There are three requirements in every personal injury claim. 1. Liability To prevail on your personal injury claim, you must show that the defendant - the person you're suing - is liable for the claim. That means you must show that the other person did something wrong that caused your harm. Most personal injury cases are based on a negligence claim --- that the defendant either did some act that a person of ordinary prudence would not have done in the same situation or that the defendant failed to take an action that a person of ordinary prudence would have taken. 2. Damages You must prove th ..read more

Drunk driving is dangerous; no one can dispute that. Despite the well-known dangers of driving under the influence, motorists continue to get behind the wheel after having too much to drink. In fact, there was a DUI accident in Austin not too long ago involving a family of four whose vehicle was hit by a man, who they claim, admitted to having just left a bar after drinking.  According to a recent news report, the family, who lived in Killeen, was on their way home after traveling to Austin to take their children to the aquarium. On the way home, a driver hit them head-on while they were ..read more

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI), depression, often a side-effect of dealing with TBI, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are more common than ever in today’s world. Keeping up with treating these injuries that often result in mental health issues is a much-studied area of scientific interest. Recently the benefits of Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT), a scanning technology, also referred to as brain mapping, is being discussed as a useful tool that may help a patient visualize how depression, PTSD, emotional trauma, and anxiety affect the brain. Getting a better understa ..read more

It seems that every other day there is another traffic accident in Texas resulting in serious injuries or death. Recently, four individuals were seriously hurt in a Travis County two-vehicle collision. In another crash in Coffee City, one person was killed, and another sustained injuries. The wreck in Travis County happened on FM 812 at approximately 7:30 p.m. in the 15800 block near Circuit of the Americas. According to reports, two vehicles collided, sending one of them into a nearby fence. A child with life-threatening injuries was sent to Dell Children’s Medical Center in critical conditio ..read more

For the second time in a month, the Texas Supreme Court has surprised many of us by issuing a ruling that is beneficial to plaintiffs who bring uninsured/underinsured motorist cases. Last month, the Court issued a ruling that confirmed a path for plaintiffs to recover attorneys’ fees in uninsured/underinsured motorist claims. This time, the Court ruled on a procedural issue that has been hotly contested over the last few years. What’s the issue? Once a lawsuit is filed, the parties are allowed to go through discovery, which allows the parties to seek information from one another. One of those ..read more

This recent accident highlights how complex motor vehicle accidents involving a big rig can be, even more so when a perhaps poorly maintained highway was the cause of this bus crash. Determining who is at fault for this collision depends on an accident investigation. The Goodyear Venom Volleyball Club was on its way to Austin, Texas, to compete in the Lone Star Nationals Tournament. The SUV transporting them lost control on black ice, colliding with an 18-wheeler about 130 miles west of Austin. Five were not wearing seatbelts and were ejected. Two survivors remain in critical condition in the ..read more

MEDIATION: What is a mediator’s proposal? One tool that many mediators use to try and help resolve cases is a “mediator’s proposal”. What is it? Many mediations will come to an impasse, where the parties can’t reach an agreement. To help bridge that gap, many mediators will use a mediator’s proposal to settle the case. In a mediator’s proposal, the mediator will provide a proposed settlement number to both parties. The mediator will then give a deadline for each party to privately respond to the mediator about whether the party will accept or reject the proposal. The time to respond is general ..read more

scary ghost face glowing on Halloween in the darkness This time of year, parents are worried about dangerous candy, but the biggest danger to our kids is cars. Halloween is almost always the most deadly day of the year for child pedestrian accidents, and the third deadliest day for pedestrian deaths overall. According to AAA, children are 3 times more likely to be in an auto-pedestrian crash on Halloween than any other day of the year, and most of the risks are from 6:00-7:00 p.m. Not surprisingly, a significant number of those deaths are caused by drunk drivers. In fact, studies find that nea ..read more

For several years, companies have been pumping billions of dollars into the technology for self-driving cars, and self-driving cars have been a discussion point for several groups, including those of us who are car wreck attorneys wondering how safe these cars can be. Recently, the future of these cars was cast in doubt when some of the pioneers of the self driving car technology also started questioning whether the technology can ever work. Anthony Levandowski, who helped co-found Google’s self-driving car division, did an interview with Bloomberg where he gave the opinion that the industry ..read more

Brooks Schuelke has once again been selected as a Super Lawyer in the Plaintiff’s Personal Injury category. This is a distinction that is given to a small percentage of attorneys, and Brooks and the firm are honored to have been included yet again. We are particularly pleased because we understand a large component of the selection process is nominations and reviews from other attorneys. The post Another Honor For Brooks first appeared on Schuelke Law ..read more