September 16, 2026
Memphis · Car Accident Guide

Tennessee gives car accident victims one year, not the two or three years many other states allow, to get a lawsuit filed. We compared three Memphis firms that handle car accident claims on their Tennessee Bar record, published case history, fee terms and verified Google reviews, and set out who each one suits and where each falls short.

DJA Editorial · Legal Directory Research
Checked against state bar licensee records, court sources and public review platforms · Last updated September 2026

The short answer

Three firms, each built around a different kind of Memphis car accident claim. This is a shortlist rather than a ranking, and the firm in the featured slot is not the largest of the three.

1
The Gold Law FirmFeatured
Best for a client who wants their case handled personally by a trial-tested attorney rather than passed to a case manager
2
NST Law
Best for a client who wants the resources of a large regional firm behind a specific attorney whose practice is actually car and truck accidents
3
Daniel Law Firm
Best for a client who wants a genuinely small, family-run firm rather than a high-volume practice

At a glance: Car Accident Attorneys in Memphis, compared

Firm Best for Focus Bar record Fees Rating
The Gold Law Firm Best for a client who wants their case handled personally by a trial-tested attorney rather than passed to a case manager Car, truck and motorcycle accidents, wrongful death David A. Gold, Tennessee 1998 Not published 5.0 · 213 Google
NST Law Best for a client who wants the resources of a large regional firm behind a specific attorney whose practice is actually car and truck accidents Car, truck and motorcycle accidents, wrongful death, mass torts A. Parker Trotz, Tennessee 2013 Not published 4.7 · 925 Google
Daniel Law Firm Best for a client who wants a genuinely small, family-run firm rather than a high-volume practice Car and truck accidents, wrongful death, workers’ compensation Ben L. Daniel, Tennessee, JD 1993 Not published 4.6 · 38 Google

Car Accident in Memphis: the local picture

33% to 40%
The usual cut of your settlement
Tennessee does not cap personal injury contingency fees by statute. The Tennessee Bar Association has reported an average contingency fee around 33.33%, and the common structure elsewhere in the state runs 33% to 40%, often rising once a lawsuit is filed. None of the three firms below publish their specific percentage, so get both the pre-suit and post-filing numbers in writing, along with how case costs are handled, before you sign.
1 year
The deadline to file a lawsuit, and the rule that can zero out your claim
Tennessee gives injury victims just one year from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit under Tenn. Code Ann. 28-3-104, one of the shortest deadlines in the country; neighboring Arkansas and Mississippi both allow three years. Separately, under the modified comparative fault rule from McIntyre v. Balentine, if you are found 50% or more at fault for the crash, you recover nothing at all, and below that line your recovery is reduced by your own percentage of fault.
$25,000
Where you may not need a lawyer at all
Shelby County’s General Sessions Court, Memphis’s small claims court, hears civil disputes up to $25,000 with no attorney required, the highest small claims limit of any Tennessee county (some other large counties cap at $15,000, but Shelby is not one of them). Filing costs roughly $42 to $200 depending on the case, and courts will waive that fee for filers who cannot afford it. A minor fender-bender claim often fits comfortably under that ceiling.
What clients in Memphis say: Across all three firms, the strongest reviews single out a specific person by name rather than praising the firm as a brand, whether that is David Gold, a Memphis-based attorney or paralegal at NST Law, or a named associate at Daniel Law Firm. The weaker reviews, where they exist, tend to focus on either the size of the eventual recovery or, at the largest firm here, what happens once a file moves from an initial settlement team to litigation counsel. That split is worth paying attention to: ask not just whether a firm returns calls, but who specifically stays on your case if it does not settle quickly.

How we chose these Car Accident Attorneys in Memphis

We looked at firms handling car accident claims for Memphis drivers, then compared them on things a reader can check directly: the Tennessee Bar record and federal court admissions for the named attorney, published case results and citations, whether the firm publishes fee terms, and the visible client reviews on Google. Tennessee’s own attorney licensee search was not queried directly during this run; bar admission years came from each firm’s own published attorney bios, cross-checked against third-party legal directories where available, and anything that could not be independently confirmed is flagged for the reader to verify with the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility before hiring.

The three are a shortlist, not a ranking, and each fits a different kind of case. No case result, verdict figure, or success claim appears here unless a firm publishes it itself, in which case it is labeled as the firm’s own claim rather than a verified statistic. The statute of limitations, the comparative fault rule, the damages cap and the small claims threshold all come from the Tennessee Code and Tennessee case law rather than any firm’s marketing copy, and were re-verified this run.

1. The Gold Law FirmFeatured

Best for a client who wants their case handled personally by a trial-tested attorney rather than passed to a case manager
★★★★★ 5.0 / 5 · Google · 213 reviews

The Gold Law Firm is built around direct attorney access rather than a large support staff. Founder David A. Gold has been licensed in Tennessee since 1998 and started his career defending indigent clients in criminal court, including a large-scale federal drug acquittal, before turning his trial skills to representing over 5,000 people injured in car accidents across Memphis. His wife and law partner, Claire O. Gold, licensed since 2009, handles real estate matters for the firm alongside personal injury work. The firm operates remotely with lower overhead than a traditional office.

Identity and footprint
Office25 Doctor M.L.K. Jr Ave, Suite 203, Memphis, TN 38103
Phone(901) 244-5003
Fax(901) 328-1502
AttorneysDavid A. Gold and Claire O. Gold
Operating modelThe firm states it operates remotely, handling documents and signatures electronically rather than through in-person meetings
Practice and scope
Car accident sub-pagesCommercial vehicle, distracted driving, drugged and drunk driving, fatal accidents, hit-and-run, out-of-state drivers, rear-end collisions, rollovers, speeding, uninsured/underinsured motorists
Other injury practiceTruck and motorcycle accidents, wrongful death, catastrophic injury, premises liability, product liability, nursing home abuse, plus a separate real estate practice
Firm’s own volume claimThe site states over 25 years of combined experience, 5,000+ motor vehicle injury claims, and tens of millions of dollars recovered for clients
Credentials and licensing
David A. GoldAdmitted Tennessee 1998; U.S. District Court, Western District of Tennessee, 2000; 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, 2002
David Gold’s prior careerBegan as a court-appointed indigent criminal defense attorney; the firm’s own materials describe a 2001 federal acquittal, United States v. Ray Reid (M.D. Tenn.), as the largest single-defendant marijuana acquittal in Tennessee federal court history
Claire O. GoldAdmitted Tennessee 2009; began her career in Nashville before moving her practice to Memphis in 2012
Claire Gold’s stated results
The firm states she has helped recover over $8,000,000 for injured clients
Fees and consultation
ConsultationFree initial consultation advertised, available remotely
What clients say
✓ David Gold named personally and praised for responsiveness
✓ Reviewers repeatedly contrast the firm’s small size with larger, impersonal firms
· 213 reviews with no visible negative pattern in what is readable

The Google reviews consistently name David Gold personally rather than the firm generically, describing him as responsive, informative, and willing to explain the process in plain terms. Several reviewers explicitly compare the firm favorably to larger practices they perceive as treating clients like a number. Nothing in the visible review text raises a specific complaint.

Why they fit Memphis: Gold’s own background defending serious criminal cases, including a large federal acquittal, is a genuinely different preparation style than a firm that has only ever done insurance-side settlement work, and reviewers consistently credit him with being personally reachable rather than routed through staff. The caveat is that neither attorney publishes a contingency percentage or any dollar-figure case results on the firm’s own site the way both other firms on this page do, so ask directly what a case like yours has actually settled for and what the fee split looks like before and after a lawsuit is filed.

2. NST Law

Best for a client who wants the resources of a large regional firm behind a specific attorney whose practice is actually car and truck accidents
★★★★½ 4.7 / 5 · Google · 925 reviews

NST Law is a large regional firm, formerly Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz, with 11 offices across Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas and Illinois and a site that states 175 lawyers and staff and over 35 years in practice. Rather than pointing generically at the firm, the Memphis car accident page is credited to a named attorney, A. Parker Trotz, whose own bio lists car accidents and truck accidents as his practice areas. Co-managing partner Ryan G. Saharovich, an Emory-trained attorney, chairs the firm’s separate mass tort litigation group.

Identity and footprint
Memphis offices488 S. Mendenhall Road, Memphis, TN 38117; and 4466 Elvis Presley Blvd, Suite 143, Memphis, TN 38116 (Whitehaven)
Phone(901) 683-7000 main line; (901) 979-1449 for the Mendenhall office; toll free (800) 529-4004
Other officesJackson, Nashville and Knoxville, TN; Tupelo, Columbus, Jackson and Hernando, MS; Jonesboro, Little Rock and Rogers, AR; St. Louis and Cape Girardeau, MO; Belleville, IL 
Managing partnersRyan G. Saharovich and A. Parker Trotz
Firm’s own scale claimThe site states 175 lawyers and staff, over 35 years of experience, and more than 100,000 clients served
Practice and scope
Motor vehicle pagesCar, truck, motorcycle, bus, and bicycle accidents; the car accident page has its own rideshare and rear-end collision sub-pages
Other practiceWrongful death, medical malpractice, premises liability, nursing home abuse, construction accidents, birth injury, disability, plus a separate mass tort and product liability practice covering prescription drug and medical device cases
Local crash detailThe Memphis car accident page names specific dangerous intersections (Lamar and Holmes, Shelby Drive and Getwell, Winchester and Hacks Cross) and cites a study ranking two Memphis intersections among the nation’s most dangerous for commercial truck driver cell phone use
Credentials and licensing
A. Parker TrotzAdmitted Tennessee 2013; U.S. District Court, Western District of Tennessee, 2013; JD magna cum laude, Tulane University Law School
Trotz’s role on this pageListed as the content reviewer of the firm’s Memphis car accident page; his own bio lists Car Accidents, Truck Accidents and Personal Injury as his practice areas, and he serves on the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association Board of Governors
Ryan G. SaharovichAdmitted Tennessee and Arkansas (year not stated on his bio); JD with honors, Emory University School of Law; chairs the firm’s Mass Tort Litigation Group 
RecognitionTrotz: Super Lawyers 2023 to 2024, Super Lawyers Rising Star 2019 to 2025. Saharovich: Super Lawyers 2025, Super Lawyers Rising Star 2019 to 2024
Published case resultsThe site lists a $3,000,000 settlement for a couple hit head-on by a tractor-trailer, a separate $3,000,000 tractor-trailer settlement, and a $2,200,000 settlement for a client with a traumatic brain injury
Fees and consultation
ConsultationFree consultation, available 24/7; the firm states it can travel to a client’s home or hospital
What clients say
✓ Paralegals and settlement-team staff praised by name for responsiveness
✓ Ryan Saharovich named personally in a client review despite chairing mass torts
✗ One detailed complaint that case quality dropped after transfer to a litigation attorney

Most Google reviews praise a specific paralegal or the settlement team by name for consistent updates, even when there was no news to report. One reviewer explicitly warns against using the firm if a case goes to litigation, describing a good settlement-team experience followed by a litigation attorney who was far less responsive once the file was transferred. That is a structural point worth asking about directly given the firm’s size, not a one-off complaint about a single person.

Why they fit Memphis: NST brings the resources of a genuinely large regional firm, 175 lawyers and staff across 11 offices in five states, and unlike some firms that size, it puts a specific, credentialed Memphis attorney’s name on the car accident page itself rather than leaving it anonymous. The caveat is exactly the risk that comes with firm size: one detailed review describes a case handled well by an initial settlement team and then poorly once it was transferred to a litigation attorney after a lawsuit was filed. Ask directly, before you sign, who specifically would handle your file if the insurer does not offer a fair settlement and the case has to be litigated.

3. Daniel Law Firm

Best for a client who wants a genuinely small, family-run firm rather than a high-volume practice
★★★★½ 4.6 / 5 · Google · 38 reviews

Daniel Law Firm has been family owned since 1968, when Lundy W. Daniel founded it. His son, Ben L. Daniel, earned his law degree in 1993 and now runs the firm with his wife, Elizabeth K. Daniel; their son, Benjamin L. Daniel, Jr., recently became the firm’s third generation of licensed attorneys after clerking there for two years. The firm’s own site describes keeping an exclusive case load rather than competing on volume, and its published results include a $2,500,000 jury verdict and a $9,000,000 wrongful death settlement in a trucking case.

Identity and footprint
Office145 Court Avenue, Second Floor, Memphis, TN 38103
Phone(901) 525-5555
AttorneysBen L. Daniel, Elizabeth K. Daniel, James J. Patterson, Benjamin L. Daniel, Jr.
Firm historyFounded 1968 by Lundy W. Daniel (deceased); now run by his son Ben L. Daniel and daughter-in-law Elizabeth K. Daniel, with grandson Benjamin L. Daniel, Jr. as the newest licensed attorney
Practice and scope
Case typesCar accidents, truck accidents, wrongful death, catastrophic injuries, medical malpractice, motorcycle accidents, workers’ compensation, premises liability, product liability
Other workBenjamin L. Daniel, Jr.’s bio states he also handles select minor criminal matters, including traffic citations and misdemeanors
Published case listThe site lists over a dozen named settlements and verdicts with dollar figures, ranging from $75,000 to $9,000,000, including a $2,500,000 jury verdict for a woman injured in a car wreck
Credentials and licensing
Ben L. DanielJD, University of Memphis (then Memphis State University), 1993; admitted to practice in Tennessee
RecognitionMillion Dollar Advocates Forum and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum; member, Memphis Bar Association, Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association, American Association for Justice
Benjamin L. Daniel, Jr.JD, University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law; newly licensed after clerking two years at the firm
Fees and consultation
ConsultationFree initial case evaluation advertised
What clients say
✓ A named associate attorney praised for responsiveness and professionalism
✓ Benjamin Daniel Jr. praised for a reassuring, low-pressure consultation
✗ Two separate detailed complaints about the size of the settlement

Most visible reviews are positive and name a specific attorney, including one client who consulted Benjamin Daniel Jr. while represented elsewhere and still came away impressed with his candor. Two separate one-star reviews, from different clients, describe settlements that did not cover their own out-of-pocket costs, one of which also raises an unproven claim about a conflict of interest. These are two distinct accounts rather than one repeated complaint, which carries more weight than a single review would, though they remain a minority against an otherwise 4.6-star base.

Why they fit Memphis: A genuine three-generation family practice, grandfather founded it in 1968, son and daughter-in-law run it now, grandson is the newest attorney, that lines up with the firm’s own description of keeping a small, exclusive case load rather than competing for volume. The caveat is that at 38 reviews this is the smallest visible review base of the three, and two of the visible negative reviews independently raise the same concern, that the settlement felt too small against the client’s actual costs, which is worth asking about directly, including how the firm’s fee and any medical liens are calculated against the final number.

What to check before hiring a Car Accident Attorney in Memphis

✓ Confirm your one-year clock today
Tennessee gives you one year from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit under Tenn. Code Ann. 28-3-104. If you are approaching that date, call a firm today rather than after you finish comparing them, since a missed deadline ends the claim regardless of how strong it is.
✓ Get the contingency percentage in writing, both stages
None of the three firms above publish a specific number. Ask for the pre-suit rate, the rate if a lawsuit is filed, whether it rises again at trial, and whether the percentage is calculated before or after case costs come out.
✓ Check whether your claim fits under $25,000
Shelby County’s General Sessions Court hears civil claims up to $25,000 with no attorney required. If your damages are modest and liability is clear, ask whether representation actually adds more value than it costs.
✓ Ask who specifically handles your file
At a multi-attorney firm, the named attorney on the website is not always the one who will negotiate your case day to day. Ask for the name of the attorney assigned to you and what triggers a more senior attorney getting personally involved.
✓ Look up the attorney yourself
The Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility maintains a public attorney search showing license status and any disciplinary history. Search the individual attorney who will handle your case, not just the firm name, before you sign anything.
✓ Ask how comparative fault could affect your case
If you were partly at fault, Tennessee’s rule from McIntyre v. Balentine cuts your recovery by your percentage of fault, and bars it entirely at 50% or more. Ask the attorney directly how they expect fault to be allocated in your specific accident.

Car Accident Attorneys in Memphis: frequently asked questions

How long do I have to file a car accident lawsuit in Memphis?

One year from the date of the crash, under Tenn. Code Ann. 28-3-104. That is shorter than most states, including neighboring Arkansas and Mississippi, which both allow three years. Missing the deadline generally ends your right to sue regardless of how strong the underlying claim was.

What if I was partly at fault for the accident?

Tennessee follows a modified comparative fault rule established in McIntyre v. Balentine. You can still recover if your share of fault is under 50%, but your award is reduced by that percentage. At 50% fault or more, you recover nothing, so insurers have an incentive to argue your fault upward.

What does it cost to hire a car accident lawyer in Memphis?

Nothing upfront. Tennessee injury attorneys work on contingency, typically 33% to 40% of the recovery depending on whether the case settles before or after a lawsuit is filed, per Tennessee Bar Association reporting. None of the three firms on this page publish their specific percentage, so get it in writing before signing.

Is there a cap on what I can recover after a Memphis car accident?

Tennessee caps non-economic damages, pain and suffering and similar losses, at $750,000 in most personal injury cases, rising to $1,000,000 for catastrophic injuries such as paralysis or severe brain injury, under Tenn. Code Ann. 29-39-102. Economic damages like medical bills and lost wages are not capped.

Do I need a lawyer for a minor car accident claim?

Not necessarily. Shelby County’s General Sessions Court, Memphis’s small claims court, handles civil disputes up to $25,000 without requiring an attorney, and the filing fee is typically $42 to $200. For a straightforward claim with clear liability and modest damages, that may be a faster and cheaper route than hiring counsel.

What if the other driver had no insurance?

Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, if you carry it, can pay when the at-fault driver has none or not enough. Check your policy’s UM and UIM limits, since those become the practical ceiling on what you can recover in that situation.

DJA Editorial
Legal Directory Research
Compiles Distinguished Justice Advocates city guides from state bar records, court and statute sources, and publicly visible client reviews. Firms appear as a shortlist rather than a ranking. Figures a firm publishes about itself are labeled as such, and anything that could not be verified is flagged on the page rather than estimated.