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Trusted car accident lawyers with over 13 years of experience.
At Kelso Law PLLC, our Richardson, TX car accident lawyer has 13 years of plaintiff-side experience and a record of taking matters to verdict when carriers refuse fair value. Contact us today to schedule a consultation!
Car Accident Lawyer Richardson, TX
A car accident claim is a civil action against the at-fault driver and their insurance carrier, brought by someone who was injured in the wreck. Most cases never reach a courtroom. They resolve through negotiation based on documented medical bills, lost income, vehicle damage, and the lasting effects of the injuries. Texas governs the deadlines, fault rules, and damage categories that frame every one of these cases.
The carrier’s first offer is rarely the case’s actual value. Insurers calculate offers based on internal software and historical settlement data, not based on what a jury would award. The gap between those two numbers is where most of the work happens when meeting with our Richardson car accident lawyer.
Types of Car Accident Cases We Handle in Richardson
Auto wrecks come in many forms, and the legal approach changes with each. Some cases turn on traffic camera footage. Others come down to vehicle telematics, accident reconstruction, or driver phone records. Below are the main car accident cases we handle for clients in Richardson, TX.
- Rear-end collisions. The trailing driver is almost always at fault, but carriers still fight the value of soft tissue injuries that don’t show up cleanly on imaging. We use treating-physician documentation to establish the actual harm.
- Intersection crashes. Failure to yield, running red lights, and improper left turns produce some of the highest-injury wrecks we see. Liability often turns on traffic signal timing data and witness statements.
- Distracted driving wrecks. Texting, phone use, and infotainment-system distraction cause an outsized share of crashes. We subpoena phone records and app activity to establish distraction.
- Drunk and impaired driver crashes. DWI cases often support punitive damages on top of compensatory recovery. Police body cam footage and breath test results become central evidence.
- Hit-and-run accidents. When the at-fault driver flees, we pursue uninsured motorist coverage on the client’s own auto policy and any available video evidence to identify the driver.
- Crashes involving an uninsured at-fault driver. Texas requires liability coverage, but plenty of drivers ignore it. Your options if the at-fault driver can’t pay typically include UM/UIM coverage on your own policy, which most drivers don’t realize they have.
- Rideshare accidents. Uber and Lyft cases involve tiered insurance based on the driver’s app status. Each tier carries different coverage limits and a different responding carrier.
- Motorcycle accidents. Riders face higher injury severity and clear adjuster bias. We work to document the actual mechanics of the crash before the carrier gets to control the narrative.
- Bicycle accidents. Drivers strike cyclists and walkers in residential neighborhoods, parking lots, and intersections, often with severe consequences.
- Crashes during pregnancy. Wrecks during pregnancy create unique medical and damage issues. These cases require careful documentation of both maternal and fetal harm.
- Fatal collisions. When a wreck causes death, surviving family members can pursue a wrongful death claim along with a survival action for the decedent’s pre-death pain by working with our Richardson car accident lawyer.
- Multi-vehicle pileups. Chain-reaction crashes involve multiple potentially liable parties and overlapping coverage. Apportioning fault correctly across drivers is one of the most consequential decisions in these cases.
Why Choose Kelso Law PLLC for Car Accidents in Richardson, TX?
Trial Experience That Shapes Negotiations
Many car accident firms run on volume and quick settlements. We don’t. Our founder has tried more than 25 cases to a jury verdict, including an eight-figure premises liability verdict in Dallas County, and that record is what moves carriers to pay fair value rather than insulting nuisance offers. As a personal injury lawyer in Richardson, Rhiannon Kelso has recovered millions of dollars for clients across North Texas. She is admitted to the Texas state courts and all four federal district courts in Texas, holds memberships in the Texas Trial Lawyers Association and the Dallas Trial Lawyers Association, and earned her J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
Contingency Fees and Bilingual Representation
Car wrecks rarely arrive at convenient times. We take cases on a contingency fee basis with no upfront costs and no fee unless we recover for you. Bilingual representation is available in English and Spanish when you work with our Richardson car accident lawyer.
Understanding Car Accident Cases
Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Car Accident Cases
Texas allows recovery of economic damages, non-economic damages, and punitive damages where the at-fault driver acted with gross negligence (most commonly in DWI cases). Recoverable damages typically include:
- Past and future medical expenses, including emergency treatment, surgery, therapy, and ongoing care
- Lost wages and any reduction in future earning capacity
- Vehicle repair, replacement, and diminished value where the repaired vehicle is worth less than before
- Physical pain and mental anguish, both past and future
- Disfigurement and physical impairment, including scarring
- Loss of consortium for a spouse, where applicable
- Punitive damages where the at-fault driver was grossly negligent, fraudulent, or malicious
Liability requires proof of duty, breach, causation, and damages. Texas applies a modified comparative fault rule under which a plaintiff who is more than 50% responsible recovers nothing, and any recovery is reduced by the plaintiff’s percentage of fault. Insurance carriers know the rule and routinely try to push fault percentages onto injured drivers, but our Richardson car accident lawyer can intervene.
Important Aspects of Your Car Accident Case
A few practical realities shape these cases. Knowing them at the outset helps clients avoid early decisions that hurt their claim.
- The two-year statute of limitations runs from the date of the wreck for most personal injury claims
- Recorded statements to the carrier almost never help and frequently hurt
- Your own UM/UIM and PIP coverage may apply even when the other driver was at fault
- Settling before maximum medical improvement can foreclose recovery for complications that show up later
- Government-vehicle crashes are subject to sovereign immunity rules with much shorter notice periods, sometimes as short as 30 days
Car Accident Case Timeline
Most car accident cases resolve within 9 to 18 months, though complex cases involving catastrophic injuries or multi-vehicle pileups often run longer.
- Investigation, scene documentation, and evidence preservation in the first weeks
- Medical treatment to maximum medical improvement
- Damages calculation and demand letter to the carrier
- Pre-suit settlement negotiations
- Lawsuit filing, discovery, depositions, and mediation
- Trial or final settlement
Settlement remains possible at every stage. Carriers often increase offers significantly once they see a fully prepared file pointed at trial.
What to Bring to Your Car Accident Consultation
You don’t need to gather a complete file before meeting with us, but some important documents to provide can include:
- Police crash report and the responding officer’s contact information
- Photos of both vehicles, the scene, and any visible injuries
- Medical records, hospital discharge paperwork, and bills you’ve received
- Insurance information for every driver involved, plus your own policy
- Recent pay stubs or tax returns showing pre-injury earnings
Consultations are free and confidential, and there is no obligation to retain us afterward. Most clients leave the first meeting with our Richardson car accident attorney equipped with a clearer sense of whether they have a viable claim and what a realistic recovery looks like.
Texas Legal Resources for Car Accidents
Several public resources can help injured drivers understand the law and the data behind crashes. None replaces a conversation with a lawyer, but they’re useful starting points.
- Texas CPRC Section 16.003. The two-year statute of limitations applies to most personal injury actions.
- Texas CPRC Chapter 33. The modified comparative fault and proportionate responsibility rules.
- Texas Department of Insurance. Consumer information on auto insurance, claims handling, and complaints.
- TxDOT crash records. How to obtain a Texas crash report and access state crash data.
- NHTSA FARS data. Federal crash and fatality statistics.
- IIHS crash data. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety data on fatal crashes by state.
Negligence in Texas follows a 51% modified comparative fault rule, and most personal injury lawsuits arising from car wrecks must be filed within two years of the date of the crash.
Reach Out to Kelso Law PLLC to Schedule a Consultation
A car wreck disrupts work, finances, and health all at once. Sorting out which losses are recoverable and from which carrier is what we do every day. At Kelso Law PLLC, our car accident attorneys offer free, confidential consultations with no obligation to retain us. Contact us today to work with our Richardson car accident lawyer.
