There are six characteristics to keep in mind when looking for a local personal injury attorney. Your lawyer should:
- Specialize in personal injury cases
- Consistently achieve high settlements
- Be active in groups of trial lawyers
- Have multiple testimonials and reviews from credible sources
- Work for you on a contingency basis
- Be active and engaging online
Let’s see how well Tim Tate meets these criteria.
1. Areas Of Specialization
Tim’s website lists the following practice areas:
- Bicycle Accidents
- Brain Injuries
- Car Accidents
- Construction Accidents
- Defective Vehicle Claims
- Drunk Driving Accidents
- Motorcycle Accidents
- Pedestrian Accidents
- Personal Injuries
- Product Liability Cases
- Spinal Injuries
- Truck Accidents
- Uninsured Auto Accidents
- Unsafe Property Injuries
- Work Injuries
- Wrongful Deaths
While some of these sound like they overlap – for example, a car accident could cause a personal injury – there are real differences in each category. A car accident is a problem, but if it was caused by a defective vehicle, that’s an entirely different type of case. His site claims the firm has a success rate of over 99%, with more than 3000 cases won for clients.
Despite the long list of practice areas, Tim’s firm remains focused on various types of personal injury cases, and we’re comfortable giving him the point here.
2. Settlement Achievements
Tim’s website lists quite a few settlements, ranging from $28,000 for a head injury caused by a car accident to $6.5 million for a brain and pelvis injuries sustained in a truck and motorcycle accident. All of the numbers listed are in-pocket to the client, which means these are the settlements after his firm got paid.
Most of the settlements listed on his site are in the $200,000 to $500,000 range. This does not mean that you can expect the same amount in your case, but it does tell us that his firm has regularly achieved high payouts for clients. As such, we feel he deserves the point for this category.
3. Activity In Associations
We were unable to locate a full list of associations that Tim is involved in. However, his website does list him as a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, which has designated him one of the “Top Trial Lawyers in America®.” His website notes that less than 1% of all lawyers are admitted to the group.
We’d prefer to see a full list of associations, but quality is better than quantity, and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum is very high-quality indeed. After some debate, we decided that he deserves the point for this category.
4. Testimonials And Reviews From Clients
Tim’s website has a robust testimonials section, though most of the testimonials are from unnamed sources. Comments include:
- “From beginning to end, Tate Law representatives have put my health and well-being first.” (Client, Fractures Pelvis & Ankle Injury case)
- “I got the largest check I have ever had in my life. (Client, Broken Wrist & Collar Bone Injury case)
- “This law office is the only firm that I would ever suggest to friends and family.” (Client, Motorcycle Accident/Broken Arm Injury case)
Also – and this is relatively rare for lawyer websites – there are some video testimonials from named clients. Some of these look like they were recorded by a local television station doing interviews, but one (Isaac Nelson) looks like a completely independent recording.
Overall, we found these reviews to be highly credible. We would have preferred to see first names and last initials on the text reviews, but that’s a minor quibble at most. Tim easily deserves the point for this category.
5. Fee Basis
Tim’s website is clear that his firm does not charge fees unless they win your case. This text isn’t as obvious as it could be, but as with the previous section, that’s a minor design choice at worst. He gets the point here.
6. Activity Online
Tim’s firm hosts a blog on their website. Unfortunately, at the time of our review, the blog hadn’t been updated in several months – it had been updated fairly consistently before that, though.
Tim’s site also has a fairly robust set of guides, including various bits of advice on what to do after an accident. That’s helpful, but unfortunately, it doesn’t show that his firm is currently active online. Since more than five months have passed without a blog post, we can’t reasonably call his firm active online – so he does not get the point here.
Overall, Tim met 5 of our 6 criteria for a personal injury attorney. More than that, however, we were impressed by the number of cases his firm has won, the extremely positive testimonials, and the general usefulness of his site.
He may not be quite as active online as we’d like, but we’re comfortable recommending Tim Tate as a first choice when you need a personal injury attorney in the Dallas, Fort Worth, or Houston areas.
