What it costs. How long you have. What evidence matters. What damages cover. The most common questions catastrophic injury clients ask, answered the way we would answer them in a conversation.
Nothing upfront. Every catastrophic injury case at The Alvarez Law Firm is handled on a contingency fee basis. We only get paid if we recover money for you. You will never receive a bill from us. The case review is free, confidential, and comes with zero obligation.
A contingency fee is a fee that depends on the outcome of the case. If we recover money for you, our fee is a percentage of that recovery. If we do not recover anything, you owe us nothing. The exact percentage is set in writing in the engagement agreement before any work begins. There are no hourly bills, no retainer, and no surprise charges.
The firm advances the costs of pursuing the case — expert witness fees, deposition costs, court filing fees, medical record charges, and so on. Those costs are reimbursed out of any recovery. If there is no recovery, the firm absorbs the costs. We do not ask catastrophic injury clients to write checks during the case.
Statutes of limitations vary significantly by state and by the type of claim. Most personal injury statutes range from two to four years from the date of the accident, but some claims (against a government entity, for example) require a written notice within months. The Alvarez Law Firm represents catastrophic injury clients nationwide and evaluates each case under the deadline that applies to the state where the accident happened. The most important step is to call as soon as possible because medical records, surveillance footage, vehicle data, and witness memories degrade fast.
It varies. A straightforward case with cooperative parties might resolve in 12 to 18 months. A complex catastrophic case with multiple defendants, disputed liability, and high damages can take two to four years or more. Catastrophic injury cases also tend to take longer because the medical picture has to stabilize before damages can be properly evaluated. Rushing resolution before a client reaches maximum medical improvement almost always underestimates the lifetime cost.
Call us immediately. Some statutes of limitations can be tolled (paused) by specific circumstances, and some cases can be filed quickly to preserve the claim while the investigation continues. Do not wait to see whether the case “resolves itself” — missing a deadline is the one mistake we cannot undo.
If you have them, gather the police or incident report, the names of witnesses, photographs of the scene and your injuries, the names of the hospitals and doctors who treated you, any imaging studies (CT, MRI, X-ray), discharge paperwork, and copies of any communication with insurance companies. If you do not have some of these, do not worry. We will obtain everything we need once you become a client. Do not give a recorded statement to the other side's insurance carrier before talking to a lawyer.
No. Your medical care continues with your doctors as before. The legal team works in parallel — gathering records, identifying responsible parties, retaining experts, and building the case. We do not direct your medical treatment. We do, however, often help connect catastrophic injury clients with specialists in their area who have experience with the kinds of injuries we handle.
Do not sign anything before talking to a lawyer. Insurance carriers are trained to make an early offer before the full scope of a catastrophic injury is documented. Once you sign a release, the case is over — even if your injuries turn out to be far worse than the initial assessment. A catastrophic injury rarely shows its full long-term impact in the first weeks or months. The case review is free; there is no reason to make permanent decisions in the dark.
Damages typically include past and future medical expenses, rehabilitation and therapy costs, in-home care or skilled nursing, adaptive equipment and home modifications, lost wages and lost future earning capacity, pain and suffering, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life. Spouses and family members may have separate claims for loss of consortium and emotional distress. In cases involving gross negligence or reckless conduct, punitive damages may also be available.
Most states allow injured people to recover even when they are partly at fault, under a doctrine called comparative negligence. The recovery may be reduced by the client's percentage of fault. A few states still apply contributory negligence rules that bar recovery if the client was at fault at all. Because the rules vary, we evaluate each case under the law of the state where the accident happened. Being partly at fault does not automatically end the case.
By a life care planner. A life care planner is a credentialed professional who builds a detailed projection of every medical and non-medical cost a catastrophic injury client will face over their lifetime — surgeries, therapy, medications, adaptive equipment, home modifications, in-home care, and so on. An economist then reduces that projection to present value. These calculations are the foundation of the damages presentation. Herb Borroto, M.D., J.D., reviews every life care plan to make sure nothing is missing.
No. We represent catastrophic injury clients nationwide. We work with local counsel where state-specific bar rules require, and we travel to the courthouse where the case is filed. The state where the accident happened generally controls which law applies to the case, not where the client lives.
Two things. First, Herb Borroto, M.D., J.D., holds both a medical degree and a law degree and reads the medical record himself, from the first call. Most personal injury firms hire an outside expert at the end of the case. Second, Alex Alvarez is a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer (NBTA), a credential held by fewer than 1% of attorneys nationally. Every case is built from day one to be tried in front of a jury, which is why most cases resolve favorably before they get there.
Most catastrophic injury cases resolve before trial. The reason they resolve is the defense believes the firm representing the injured person is genuinely prepared to try the case. Alex Alvarez is a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer, and every case is built for trial from the first call. That preparation produces the strongest results, whether the case ultimately resolves before a jury hears it or in the courtroom itself.
Catastrophic injury cases sometimes require co-counsel — either local counsel for state-specific bar rules, or a partner firm with specific subject-matter expertise (defective products, aviation, maritime). We routinely work with co-counsel when it serves the case. The fee arrangement does not change for the client.
Every catastrophic injury case type we handle, by accident type and by injury type.
How brain injury cases are built when a medical doctor reads the imaging.
Quadriplegia, paraplegia, and the lifetime cost of injury at each level.
High-speed and high-force collisions that produce catastrophic injuries.
FMCSA regulations, hours-of-service, and multiple corporate defendants.
When a catastrophic accident takes a life. State-by-state rules and damages.
The fastest way to get honest answers about your specific case is a free, confidential consultation. No cost. No obligation.
