Fort Worth Injury Attorney Blog

On Monday morning at 2:40 a.m., a pickup truck driven by Louis Nieves, 23, who was DWI and had at least 10 beers at a downtown bar, crashed head-on into a gasoline tanker truck as he drove the wrong way on Interstate 30 near Beach Street.

The truck caused the tanker to explode. Its driver, Alejandro Raya, a kind and hard working family man from Fort Worth, was tragically killed. Mr. Raya, who had lived here for over 25 years, was married to a woman who works just down the street from my office at the Railhead BBQ restaurant and had three children, ages 21, 14, and 12. He was excited about his daughter's upcoming Quinceanera.

As the father of an almost 21 year old daughter, whom I love dearly, I can only imagine the grief that his family is suffering now and I am truly sorry for its loss.

The devastation caused by the crash and ensuing fire was immense.

The steel and concrete bridge over Sycamore Creek literally dissolved in the flames and the four lanes of I 30 will have to be reduced to two lanes for the next five months. What a hassle for people driving to work downtown or getting onto the Mixmaster.

The Texas Department of Transportation will have to pay at least $15 million to design and build the bridge and highway -- this in the middle of our $27 billiion budget deficit.

The State will have to pay over $40,000.00 a year to imprison Nieves for many, many years, not to mention the cost of his trial and court appointed attorney. He is currently jailed in Mansfield awaiting transfer to the Tarrant County Jail. His bond was set at $90,000.00, so it is safe to say he will be in jail until his trial.

And of course there is no way to put a value on the life of Mr. Raya or the suffering of his wife and children.

You will remember that just last week, at about the same time in the morning, a car pulled out in front of a tractor trailer and nearly caused it to plunge 50 feet from the I20/820 ramp down on to cars beneath.

This story makes me sick, and I demand to know the answers to these questions:

How long had Nieves been getting drunk at that bar?

Was he already drunk when he got there? Had he been drinking at another bar?

How did the bar on East 8th Street where Nieves was getting wasted not know that he was intoxicated?

Why did it continue to serve him in violation of the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission guidelines?

What time did he leave, since the wreck happened approximately 40 minutes after closing time, and the bar was no more than five minutes away.

Why didn't others at the bar try to stop him from driving?

How did Nieves not know that driving after drinking 10 beers would be dangerous?

Why didn't he have a designated driver or call some one to take him home?

Had Nieves ever done this before?

How many drunk customers had this bar allow to drive away before?

Why didn't Nieves get killed, not the other way around? Why does the drunk never seem to get hurt?

How did Nieves have so much money to spend on alcohol and does he have liability insurance? Insurance greater than the (just increased) limits of $30,000.00 per person?

Why do we allow this carnage to continue, night after night? What are we doing to prevent drunks from crashing into us?

As readers of my blog know, I HATE drunk drivers. I believe that Nieves should be given a long prison sentence for vehicular manslaughter and the bar should be sued under the "dram shop act" for civil damages, as punishment to him and as a deterrant to others who drink and drive and bar owners who serve them.

That is why I support MADD - Mothers Against Drunk Drivers - and am supporting its Walk Like MADD next weekend here in Trinity Park. And I will make a contribution on the way home to the fund for the family being collected at the Railhead, and encourage any one else to do so if they can.

In another horrible DWI crash, a truck driver named was tragically killed on Sunday morning at 2:00 o'clock a.m.

Yesterday was an unusually active day here for these cases, starting with us agreeing to represent a very nice 48 year old man who broke his arm, wrist, and badly injured his head, neck and back. John was stopped in traffic on I-35 when a truck crashed into the car behind him,which hit his Honda Gold Wing 1800, and caused him to fly into the truck in front of him. I will be filing suit in the near future against the negligent driver who caused this stupid collision.

I also worked on a lawsuit for a top female masters runner who was knocked off of her road bicycle by two separate vehicles driven by Boswell High School students, requiring her to have hip surgery.

And I disbursed the substantial settlement to one of my favorite clients, Billy (see photo), who was hit by a woman downtown who swerved into his Harley. He had to have a defibrillator implanted into his chest and suffered from other serious injuries.

I have represented various motorcycle and bicycle riders over the last 31 years. Since I sometimes ride a racing bicycle to help train for my marathons and have competed in triathlons, I am especially conscious of how vulnerable two wheeled riders are and do everything I can to see that they are fully compensated for their injuries.

If you have been injured while riding a motorcycle or bicycle, please give me a call.

The Buda High School south of Austin staged a "Shattered Dreams" event every 15 minutes yesterday -- that's the rate a person dies at the hands of a drunk driver - and I applaud them for their attempt to curtail drinking and driving.

Students played the roles of both the drunk drivers and dead and injured victims, and other classes came out of class to watch the drama, which included students being lifted by air ambulance. Then those students were given these black t-shirts and were not allowed to speak for the rest of the day.

Officers from the Texas DPS, Hayes County police and fire fighters, and local hospitals and funeral homes assisted.

I just signed up another case Monday where my client was hit by a drunk driver and I am going to do everything in my power to make sure that the drunk is punished and that my client is fully reimbursed for his damages.

I am also supporting the Walk Like MADD on April 12th. MADD is one of my favorite causes.

Here's an excellent column I wanted you to read by my friend Bob Haslam in yesterday's Star Telegram.

Texas laws already protect insurance industry

Gov. Rick Perry's proposals for Texas' legal system would limit the already small recoveries usually available to plaintiffs in Texas.

Perry recently called for lawsuit "losers" to pay their opponents' legal expenses and for an "early dismissal" option to get rid of "frivolous" suits. He said these components would help the state's legal and economic climate.

But if the governor believes that Texas needs an early-dismissal option and expedited trials with limited discovery for claims between $10,000 and $100,000, he is not familiar with our court system. We've had both for years.

Rule 190 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure covers expedited trials. We already have three levels of cases to expedite things. Should we spend more money to add more layers?

Defending cases between $10,000 and $100,000 in Texas now costs very little. Many are defended by salaried insurance company employees with nominal costs to the company. Many are handled on fixed fees, some for as little as $2,000-$3,000 for the entire case.

In Tarrant County, cases involving $10,000 to $100,000 go to County Courts at Law and can get a trial setting in less than a year. The judges should be commended for moving cases fairly and efficiently.

Insurance companies and defendants want attorney fees awarded for frivolous claims by injured people. No problem. But fairness goes both ways: How about attorney fees awarded to the injured for frivolous, fraudulent or false defenses? Insurance lawyers routinely file defenses and make claims that can never be proved. Defendants waste too much time in litigation by stalling, delaying and making frivolous defenses. Insurance defendants and corporate defendants should pay attorney fees to the injured person so the playing field is level for both sides.

Again the governor misleads Texans or doesn't know the rules.

Texas already has an "offer of settlement" rule, Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 42, which provides for attorney fees. This rule is one-sided because the insurance company or defendant must invoke the rule. It has some fairness because it allows the plaintiff to make a counter-proposal to the insurance company's usually low offer. The rule is rarely invoked: I haven't seen it in one of my cases in 10 years.

Perry wants to make it more one-sided, kind of like going to a fight and making the injured person tie one hand behind his back. That is not fair, and that is not what Texas stands for.

Another proposal discusses the feared cliche of a frivolous lawsuit. Insurance companies and defendants already receive protection from frivolous lawsuits under Rules 13 and 169a, and Chapters 9 and 10 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code.

Truly frivolous cases rarely make it to trial. My experience tells me that no "frivolous" case in the past 10 years has made it past a Texas trial judge or reached a judgment where the frivolous case won anything.

The majority of Republican judges in Texas do not believe that there is a problem with frivolous cases.

The government already has the ability to appeal cases before trial to try to get them dismissed. This actually leads to delays and runs up costs to the injured person. As taxpayers pay the government lawyers' salaries, this delay isn't a problem for the government; it's the consumer who faces years of waste on preliminary appeals.

Say "No" to more tort reform and "Yes" to deficit reduction/better education. Texans have been hurt enough by insurance company greed. Let's focus on education so we can understand the Rules of Court.

Thousands of people visited the Fort Worth Zoo over spring break this week -- especially today to take advantage of half-price Wednesday admission. I could see some of the crowds out of my windows here in the River Plaza Tower where I have officed for over 29 years.

The Zoo has recently opened its Museum of Living Art, a collection of exotic and interesting reptiles and amphibians, which no doubt increased attendance.

I am a big fan of our zoo and was a regular there when my daughter Marissa was younger. We must have gone to the wonderful dinosaurs exhibit every weekend.

I hope all of the Fort Worth Zoo visitors, whether they be local or out-of-towners, enjoyed visiting our wonderful part of town -- and wonderful city.

And I hope that all of the drivers out there are being mindful of the traffic and courteous to other drivers. It is up to each one of us to keep Fort Worth roads safe.

Enjoy this pleasant weather and spring break, if you are lucky enough to have one! I don't, so I'd better get back to work.

Continue reading "Spring Break at the Fort Worth Zoo" »

We are busy representing a lot of people who have been hurt in crashes here in the DFW area -- four new clients today --so I was surprised that in one city, North Richland Hills, the number of collisions is substantially down.

That's certainly good news. Crashes cost Americans a whopping $40 billion a year, not to mention the thousands of fatalities and injuries.

In 2010 the number of motor vehicle accidents in NRH fell to 713, down 64% from 2007. Why? Because enforcement is up. According to police statistics, 27,067 tickets were issued last year, an increase from 19,878 in 2007.

Now I hate getting a ticket as much as the next guy, but a combination of increased surveillance and enforcement programs like the red-light camera program (which began there in 2007) isn't really such a bad idea. NRH now has cameras at seven intersections on Rufe Snow Drive and Davis Boulevard, and the word seems to have spread that if you run a light, it will cost you.

I just finished a lawsuit for a very nice woman who was hurt when a negligent driver ran a red light and crashed into her. My client injured her neck and treated with a doctor. The adjuster initially offered only $2,000.00. After filing suit, researching the defendant and taking his deposition, I learned that he was a convicted felon who had been in three previous wrecks. I made his insurance company pay the maximum available under his insurance policy, which was $25,000.00 -- and now $30,000.00 as of January 1st.

Continue reading "Tarrant County Accidents are Decreasing -- At Least in One City" »

Hey, state legislators, car crashes are the leading cause of teen deaths. Pass that bill to stop these needless deaths! (and stop trying to kill our courts while you are at it!).

A bill introduced by former House Speaker Tom Craddick would add a $200.00 fine for drivers who text while they are driving. Another bill from San Antonio rep Jose Menendez would require hands-free devices for cell phones. These bills are still in committees. However 30 other states already limit texting while driving, and the cities of Austin, San Antonio, and El Paso have done so.

Nearly 5,500 people in the U.S. were killed in distracted driving collisions in 2009. And according to a poll just released, 63% of drivers under 30 admit to using a handheld phone while driving -- and a whopping 30% have texted while driving!

Consumer Reports, which conducted the survey, reports that teenagers are involved in three times more fatal crashes than other drivers.

And only 30% of those under 30 even thought that it was dangerous to use a hand held phone while driving.

Jeanne Brown lobbied the Texas legislature yesterday to pass a bill to stop this reckless practice. Her daughter Alex, a teenager killed on her way to school near Lubock, was killed while she was driving and texting.

According to the United States Department of Transportation, nearly 5,500 motorists were killed and almost a half-million were injured in 2009 in crashes related to distracted driving. 18% of those fatal crashes involved the use of a cell phone.

I have dealt with this issue in previous cases. In one, a client who was rear ended on a local highway by a teenager on her cell phone. My client had to undergo a cervical spinal fusion and discectomy as a result. I subpoenaed the defendant's cell phone records (see below) and proved that she was talking on the phone when the wreck happened, and that she lied in her deposition when she stated she hadn't used her phone just before the crash. After filing suit and fighting hard for my client, the case settled just before trial for over ten times the original offer.

If you or a loved one is involved in an accident where the driver was texting while driving or otherwise distracted please contact my office immediately at 817-885-8000 so I can subpoena their cell phone records and fight the insurance company to get you the settlement you deserve.

Check out this funny -- if it weren't so true -- animated dialogue between an Allstate claims rep and an injured person who is trying to recover his damages from an Allstate insured who is clearly at fault:

Although meant to be a parody, this exchange is all too familiar -- and not just with Allstate but with many other companies I have to deal with on a daily basis. But I know how to handle this type of gibberish, and when the insurance company continues with these smokescreen tactics, I file suit.

Contact my office if you are not "in good hands" or don't like the supposedly "good neighbor" or any other advertised lies that prevent you from recovering the damages that are due you.

Continue reading "Allstate Adjusters Are Atrocious" »