessarily appeared obviously intoxicated to the servers and therefore the bar should not be held liable even if he had been over served. Eyewitness testimony refuted this.

Additionally, our firm's testifying medical expert reviewed the medical records related to the emergency helicopter flight that transported the decedent to the hospital after his accident. She determined that the EMS technicians administered numerous blood transfusions while in flight. Armed with this newfound data, our medical expert reverse extrapolated and determined conclusively that the decedent's BAC was actually in the range of .19-.21 at the time of the accident, though it was drastically diluted by the time he arrived at the hospital, which accounted for the relatively low BAC found in the hospital's medical records. This testimony proved to be pivotal in the case, resulting in a successful recovery for our clients.
Total Recovery:
$350,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$140,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$40,000.00
$1,450,000.00 Recovery - Commercial Vehicle Accident (Brain Injury)
Our firm was hired by a delivery driver who suffered a closed head injury resulting in the permanent loss of smell in a head-on accident. The incident occurred as the driver of an 18-wheeler lost control of his vehicle and veered into oncoming traffic. Our client's delivery vehicle was struck head-on, causing massive damage to both vehicles.

Our client was taken to an area hospital where he was treated for minor bodily injuries and a closed head injury which originally manifested itself as a concussion and temporary memory loss.

Suit was filed against the defendants following their failure to respond to our correspondence in a timely manner and litigation began. Included in the suit were both the defendant truck driver and his employer. The results of our investigation and the physical evidence from the accident scene made it apparent that the defendants had indeed caused the accident. Defense counsel soon conceded liability
Total Recovery:
$1,450,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$560,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$31,410.00
$2,000,000.00 Recovery - Wrongful Death / Commercial Vehicle Accident
The family of a deceased woman hired our firm following a fatal 18-wheeler accident. The fatal accident occurred as the driver of an 18-wheeler lost control of his vehicle and veered out of his lane, resulting in a massive collision. The decedent, a passenger in a vehicle, died on the scene.

Her adult children consulted our firm to initially investigate the accident and make sense of the facts and circumstances since the family felt that the police report did not make it clear enough precisely what occurred. We launched a full investigation an immediately deposed the investigating officers.

Upon the completion of our investigation, it was apparent that the trucking company was indeed negligent and a lawsuit was soon filed. The defendant's launched an aggressive defense whereby they initially claimed that the truck driver was overcome by his passenger who allegedly grabbed the steering wheel and deliberately drove the truck off the road, despite the truck driver's best efforts.

We refuted this claim by illustrating that the tire marks that were present clearly show the truck gradually moving across the road and eventually onto the grass, which is entirely inconsistent with an abrupt lane change caused by someone taking control of the wheel. It was quite an unusual defense strategy that we were frankly surprised to even find ourselves having to refute.

The defendants then argued that a tire blowout may have contributed to the accident, which is significant because it would enable the defendant to offset some portion of their liability to a tire manufacturer or installer. Through deposition testimony of the investigating officer we established that there was absolutely no indication at the scene of the accident that a tire had blown out.

Finally, the defendants argued that the company which loaded the trailer may have improperly loaded the cargo. This argument was most plausible considering that the precise cause of the decedent's death was that she was essentially pummeled by cargo that broke through trailer and struck her person.

Our firm consulted several experts in the fields of heavy cargo transportation and physics. Our experts felt that the cargo was secured in a manner that is perfectly consistent with industry standards and that due to the forces involved, the cargo would not have behaved any differently irrespective of how it was secured. In short, the collision caused the cargo to break free and the negligence lay squarely on the trucking company and not any other entity. The case was successfully resolved through litigation.
Total Recovery:
$2,000,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$775,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$25,000.00
$40,000.00 Recovery - Commercial Vehicle Accident (Soft-Tissue Injuries)
Recovered for client who suffered soft-tissue damage which required physical therapy after being rear ended by a commercial vehicle.
Total Recovery:
$40,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$13,333.00
Litigation Expenses:
$50.00
$75,000.00 Recovery - Workplace Accident (Soft-Tissue Injuries)
Recovery for worker who suffered soft tissue injuries when his fork lift was struck by a delivery truck.
Total Recovery:
$75,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$25,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$350.00
$70,000.00 Recovery - Automobile Accident (Soft-Tissue Injuries to Neck, Back, and Knee)
Recovered for car accident victim who suffered soft-tissue injuries to knee, neck, and back.
Total Recovery:
$70,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$23,100.00
Litigation Expenses:
$600.00
$300,000.00 Recovery - Commercial Vehicle Accident (Back Injury Requiring Surgery)
A delivery driver hired our firm to pursue a negligent trucking company following a collision with insecure cargo. Our client was driving his work vehicle when numerous large metal pipes fell from the back of a flatbed trailer onto the roadway. Our client took evasive action but was unable to avoid the debris, which resulted in a fairly severe accident. As a result, our client sustained lower back injuries including two herniated discs which required surgery to correct. The defendants conceded liability early on but would not make a reasonable settlement offer. As such, suit was filed and the case was ultimately successfully resolved through litigation.
Total Recovery:
$300,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$120,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$1,500.00