There are more injury lawyers advertising in Houston than in almost any market in the country, and every one of them uses the same four words about experience, results, and fighting for you. None of that helps you choose. Terry Bryant Accident & Injury Law has handled personal injury claims here since 1985, and the useful thing we can offer on this page is a way to check firms rather than another reason to believe one.
So this page is mostly a method. Use it on us too.
Contact us today to learn how we can support your case.
Who is the best personal injury lawyer in Houston?
Nobody can honestly answer that, because it depends entirely on your case. What you can do instead is stop evaluating firms on claims and start evaluating them on three things that are independently verifiable: board certification, actual trial history, and who will personally hold your file.
Those three are checkable by a stranger. Advertising is not.
Board certification is verified by someone other than the firm. The Texas Board of Legal Specialization certifies attorneys in specific fields, including personal injury trial law. Anyone may say they concentrate in injury cases. Certification means a state specialization board reviewed the claim and agreed.
Trial history changes settlement offers. Insurance carriers track which firms actually file and try cases and which ones always resolve on the courthouse steps. That history is priced into the first offer you receive, before anyone has met you.
Ask who holds the file. Some firms sign clients with an attorney and then move the case permanently to a case manager. There is nothing wrong with support staff. There is something wrong with never speaking to a lawyer again after you sign.
Mr. Bryant is board certified, served as a judge before practicing on this side, and has been in Texas courts since 1985. Every one of those is checkable without taking our word for it, which is the entire point of the section you just read.
What does board certified in personal injury mean in Texas?
It means the Texas Board of Legal Specialization independently confirmed that the lawyer has substantial hands-on experience in personal injury trial law, was vouched for by judges and opposing counsel, and passed a written specialty examination. It is a maintained credential, not a listing anyone can buy.
Here is why it carries weight specifically in this market. When every billboard on the Southwest Freeway says the same thing, board certification is one of the few statements in that noise that an outside body actually tested.
The former judge part is a different kind of credential, and it works differently. Years on a bench means watching hundreds of injury cases from the only seat in the room with no stake in the outcome. You learn which arguments land with a Harris County jury, which ones quietly annoy them, and what a defense attorney is building toward several motions before they get there.
That knowledge shapes what gets filed and when. It is not the sort of thing that fits on a billboard, which is probably why so few firms have it.
What questions should I ask a personal injury lawyer before hiring them?
Ask about certification, trial record, file ownership, the fee at both stages, and who pays costs if the case fails. Any firm worth hiring answers all five without hedging. A vague answer to a specific question is itself the answer.
| Ask this | What a real answer sounds like |
| Are you board certified in personal injury trial law? | Yes or no, plus the certifying body |
| Have you tried cases like mine to a verdict? | Specific experience, not "we are always trial ready" |
| Who handles my case day to day? | A person's name and how to reach them |
| What is the fee before suit, and after suit? | Two exact percentages, in writing |
| Who pays case expenses if we lose? | A clear statement, in the agreement |
| How often will I hear from you? | A defined cadence, not "whenever there is news" |
Take that list to every consultation you have scheduled. If a firm gets annoyed by it, you have learned something valuable for free.
Our number is (713) 973-8888. Run the list on us before you run it on anyone else.
Red Flags Worth Walking Away From
Be careful with any firm that pressures you to sign on the first call, quotes a settlement figure before seeing a single record, or cannot name the person who will handle your case. Those three tend to travel together, and they usually indicate volume over attention.
A number before the records. Nobody can value a claim without your diagnosis, your prognosis, and the available coverage. A confident figure on the first call is a closing technique.
Someone contacting you first. Texas has strict rules about how and when lawyers may solicit accident victims. If a stranger approaches you at the hospital or shows up at your door offering legal help, that is a problem, not luck.
No written fee agreement. Every term belongs on paper. Percentage before suit, percentage after suit, who advances expenses, and what happens to those expenses if the case does not succeed.
You never actually meet an attorney. If the consultation is with intake staff and no lawyer appears, that is a preview of the whole case.
Any guarantee of a result. Nobody can promise an outcome. A lawyer who does is telling you about themselves, not about your case.
Court records and attorney discipline history are public in Texas and searchable through the Texas Judicial Branch. Board certification can be confirmed directly with the certifying board. Check us. Check everyone.
Do I need a personal injury lawyer, or can I handle it myself?
Handle it yourself if you were barely hurt, nobody disputes fault, and your medical bills are small and finished. Bring in a lawyer once there is ongoing treatment, missed work, an argument about fault, or an insurer asking you to record anything. The dividing line is not how dramatic the incident was. It is whether anyone is arguing.
Signals the claim has outgrown a do-it-yourself approach:
- Your treatment is not finished and no one can say when it will be
- The adjuster is questioning whether the incident caused the injury
- You have been sent a medical authorization with no limits written into it
- More than one person or company may be responsible
- The offer on the table is smaller than your bills
That last one is worth pausing on. An offer below your medical bills is not a negotiating position. It is a test of whether you know what the claim is worth.
Is my case too small for a lawyer to take?
Possibly, and a firm that tells you the truth about that is worth more to you than one that signs everything. Contingency work only functions when the potential recovery justifies the cost of building the case, so some claims genuinely are better handled directly with the insurer, and you should be told that plainly rather than strung along.
Where the line usually falls:
Probably handle it yourself. No injury, or a single urgent care visit with no follow-up, and fault is not disputed. A lawyer's fee on a claim like that may leave you with less than you would have kept.
Worth a call before you decide. Injuries that seemed minor but are still bothering you a month later, or any claim where the insurer has started disputing something.
Get a lawyer. Any surgery, any fracture, any missed work of consequence, any dispute about fault, or any death.
Something people underestimate: a claim that looks small at week two can look very different at week ten, because soft tissue and disc injuries declare themselves slowly. If you are on the fence, the honest advice is usually to wait on settling rather than to wait on calling.
And if we tell you the claim is not worth a fee, we will also tell you how to handle it yourself. That costs us nothing and it is the correct answer.
How much does a personal injury lawyer cost in Houston?
Nothing up front, and no attorney's fee at all unless money is recovered. Injury firms in Houston work on contingency, meaning the fee is an agreed percentage of the recovery, written into the agreement before any work begins. If there is no recovery, there is no fee.
Two places where fee agreements genuinely differ between firms, and where you should read closely.
Expenses are separate from the fee. Expert review, records, depositions, filing fees, and reconstruction all cost money while the case runs. We advance those. What matters is what the agreement says happens to them if the case does not succeed, and that answer is not the same everywhere.
The percentage often changes once a lawsuit is filed. That is common and usually fair, since litigation is substantially more work. What is not fair is discovering it later. Get both numbers before you sign anything.
How long do I have to file a personal injury claim in Texas?
Generally two years from the date of injury under Section 16.003 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, with wrongful death claims running two years from the date of death. File after that and the claim is usually barred regardless of how clear the liability was.
Several categories run on much shorter clocks, which is the part that costs people their cases.
Claims against a governmental unit. A city, county, transit authority, or state agency can require formal written notice within months. Miss that and the two-year deadline never comes into play.
Health care liability claims. Texas medical malpractice claims carry their own notice requirements and expert report deadlines, and they are unforgiving.
Claims involving a child. Deadlines may be calculated differently for an injured minor, which is worth confirming rather than assuming.
Treat your deadline as shorter than you think it is and get it pinned down early.
Injury Cases Our Houston Practice Handles
Personal injury covers any situation where a person or company failed to act with reasonable care and someone was hurt because of it. Each area below has its own rules, its own deadlines, and its own defense playbook, which is why they live on separate pages rather than in one long list here.
| If your injury involved | Read this next |
| A car or auto collision | Houston car accident lawyer |
| An 18-wheeler or commercial truck | Houston truck accident lawyer |
| A motorcycle | Houston motorcycle accident lawyer |
| An injury on the job | Houston work injury lawyer |
| A dangerous or defective product | Houston product liability lawyer |
| A hazard on someone else's property | Houston premises liability lawyer |
| Neglect or abuse in a care facility | Houston nursing home abuse lawyer |
| A medical provider's error | Houston medical malpractice lawyer |
| A death in the family | Houston wrongful death lawyer |
Not sure which row describes your situation? That is a normal problem and it takes about four minutes to sort out on the phone.
Can I get a second opinion on a case someone else is already handling?
Yes, and you do not need your current firm's permission to ask for one. Second opinions on active injury cases are ordinary, they are confidential, and nothing about getting one obligates you to change anything. A lawyer who tells you it is improper to have another attorney look at your file is telling you something about their own confidence.
The situations that most often bring people to us mid-case:
You cannot get anyone on the phone. Months of voicemail is not a strategy, and it usually means the file is sitting.
A settlement number appeared with no explanation. You should be able to see how a figure was built, what your liens are, and what you would actually take home.
Nobody has mentioned filing. If your deadline is approaching and no one has discussed whether suit will be filed, that is worth a conversation with someone outside the firm.
Your treatment stopped mattering to anyone. A firm that stops tracking your medical care is not building the part of the case that carries the most value.
If you decide to move, the transition is more routine than people expect. The prior firm may assert a claim for its work, which normally comes out of the total fee rather than out of your pocket.
Bring what you have to (713) 973-8888 and we will read it with you, whether or not you change anything afterward.
What Should I Bring to a Consultation?
Bring whatever is already within reach and do not postpone the call to assemble more. The meeting works with nothing but your account of what happened, and we can request the rest once you decide to move forward.
Helpful if you have them:
- The incident or crash report, or just the report number
- Photos of the scene and your injuries
- Names and phone numbers of any witnesses
- Your own insurance declarations page, which shows what coverage you carry
- Any letter, email, or offer an insurer has sent you
- Discharge paperwork or a list of providers you have seen
- Documentation of missed work
Do not sign anything an insurance company sent you before that meeting, particularly a release or an open-ended medical authorization. Bring it and we will read it together.
The consultation is confidential whether or not you hire us, and nothing about it obligates you to anything.
What Happens After You Hire Someone
Most Houston injury cases move through five stages, and knowing which one you are in removes most of the anxiety. The longest stage is almost always medical, and that is deliberate.
Investigation. Reports, photographs, witnesses, physical evidence, and the search for every responsible party and every applicable policy.
Treatment. You treat until you reach maximum improvement or your doctors can project what you will need long term. Settling before that point means guessing at your own future costs.
Demand. Your losses get assembled with the evidence behind them and presented to the insurer.
Negotiation. Offers move, sometimes considerably, and the other side's read on whether we will file is a live factor in how far.
Litigation, if it comes to that. Cases are filed where the incident happened or where the defendant lives, most often the Harris County civil courthouse, though Fort Bend, Montgomery, Galveston, and Brazoria all appear regularly and none of them move at the same speed.
If an insurance dispute is part of your situation, the Texas Department of Insurance publishes consumer guidance on how claims are supposed to be handled in Texas.
Prior results appear on our client victories page. Each case turns on its own facts, and past outcomes do not predict or guarantee any other result.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I switch personal injury lawyers if I already signed with someone?
Yes. You may change attorneys at any point and you do not need the first firm's permission. The prior firm may assert a claim for work already performed, which normally gets resolved out of the total fee rather than costing you additional money. If you are unhappy with how your case is being handled, have another firm look at it.
Will my personal injury case have to go to court?
Most do not. The majority of Houston injury claims settle, though a case may need to be filed before an insurer takes it seriously. Filing suit and going to trial are separate events. Many cases resolve after filing, during discovery, or at mediation.
What if the person who hurt me has no insurance and no money?
There is frequently another source, and finding it is much of the work. Depending on the facts that could be your own underinsured motorist coverage, an employer's commercial policy, a property owner's liability policy, or a product manufacturer. Claims against an individual with no assets and no coverage are difficult, which is exactly why every applicable policy gets identified first.
Does hiring a lawyer make my case take longer?
Not usually, and the delay people notice is normally their own medical treatment rather than the attorney. What representation changes is the number. A documented, represented claim is evaluated very differently from an unrepresented one, which is precisely why adjusters push to settle quickly before anyone calls a lawyer.
Do I need a lawyer if the insurance company already admitted fault?
Often yes. Admitting fault and paying fairly are two separate decisions, and insurers routinely concede the first while fighting hard over the second. Once liability is settled, the entire argument moves to the value of your injuries, which is the part they are best at minimizing.
Interview Us Before You Decide
Take the six questions above to three firms and see whose answers survive them. We would rather be chosen that way than signed on a first call, and if another firm gives you better answers than we do, hire that firm.