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And Now, Speaking on Behalf of Big Insurance: The Texas Supreme Court

Medical Insurance, Personal Injury, Texas

Earlier this month, the Texas Supreme Court once again cast its arms around Big Business and shoved Texans out the door.

Not so long ago, if you were the victim of an accident wherein medical bills were incurred you could present the total amount of his bills to a jury even if your insurance had paid the majority of those bills. This was fair. After all, one of the elements of damages that you are entitled to is pain and suffering. One way to convey how much pain you suffered is to show the amount of bills you had to pay to not have that pain anymore.

But that has changed. The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that the only bills you can present to a jury are the ones you still owe.

Let me give you an example: Let’™s say that you are the victim of an accident wherein your medical bills are $100,000.00. Let’s further say that you were responsible enough to have medical insurance (which, by the way, you paid dearly for because medical insurance is not cheap). In our example, your insurance paid $90,000.00 of your bill and has a lien to get reimbursed of $10,000.00.

The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that the only amount you can present to the jury is $20,000.00 (the $10,000.00 left over from the original bill plus the $10,000.00 insurance lien). Will $20,000.00 give the jury an accurate picture of how injured you really were? No. So, whatever pain and suffering you would have received is now likely reduced by a large amount.

But let’s take this a step further. Under this new law, the person who hit you and caused the accident, caused you to incur medical bills, caused you to lose time from work, and caused you the pain and suffering now benefits from YOUR insurance.

Yep, the person who slammed into you AND his insurance company get the benefit of all those premiums that YOU paid. The bills HE caused are reduced by the insurance YOU paid for.

It is as if you are being punished for being responsible enough to carry insurance.

And here is a head scratcher: On one hand, we have Federal Government trying to force everyone to buy insurance while the Texas Supreme Court says, yes, but you better never use it in car accidents!.

Excuse me, Texas Supreme Court, but your bias is showing. Again.

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The Trial

Auto Accidents, Personal Injury, Texas


Although most accident cases settle before trial, there are a few that actually get to a jury. Knowing this, every case in pre-litigation is handled with litigation in mind so as to have a file prepared to go to litigation if the need arises.

So, we need in pre-litigation to have the same proof mindset that we have in litigation.

In a trial, we need to prove two things, and then we need to prove a connector.

First, we need to prove that the accident or incident was the defendant’s fault. We must prove that the defendant is the only person who is responsible for the accident. This is called liability. We must prove the defendant is liable.

Second, we must prove damages. We must prove there were authentic medical bills, lost wages, pain, suffering or any other damages that apply.

Then we must prove the connector. We must prove that it was the accident that caused the damages. The defense may claim that the injuries you suffered came from an earlier accident or incident. We have to prove that the accident, and only the accident, caused the damages we are claiming.

Knowing these elements, we in pre-litigation prepare our cases to prove the exact same elements to the insurance companies with whom we are negotiating. The insurance companies must know that if they refuse to settle with us, we already have the proof we need to be successful in trial.

And that is what makes us always prepared to represent each and every client we have at Bailey & Galyen.

The New Battlefront

Personal Injury


At Bailey and Galyen, we are keenly aware of how the legal landscape changes. Through the years, we have always stayed one step ahead of those changes, and we have adapted to meet the challenges as they arise to better serve our clients.

Recently, several of the major insurance companies have declared war on YOU, the injured victim. All of these companies with their cute television ads and promises to be there for you actually don’t care about you at all.

The new tactic these companies use is to seriously undercut what you deserve for your accident, especially when your medical bills are less than $6,000. They hope that if they offer you thousands less than what your case is worth, you will drop your case. They also hope that your attorney will choose not to pursue further legal action in those cases. Their goal is to chase you, the victim, away and force law firms out of business.

But at Bailey and Galyen, we do not run. We fight.

Bailey and Galyen has always had a litigation department. And Bailey and Galyen’™s litigation department will continue to be the finest litigation department in the state.

But to combat the new insurance company tactic, Bailey and Galyen now, in addition to its litigation department, will have a small claims department. This department will fight the litigation battles for those cases in which the medical bills are $6,000 and under. Where other firms might withdraw from those cases, B&G simply sees this as another way to fight for YOU.

And that is what Bailey and Galyen is all about.

The Bite is Worse than the Bark

Personal Injury


One of the most terrifying events a person can endure is a dog attack.

The most common theme with these dog attacks is that the dogs are large and vicious. The majority of the dogs involved in attacks are pit bulls.

Injuries from dog bites can include torn skin, broken bones and ripped flesh. We can help you make sure all those injuries are taken care of.

Most dog attacks, however, do not simply scar the body, but also the mind. Many of our clients have had horrible nightmares and become afraid of dogs. This psychological injury can be worse than the physical injuries.

That is why at Bailey & Galyen we not only care about the injuries you can see, but we are also very concerned about the injuries you cannot see. We work with medical providers to fix all the injuries. This could include plastic surgery, scar revision and, when needed, psychiatric care.

If you or a loved one is attacked by a dog, give us a call. We will do all we can to make sure ALL your injuries are healed.

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TAKE COVER AND HOLD ON TO YOUR RIGHTS: THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE IS IN SESSION

Auto Accidents, Dallas, Houston, Personal Injury, Texas


The Texas legislature is in session again, and as they say in the capitol, no one is safe. Instead of focusing on our state’s very real budget shortfall – which by the way the former comptroller, once gubinatorial candidate warned and was chided about in her unsuccessful bid to unseat Governor Perry – rumblings of tort reform are heard in the capitol rotunda. Governor Perry is talking it up with lobbyists and legislators to pass more tort reform laws that include:

  • Creating an early dismissal option for frivolous lawsuits;
  • Ensuring victims of frivolous lawsuits do not bear the financial burden of defending themselves through the creation of a loser pays system; this “one-way loser pays” bill will only make the losing plaintiff pay the prevailing defendant’s attorneys fees.
  • Ensuring new laws cannot create causes of action unless expressly established by the Legislature; and
  • Setting up expedited trials and limited discovery for lawsuits with claims between $10,000 and $100,000.

The Governor needs to ignore special, self preserving interests and stick to the really important business of paying our state’s bills. The legislature has their hands full without being distracted by Govenor Perry’s political agenda. Leave Texans and what remains of Texans’ access to the courts alone!

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