Accident on 80

Published on: December 7, 2018

Guest and Gray: Local. Client Driven. Results Oriented

Guest and Gray Law Firm is Kaufman and Rockwall county’s trusted, local personal injury law firm. We are a client driven and results oriented personal injury law firm. Our personal injury team is dedicated to serving the needs of the injured. Our personal injury practice is diverse, spanning from automobile accidents and 18-wheeler wrecks to dog attacks and beyond. No matter the case, our experienced attorneys and knowledgeable staff are prepared to take on the at-fault party and their insurance company.

We are a Local Firm, Dedicated to our Local Community.

We are not a big name Dallas law firm. We like it that way. We don’t have call centers full of assistants. We don’t have claims specialists running your case. We have lawyers dedicated to each matter who personally reviews your case and handles the negotiations with the at-fault party and their insurer. If you call our office, you can speak to your attorney, not their assistant or a claims specialist. Our staff is trained to handle the needs of each case. We do it this way not because we can’t do what those guys in Dallas do. We do it this way because we want to provide the best possible service to our local community. Our main office is in Forney, Texas. We also have an office in Rockwall to serve Rockwall county clients. This is where we are from. Scott Gray, one of our founding partners, graduated from Forney High School. David HagEstad, our personal injury associate graduated from Crandall High School. Most of our staff and assistants are local and grew up in the Kaufman county area. We believe in staying local and serving the community where we grew up. We believe this makes us uniquely capable of serving this area because, well, we know the area. We know what areas are particularly dangerous for drivers and where the majority of accidents occur. We know why. We know that Kaufman county and Rockwall county are experiencing unprecedented growth and that the increased traffic in areas like Rockwall, Forney and Terrell are leading to more accidents. We know that Terrell’s commercial growth will lead to more truck accidents and Forney’s residential growth will lead to more injury accidents involving passenger vehicles.

Published on: December 6, 2018

Kaufman County’s Trusted 18-Wheeler Accident Attorneys

by Guest and Gray Law Firm

Guest and Gray prides itself in being the largest and highest rated law firm in Kaufman county. We are number one because we care about our clients and their situation. Personal injury cases are just that: personal. They happen to real people and it causes REAL problems in their lives. No accident situation can bring more drama to a family’s life than an 18-wheeler accident. These are simply the most destructive types of accidents that can occur on Kaufman county roads. Every year, Kaufman county residents and passers-through die on our local highways due to negligent truck drivers and as our roads become more congested and traveled as a result of development, the numbers will only go up.

Kaufman county is one of the fastest growing counties in Texas. Growth in cities like Forney, Terrell and Crandall will lead the way over the next few years. All three of those cities are corridors in and through Kaufman county with interstate highways and state highways leading right through them. Forney and Terrell have the highly traveled highway 80 and interstate 20 passing right through them and Crandall, as sort of the gateway to East Texas has highway 175. All three cities are gearing up for exponential growth over the next few years as pastureland is converted to shopping, retail and most of all, homes. Crandall has the Wildcat Ranch Development that plans to bring nearly 3,100 unites, which would effectively more than double the population of Crandall alone. Travel anywhere in Forney and you will see new community development and shopping and retail going in, and Terrell leads the way in commercial development. The result of this population increase will be an economic boom. Increased economic out put means an increase in commercial traffic. Commercial traffic means 18-wheelers and other commercial vehicles traveling on our roadways will only increase to meet demand.

At Guest and Gray, our personal injury lawyers see this as being a potential problem for our local citizenry and those who travel our major highways to get to and from home and work. The greater the number of commercial vehicles means that our current and future citizens will be at a greater risk of being injured due to negligent commercial truck drivers as they come into our area. A semi truck, without the tractor-trailer, weighs around 80 thousand pounds, without a tractor-trailer attached. In comparison, the average passenger vehicle weighs about 5,000 pounds. When the two meet at high speeds, the results can be absolutely devastating.

Published on: December 5, 2018

Injured In An Accident and It Wasn’t Your Fault?

by Guest and Gray Law Firm

Have you recently been injured in an accident and it was not your fault? Then you need to contact the law firm of Guest and Gray today. We handle cases just like yours every single day. From car accidents, to 18-wheeler wrecks, premises liability and beyond. When you are injured as a result of somebody else’s negligence, Guest and Gray is there for you. We fight hard for the rights of the injured.

Injuries as a Result of Other’s Negligence Can Happen Anytime You are on the Road

Negligence can occur in the most innocent seeming moments. The most common is while driving a car. For most people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, we become very accustomed to driving longer distances to get where we need to go, whether it be to work or to even the grocery store. The problem is that people can become so used to driving in those areas that they lower their guard and drive more dangerously. Messing with the radio, talking with others in the car and texting and driving are common factors in these types of accidents. People get bored driving so they distract themselves. In doing so, they make it more dangerous for others on the road because they are paying less attention to the 2-ton projectile they are driving at high speeds down the road. Driving is something that we do every day. Unfortunately, as a result, North Texas experiences catastrophic and fatal accidents on a daily basis.

Published on: November 20, 2018

Traveling Thanksgiving Day? Practice These Safety Tips

by Guest and Gray Law Firm

Most people travel on Thanksgiving, whether it be to a family gathering or to a restaurant or for black Friday shopping deals. It is a time to give thanks for the blessings we have in life. A time to relax (or stress out completely) and eat way too much food. For most, the holiday goes without a hiccup and life returns to normal after the holiday. For some, they wake up to the horrors of a dirty kitchen and some family member sleeping on the couch.

For others still, it can be a nightmare. Thanksgiving is one of the most dangerous travel holidays in America. More people travel for the Thanksgiving holiday than for Christmas. This means that roadways are busier than normal, which inevitably leads to accidents. For restaurants and bars there is something known as “black Wednesday” which is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and may just be the busiest night of the year. This means that a lot of people who have been out drinking may also be on the roadways with you and your family. To help you get around some of this craziness, here are a few safety tips from your friendly personal injury lawyers at Guest and Gray Law Firm:

Don’t Drink and Drive– If you do drink and have to drive, get a designated driver. Uber can literally be a lifesaver. Pay the money, its cheaper than dying. Trust me. You are far more likely to be involved in an accident after drinking. Alcohol slows your ability to respond to stimuli while driving. This includes other drivers, animals and even things in your car.

Published on: October 31, 2018

Should I Even Bother Filing Suit? One Lawyer’s Take on a Commonly Asked Question

by Guest and Gray Law Firm

This is a question that I am asked over and over in my practice: Should I even bother?

It is a good question. A valid question. Why? Because filing suit, hiring attorneys and spending the next year (or more) and thousands of dollars in litigation is not something that should be taken lightly.

So, how do I answer the question? I answer by asking questions. Mainly, it is three questions, with several sub-questions that follow: How much is the case worth?; Who are we suing?; and is there an alternative to filing suit? Once we answer these questions and their follow up questions, I can usually put together a case plan tailored to your case that will help us determine what steps to take first, including whether or not you should even bother filing suit.

Published on: October 17, 2018

Wet Weather Accidents

by Guest and Gray Law Firm

As a Kaufman, Rockwall and Dallas county personal injury lawyer, I know that traffic accidents happen for many different reasons. It could be inattention, unsafe driving, texting, messing with the radio and everything in between- including weather, such as rain and snow.

Anyone who has driven in Dallas on a rainy or snowy day knows that people lose all ability to properly maintain their vehicles. It’s like they’ve suddenly forgot how to drive and any manual they have is written in Greek. It is totally bizarre. The other day I literally saw someone drive into a middle barrier on the highway, for what appeared to be, no good reason at all. The person got out “okay” and no one was hurt. The person just seemed a little confused and blamed it on the wet road.

You Can Make a Claim On Another Driver Regardless of Weather Conditions

Published on: October 8, 2018

Kaufman County Rocked by 18-Wheeler Accidents in September

by Robert Guest

Did it seem to you that there was a new accident report on an almost daily basis of an 18-Wheeler accident in Kaufman County last month? It seemed like every day inForney.com or some other news outlet was reporting on another accident involving a passenger vehicle and one or more 18-wheelers. inForney.com reported on at least 6 18-Wheeler accidents in September and since August 21st, they have reported on at least 8, including one that killed 3 travelers from Louisiana in a horrific, fiery crash just outside of Terrell.

At Guest and Gray, we are local personal injury lawyers skilled in going after trucking companies and their insurance companies after they negligently injure or kill people on our local roadways. We are committed to holding these companies accountable for the actions of their drivers to the fullest extent of the law.

As Kaufman county continues its explosive growth, these types of months will undoubtedly continue. The only way to really fight it and make these truckers, trucking companies and their insurers change their habits and attitudes is by holding them accountable. That is exactly what the experienced personal injury lawyers at Guest and Gray do every single day. We fight for the rights of the injured in everything that we do. We are their voice and our voice is loud.

Published on: September 28, 2018

Client Relationships Matter

by Guest and Gray Law Firm

Most firms do things one way: they think that cases are one size fits all and clients are all one size fits all. If a problem comes up, they deal with it the same way they deal with any other client or legal problem. That creates a lot of conflict between the firm and some clients. It creates a disconnect. It is not personal.

Well, we don’t do things that way here at Guest and Gray Law Firm. Yeah, we run into disagreements with clients on how cases should be run. The fact that we will tell you that should say volumes about our firm. What really makes the difference , and our clients will tell you,is that we seek to find common ground. We strive to be better, both in the work we perform and the relationships we build with our clients. Here at Guest and Gray, we are proud to say that our services are in high demand. We love our clients and seek to provide the highest quality legal services that money can buy.

We want to provide the absolute best legal services around and a big part of that is building a relationship with the client. That is our highest priority. Period. We strive for openness, honesty and courtesy to all of our clients. The experience a client has while we are managing a legal problem for them is just as important as the outcome of their case.

Published on: September 14, 2018

Kaufman County Constable’s Alleged Sexual Assault of Woman Highlights Police Abuse of Power and Civil Rights Violations

by Guest and Gray Law Firm

Recently, inForney.com broke the news that Kaufman County Deputy Constable, Grant Cousins, had pled guilty to perjury stemming from an investigation done by the Texas Rangers involving allegations of sexual assault of a woman that occurred at a gravel pit located in Kaufman county. The allegations stem from an evening when, according to the report, Deputy Cousins had the woman in his patrol car “looking for narcotics locations”. This raises real concerns for the Constable’s office, Kaufman County, and the Kaufman County citizenry (because they could be on the hook for any settlement proceeds the County may have to pay out to settle her claims).

So, if the alleged victim were to sue Kaufman county, what would the lawsuit be about? It will likely be a Section 1983 claim found under federal law. Deputy Cousins is a Deputy Constable and would therefore be considered a “state actor” for purposes of the Statute. There is a lot of interesting case law on this issue, because believe it or not, police officer malfeasance of this sort is not that uncommon, but one case in particular has stood out to me. In Fontana v. Haskins, that case dealt with a woman who had been arrested and was therefore in the custody of the police at the time of the alleged malfeasance. Apparently, officer Haskins made unwanted advances and attempted to touch Fontana inappropriately without her consent.

The Court discussed the case under fourth amendment and fourteenth amendment grounds and whether the federal district court had properly granted summary judgment in favor of the Defendant officer. They concluded that the district court had erred in their ruling and allowed the case to move forward for trial. What is particularly interesting for our purposes is that (1) the Court discussed the behavior as fourteenth amendment violations, i.e. violation of due process, conduct that shocks the conscience. They noted that while sexual misconduct of an officer of an arrested person implicates the fourth amendment, when a police officer commits a sexual offense to a general person, i.e., regular citizen, the court analyzes it under the fourteenth amendment.

Published on: August 30, 2018

Kaufman County Crash Statistics 2017- By The Numbers

by Guest and Gray Law Firm

Kaufman County is growing and FAST. We are quickly transitioning from rural/agricultural to suburban landscape. What once was pastureland and rolling east Texas landscape is now turning into neighborhood after neighborhood and bustling street to bustling street. Especially the corridor between 175 in Crandall to Highway 80 in Forney and beyond. It seems like if you don’t pass through an area for a month or two the next time you go through a new neighborhood has popped up. Now, that is great for local businesses and the local economy, but such consistently high growth puts a strain on the transportation systems of these once smaller communities to make up for the additional drivers on the roads. This is Texas, afterall. Everyone has to drive because everything is at least a 20 minute drive.

TxDot recently released the 2017 crash statistics which has some positive and negative results for Kaufman county. First, the overall number of crashes is actually down. That’s right. Down. Kaufman county went from 2,008 total crashes in 2016 to 1,897 in 2017. We also saw a flatline in the number of injury accidents and incapacitating injury accidents, when taking into account the high number of new drivers on the roads, that is a positive. There were 177 non-incapactating accidents in 2016, and the number only moved to 179 in 2017 with an increase of only 3 additional injuries overall to 244 from 241. The number of serious accidents went way down from 118 to 78 and there were 108 serious injuries, down from 145 in 2016. That is a testament to the local communities efforts to upgrade the roadways to make them safer for local drivers.

The negative is that the number of fatality accidents are considerably up. In 2017 there were 27 fatality crashes that resulted in the deaths of 31 people. In 2016, there were only 21 fatality accidents resulting in 28 deaths. Overall, not that big of a jump in deaths, but the number of fatality crashes is up by almost a third. That has to be a worry for local communities moving forward as this county continues to grow and prosper under Texas’ strong economy. As jobs and housing continues to come into Kaufman county, we can only expect that this number will continue to rise.