What if I told you that hiring an car accident lawyer in Dallas doesn’t have to be expensive or stressful? Getting into an accident can be a traumatic experience with medical bills racking up, employers calling, and insurance adjusters scheming. It sounds terrifying, right? The last thing anyone should have to worry about is going through the hassle of finding an injury lawyer. Fortunately, Panahi Law Group provides laid-back legal consultations to injury victims and aggressive representation against insurance companies and Defendants. Keep reading to find out more about our claims process…

What We Do

We are a Texas Personal Injury Law firm with a focus on representing accident victims in their cases against defendants and the pesky insurance companies that represent them. We only represent Plaintiffs, and simply never represent insurance companies or the Defendants that cause accidents. This is a philosophical choice we have adopted. Protecting the rights injured individuals is of utmost importance to us, and we believe that representing defendants would get in the way of that goal. One of the biggest complaints people have is getting a hold of their attorneys. We go out of our way to provide our clients with our mobile telephone numbers. Clients can rest assured that we will be fighting for them tooth and nail, and keeping them informed as we go along. Below you will find some of the claims we handle:

Types of Accident Claims We Handle:

Although we handle all kinds of personal injury matters, here is a non-exhaustive list of the most common claims we see:

Car Accidents

According to the Texas Department of Transportation motor vehicle traffic crash facts, in 2017, 254,853 people were injured as a result of traffic collisions in Texas and remain one of the leading cause of personal injuries sustained in the State. Learn more car accidents.

Motorcycle Accidents

Injuries sustained as the result of motorcycle accidents typically are the most severe. Even when a rider takes extreme safety precautions, often the negligence of other drivers can intervene and cause devastating injuries. Poor driving conditions can also exacerbate injuries.
Learn more about motorcycle accidents. Learn more about Motorcycle Accidents.

Dog Bites

Increased abuse of Federal disability law has made it so that dogs can be found almost everywhere, including but not limited to restaurants, trains, planes, and even libraries. Many times poorly trained and dangerous dogs are fraudulently represented as “service dogs” or “emotional support dogs” to skirt local ordinances and health and safety codes. Learn more about dog bites.

Trucking Accidents

Many of Texas’ roadways are in shambles due to funding issues and sometimes mismanagement of funds. Freeways and streets are packed with congestion as more and more Americans flow into the Dallas Fort Worth area in search of jobs and affordable housing. Streets are riddled with potholes. These obstacles have made the work of truckers immensely more difficult as they find themselves competing with one another as well as passenger vehicles on the roads. Unfortunately, this has led to some devastating accidents that have caused painful injuries, and even fatalities. Learn more about truck accidents.

Premises Liability/Slip and Fall

Wet and slippery floors, loose handrails, construction defects, and other dangerous conditions usually lead to painful injuries. Victims usually don’t know which way to look to recover compensation for their hospital bills, and pain and suffering. Negligent business and property owners are usually the ones responsible. These owners have a duty to keep their property safe, free and clear of dangerous conditions which can hurt bystanders. Learn more about premises liability.

Wrongful Death

Losing a loved one because of someone else’s negligence can be one of the most psychologically devastating things that can happen in a person’s life. Wrongful death lawsuits allow a deceased person’s family members to seek financial compensation against tortfeasors who are responsible for the death. Learn more about wrongful death claims.

 

How We Get Paid:

You may be wondering how we get paid for providing our legal services to you. We work on a contingency fee basis. This means that payment of attorney’s fees to us is “contingent” on us winning the case. We do not work on an hourly basis. You are only responsible for paying us if we win the case and recover damages for your injuries from the defendant. This contingency/attorney fee consists of a percentage of the gross recovery (typically ranging from 30 to 40%). If we do not win, then you are not responsible for paying us any attorney fees.

Also, we typically advance costs for our clients. Costs include but are not limited to court filing fees, expert medical reports, process serving fees, outside investigative fees, etc. Costs can quickly add up to thousands of dollars in civil litigation. This is why many accident victims prefer the contingency fee arrangement, so they do not have to advance cost themselves.

Let’s look at an example:

Sally was injured in a car accident for which the Defendant was responsible for. Defendant’s insurance company refused to settle the matter before litigation. Several months after filing a lawsuit the insurance company and the Defendant settled the matter with for $20,000. Assuming that Sally agreed to a 33% gross contingency rate with her attorney and $1,000 was expended as costs, Sally’s distribution would be ( $20,000x.67=$13,400)-($1,000)=$12,400.

The Personal Injury Litigation Process:

Let’s take a look at the various stages of the personal injury claims process that you will go through alongside your Sacramento accident attorney. Buckle your seatbelt because this will be comprehensive:

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Stage 1 – Intake:

The process starts with a telephone call to our office. You will go through a series of general questions with us regarding the accident, including the date, time, location, description, driving conditions, injuries sustained, and witnesses involved. A more in-depth questionnaire will also be emailed to you that will assist us in determining whether your case is a good fit for us. We will also request any supporting evidence you may have such as pictures, medical reports, estimates, etc. We understand that you may have limited time to devote to your injury claim so we will do whatever we can to work around your time constraints. Sometimes we request to meet with accident victims in person, other times we request a basic facetime video chat by phone instead of an in-person meeting. If we believe your case is a good fit for us we will then proceed to send you a contingency fee agreement that spells out the terms of our representation of you. Once the agreement is signed, the attorney-client relationship begins.
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Stage 2 – Investigation:

This is the phase where information is collected before filing a lawsuit or contact the insurance company. Numerous written releases will be provided to you that will allow us to obtain records from various state and county agencies, healthcare providers, and employers. Letters of representation will be sent out to all these parties as well as the Defendant’s insurance company notify them that we are your attorneys in the matter. After that, police reports, and medical records are ordered by our office. Depending on the circumstances, a private investigator may also be retained by us to take pictures of the location of the accident, and interview witnesses that were there. The information collected will then be fully analyzed and used to gauge the merits of your case. Documents collected will also be used as evidence in support of your claims when drafting correspondence to the Defendant’s insurance company.
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Stage 3 – Demand Letter:

Next, we will incorporate all the evidence and information gathered during the previous two stages into a demand letter to the Defendant’s insurance company that you will review. The letter will describe the chain of events that led up to the accident in question, the injuries you sustained, the medical bills you incurred, and so on and so forth. Pictures, medical reports from doctors, and other documentary evidence will also be attached to fully inform the insurance adjuster reviewing your claim about the facts and circumstances of your case. The letter will end with a demand stating the minimum amount of compensation you are willing to take to settle the matter without litigation. The letter will also provide a deadline to the insurance adjuster for accepting your settlement offer. You will have an opportunity to review the letter and work with us to determine a settlement offer that you feel comfortable with before the demand is mailed out. Upon reviewing the demand and the associated evidence, the insurance adjuster will either accept the offer and provide a settlement agreement for execution or reject the offer, necessitating a lawsuit.
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Stage 4 – Initiation of Litigation:

If the claim is not resolved with the insurance adjuster, litigation is initiated. First, a complaint is filed that asserts various causes of action against the Defendant. The complaint also states the factual allegations surrounding the accident including any injuries you sustained as a result. The factual allegations are the product of the investigation that took place in the prior stages. The complaint and summons are served on the Defendant. The Defendant then has thirty days to respond to the complaint by either filing an answer or filing a motion. Typically if the Defendant has coverage, the insurance company will provide the defense attorney.
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Stage 5 – Discovery:

Be warned, discovery is the investigative phase of a lawsuit. Each party is given a series of fact-finding tools such as requests for inspection, requests for admission, special and form interrogatories, as well as depositions. These tools allow parties to propound written questions on one another, request documents, or admit or deny statements drafted by the opposing party. Also, depositions permit the attorney of one side to ask in person questions from the other party under oath. Depositions are taken in the presence of a court reporter who transcribes all the testimony given. For many individuals discovery can be very stressful as they will be expected to spend (sometimes a substantial) time gathering documents or submitting themselves to the scrutiny of opposing counsel.
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Stage 6 – Pretrial Motions:

Once all the facts and evidence have been collected by way of discovery, the parties use the evidence obtained to file motions for summary judgment to convince the judge presiding on the case to either throw out certain causes of action or grant them before trial. If the motions are not granted for either party the case proceeds to trial.
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Stage 7 – Trial:

Jury trials starts with jury selection or “Voire Dire.” In bench trials, however, the judge presiding over the matter acts as the fact finder or jury and therefore no selection takes place. Jurors are interviewed and selected from a pool of jurors from the county in which the case was filed. Each side reads opening statements. Witnesses are called, evidence is presented to the jury which will ultimately make a decision on the case.

 

About Our Founder

Kevin K. Panahi is a car accident lawyer in Dallas. He is a talented negotiator, sought-after strategist, and tireless advocate of his clients’ interests. He received his bachelors from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and his law degree from Loyola Law School Los Angeles.