If you’ve been seriously injured in a construction accident, you may be worried whether workers’ compensation will cover all of your medical bills, lost wages, and unforeseen costs that arise after an accident. While workers’ compensation should pay for most of your medical bills and lost wages, if your injuries are catastrophic or debilitating, workers’ compensation may not be enough. Depending on the nature of your construction accident, if gross negligence on the part of your employer or a third party is responsible for your injuries, you may be able to recover compensation over and above what you receive from workers’ compensation.

Third Party Negligence and Construction Accidents

It’s not unusual for a number of different contractors and subcontractors to be present at a job site. Even though a single construction company may be in charge of a project, every contractor and subcontractor working at a job site is still obligated to comply with OSHA standards as well as state and federal safety regulations. If your injury was caused by electrocution, an explosion, crane accident, fire, misplaced ladder, backhoe, or falling debris due to negligence on the part of another contractor, you can hold the financially liable.

The Cost of Serious Injuries after a Construction Accident

The cost of a brain injury, spinal cord injury, amputation, herniated disc, broken bone, or burn can be astronomical when medical costs, in-home nursing care, physical therapy, and lost wages are taken into account. That’s why it’s important to investigate the cause of a construction accident to determine if a third party was involved or if your employer acted negligently in failing to comply with state and federal safety regulations.

Since it’s unlikely that an employer or contractor will step forward to admit fault, exposing gross negligence and third party liability often requires interviewing witnesses, collecting evidence from the scene of an accident, checking equipment if any was involved, and reconstructing what happened.

Contact Construction Accident Attorneys at Dement Roach & Stern, PLLC

Construction companies and contractors are aware of the potential costs involved in a construction accident that results in injuries. In some cases, they’re all too eager to sweep the matter under the rug or find a reason to fire an injured employee. For these reasons alone it’s important to hire an experienced construction accident attorney who can protect and assert your rights.

To schedule an appointment and discuss your case, contact Dallas, Texas construction accident attorneys at Dement Roach & Stern, PLLC today.

Accidents involving DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) buses can happen in a number of ways. Given that there are hundreds of thousands of commuters almost everyday that use DART, accidents involving other vehicles, pedestrians, and bus riders are bound to happen. However, unlike motor vehicle accidents involving cars, injury claims involving DART buses must be filed within a fairly short period of time. Additionally, DART, as a public transportation authority, investigates itself when injury accidents are involved. As a result, unless you’re represented by a personal injury lawyer who undertakes and investigation of his or her own, any “facts” determined by an accident investigation will be those provided by DART itself.

Determining the Cause of a DART Accident

While it would be unfair to suggest that DART investigators are automatically prejudiced in favor of DART when conducting their investigation, there are no checks and balances to ensure the investigation doesn’t suffer from intentional or unintentional bias. When conducting an investigation, is there any way to guarantee that DART investigators won’t give the benefit of doubt to a DART bus driver who claims he didn’t pull into traffic without signaling, made sure everyone was aboard before pulling away from the curb, or came to a stop in an appropriate manner? The issue here is transparency and disclosure: do you, as a DART injury victim, have any way of knowing for sure that the investigation into your accident was free from prejudice?

DART injury accidents can happen in any one of the following ways:
• A DART bus suddenly comes to a stop, throwing a passenger to the floor
• A DART bus pulls away from the curb before a passenger has completely boarded
• A pedestrian is hit by a DART bus as it turn a corner at an intersection
• A DART bus pulls into traffic and side swipes or collides with other cars
• Debris on a DART bus causes a passenger to fall
• Lack of a security camera on a DART bus contributes to an assault
• A mechanical failure with a DART bus leads to an accident

For these reasons, it’s important to work with an attorney who can begin investigating the cause of a DART accident and assert your rights and interests if more than one person was injured in the same accident.

Protect Your Rights and Interests – Hiring a DART Injury Accident Attorney

After you’ve been injured, it important to talk to an experienced personal injury lawyer for a number of reasons. First, if you have an attorney representing you, insurers (or representatives of DART) are required to talk to your attorney and leave you alone. This protects your rights and ensures you aren’t misled into saying something that could be used later to deny or reduce your injury claim. Secondly, if multiple people were injured in the same DART accident as you were, you need a personal injury attorney who will actively promote your case and ensure it doesn’t get buried in a backlog of claims with DART. Lastly, you’ll need someone who can collect eyewitness testimony, conduct an investigation, and hold DART accountable.

Contact Dallas DART Injury Attorneys at Dement Roach & Stern

At Dement Roach & Stern, PLLC, our personal injury attorneys have the resources and knowledge needed to protect and assert your rights in a DART accident injury claim. To discuss your case and learn how we can help you, contact Dallas DART injury claim attorneys at Dement Roach & Stern, PLLC today.

Motorcycle riders injured in accidents often find themselves being blamed for an accident. Why? In a large number of motorcycle accidents, car or truck drivers claim they never saw a biker until it was “too late.” As a result, car and truck drivers assume the motorcyclist must be a fault since they seemed to come “out of no where.” Assigning fault is an important issue since Texas follows the principle of modified comparative negligence: if you’re 51% or more at fault, you aren’t eligible to recover damages for your losses; if you’re 50% or less at fault, your compensation will be reduced by the percentage of your fault. For example, if your losses total $100,000 but a judge finds you 30% at fault, you can only recover $70,000 in damages.

Protecting Your Interests after a Motorcycle Accident

Insurance companies employ lawyers, accident investigators, and medical experts to protect them from having to pay any more than they absolutely have to. In fact, after a motorcycle accident the injured biker enters into an adversarial relationship with insurers: they have a financial incentive to investigate motorcycle accidents in order to find anything that might justify shifting more blame onto the motorcycle rider. Here, measuring skid marks, interviewing witnesses, evaluating the debris at a crash site, even using computer animation to reconstruct an accident are all tools insurers may use to argue you were partially at fault.

Before Insurers Call – Talk to a Motorcycle Accident Attorney

Head trauma, concussions, spinal cord injuries, broken bones, whiplash, road burn, even amputations are common injuries in motorcycle accidents. While the serious nature of catastrophic injuries is readily known, soft-tissue injuries can be deceptive, taking months the full scope of an injury to manifest itself. Insurance companies are aware of this. That’s why claims agents often call motorcycle accident injury victims shortly after an accident. They want to try and settle your case quickly before the full impact of your injuries is clear. They’re also hoping you’ll say something they can use later if your case goes to trial to argue you were partially at fault in the motorcycle accident.

Contact Dallas, Texas Motorcycle Accident Attorneys

Once you hire a personal injury lawyer to represent you, an insurance company must talk to your legal counsel and leave you alone. Not only does this protect you from inadvertently saying something that could be used against you later, it also ensures your interests regarding a settlement will be protected.

If you’ve been injured in a motorcycle accident, contact Dallas motorcycle attorneys at Dement Roach & Stern, PLLC today to schedule an appointment and discuss your case.

State and federal law enforcement have increased efforts to crack down on the illegal possession of prescription drugs. In some cases, investigations have targeted pharmacists for illegally dispensing certain kinds of prescription drugs while in other cases, patients addicted to pain killers have found themselves facing drug crime charges. Often, powerful narcotics like Vicodin, OxyContin, Hydrocodone, or Oxycodone are involved; in other cases, benzodiazepines like Xanax or Ativan are abused by people addicted to them after treatment for anxiety or depression. While prosecutors and investigators are eager to put an end to the illegal use of prescription drugs, the reality is many people arrested for their abuse need treatment – not incarceration.

When Investigators Ask to Talk to You

In the vast majority of cases, no good can come from agreeing to talk to investigators. First, investigators will not tell you what they know. They may have already spoken to your doctor, the pharmacist, or others “on the street” and have made up their mind what you’re guilty or not guilty of. If you think you can talk your way out of being arrested, you’ll only say something that can be used against you later.

Secondly, if you’re not guilty of the prescription drug crime they think you are, they can still implicate you in the crimes of others depending on what you say. Third, if you are abusing prescription drugs, it’s best to talk to an experienced drug crimes attorney first to defend your rights and understand the legal options available to you.

Avoiding Unwanted Legal Complications Due to Obstruction Charges

People charged in serious crimes like prescription drug fraud often make the mistake of withholding certain kinds of information from investigators and / or destroying documents. As a result, they often find themselves facing an obstruction of justice charge once investigators realize they weren’t cooperating with them earlier. As a result, you could face prison time on obstruction of justice charges even though the illegal prescription drug charges against you are dismissed or dropped.

Contact Prescription Drug Crimes Attorneys at Dement Roach & Stern

In some cases, depending on your criminal record and other facts pertaining to your case, it may be possible to reduce the charges or sentence against you even if you are found guilty. If you’ve been prescribed certain powerful pain relievers or psychotropic drugs, the court may be willing to agree to a treatment program and probation in lieu of jail.

To discuss your case during a confidential consultation, contact Dallas, Texas prescription drug crimes attorneys at Dement Roach & Stern, PLLC today.

People arrested for DWI often make the mistake of thinking since they’ve failed a field sobriety or breath alcohol test, they’re guilty as charged. In reality, there are a number of things that can go wrong in a drunk driving arrest, the least of which is whether or not an officer had reasonable suspicion to stop you in the first place. Secondly, after a stop has been made and an officer decides to administer a field sobriety test, if he failed to conduct it properly, his probable cause for arresting you (or giving you a breath alcohol test) may be thrown out of court. For these reasons, it’s essential to contact an experienced DWI defense attorney after you’ve been arrested for drunk driving.

Field Sobriety Tests – Was Yours Administered Properly?

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing Student Manual, a field sobriety test must be given according to certain protocols. For example, it must be administered on dry, even pavement. Further, there are elaborate instructions on what must be done if a test subject shifts his weight, lifts his arms more than 6 or 8 inches, or stops momentarily. This is particularly important if it was raining, windy, snowing, or nighttime when your test was administered. Additionally, if you were pulled over on a hill or if there was broken pavement nearby, the validity of the test may be thrown out of court. For these and other reasons, field sobriety tests are not always reliable indicators of whether or not someone was drunk.

Breathalyzers and the Alco Sensor

Breathalyzers and the Alco Sensor use Henry’s Law and a partition ratio to determine a person’s blood alcohol content (BAC). In recent years, forensic experts have raised a number of concerns regarding how breath test machines work and their reliability as a consequence. In particular, how reliable are breath tests if they can’t determine when alcohol is being absorbed or metabolized? Additionally, in some cases, how hard a test subject blows can artificially inflate the results. Even if one dismisses these concerns, an officer is supposed to wait at least 15 minutes before administering a breath test. However, in many cases, this doesn’t happen.

Blood Tests and DWI Charges

While blood tests are supposed to be more accurate, a number of forensic issues arise in regard to the use of blood DWI tests. First, only a person licensed to collect blood is supposed to conduct the test. Secondly, if a vacuum tube kit was used, were they expired? Is there reason to believe the “salting out” agent artificially inflated the results? Was there enough potassium oxalate used to prevent clotting? And, what about the sample itself – did the hospital measure whole blood, serum, or plasma? Was a centrifuge used? An experienced DWI defense attorney can press these issues and expose errors or lapses that justify throwing out tainted or unreliable blood test results.

Don’t Plead Guilty – Contact Dallas DWI Defense Attorneys

A conviction for drunk driving can result in fines, the suspension of your driver’s license, even jail. Additionally, your insurance will increase substantially and you’ll have a DWI conviction on your record, making it difficult to get certain kinds of jobs or work for the government. For these reasons, it’s important to consult an experienced DWI attorney after your arrest.

To schedule a confidential consultation to discuss your case and the options available to you, contact Dallas DWI defense attorneys at Dement Roach & Stern, PLLC today.

A generation ago, a speeding ticket or citation for rolling through a stop sign wasn’t that big of deal in Texas. In the last decade, however, things have changed. A traffic ticket today can create financial and legal complications most Texas drivers are unaware of. How did we get to where we are now? Like other states, Texas adopted a point system in order to keep track of bad drivers. The idea was simple: each time someone was cited for speeding, running a stop sign, failure to yield, or some other moving violation, points would be assigned against their license.

Traffic Tickets, Points, and Raising Revenue

Politicians soon realized, however, that the point system was also a means for generating revenue. As a result, the Texas Driver Responsibility Program (TDRP) was officially adopted by the state legislature in 2003. Under the TDRP, moving violations carry 2 points while 3 points are assessed when an injury accident is involved. When a driver accumulates 6 points, he or she must pay a “Driver Responsibility Surcharge” of $100 each year 6 points remain on their license.

If a driver has more than 6 points against their license, he or she must pay an additional $25 for each point. Even though a driver’s license cannot be suspended for accumulating a certain amount of points, the financial costs can be significant when one figures in increased insurance premiums. Additionally, while points clear after three years, convictions remain on one’s record for five years while DWI convictions remain forever.

What kinds of Traffic Tickets result in Points against Your Driver’s License?

In general, the point system is centered around moving violations (2 points) and moving violations that result in accidents that cause injuries (3 points). Additionally, 2 points are assigned for child safety seat violations. The number of offenses that fall under these categories is significant and can be found here. If you fail to pay your surcharges, your license will be suspended and additional fees will be applied. If you are convicted for 4 moving violations in a 12-month period, your driver’s license will also be suspended.

Contact Dallas, Texas Traffic Tickets Attorneys

In many cases, moving violations – especially more serious ones – can be pleaded down or dismissed, depending on the specifics of your case. In other cases, you may have excellent grounds for challenging a traffic ticket. Keep in mind most police officers don’t appear in traffic court when a charge is contested. Even if an officer does appear, inconsistencies in what he claims happened balanced against other important facts may lead the judge to dismiss the charges against you. For these reasons, it’s important to talk to an experienced traffic ticket attorney if you’re facing 6 or more points against your license.

Before you plead guilty and end up with points against your license, contact Dallas traffic tickets attorneys at Dement Roach & Stern, PLLC today.

In Texas, the look-back period for a repeat DWI / DUI charge is ten years. This means if your last drunk driving conviction was less than ten years ago and you’ve recently been arrested for DWI, you face a repeat DWI charge. Not only do you face increased fines, a longer jail sentence, and the suspension of your driver’s license, you’ll also be required to install an ignition interlock device. If you’ve had two DWI convictions within the last ten years, you face a felony DWI charge and may be ordered to participate in the “Substance Abuse Felony Probation” (SAFP) in-patient incarceration program.

Penalties in Repeat and Felony DWI / DUI Convictions in Texas

If convicted on a repeat or felony DWI charge, you face the following penalties:

• Second DWI: The suspension of your driver’s license anywhere between 180 days and two years; a fine of up to $4,000; a jail sentence of anywhere between 30 and 365 days.

• Third DWI: The suspension of your driver’s license between 180 days and two years; a fine of up to $10,000; two to 10 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

In many cases, repeat DWI offenders are required to enroll and attend an alcohol education program, install an ignition interlock device, and perform hours of community service.

The Ignition Interlock Device and a Repeat DWI Conviction

If you are allowed to drive on a restricted license after a repeat DWI conviction, you will be required to install an ignition interlock device on your car. You must pay for its installation cost, as well as a monthly maintenance fee.

An ignition interlock device functions in a similar fashion to an alcohol breath test. Once installed in your car, you are required to blow into the device. If your blood alcohol content (BAC) is measured in excess of .04, your car will not start. Assuming your BAC is registered at an appropriate level and your car starts, you will then be required to periodically blow into the ignition interlock device.

Each time a sample is taken, the results are recorded. While the ignition interlock device is installed, you must have the device periodically checked and the results collected. Your drive’s license could be suspended and you could face additional penalties if results indicate you failed to comply with the requirements of the ignition interlock device program.

Contact Dallas Repeat DWI / DUI Offender Attorneys

A conviction for a repeat or felony DWI is a serious matter in Texas. However, as in any DWI arrest, there are several issues that must be considered before determining if a guilty plea is in order: did the arresting officer have reasonable suspicion to pull you over? Was the field sobriety test conducted properly? Was the Alco Sensor or Breathalyzer calibrated and working properly?

Don’t let a second or third DWI conviction result in the loss of your license – contact Dallas, Texas DWI defense attorneys at Dement Roach & Stern, PLLC.

A generation ago, women were still considered the primary caregiver to children. As a result, the courts often operated under a presumption in favor of the mother in child custody cases involving divorce or shared custody disputes. Back then, fathers were often awarded “visitation” – a term that suggests sporadic involvement in a child’s life, determined according to the discretion of the court. Since then, cultural, political, and social transformation has resulted in changes in attitudes towards the roles of men and women in marriage, the workplace, and in child rearing. As a result, the court no longer has a presumption in favor of a mother in child custody or visitation issues.

Now, fathers leverage as much consideration in custody matters as mothers. Additionally, the court no longer speaks in terms of “visitation” but of “parenting time” – an acknowledgement of the importance of parental involvement in a child’s life.

Determining Who Gets Custody in Texas

In awarding custody after divorce or in a child custody dispute, the court will always act in what it believes is a child’s best interest. In recent years, the court has embraced the idea that parental involvement in a child’s life is in a child’s best interest. Consequently, parents are encouraged to share the custody of a child, creating custody and parenting time arrangements through negotiation according to terms that are mutually agreeable to both parents. Here, fathers have a right to be involved in their child’s life, regardless of whether or not shared or joint custody is a practical possibility.

If the court decides to award sole custody to the mother, the father can still assert his rights to parenting time. And, as mentioned above, given the change in attitudes, there is no presumption on the part of the mother that means she’ll likely get custody in the first place. For this reason, it’s important to work with an experience child custody lawyer who can assert your rights as a father.

Paternity Tests and Father’s Rights

In cases where the paternity of a child is in question, a DNA test can be used to establish the paternity of a father. If you believe you have a child that the child’s mother refuses to let you spend time with, you can request a paternity test to establish your paternity. Once the court verifies your paternity, you can assert your rights to parenting time after the court has reviewed your case. If there is nothing about you or your situation – a criminal record, drug or alcohol abuse – that the court believes threatens the best interest of a child, you will be awarded parenting time with your son or daughter.

Contact Dallas, Texas Father’s Rights Attorneys at Dement Roach & Stern

Whether you’re facing divorce or would like to establish your patterning, our family law attorneys can help you. To schedule an appointment and discuss your case, contact Dallas father’s rights attorneys at Dement Roach & Stern, PLLC today.

In June of 1967, actress Jayne Mansfield was killed in an accident when her car rear-ended a truck. As a result of her fatal crash, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) required trucks to install a rear guard – referred to as the “Mansfield bar” – in order to prevent cars from riding up under trucks in rear-end collisions. Recently, however, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has asked that the trucking industry review current requirements to reduce or prevent hundreds of deaths that occur in underriding truck accidents every year.

Dramatic Video Tells An Important Story Regarding Truck Accidents

In a video aired on the CBS Early Show on March 1, 2011, a Chevy Malibu – a vehicle with a 5-star safety rating – is seen traveling at 35 mph when it impacts the rear guard of a truck. On the video, the Mansfield bar does nothing to stop the Chevy Malibu from riding up under the truck. Instead, the steel guard collapses, pushed under the truck by the collision. As a result, the top of the Malibu is essentially sheared off as the windshield and cabin are crushed on impact with the back of the truck. As IIHS President Adrian Lund observed, this leads to underriding accidents where car occupants actually make direct contact with their head to the back of a truck, leading to serious injury or death.

Reducing Truck Accident Fatalities with Stricter Regulations

To date, data suggests that more than 400 people a year die in underriding truck accidents. While the insurance industry has a vested interest in seeing fewer claims involving underriding accidents, the trucking industry has an interest in promoting the safety of other drivers. Bill Graves, CEO and President of the American Trucking Association, has also indicated his support for stricter requirements regarding underriding bars.

While the insurance and trucking industries have joined together in calling for newer, tougher regulations for preventing underriding accidents, the NHTSA has not, to date, committed to introducing new requirements for Mansfield bars. While it waits to be seen whether or not new requirements will be introduced and implemented, the fact that both the insurance industry and the trucking industry have acknowledged the problem suggests a serious problem with the current requirements.

Contact Dallas, Texas Truck Accident Lawyers

If you’re suffering from serious head trauma, spinal cord injury, or an amputation or have lost a family member in a truck fatality, contact Dallas truck accident attorneys at Dement Roach & Stern, PLLC today. Our personal injury attorneys understand how to investigate truck accidents and hold negligent drivers and their parent companies liable for the injuries and deaths they cause.

In awarding child custody, Texas family law courts will act in what they believe is the child’s best interest. In recent years, Texas courts have encouraged parents to determine child custody and parenting arrangements on their own through mediation and negotiation. Additionally, there is a presumption on the part of the court that shared or joint custody is, in most cases, in the best interest of child. What, then, is in the best interest of a child?

Determining what is in the Best Interest of a Child in Texas

In 1976, in Holley v. Adams, 544 S.W.2d 367, 371-72 (Tex. 1976), the Court provided the following list of non-exclusive factors to consider when determining what is in the best interest of a child:

• The preferences of a child
• The current and future physical and emotional needs of a child
• Any danger posed by a parent, either now or in the future
• The parenting abilities and fitness of anyone seeking custody of a child
• Any available programs to help custody-seeking individuals promote the best interest of a child
• The plans parents have for their child
• The stability and health of both parents’ home
• Any acts or omissions by either parent which may indicate a problem with the parent-child relationship
• The excuses provided by a parent in regard to their acts or omissions

In addition, the court will also consider the following, what is often referred to as “Holley factors”:

• Which parent provides a friendly parenting environment for the other parent
• Which parent has, for the most part, made educational decisions regarding the child
• Which parent has made medical decisions for the child
• Which parent generally prepares meals and feeds the child
• Which parent meets with teachers to discuss the progress of the child
• Whether or not a parent has engaged in behavior intended to alienate the child from the other parent
• Which parent gets a child up in the morning and puts him or her to bed at night
• Whether or not a parent participates with a child in their extracurricular activities
• The recommendations of so-called child custody experts

Considering the Personal Lives of the Parents

While a judge will always take into consideration drug or alcohol abuse – as well as any criminal convictions – in general, the personal life of a parent is not something that affects child custody decisions. As a result, accusations of infidelity, questionable morals, or distasteful political or religious views are unlikely to influence what a judge decides. However, if it can be demonstrated that certain personal habits, behaviors, or beliefs put a child at risk, then the judge may decide to determine custody accordingly.

Determining Conservatorship – Child Custody in Texas

Since the courts tend to believe it is in the best interest of a child to have a parent involved in his or her life, Texas encourages parents to share custody when possible. In doing so, it’s best if parents can arrive at child custody terms both find agreeable. If parents live fairly close to one another, parents can customize pick up and drop off times that make the most sense for their respective schedules.

If custody is shared, it will likely affect how much child support a parent is ordered by the court to pay. For this reason, it’s always important to make sure a joint custody arrangement is in the best interest of a child and not simply a way to avoid paying more child support.

Contact Dallas, Texas Child Custody Attorneys at Dement Roach & Stern

Regardless of whether you are facing divorce or involved in a Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship (SAPCR), it’s essential that you understand your rights. To learn more about our family law practice and how we can help you, contact Dallas child custody attorneys at Dement Roach & Stern, PLLC today.