Fort Worth Injury Attorney Blog

A second grade student was hit by a vehicle near Sam Rosen Elementary School (pictured below) in North Fort Worth this morning.

The girl was hit when she crossed the street at the intersection of NW 27th Street and Roosevelt Avenue.She got out of her mother's car which was parked across the street from the school and apparently ran out in front of a passing pick up truck.

The girl sustained serious injuries and was rushed by MedStar ambulance to Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth. Her condition is not yet available.

I certainly hope this girl recovers quickly. Frequently I see drivers fail to pay attention to pedestrians, cyclists, walkers, and runners on the road, even in school zones where children are at risk. But here, the mother should have presumably dropped her daughter off at the school door entrance.

This afternoon, by comparison, I ran with the school children around the nearby school that I adopted, Rufino Mendoza Elementary. The parents and teachers seemed to be especially vigilant watching their children and we all stayed on the sidewalks. There was a school crossing guard on Central Avenue.

It is dangerous out there. Yesterday, I was hired to represent a woman who was run over as she was standing by her disabled vehicle. Then, to make matters worse, the driver fled the scene. Thankfully, after I sent him a letter demanding his insurance information, he called my office and admitted to hitting our client. However today his insurance company contacted my office and stated he has changed his story and denies hitting our client. I have a recorded statement from the man and will fight this abuse.

If you or a family member was a pedestrian injured by an inattentive driver, please contact my office immediately so that I can fight to get you the settlement you deserve.

Two men were unfortunately killed early on Sunday morning in the 1000 block of Macon Street.

Angel Zungia, 24, of Arlington and Juan Rodriguez, 24, of Grand Prairie were riding in a vehicle traveling southbound at a high rate of speed at 2:30 a.m. when it suddenly veered off the road, hit a curb, and crashed head-on into a tree.

The men were pronounced dead at the scene. The driver was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital for treatment.

What a horrible story and a waste of precious human lives.

I can't help but wonder if the driver was intoxicated, his passengers knew that he was, and if they had been drinking. Under Texas law, a person is not allowed to get into a vehicle if he knows or should know that the driver is intoxicated, then claim that driver was at fault -- not that it matters now.

This story reminded me of a case I just concluded where a wonderful young woman, Bethany, was a passenger in a car that also crashed head-on into a tree. No alcohol was involved. I was able to obtain all of the insurance proceeds that were available from several policies, then reduce the outstanding medical bill lien held by her family's insurance company to zero Please click here to see video, read about Bethany's story - especially what an amazing job our JPS Hospital did to save her life..

If you or a family member has been hurt or tragically killed because of another driver's negligence, please call my office today at 817-885-8000. We are here to help get you the settlement you deserve.

A 32 year old husband and father of two, Ricardo Magallon (pictured below) tragically lost his life in a collision early on Saturday at 5:00 o'clock a.m. when 22 year old Eric Supe of Crowley crashed his 1999 Ford van into his small Kia Spectra while he was DWI .

Drunk and driving at 5 a.m.? Wow. The only thing worse than that was the new client that came here yesterday who had been hit in Bedford, just a mile from where this crash happened, by a drunk driver last Monday afternoon at 4:00 o'clock p.m. His BAC was a mind boggling .21 -- almost three times the limit!

Supe was driving straight into oncoming traffic in the west bound lanes near the Hurstview Drive bridge.

The deceased was rushed by helicopter to Harris Hospital, but their excellent trauma team was unable to save him.

The hard working Mr. Magallon had to drive to Bridgeport from Dallas every day and often on Saturdays to get to his job in the construction industry.

Supe was charged at the scene with intoxication assault, which was later raised to intoxication manslaughter. He is already out on bail where he is free to get drunk again and keep crashing into innocent drivers.

This has got to stop. Driving drunk is an inexcusable offense. Many of my clients have been hurt by drunk drivers and it infuriates me.

If you have been hurt by a drunk driver, please call me. I will fight hard to recover your damages and punish the offending driver.

The Texas Supreme Court held on Friday that a law solely enacted to protect one well-connected company from suits brought by Texans dying from exposure to its asbestos was unconstitutional.

John Robinson contracted the fatal disease of mesothelemia when he served in the U.S. Navy for 20 years at a plant that Crown Cork and Seal had purchased. In 2002 Robinson sued Crown (now Crown Holdings, Inc.) in state court in Houston for his injuries.

In response, in 2003 Crown paid $200,000 to a team of lobbyists, including a woman who had worked for Governor Perry as his "fitness czar" and a second who had conveniently hired Governor Perry's wife as an "aide."

In 2003, as a result, the state legislature enacted a new statute which retroactively prevented injured Texans from suing all companies that succeeded to liability on May 13, 1968. Guess who that company was?

Continue reading "Texas "Tort Reform?"" »

I am delighted to help sponsor the Club's Panther Club 5K race on October 30th in Trinity Park. The only thing I enjoy doing more in my spare time than running and exercising is helping others -- especially our youth -- get strong and discover the value of physical fitness.

This wonderful organization was founded in 1860 in Connecticut and has spread to 4,300 locations across the United States. The Fort Worth affiliate, which started in 1926, has grown to become the 12th largest in the country and serves 8,600 youth, almost all of whom are minorities.

The hard working students participate in a variety of programs emphasizing leadership, education, career development, health, fitness, and the arts. The Club is wildly successful: 89% of its students graduated from high school and 65% go on to college.

Congratulations, Forth Worth Boys and Girls Club for a job well done!

When someone causes you to get into a collision, giving a statement to an insurance company -- even your own -- can be costly. Why? The company will be trying to use your answers to minimize payments to you for your damages or deny your case outright.

Yesterday I represented my client during a telephonic statement -- only because he was seriously injured in a six car pile-up on I30 near the Mixmaster. I explained the process and practiced with this nice man. He did an excellent job and the adjuster from State Farm was able to determine which drivers were at fault. My client can have his knee surgery and other medical attention that was initially denied to him.

Today, a client hired hired me who had already given a statement to an unscrupulous company which twisted her words in an effort to deny liability. The badly injured woman was using a completely hands free phone device that in no way altered her ability to drive her vehicle. Instead, the Liberty Mutual adjuster concluded that she was on her phone and was somehow negligent -- even though she was rear ended at a complete stop by a large truck. on I35. This deceit is outrageous.

Last week, my client was told that he had to give a lengthy in person statement in my office. He works during the day in Burleson and could not miss time from his job to drive here; even if he could, I did not want him to be harassed. I prevented the statement from taking place by speaking to the adjuster and answering his questions. The company (GEICO) has now accepted liability and will pay my client in full for his medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

See my client testimonials for more examples of how I have fought for my clients.

I am delighted to announce my latest substantial recovery, this one achieved on behalf of Clayton B_____, a wonderful Johnson County resident. His truck was side swiped by a rock truck turning at an intersection in Richland Hills in December of 2008.

Although my client told the police that he was fine and drove home, he eventually had to undergo a two level cervical fusion. He also missed a lot of time from his job at Bell Helicopter.

I filed suit when the insurance carrier for the truck refused to pay my client for his damages. It claimed that he was the driver at fault, and as if that were not ridiculous enough, that he was not seriously injured and/or that his neck had been previously injured (it had been, but at a different level).

The case was defended by an aggressive Dallas law firm which used every trick in the book to deny and delay the case. The insurance company's lawyers also argued that since only $50,000.00 of my client's medical bills was paid by the man's health insurance carrier, the verdict potential was severely limited under the horrible 2003 "paid vs. incurred" statute. It further claimed that the visible damage to the side of his truck was relatively minor, that their insured's truck had no damage, that he didn't need the surgery, that his medical bills were excessive, and that he had fully recovered from his injuries.

I fought hard, took depositions all over the Metroplex (the video below is a clip from the deposition I took in Dallas of an eyewitness where I proved that the defendant driver was lying when he stated in his deposition that the plaintiff had driven into his lane), won several key hearings in court, prevented the defendants' key expert from testifying, and hammered the other side at a mediation the day before trial.

And to sweeten the pot, I greatly reduced the subrogation lien held by Clayton's health insurance carrier and knocked down his outstanding medical bills, which resulted in him getting a lot more money.

My client was ecstatic with the outcome and very nicely wrote the following:

"I trusted Mr. Berenson completely with my case and he took care of me the whole way. I didn't have to worry about a thing. I left everything up to him and I could not have been happier with my decision. He and his staff were outstanding. If I ever started to worry about anything, I would call the office and he or one of his assistants would explain everything and make me feel better.

After hours at the mediation, when he kept pushing and pushing and forced the insurance company to pay me $750,000.00, I thought I was dreaming.

Mr. Berenson is a great lawyer. I am incredibly happy that I hired him. I would recommend him to anyone."

I am delighted that with his proceeds, Clayton has decided to retire from Bell after working there for 20 years and possibly start a new career. Or just enjoy the rest of his life and not work.

It was my honor to represent this fine gentleman and wish him the best of luck in everything that he does in the future.

Huh? A man and a woman parked their truck on a train track and fell asleep (or passed out) early Monday morning on East Peach Street near downtown.

It was only when the train struck the pickup and pushed it several hundred yards down the track that the man jumped out of the pickup and ran away. The woman stayed in the truck

Officers later found the man and charged him with public intoxication and leaving the scene of a collision.

Crashes with trains usually end much worse than this one. The two people in the pickup are lucky the train was able to slow down.

If you have been involved in a wreck that was not your fault, please call my office at 817-885-8000 or e-mail me to discuss your case.