Dallas Car Accident Lawyers

After a serious car accident in Dallas, you generally have two years under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.003 to file a lawsuit, and the insurance company starts building its case against you within days.

 A Dallas car accident lawyer protects your claim from the first phone call: preserving evidence, handling the adjuster, and pursuing the full value of your injuries. Tate Rehmet Law Offices handles these cases on a contingency fee basis, so you owe nothing unless we recover for you.

Picture a typical Dallas wreck. You are heading south on I-35E through the Mixmaster near downtown when a distracted driver drifts into your lane and clips your rear quarter panel. Your car spins, traffic is heavy, and within an hour you are in the trauma bay at Baylor University Medical Center. 

The other driver’s insurer calls the next morning, friendly and fast, asking for a recorded statement and offering to “get this handled.” That call is not there to help you. It is there to lock in a low number before you know how badly you are hurt.

Tate Rehmet Law Offices, PC is a family firm run by the Tate and Rehmet families. We are not a billboard mill and not a volume shop. We handle serious injury cases personally, and we are available 24/7. If you were hurt in a crash anywhere in the Dallas area, call (903) 892-4440 or a free consultation. You pay no fee unless you collect.

Why Injured Drivers Across Dallas Call Tate Rehmet Law Offices

Choosing a lawyer after a crash is really a question of who actually works your file. At a high-volume firm, your case can sit in a queue and settle for whatever moves it off the desk fastest. That is not how we operate. Here is what sets our representation apart.

You Work Directly With Your Attorney

You will not be handed off to a rotating cast of case managers. You talk to the attorney handling your claim, you get straight answers, and you know where your case stands.

When something changes, you hear it from us, not from a voicemail weeks later.

A Family Firm That Handles Serious Cases

The Tate and Rehmet families built this practice around injury cases that matter: crashes that leave people with surgeries, missed paychecks, and long recoveries.

Because we take on fewer cases than a volume shop, each one gets real attention.

Texas-Specific Investigation

We know Dallas roads and Dallas courts. We pull the Texas Peace Officer’s Crash Report, map the corridor where the wreck happened, identify every insurance policy in play, and build the claim on Texas law, not guesswork. Specificity is what forces insurers to take a claim seriously.

No Fee Unless You Collect

We work on contingency. There is no retainer and no hourly bill. Our fee comes out of the recovery only if we win, which means our interest is aligned with yours from day one.

That combination, direct attorney access plus a Texas-focused investigation, is why injured drivers across the metro call us instead of the number on the billboard. Reach us any time at (972) 499-4813.

Who Can Be Held Liable for Your Dallas Car Accident

More than one party is often responsible for a serious Dallas crash, and identifying every one of them can be the difference between a claim capped at a single driver’s minimum policy and a recovery that actually covers your injuries.

Because Texas minimum liability limits are low, just 30/60/25, tracking down every responsible party is frequently the most important work in a serious case. The other driver is only the starting point. Here are the parties who may share liability for your wreck.

The At-Fault Driver

The driver who caused the crash is the first place we look, and that driver’s liability insurance is usually the first source of recovery.

The problem is that minimum limits often fall far short of what a hospital stay, surgery, and a long recovery actually cost. When the damages exceed the driver’s policy, the parties below become critical.

An Employer or Commercial Company

If the at-fault driver was working at the time (a delivery driver, a commercial trucker, or an employee running a work errand), the employer may share liability for the crash.

This matters because commercial policies carry far higher limits than a personal auto policy, which can be the difference between a partial and a full recovery in a catastrophic case.

The Owner Who Lent the Vehicle

Texas recognizes negligent entrustment. If a vehicle owner handed the keys to someone they knew or should have known was unlicensed, reckless, or likely to drive drunk, the owner can be held responsible alongside the driver. That can bring an additional insurance policy into your claim.

A Bar or Restaurant That Overserved

Under the Texas Dram Shop Act (Alcoholic Beverage Code Section 2.02), a licensed establishment can be held liable if it served alcohol to someone who was already obviously intoxicated to the point of clear danger, and that intoxication was a proximate cause of the crash. In late-night areas like Deep Ellum and Uptown, where drunk driving wrecks tend to cluster, this can open a second source of recovery well beyond the driver’s own policy.

A Government Entity

A dangerous road defect, a malfunctioning traffic signal, or a crash involving a city vehicle or a DART bus can bring a government entity into your claim. These cases run on a much faster clock.

The Texas Tort Claims Act (Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 101.101) requires written notice within six months of the crash, and some cities shorten that further by charter. A police report does not count as notice, and missing the window can bar the claim long before the two-year deadline ever arrives.

Identifying every liable party is one of the first things we do, because it decides how much coverage is actually available to pay for your injuries.

We trace the ownership of each vehicle, look for commercial and employer policies, and preserve the evidence needed to bring in a bar or a government entity when the facts support it. 

If you are not sure who should be held responsible for your Dallas crash, call (903) 892-4440 for a free consultation. We are available 24/7, and because we work on a contingency fee basis, you owe nothing unless we win your case.

Common Dallas Crash Scenarios We Handle

Dallas traffic produces a specific set of crash patterns, and the corridor often tells us how the collision happened before we read a single word of the police report. TxDOT crash records show Dallas County near the top of the state for total crashes, with roughly 46,257 reported in 2024 alone, so these scenarios are not rare. We regularly represent drivers and passengers hurt in the following situations:

• Rear-end collisions in stop-and-go backups on Central Expressway (US-75) and the LBJ Freeway (I-635)
• High-speed merging and lane-change wrecks at the High Five interchange where US-75 meets I-635
• Multi-vehicle pileups on I-35E through the Stemmons corridor and the downtown Mixmaster
• Left-turn and intersection crashes on surface arterials like Northwest Highway (Loop 12) and Greenville Avenue
• Sideswipes and run-off-road wrecks on the Dallas North Tollway during rush hour
• Drunk driving crashes in nightlife areas including Deep Ellum and Uptown, often late at night and on weekends
• Commercial truck and delivery-vehicle collisions on I-30, I-20, and I-45
• Hit-and-run wrecks where the at-fault driver flees, leaving you to rely on your own uninsured motorist coverage

No two of these play out the same way, and the difference between a fair recovery and a lowball offer usually comes down to how fast the evidence is preserved. If any of these describe your wreck, the sooner we start, the stronger your claim.

Common Car Accident Injuries and How They Shape Your Claim

The injury drives the value of a car accident claim, because it determines your medical costs, your time off work, and how your life changes going forward.

Understanding where your injury falls helps you see why the insurer’s first offer is almost always too low.

Whiplash and Soft-Tissue Injuries

These are the most common crash injuries and the ones insurers most love to minimize. Neck and back strains can still mean months of physical therapy and real limits on daily activity.

The claim value here turns on documentation: consistent treatment records that connect the injury to the crash.

Spinal and Disc Injuries

Herniated discs and other spinal injuries often need imaging, injections, and sometimes surgery.

Because they can cause lasting pain and reduced mobility, they carry significant value for both medical costs and future limitations.

Traumatic Brain Injury

A TBI can result from a head strike or even a violent jolt without direct impact. Symptoms like memory problems, headaches, and personality changes may not appear right away.

These cases are among the most serious we handle, and they demand careful medical proof of long-term effects.

Fractures and Orthopedic Trauma

Broken bones, especially those needing surgery and hardware, generate substantial medical bills and long recovery times. Case value reflects both the treatment and the impact on your ability to work and function.

Catastrophic and Permanent Injuries

Spinal cord damage, amputations, and other permanent injuries change a person’s entire future. These claims account for lifelong care, lost earning capacity, and the profound effect on quality of life.

The common thread is simple: the more serious and well-documented the injury, the more the claim is worth, and the harder the insurer works to pay less. We build the medical picture fully so the number reflects the real harm.

The Texas Laws That Govern Your Dallas Car Accident Claim

Texas law, not the insurance adjuster, defines your rights after a crash, and a few statutes control almost every case. Understanding them explains why early legal help matters so much. Texas follows an at-fault system, which means the driver responsible for the crash (and that driver’s insurer) is responsible for the resulting damages.

The core deadline comes from Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.003, which gives most injury victims two years from the date of the crash to file suit. In a wrongful death case, that two-year clock runs from the date of death. Miss the deadline, and a court will almost certainly dismiss the case no matter how clear the other driver’s fault was.

Fault itself is governed by Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 33.001, the state’s proportionate responsibility rule.

Under this 51% bar, you can recover only if you are 50% or less at fault, and your recovery is reduced by your share of the blame. If you are found 20% responsible, your award drops by 20%. This is exactly why insurers try so hard to pin part of the blame on you.

Two more statutes matter in the aftermath of the wreck itself. Texas Transportation Code Chapter 550 sets the duties following a collision: drivers must stop, return to the scene, and give information and render aid. And under Texas Transportation Code Section 601.072, every Texas driver must carry minimum liability limits of 30/60/25 (30,000 dollars per person and 60,000 dollars per accident for injuries, 25,000 dollars for property damage). 

Those minimums are often far too low for a serious crash, which is where underinsured and uninsured motorist coverage becomes critical, especially given that roughly one in seven Texas drivers carries no insurance at all.

These rules interact in ways that are easy to get wrong on your own. Applying them correctly, and countering the insurer’s attempt to shift fault, is a large part of what your attorney does.

What Your Car Accident Claim May Be Worth

Compensation in a Texas car accident claim is meant to cover the full scope of what the crash cost you, not just the bills you have already received. Texas law recognizes several categories of damages, and a complete claim accounts for all of them:

• Medical expenses: emergency treatment, hospital stays, surgery, physical therapy, medication, and future care related to the injury
• Lost income: wages missed during recovery, plus reduced earning capacity if the injury limits your ability to work going forward
• Pain and suffering: the physical pain and the daily limits the injury places on your life
• Mental anguish: the emotional toll, including anxiety and the disruption a serious injury brings
• Property damage: repair or replacement of your vehicle and other damaged property
• Punitive damages: available in limited cases involving egregious conduct, such as a drunk driver, where Texas law allows an award meant to punish and deter

The value of any individual claim depends on the severity of the injury, the strength of the evidence, and the insurance available to pay. We do not chase a quick settlement that ignores your future costs. We build the claim around what full recovery actually requires.

The Claims Process: From Investigation to Resolution

Most people have never filed an injury claim before, and the uncertainty is part of the stress. Here is how the process generally moves once you hire us, so you know what to expect at each stage.

1. Investigation and evidence preservation. We obtain the crash report, photograph the scene and vehicles, gather any available camera footage, identify witnesses, and secure the evidence before it disappears. This is the foundation of everything that follows.
2. Medical documentation. We track your treatment and gather the records that connect your injuries to the crash. We do not put a value on the case until your medical picture is clear, because settling too early leaves future costs on the table.
3. Identifying every source of coverage. We locate all applicable policies: the at-fault driver’s liability coverage, your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, and any additional policies that may apply.
4. The demand. Once your damages are clear, we send the insurer a demand backed by the evidence and Texas law, laying out the full value of your claim.
5. Negotiation. Insurers rarely pay full value on the first response. We negotiate from a documented position, and because our file is built for trial, our demands carry weight.
6. Litigation, if needed. If the insurer will not offer a fair number, we file suit in the appropriate Dallas County court and prepare the case for trial. Many claims settle once the insurer sees we are ready to try the case.

Throughout, you stay informed and you make the decisions. We handle the insurers, the paperwork, and the deadlines so you can focus on recovering.

Questions about where your case stands are always a call away at (972) 499-4813.

Key Dallas Car Accident Deadlines at a Glance

Deadlines decide cases, and some of them run much faster than the two-year statute of limitations. Keep these in mind:

• Two years to file suit: the general deadline under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.003, measured from the crash date (or the date of death in a wrongful death case)
• Days, not months, for insurance notice: most auto policies require prompt notice of a claim, and delay can give the insurer a reason to deny
• Short windows for claims against a government entity: if a city or county vehicle or road condition is involved, notice deadlines can be far shorter than two years
• Evidence has its own clock: camera footage is often overwritten within weeks, and skid marks and vehicle damage do not last

Because these clocks start the moment the crash happens, the safest step is to talk to a lawyer early, even if you are not sure yet whether you have a claim.