Yes. A free consultation with a car accident lawyer means you pay nothing to have your case reviewed, and nothing if you decide not to hire the firm. You only owe a fee if the firm takes your case and recovers money for you. Nothing is due up front, and no fee is due for the meeting itself.

If you were hit on I-45, the Gulf Freeway, or a side street in your neighborhood, you are probably dealing with pain, insurance calls, and a car you cannot drive. Paying a lawyer to talk about it should not be one more thing on the pile. It is not.

You are also not dealing with something rare. Harris County recorded 115,173 reportable crashes in 2024, according to TxDOT crash records. That is about one in every five crashes in the entire state.

What does a free consultation actually include?

A free consultation is a real case review, not a sales call. In a typical meeting with the Law Office of Domingo Garcia, you should expect the lawyer to:

• Listen to what happened, in your words, in English or Spanish
• Look at your crash report, photos, and any medical records you have
• Explain how fault works in Texas and how it could affect your claim
• Tell you what deadlines apply to your situation
• Explain what the firm would do next if you hired them
• Answer your questions about fees in plain language

What it does not include is a dollar figure. No honest lawyer can tell you what your case is worth in a first meeting, because nobody yet knows how your injuries will heal or what your treatment will cost.

What does "no obligation" mean?

It means you can walk away. You are not a client because you had a conversation. An attorney-client relationship starts only when you sign a written fee agreement, and not before.

So you can:

• Ask every question you have and take the answers home
• Get a realistic read on whether you even need a lawyer
• Decide the firm is not the right fit and owe nothing

Some people leave a consultation and handle a small property damage claim themselves. That is a legitimate outcome, and a good firm will tell you when that is the sensible path.

How do contingency fees work in Texas?

Most Texas personal injury lawyers work on contingency. Instead of billing you by the hour, the firm takes an agreed percentage of what it recovers for you. If there is no recovery, there is no attorney fee.

Three things are worth understanding before you sign anything:

The percentage is written down. Texas requires contingency fee agreements to be in writing and signed by you. Read the number. Ask what it is at each stage, because many agreements use one percentage if the case settles and a higher one if it goes to trial.

Fees and case costs are different. Costs are things like filing fees, records requests, and expert reports. Ask how costs are handled if the case does not recover anything.

You get a written breakdown at the end. When a case resolves, you should receive a statement showing the recovery, the fee, the costs, and what goes to you.

If any of that is unclear when you are reading the agreement, stop and ask. A firm that will not explain its own fee schedule is telling you something.

What should you bring to a free consultation?

You do not need all of this. Bring what you have and the firm can help you get the rest.

• The crash report, or the report number if you have not received it yet (agencies have 10 days to submit it to TxDOT, so it may not be ready)
• Photos and video from the scene
• Names and phone numbers of any witnesses
• Your insurance card and policy declarations page
• The other driver's insurance information
• Discharge papers, prescriptions, or bills from the ER or urgent care
• Any letters or voicemails from an insurance adjuster
• Pay stubs, if you have missed work

Write down your questions before you go. It is easy to forget them when you are hurting.

What should you do in the first 48 hours after a crash?

The consultation goes better when the basics are already handled. In the first two days:

Get checked out, even if you feel fine. Adrenaline hides a lot. Neck, back, and head injuries often show up a day or two later. A same-day exam protects your health and creates a record connecting your injuries to the crash. Injuries are not unusual: TxDOT reported 251,977 people injured on Texas roads in 2024, roughly one every two minutes.

Report the crash to your own insurer. Most policies require prompt notice. Give the basic facts: time, location, vehicles involved. Do not guess at fault or at the extent of your injuries.

Do not give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer. Texas is an at-fault state, which means the other driver's insurance company pays only what it has to. A recorded statement taken before you know the extent of your injuries can be used to argue you were fine or partly to blame.

Save everything. Photos, receipts, the towing invoice, the name of every adjuster who calls. If police responded, a report should exist: Texas Transportation Code Section 550.062 requires officers to file one whenever a crash causes injury, death, or at least $1,000 in damage to one person's property.

Why does timing matter in Texas?

Two rules make waiting expensive.

The deadline. Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.003, you generally have two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit. Miss it and the claim is usually gone, no matter how strong it was.

Comparative fault. Under Section 33.001, if you are found more than 50 percent responsible, you recover nothing. At 50 percent or less, your recovery is reduced by your share. Insurers know this rule and work to push your percentage up.

Evidence works against you too. Traffic camera footage gets overwritten. Vehicles get repaired or scrapped. Witnesses forget. The sooner someone starts preserving it, the more of it survives.

Do I need to speak English to have the consultation?

No. The Law Office of Domingo Garcia handles cases in English and Spanish as a matter of course, not through a third-party interpreter line. You can describe what happened, ask questions, and read your fee agreement in the language you actually think in.

That matters more than it sounds. The details of a crash are where cases are won and lost, and details are exactly what gets lost in translation.

What happens after the consultation?

If you hire the firm, the work starts immediately and you still pay nothing up front. In a car accident case that usually means:

• Requesting the crash report and any available video
• Notifying the insurers that you are represented, so the calls stop coming to you
• Getting your property damage claim moving, since your car is usually the first problem
• Coordinating medical care and tracking your treatment records
• Building the claim while you focus on recovering

The property damage and medical coordination pieces are handled in house at this firm, which is not standard in Houston personal injury practice. Most firms handle the injury claim and leave the car to you.

Common questions about free consultations

Will I be charged if I decide not to hire the firm? No. The consultation is free whether or not you sign anything.

Is there a catch with contingency fees? The fee comes out of the recovery, so it is real money. The tradeoff is that you carry no risk of an hourly bill and no cost if the case does not recover.

Can I talk to a lawyer if I already gave a recorded statement? Yes. It may complicate things, but it is not fatal. Bring whatever the adjuster sent you.

What if the crash was partly my fault? You may still have a claim. Texas allows recovery as long as your share of fault is 50 percent or less.

What if I do not have health insurance? Say so during the consultation. There are treatment paths that do not require you to pay up front, and the firm's medical coordination team deals with this constantly.

What if the other driver had no insurance? Check your own declarations page for uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. Under Texas Insurance Code Section 1952.101, your insurer had to include it unless you rejected it in writing, so a lot of people carry it without realizing.

How long does the consultation take? Usually 20 to 45 minutes, depending on how much you have to go over.

Common questions

Contact us today for a free evaluation!