Choose an Arlington personal injury firm by checking four things: who actually handles your file day to day, whether the firm files suit and tries cases or only settles them, how well it knows Tarrant County courts, and how it puts fees in writing. In Texas you generally have two years from the injury date to file a lawsuit so decide early.
Start With Who Will Actually Work on Your File
The lawyer in the television ad is often not the person who returns your calls. Before you sign anything, ask for the name of the attorney assigned to your case, the name of the case manager or paralegal you will speak to most weeks, and how quickly the firm answers messages.
A real answer sounds specific. If nobody can tell you who your lawyer is, you do not have one yet. Ask whether you will meet the attorney before the case settles, and whether that attorney would personally take the deposition of the at-fault party if the case is filed.
Jim Ross Law Group has been handling Arlington injury claims. Consultations are free and can be done in person at 2201 E Lamar Blvd., Suite #110, or by phone.
- Who is the attorney of record on my case?
- Who calls me with updates.
- How many other cases is that lawyer carrying right now?
Ask Whether the Firm Files Suit and Tries Cases
Most injury claims resolve without a trial, but the possibility of trial is what gives a demand package weight. Insurance carriers track which firms file lawsuits and which ones do not..
Filing a lawsuit also changes the economics of your case. Court costs, depositions, and expert fees all start when a petition is filed, and many fee agreements raise the contingency percentage at that point. A firm that files lawsuits should be able to explain both sides of that tradeoff before it happens; not after.
Tarrant County civil district courts sit at the Tom Vandergriff Civil Courts Building, 100 N. Calhoun St., Fort Worth 76196, and the District Clerk can be reached at 817-884-1574. Smaller disputes can go to the proper precinct, JP court for Precinct 2 at 700 E. Abram St., Suite 200 in Arlington, where the limit is $20,000.
Local Knowledge Is Practical, Not Promotional
Local experience shows up in small, verifiable ways. The Arlington Police Department Records Unit at 620 W. Division St. routes crash reports to the TxDOT C.R.I.S. system, where it can take up to 14 days to appear. Non-redacted reports go only to people considered directly concerned with the crash. A firm that works Arlington crashes daily knows which report to pull, when it will land, and what to do while waiting.
Read the Fee Terms Before the Meeting Ends
Texas injury lawyers work on contingency, which means that the fee is a percentage of the recovery and there is no hourly billing. That is the standard.
Case expenses are a separate category from the attorney’s fee, and the difference is where most surprises occur. Ask what happens to advanced expenses if there is no recovery at all,
Language, Access and How the Firm Communicates
Arlington is a city of 402,134 people, the seventh largest in Texas, and 36.3% of residents speak a language other than English at home while 22.2% are foreign-born, according to Census figures. The City of Arlington publishes its own website in English, Spanish and Vietnamese. A firm serving this city should be able to say plainly how it handles a client who prefers to work in another language.
Ask who interprets during your meetings, and who will interpret at a deposition or mediation if the case gets that far. Under the Texas Government Code §57.002 a court must appoint a licensed interpreter for court proceedings upon request, but that appointment does not cover depositions or mediation, where the parties supply and pay for their own.
Ask the same question about documents. If the insurance company sends you paperwork in Spanish or Vietnamese, the English version legally controls under the Texas Insurance Code §2301.058. You want a firm that reads the English text with you.
Watch the Deadline While You Compare Firms
Comparing firms is worth doing, but the clock is running while you do it. In Texas, you generally have two years from the date of injury to file a lawsuit under Civil Practice and Remedies Code §16.003, and the same two years runs from the date of death in a wrongful death case. Claims involving a governmental unit have a much shorter written-notice deadline, generally six months statewide under §101.101, and local charters can require notice sooner.
Evidence has its own shorter deadlines. Store video is often overwritten in weeks, skid marks disappear after the next rain, and witnesses move. The practical answer is to consult early even if you are still deciding.
Free consultations are available at Jim Ross Law Group at 817-275-4100, in person or by phone, and there is no fee unless we win.
Deadline
Rule
Source
Personal injury lawsuit
2 years from the date of injury
CPRC §16.003
Wrongful death lawsuit
2 years from the date of death
CPRC §16.003
Injured child
Tolled during minority, generally until age 20
CPRC §16.001
Claim against a governmental unit
Written notice generally within 6 months; city charters may require sooner
CPRC §101.101
Source: Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Deadlines can change with the facts; confirm yours with a lawyer.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I check that an injury lawyer is actually licensed in Texas?
Look the attorney up in the State Bar of Texas online directory. It shows license status, the year admitted, the firm’s listed address, and any public disciplinary history. Do this before the first meeting, not after. If the person contacting you is not listed at all, you may be dealing with a marketing service or a case broker rather than a licensed Texas lawyer.
Does it matter if the law firm has an office in Arlington?
It matters for access and for local familiarity, not for jurisdiction. Any Texas-licensed lawyer can file in Tarrant County. What a nearby office gives you is easier in-person meetings, quicker document pickup, and a firm that regularly appears in the Tarrant County civil courts.
What should I bring to a free consultation?
Bring the crash report or its number, photographs of the vehicles and the scene, the other driver’s insurance information, your own declarations page, names of any medical providersyou have seen, and anything the insurance company has sent you. If you do not have all of it, come anyway. Most of it can be requested later, and the first meeting is mainly about your account of what happened.
Can I switch personal injury lawyers if I am unhappy?
Yes. You can end the relationship, and your file belongs to you. The practical issue is the fee: your former firm may claim part of the same recovery for the work it already did. Ask the new firm to put in writing that you will not pay two full contingency fees, and ask how any dispute between the two firms will be handled out of the single fee.
How many cases should one injury lawyer be handling?
There is no correct number, and any firm quoting one is guessing. What matters is the ratio of lawyers and case managers to open files, and how fast the firm returns calls. A useful test question: how many cases does the attorney assigned to me have open right now.
Is a firm that settles every case a bad thing?
Not automatically. Most injury cases should settle, because trial is slow and uncertain. The concern is a firm that settles every case regardless of value because it has no capacity to try one. Ask when the firm last filed a lawsuit and if it had to try the case to verdict or if it settled during litigation. A firm with real trial experience will answer without hesitating.
How long do I have to decide which firm to hire?
Legally, you have until the two-year filing deadline under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code §16.003, but practically you have far less. Surveillance video is often erased within weeks, vehicles get repaired or sold, and witness memories fade. Most people should consult within days of the crash so that evidence can be preserved and so that medical treatment can begin.
This page is for general information only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different and past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case. Jim Ross Law Group, P.C., 2201 E Lamar Blvd #110, Arlington, TX 76006.