A drunk driver who hits you in Plano can be held financially responsible for your medical bills, lost wages, and vehicle damage. Texas law also allows claims against the bar or restaurant that overserved them. You have real legal options, and our team pursues every one of them.
The NMW Law Firm handles these claims from intake through settlement or verdict, so you can focus on the medical side of what happened. Our attorneys have stood across the table from insurance carriers that try to minimize these claims, and the work we do is designed to make that conduct costly.
Drunk driving crashes also support claims for wrongful death when a loved one didn't survive, and Texas law allows surviving family members to pursue exemplary damages on top of compensatory recovery.
Schedule a free consultation with our Plano drunk driving accident lawyer team to explore what compensation may be available to you.
Get a Free ConsultationAdvocating for Plano Drunk Driving Victims
Drunk driving cases are a regular part of our practice. We have handled crashes caused by impaired drivers leaving Legacy Drive
bars on weekend nights, drivers coming off the Dallas North Tollway at Park Boulevard, and drivers cutting through neighborhoods after events at The Shops at Legacy. Each of these cases shares a common thread, but the strategy rarely repeats.
Our attorneys appear in Collin County District Court at the Russell A. Steindam Courts Building in McKinney for cases that don't settle. Local familiarity matters because juries here tend to take impaired driving cases seriously, and that local sentiment translates into real settlement leverage.
What Makes Impaired Driving Cases More Challenging Than Simple Auto Cases?
Drunk driving claims involve more moving parts than a standard car accident. You are dealing with criminal proceedings running in parallel with your civil case, an insurance carrier looking to minimize exposure, and, under Texas law, a dram shop defendant if the driver was overserved before getting behind the wheel.
Factors complicating these cases are as follows:
- The driver's criminal case can run on a separate timeline that affects evidence availability
- Insurance carriers sometimes deny coverage, citing intentional acts exclusions
- Multiple parties may share liability, including bars, restaurants, or hosts who provided the alcohol
- The driver may have limited personal assets, requiring careful investigation of all available coverage
The Texas Dram Shop Act, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code § 2.02, holds bars and restaurants accountable when they serve someone who was obviously intoxicated to the point of being a clear danger to themselves and others, and that intoxication then causes injury to another person. Both elements must be present: visible intoxication and proximate causation. But when the facts support it, that second defendant often brings the available insurance from five-figure limits up to commercial policy limits in the millions. Our attorneys investigate every drunk driving case with dram shop liability in mind.
Past Case Results
Why Injury Victims in Plano Trust The NMW Law Firm
Our firm brings over seven decades of cumulative legal experience to every case we accept. Our team has resolved over 3,000 cases and recovered more than $200 million in settlements and verdicts for injured Texans. Results may vary. Prior case outcomes do not guarantee similar results.
Those numbers come from a specific way of practicing: we provide legal care that reduces stress, not adds to it. The phrase Plano drunk driving accident attorneys gets used by a lot of firms in this market.
What sets our office apart is the depth of preparation that goes into each file before any demand is sent. The Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code provides the framework. Our team builds the case that makes it count.
What Does the Legal Process Involve?
Drunk driving cases follow a structured path, but the milestones aren't always obvious from the outside. After the initial call, our team takes over communications with the carriers, sends investigators to gather evidence, and begins building the case file.
Documenting Medical Treatment
Treatment continuity matters enormously in these cases. Our team helps coordinate care with providers familiar with crash trauma so the medical record clearly ties your injuries to the collision. Defense lawyers regularly exploit treatment gaps to argue your injuries are less serious than you claim.
Gathering and Preserving Important Evidence
A related criminal investigation often generates valuable evidence for a civil injury claim, including breath or blood alcohol test results, body-camera footage, dash-camera recordings, and field sobriety test evidence.
Our team seeks these records as soon as they become available and acts quickly to preserve surveillance footage from nearby businesses before routine data retention policies result in its deletion.
Demanding and Negotiating for Full Settlements
Once you reach maximum medical improvement, our attorneys assemble a demand package that lays out liability, damages, and exposure. Drunk driving cases often resolve at this stage because carriers know how juries respond to impaired driving evidence.
Litigating Your Case When Necessary
If the carrier's offer doesn't reflect the case value, we file in the Collin County District Court. Texas allows punitive damages in drunk driving cases under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 41.003, which permits exemplary damages when the conduct involves gross negligence. That statute changes the math for the carrier, and our litigators use it.
Call our office for a free and confidential consultation today. If we take the case, we send representation letters that same day, and the carrier calls stop. Speak with our team before signing anything from the driver's insurer.
A guilty plea or criminal conviction for DWI does not automatically win your civil case, but it is powerful supporting evidence. Texas courts allow a criminal conviction to be introduced in a civil proceeding as proof that the conduct occurred. When a jury hears that the driver was convicted of intoxication assault or DWI, that record carries significant weight in both liability and punitive damages arguments.
Our attorneys monitor the parallel criminal proceedings and time the civil case strategy accordingly. In some situations, waiting for a conviction strengthens the demand package substantially. In others, moving quickly before the criminal case resolves protects critical evidence. Knowing which approach fits your case is part of what we bring to the table from day one.
Hear From Our Clients
How Much Money Is My Drunk Driving Accident Worth?
Case value depends entirely on the specifics of what happened and the damages you have sustained. No formula produces a meaningful number without reviewing the full file. Factors that drive valuation include:
- The driver's insurance policy limits and any umbrella coverage available
- Whether a dram shop defendant adds commercial insurance to the case
- The severity and permanency of your injuries
- The strength of the evidence proving intoxication (BAC results, witness statements, video)
- Whether punitive damages are in play under Texas law
- Your wage loss and the credibility of your income records
- The quality of your medical documentation
Recoverable damages in a Texas drunk driving claim compensate for your financial and intangible losses. Depending on the circumstances of your injuries, you may recover:
- Medical expenses (past and future)
- Lost wages and reduced future earning capacity
- Pain and suffering and mental anguish
- Physical impairment and disfigurement
- Property damage to your vehicle and personal items
- Loss of consortium for your spouse
- Funeral and burial costs in wrongful death cases
Punitive damages in drunk driving cases require proof by clear and convincing evidence under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 41.003(b), a higher burden than the preponderance standard used for compensatory damages.
Our attorneys structure the evidence from the start with that burden in mind, which is why our drunk driving recoveries reflect the full picture of what the driver did. Find out what your case is genuinely worth before responding to any settlement offer.
Drunk Driving FAQ: What Injury Victims in Plano Need to Know
How Long Will My Drunk Driving Case Take to Settle?
Most drunk driving cases resolve within nine to eighteen months. Cases with catastrophic injuries take longer because we wait for the medical picture to stabilize. Rushing means leaving money on the table, and our attorneys won't recommend that. You don't want to risk settling too soon and paying out of pocket for medical care later.
What If The Drunk Driver Who Hit Me Doesn't Have Insurance?
You can recover through your own uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage if you carry it. Texas insurers must offer it, and most drivers carry it. Our Plano drunk driving accident lawyers will investigate dram shop liability against any bar or restaurant that overserved the driver, which often provides a meaningful recovery.
Do I Have To Wait For The Criminal Case To Conclude Before Filing For Compensation?
No. Civil and criminal proceedings operate under different standards and run independently. Pursuing your civil claim early protects evidence and keeps witness memories fresh. A criminal conviction obtained later can also serve as supporting evidence in your civil case.
What If The Driver Was Coming From A Private Party, Not A Bar?
Texas social host liability is narrower than dram shop liability, but it exists for hosts who knowingly serve minors. If the driver was under 21 and the alcohol came from an adult host, that host can be named. Our office reviews the facts to identify every available defendant.
How Long Do I Have To File A Drunk Driving Injury Claim In Texas?
Two years from the date of the crash under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003. Dram shop claims also fall within this two-year window, though notice requirements may apply earlier. Waiting risks losing key evidence and witnesses, so the practical deadline is much shorter than the legal one.
Can I Still Recover If I Was Hit As A Pedestrian Or Cyclist?
Yes. Drunk driving claims don't require you to have been in a vehicle. Pedestrians, cyclists, scooter riders, and people standing in parking lots have the same rights against the impaired driver and any dram shop defendant. Injuries tend to be more severe, which affects valuation.
What Clients Say About Working With Our Team
Client feedback is the clearest picture of what working with our firm actually looks like. Our client testimonials come from people who were where you are now, dealing with the aftermath of someone else's bad decision. Here's what one client said about working with our team:
"I would like to thank Mr. Nicholas, Mrs. Joaquina, Mrs. Liah, and the entire staff at NMW Law Firm. I was in an accident in 2023, and they helped me with my case and did an amazing and awesome job representing my passenger and me. They worked very hard on the case, and everything we needed, they were very helpful in making sure we got it. If you're looking for an awesome team to work your case, NMW Law Firm is the firm to work with, and you won't be disappointed."
— L.T.
The pattern in our reviews is consistent: clients describe a firm that returns calls, explains what is happening, and produces results. That's the same experience our team aims to deliver in every drunk-driving case we take on.
Holding the Drunk Driver Accountable: Take Action Now
Evidence in drunk driving cases doesn't wait. Surveillance footage gets overwritten. Witnesses scatter. Bar receipts and server logs are discarded according to routine retention schedules.
The longer the gap between the crash and the call to our office, the harder it becomes to build the case. Our Plano drunk driving accident attorneys are ready to take that work off your plate now.
Call The NMW Law Firm or contact us online to schedule a free consultation. The conversation costs you nothing, the case review is honest, and the next call you receive from the driver's insurance company will be handled by our office instead.