S. Michael Graham

Since 1997 S. Michael Graham's law office has been devoted to zealously representing and protecting the legal rights of injured workers throughout the State of Texas. Mr. Graham became board by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in the area of workers' compensation law in 2005. His office handles workers compensation cases from the administrative level all the way through trial by jury. Mr. Graham received his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1987 and went on to receive his law degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1991. Mr. Graham is currently an active member of the Dallas Bar Association and the Texas Bar association.

University of Arkansas - Fayetteville

J.D. | Law

1989 - 1991

Attorney

The Injured Workers' Lawyer since 1997!

Current

Board Certified Workers' Compensation

Texas Board Of Legal Specialization

Texas Bar Association

Current

Dallas Bar Association

Current

Texas

Since 1993

• Free Consultation
  My office will give you an initial free phone consultation to evaluate your claim and advise you of your legal rights.
• Contingent Fees
  In claims involving negligence for personal injury, my office will not collect a fee up front. We will prosecute your claim and obtain a fee when the claim is settled or tried to a verdict.
• Rates, Retainers and Additional Information
  In workers' compensation claims, the lawyer's fee is paid out of the claimant's income benefits by the workers' compensation insurance. The attorney fee is not collected directly from the injured worker. Consult with attorney for more specific details on the fee arrangement.

Personal Injury

Animal & Dog Bites, Brain Injury, Car Accidents, Construction Accidents, Motorcycle Accidents, Premises Liability, Truck Accidents, Wrongful Death

Workers' Compensation

Q. I have to file a lawsuit in District court against Workers compensation company. the appeal panel didn't make a statemen

March 2, 2022

A: You may be able to win your case in district court. The problem is that it is very time consuming and expensive to go into district court. For example, to have a doctor testify on your behalf or to even take the doctor's deposition, you are looking at about 5K. The lawyers fees in district court can run from 25k - 35k for an average case. The lawyer is only able to get paid out of your benefits which is limited to 25% of what you would be paid by the Carrier if you win in district court. Given the fact that you already lost, the chance that you may loose in district court again would have to be a factor. I would analyze this as a 50/50 chance. So, in the end the lawyer has a 50/50 chance of getting paid 25% of your income benefits. If we factor this down to averages, then he would be paid 12.5% for handling cases in district court. Unless your case would generate very large income benefits for you, and, in turn, your lawyer, it's just not economically feasible for the lawyer to handle the case in district court. For this reason, I'm out as would be most lawyers. For first analysis would be to figure out what amount of money you would be paid provided you win. Then see if this would be enough to compensate the lawyer for taking your case to a jury trial.

Q. If I work on the house I'm living in can I charge my landlord for the labour I put in

January 14, 2022

A: No. You would need a contract. Otherwise it would be deemed a gift. Contracts involving real estate need to be in writing. This would be a contract for services so I not too sure. Always better to have something in writing. Good Luck.

Q. I work for Walmart and had an injury at work and the Walmart doctor says it’s arthritis ,im in a lot of pain .

April 26, 2021

A: Walmart does not carry traditional workers' comp through the Texas Dept of Insurance. They hand pick the doctors you will have to see. As a result, the doctors will usually tell you your injury is an age related issue. If you were injured as a result of negligence on the part of Walmart, then you might be able to get a personal injury attorney. If your case involves no negligence, I usually tell me clients to seek treatment through there private doctor. You will be responsible for the medical.