On the morning of November 4, 2017, a seemingly normal Sunday morning for the residents of Sutherland Springs, a rural town east of San Antonio, a lone gunman clad in all black opened fire in the First Baptist Church. The service began at 11 am, and not long after the final parishioner had taken his seat, the first shots were fired. 23 people were killed within a span of 20 minutes; two died outside of the church and one later died in the hospital. 20 more were wounded.

The gunman, Devin Kelly, used an AR-15, which are covered by the federal assault weapons ban of 1994. In 2004, the ban expired, and since then, the country has seen a surge in the purchase of the semiautomatic riflea. The weapon is dangerous in just about anyone's hands, but when placed of the hands of someone like Kelly with a known violent history, such a weapon can be deadly.

Air Force Messes Up in a Big Way

While there is no law stating that you must hire a personal injury attorney to help you with your personal injury claim, failing to hire an attorney may cost you your case. Hiring a Dallas personal injury attorney will cost you nothing up front, but your chances of winning the desired settlement increase as much as 300% with an experienced attorney on your side. If that is not reason enough to seek legal representation, a lawyer will handle all of the negotiations, paperwork, and stress of a claim on your behalf, and if it comes down to it, he or she will fight for your right to compensation before judge and jury. If you have been injured in an accident caused by someone else's negligence in Dallas, Texas, consider the points in this post before making your final decision about hiring a lawyer.

Attorneys Will Not Take on Cases They do Not Believe They can Win

First, it is important to note that knowledgeable personal injury lawyers will not take on cases that they do not believe they can win. Most personal injury attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, meaning that they do not get paid unless you do. For this reason, it is always smart to at least consult with an attorney before proceeding with a claim, as an attorney can give you a good idea of what type of outcome to expect. With an idea of what to expect, you can know how much, if any, time and resources you should dedicate to the case.

According to AAA, drivers under the age of 18 are three times more likely to be in a fatal car wreck than adults. This is especially the case during the summer months-between Memorial Day and Labor Day, dubbed the 'Deadliest 100 Days'-as novice and teen drivers flood the streets with abandon. The foundation's study found that inexperience teamed with greater exposure to the road create a fatal combination for teen drivers. Moreover, the foundation also found that teens between the ages of 16 and 17 are:

• Nine times more likely than adult drivers to be involved in an accident;
• Six times more likely than adult drivers to be involved in a fatal accident;
• Five times more likely than adult drivers between the ages 30-59 to be involved in an accident; and
• Two times more likely than adult drivers between the ages 30-59 to be involved in a fatal accident.

Though teens are not technically adults, and though most parents' insurance covers their teen drivers, an adolescent who causes a car accident in Dallas can still be held legally liable for the damage he or she causes. At Clark Law Group, our Dallas car accident lawyers want to help you keep your teen drivers safe from both accidents and from legal liability. This post is meant to help you do both.

Common Causes of Teen Accidents

We often hear about 18-wheeler accidents involving small, non-commercial vehicles, but it is not every day that we hear about dual big rig accidents, or even accidents involving more than two commercial vehicles, but that does not mean that they do not happen. Just last month in Castro Valley, California, two big rigs slammed into each other, resulting in one fatality and the closure of Interstate 580. In August in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, one semi jack-knifed into the left lane, sending large pieces of the barrier into the southbound lanes. A second semi struck the first and then a third semi-this time coming from the south-struck the barrier that the original semi had pushed over, causing it to collide with the other two. Fortunately, all three drivers sustained only minor injuries and no other smaller vehicles were involved. The point is, dual semi accidents do happen, and when they do, they can become very dangerous very quickly.

At Clark Law Group, we help the victims of 18-wheeler accidents fight for their rights for compensation, but what happens when the only vehicles involved were semis?

Are Injuries Covered by Workers' Compensation?

Most people would assume that workers' compensation would cover the injuries sustained in dual 18-wheeler accidents, and while that is true for injured drivers who are employed by larger trucking companies, it is not the case for sole proprietors or owner-operators. For one thing, business owners are not required to carry workers' compensation in Texas, but even if they were, sole proprietors and owner-operators would still not be required to obtain coverage. So, if a dual big rig accident happened between two freelance drivers, how can the injured driver recover compensation from the at-fault party?

Car accidents can be devastating both financially and emotionally, but there are some things that people do that can make them even more so. At Clark Law Group, we help accident victims fight for the compensation they need to recover in comfort following a car crash. While we do everything we can to ensure that accident victims walk away with a fair settlement, there are some actions that victims take prior to meeting with us-or even afterwards-that sabotage their chances of winning. To prevent that from happening to you, our knowledgeable Dallas car accident lawyers want to share with you five crucial missteps to avoid after you are involved in a Dallas car accident.

#1: Failing to Seek Medical Care

Too many accident victims assume that their injuries 'are not that bad,' and so they fail to seek medical attention immediately after the accident. Unfortunately, without an accident medical report, it can be nearly impossible for you to recover compensation for any latent injuries. If you do try to claim injuries later on, the insurance company or judge might say that the injuries occurred sometime after the fact, such as when you hit the beach the following weekend, or when you decided to go rock-climbing the next month.