Richardson Personal Injury Lawyer

Trusted personal injury lawyers with over 13 years of experience.

At Kelso Law PLLC, our Richardson, TX personal injury lawyer has spent 13 years on the plaintiff’s side of these cases, with a record of taking matters to trial when carriers won’t pay fair value. Founder Rhiannon Kelso has secured eight-figure verdicts and seven-figure settlements for North Texas clients. Call us today to schedule your consultation!

Personal Injury Lawyer Richardson, TX

A personal injury claim is a civil case brought by a person who was harmed by another party’s negligence, recklessness, or intentional act. Most claims never become lawsuits. They resolve through negotiation with insurance carriers based on documented medical bills, lost income, and the lasting effects of the injury. Texas law governs the deadlines, fault rules, and damage categories that frame every one of these cases.

Strong claims share certain features. There is a clearly negligent party. The injuries are documented in real time by medical providers, and the connection between the incident and the harm is supported by the medical record, not just the client’s account of it.

Types of Personal Injury Cases We Handle in Richardson

Personal injury covers a long list of incidents, and each requires a different evidentiary path. A truck case turns on driver logs and federal regulations. A premises case turns on inspection records and surveillance footage. A medical case turns on chart entries and qualified-witness testimony. Our Richardson personal injury lawyer can handle a wide range of cases.

• Car accidents. Crashes from distracted, impaired, or speeding drivers, including cases where the hidden costs of minor wrecks get overlooked by adjusters trying to close files quickly.

• Motorcycle accidents. Riders face higher injury severity and clear adjuster bias. We document the actual mechanics of the crash so the carrier can’t shift blame onto the rider.

• Bicycle accidents. Right-hooks, left-crosses, and dooring incidents make up most of the bike claims we handle. Cyclists rarely have insurance of their own, so the driver’s policy is the central fight.

• Pedestrian accidents. Walkers struck by drivers in crosswalks, parking lots, and residential streets often suffer multi-system injuries. We pursue every available coverage source.

• Rideshare accidents. Rideshare insurance is layered. The available coverage shifts depending on whether the driver had the app off, was waiting for a ride request, or had a passenger in the car. Each tier has its own dollar limit and its own carrier.

• Slip and fall. Falls at stores, restaurants, and apartment complexes turn on whether the property owner had notice of the hazard. Video evidence often disappears within days, so proving notice requires fast action.

• Truck accidents. Commercial trucking cases involve federal regulations, driver hours-of-service logs, and corporate defendants with deep legal resources. We send evidence preservation letters early to lock down logs and ECM data.

• Medical malpractice. Surgical errors, anesthesia mistakes, and missed diagnoses fall under a heightened proof standard. These are expensive to litigate and require qualified physician witnesses.

• Dog bites. Texas applies a one-bite framework that turns on the owner’s knowledge of prior aggressive behavior. We investigate the dog’s history before filing.

• Wrongful death. When someone is killed by negligence, surviving family members can pursue both a wrongful death claim and a survival action for the decedent’s pre-death harm.

• Premises liability. Apartment shootings, parking lot assaults, and inadequate security cases require analysis of the property’s incident history and what reasonable security measures would have looked like.

• Workplace and construction injuries. Falls, electrocutions, and equipment failures often have third-party defendants outside the workers’ comp system. Identifying those defendants early changes what’s available to recover.

Why Choose Kelso Law PLLC for Personal Injury in Richardson, TX?

Thirteen Years of Plaintiff Work, Not General Practice

Our entire practice is built around representing injured people against insurance companies, and that focus shows up in how we approach every step of the case. Our Richardson personal injury lawyer, Rhiannon Kelso, has tried more than 25 cases to a jury and recovered millions of dollars for North Texas clients across car wreck, premises, and workplace cases. She is a member of the Dallas Bar Association and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, and earned her J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law with the CALI Excellence for the Future Award.

Case Preparation That Drives Settlement Value

Settlement value tracks trial preparation. Carriers raise their offers when they see an organized file, a credible damages model, and a lawyer who has actually tried similar cases. We handle personal injury matters on a contingency basis with no upfront costs and no fee unless we recover. Our Richardson personal injury lawyer also provides Bilingual representation in English and Spanish.

Understanding Personal Injury Cases

Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Personal Injury Cases

Texas allows recovery for both economic and non-economic harm, and punitive damages where a defendant’s conduct rises to gross negligence. The actual mix depends on the injury, the defendant, and the available coverage. Recoverable damages typically include:

• Past and future medical expenses, including hospitalization, surgery, therapy, and ongoing treatment
• Lost income and any reduction in future earning capacity
• Property damage, including vehicle repair, replacement, and diminished value claims
• Physical pain and mental anguish, both past and projected
• Disfigurement and physical impairment
• Loss of consortium for a spouse, where applicable
• Punitive damages where the defendant acted with gross negligence, fraud, or malice

Liability turns on the four elements of negligence: 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 this and routinely try to shift fault percentages onto injured clients, but our Richardson personal injury attorney can prevent this.

Important Aspects of Your Personal Injury Case

A few practical realities shape these cases. Knowing them at the start helps clients avoid early decisions that hurt their claim later.

• Most personal injury claims must be filed within two years of the date of injury
• Recorded statements to the carrier rarely help the client and frequently hurt
• What insurers actually pay attention to is documentation, not how forcefully the client tells their story
• Government defendants are subject to sovereign immunity rules with much shorter notice periods
• Settling before maximum medical improvement can foreclose recovery for complications that emerge later

Personal Injury Case Timeline

Cases vary, but most resolve within 12 to 24 months. Catastrophic injuries and complex commercial trucking cases often run longer because the medical course needs time to stabilize before damages can be projected accurately.

• Investigation, scene documentation, and provider coordination in the first weeks
• Medical treatment to maximum medical improvement
• Damages calculation and demand letter preparation
• Pre-suit settlement negotiations with the carrier
• 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 file pointed at trial rather than a quick payout.

What to Bring to Your Personal Injury Consultation

You don’t need to gather a complete file before meeting with us. Bring whatever you have on hand. We can request the rest through subpoenas and records requests once you retain us.

• Police, crash, or incident report
• Photos of the scene, your injuries, and any property damage
• Medical records, hospital discharge paperwork, and any bills you’ve received
• Insurance information for every party, including your own coverage
• Recent pay stubs or tax returns showing pre-injury earnings

Consultations are free and confidential, with no obligation to retain us afterward. Most clients leave the first meeting with a clearer picture of whether they have a viable claim and what a realistic recovery looks like.

Texas Legal Resources for Personal Injury

A few public resources can help injured people understand the law without replacing legal advice. These are useful starting points, whether you’ve already retained counsel or are still deciding what to do.

• Texas CPRC Section 16.003. The two-year statute of limitations that governs most personal injury actions.
• Texas CPRC Chapter 33. The modified comparative fault and proportionate responsibility rules.
• Texas CPRC Chapter 41. Damages provisions, including caps on exemplary damages.
• Texas Department of Insurance. Consumer information on auto insurance, claims handling, and complaints.
• TxDOT crash reports. How to obtain a Texas crash report and access state crash data.

Negligence in Texas follows a 51% modified comparative fault rule, and most personal injury lawsuits must be filed within two years of the date of injury.

Reach Out to Kelso Law PLLC to Schedule a Consultation

A serious injury affects work, family, and health all at once. Sorting out which losses are recoverable and from whom is what we do every day. At Kelso Law PLLC, our personal injury attorneys offer free, confidential consultations with no obligation. Contact us today to schedule a consultation with our Richardson personal injury lawyer to start the process!