September 8, 2026
Houston · Truck Accident Guide

Harris County recorded 5,913 crashes involving a commercial motor vehicle in 2025, more than any other county in Texas and roughly one every ninety minutes. We compared three truck accident lawyers in Houston on their State Bar of Texas licence records, on what each one actually publishes about fees and results, and on what clients wrote in reviews. The three answer very different versions of the same problem.

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

The short answer

Three firms, each the better answer to a different kind of Houston truck crash. This is a shortlist in the order supplied, not a ranking, and no score was calculated.

1
Charles J. Argento & AssociatesFeatured
Best for a case that turns on how the carrier will defend it
2
Hollingsworth Law Firm
Best for a claim you need run in Spanish, Mandarin, Portuguese or Vietnamese
3
Terry Bryant Accident & Injury Law
Best for a serious injury claim led by a board certified trial lawyer’s firm

At a glance: Truck Accident Lawyers in Houston, compared

Firm Best for Bar record Fees Review base Rating
Charles J. Argento & Associates Inside view of the carrier’s defense Charles J. Argento, Texas 1988, bar number 01301750 Contingency, no fee unless they win, free consultation 5.0 from 783 Google reviews 5.0 · 783 Google
Hollingsworth Law Firm Multilingual intake and case handling Steven R. Hollingsworth, Texas 2003, bar number 24041115 Contingency, no fee unless you win, free consultation 5.0 from 422 Google reviews 5.0 · 422 Google
Terry Bryant Accident & Injury Law Board certified trial lawyer heading the firm Terry Bryant, Texas 1978, bar number 03274300 Contingency, firm advances case costs, free consultation 4.7 from 494 Google reviews 4.7 · 494 Google

Truck Accident in Houston: the local picture

33% to 40%
The fee range none of these three publishes
Houston injury firms commonly take one third of a pre-suit recovery, rising toward 40 percent once a lawsuit is filed, and Texas caps neither. None of these three publishes its own percentage anywhere on its site, so ask two questions before signing: what is the number, and are case costs deducted before or after the fee is calculated.
Source: Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct 1.04 and published Houston firm fee guidance
90 days
The Houston deadline that lands long before the two-year one
Texas gives you two years to sue over a truck crash. If the vehicle belonged to the City of Houston, the city charter requires verified written notice to the mayor and council within 90 days of the injury, and Texas courts have thrown out claims that missed it. The two-year deadline never gets a chance to matter.
Source: Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 16.003 and the City of Houston claim filing page
$350
What filing it yourself costs, and how to pay nothing
A new civil suit in Harris County district court costs $350 to file, plus $8 for the citation and $85 for constable service. File a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs and the clerk must accept the case without prepayment. For advice short of that, the Houston Lawyer Referral Service charges $20 for thirty minutes.
Source: Harris County District Clerk fee schedule, Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 145, Houston Lawyer Referral Service
What clients in Houston say: Two of the three hold a 5.0 Google rating, across 783 and 422 reviews, and Terry Bryant sits at 4.7 across 494. Read a stack of them and the praise is almost never about courtroom skill. It is about being told what was happening: a paralegal who returned calls, medical appointments booked quickly, an associate who worked around a client’s schedule. Reviewers at Hollingsworth name Claudia. Reviewers at Terry Bryant name the associate, not the founder. A 4.7 means there are low reviews to read, and two perfect ratings are a reason to go and find the one-star reviews yourself before you sign.

How we chose these Truck Accident Lawyers in Houston

We compared three Houston firms that handle commercial truck and 18-wheeler cases, on the things a reader can check rather than the things a firm can assert. That means the State Bar of Texas licensee record for the lead attorney at each one, the office address and phone as published by the firm and as shown on its Google Business Profile, the truck sub-practices each firm actually lists, the languages each can work in, the fee terms each publishes, and the recoveries each puts on its own site. The order below is the order we were given. Nothing here was ranked or scored.

Every bar number, licence date and self-reported practice area came from the State Bar of Texas Find A Lawyer tool. Every Harris County crash figure came from the TxDOT Crash Records Information System annual tables, not from a firm’s blog. The two-year deadline and the 51 percent fault bar were read in the Civil Practice and Remedies Code itself, and the 90-day city notice requirement on the City of Houston’s own claim filing page. Recovery amounts published by a firm are labelled as that firm’s own figures, because in almost every case there is no public record to check them against. Where one exists, we say so.

1. Charles J. Argento & AssociatesFeatured

Best for a case that turns on how the carrier will defend it
★★★★★ 5.0 / 5 · Google · 783 reviews

Argento spent the first ten years of his career defending trucking companies, and the firm builds its whole pitch on that. If you want a Houston truck accident lawyer who has sat on the carrier side of the file and knows which arguments get made about pre-existing conditions and disputed fault, he is the one of the three who says so plainly. He is a lead attorney supported by bilingual staff rather than a litigation department, which suits a single-defendant collision better than a case with five corporate defendants and duelling engineers.

Identity and footprint
Houston office1111 N Loop W Suite 715, Houston, TX 77008
Lead attorneyCharles J. Argento
Phone(713) 225-5050, toll free (800) 239-7622
HoursGoogle lists the office as open 24 hours and the firm advertises consultations 24/7
Service areaHouston plus Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Galveston and Brazoria counties, and Beaumont, Brownsville, McAllen, Harlingen and the Rio Grande Valley
LanguagesEnglish and Spanish, with a full Spanish section of the site and bilingual staff
Firm shapeLead counsel plus bilingual paralegal and clerical staff, with outside attorneys brought in for specialised work
Practice and scope
Truck pages published18-wheeler and big rig, jackknife, underride, T-bone, tractor-trailer, Amazon, FedEx, UPS, trucking company liability, negligent hiring, driver drug use
Investigation method publishedSame-day preservation demand letters, black box ECM data, hours of service log review, FMCSA safety and violation history, accident reconstruction
Wider practiceCar, motorcycle, maritime, offshore, oil rig, plant and refinery, industrial, premises, medical malpractice, wrongful death
Also runs mass tort linesCamp Lejeune, Paragard, EzriCare eyedrops, kratom, CPAP and BiPAP, asbestos. Worth knowing, because it is a broad practice rather than a trucking boutique
CourtsTexas state courts plus all four Texas federal districts and the Fifth Circuit
Highways namedI-10, I-45, I-69 and US-59, US-290, Beltway 8, and the Port of Houston access roads at Barbours Cut and Bayport
Credentials and licensing
Texas bar number01301750
Licensed in Texas since10 November 1988
Public disciplineNo public disciplinary action found in Texas Bar Journal disciplinary listings, searched this run. Confirm on the licensee profile before you rely on it
Law schoolSouth Texas College of Law, J.D. 1988, Order of the Coif, American Jurisprudence Award
Federal admissionsNorthern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas, and the Fifth Circuit
Practice areas on his bar profileBusiness, Environmental, Commercial Litigation, Personal Injury and Aviation. Trucking is not among them
Distinguished Justice Advocates listingYes, listed at /listing/attorney-charles-j-argento/
Other directory ratingsMartindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent, Avvo profile, Texas Super Lawyers profile
Fees and consultation
Fee structureContingency, stated on the site as no fee unless we win
Contingency percentageNot published anywhere on the site, checked this run
ConsultationFree, advertised as available 24 hours a day
Case costsThe site says there are no upfront legal fees or costs during the case, but does not say whether expenses come off the recovery before or after the fee
Fee options on his bar profileNone reported by the attorney, which does not match the contingency terms on the firm’s own site
What clients say
✓ Updates without chasing
✓ Medical bills handled
✓ Repeat clients
· Praise is for service, not trials

Reviewers describe a claim they did not have to manage: updates arriving unprompted, medical providers and bills dealt with, and more than one person coming back a second time. Several name Argento himself rather than a case manager, which fits a small firm. What almost nobody describes is a trial, so read the 5.0 as a verdict on service and settlement rather than on courtroom record.

Synthesized from publicly visible snippets: Google
Why they fit Houston: The clearest fit of the three if your case turns on how the trucking company will fight it, because Argento worked that side for a decade and the firm markets on exactly that. The caveat is scale. His own site describes the firm as lead counsel plus bilingual support staff, with outside attorneys brought in for specialised work, and his State Bar profile lists Business, Environmental, Commercial, Aviation and Personal Injury rather than anything trucking-specific. Ask who else would staff a case with four corporate defendants and a reconstruction fight.

2. Hollingsworth Law Firm

Best for a claim you need run in Spanish, Mandarin, Portuguese or Vietnamese
★★★★★ 5.0 / 5 · Google · 422 reviews

Hollingsworth publishes its site in English, Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese, and Steve Hollingsworth’s own State Bar profile reports Spanish, Chinese and Mandarin language assistance. If you need a truck accident attorney in Houston who can run the case in the language you actually think in, this is the only one of the three set up for it. He was a Harris County felony prosecutor first, then spent six years defending insurers including Allstate, AIG and Geico, and the firm states he has been lead counsel in more than fifty jury trials. The truck results it publishes are in the hundreds of thousands.

Identity and footprint
Houston office4411 Dacoma Street, Houston, TX 77092
FounderSteve Hollingsworth
Phone713-637-4560
Other Texas officesSpicewood in the Hill Country by appointment only, and San Antonio at 2018 Ave B Suite 300
HoursThe site says available 24/7 and Google lists the office as open 24 hours
LanguagesSite published in English, Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese, with staff described as serving English, Spanish, Portuguese and Mandarin
Practising as this firm since2003, per the firm’s own about page
Practice and scope
Truck pages publishedTwenty-one, including 18-wheeler, big rig, jackknife, underride, oversized load, lost load, logging truck, tire blowout, negligent hiring, fatal truck accident, Amazon van, UPS and FedEx
Oilfield haul routes namedEagle Ford Shale and Wolfcamp Shale truck accident pages, which neither of the other two firms publishes
Wider practiceOffshore and maritime including Jones Act and Longshore Act, oilfield, plant and refinery, industrial and construction, rideshare, catastrophic injury, wrongful death
Trial recordThe firm states Hollingsworth has been lead counsel in more than fifty jury trials, in Harris, Hidalgo, Galveston, Montgomery, Bexar, Cameron, Dallas, Comal, Val Verde, Maverick, Zavala and Dimmit counties
Which side he came fromAssistant district attorney in Harris County, rising to felony prosecutor, then six years defending insurers
Published truck results$450,000 for a client rear-ended by a tow truck, $360,000 for a driver struck by a commercial truck whose driver fled, and $300,000 for a woman sideswiped by a commercial truck. All settlements, all the firm’s own figures, none independently checkable
Texas cities with their own truck pagesHouston, Beaumont, San Antonio, plus roughly twenty suburbs and Rio Grande Valley cities
Credentials and licensing
Texas bar number24041115
Licensed in Texas since6 November 2003
Public disciplineNo public disciplinary action found in Texas Bar Journal disciplinary listings, searched this run. Confirm on the licensee profile before you rely on it
Law schoolSt Mary’s University School of Law, J.D.
Practice areas on his bar profileCriminal, Insurance, Commercial Litigation, Personal Injury and Real Estate
Language assistance on his bar profileSpanish, Chinese and Mandarin, reported to the bar as well as advertised
Bar associationsHouston Bar Association, Texas Trial Lawyers Association, Houston Trial Lawyers Association
Distinguished Justice Advocates listingYes, listed at /listing/attorney-steve-hollingsworth/
Other directory recognitionTexas Super Lawyers, selected 2020 to 2021 and 2024 to 2025, and an Avvo profile
Fees and consultation
Fee structureContingency, stated on the site as no fee unless we win your case
Contingency percentageNot published anywhere on the site, checked this run
ConsultationFree case evaluation, no money needed upfront
Fee options on his bar profileBoth contingency and hourly reported, so the fee arrangement is worth confirming in writing for your specific matter
Case costsNot addressed on the site
What clients say
✓ Named paralegal returns calls
✓ Medical appointments booked fast
✓ Took over from a firm that went quiet
· Staff named more than the lawyer

Reviewers here name the paralegal, Claudia, more often than they name the lawyer, and describe her keeping them updated through the whole claim. Several mention getting doctor appointments arranged quickly, and one describes moving over after a different firm stopped responding. Read that as a firm whose visible strength is case management. Nobody in the visible reviews describes going to trial.

Synthesized from publicly visible snippets: Google
Why they fit Houston: Genuinely the most accessible of the three if English is not the language you want to run a lawsuit in, and the founder has worked this case type from the prosecution bench and the insurance defence side before switching. Two things worth knowing. The truck results it publishes run $300,000 to $450,000, well below the seven-figure truck recovery the third firm on this page publishes, so it is the wrong first call for a fatal or catastrophic crash. And the Our Team page lists a single attorney, while a Google review thanks an attorney named Royalty, so ask who will actually be on your file.

3. Terry Bryant Accident & Injury Law

Best for a serious injury claim led by a board certified trial lawyer’s firm
★★★★½ 4.7 / 5 · Google · 494 reviews

Terry Bryant is the only one of the three lead attorneys whose State Bar profile shows board certification in Personal Injury Trial Law, which the firm says he has held since 1993, and he sat for 22 years as a municipal judge in Spring Valley Village while building the practice. If you want Houston personal injury lawyers who print what clients actually took home, this firm labels every published result as net to the client. Its largest truck figure, $2.1 million after a fatal head-on crash, combined the carrier’s policy limits with the family’s own underinsured motorist cover. The trade is focus: trucking is one line in a wide injury practice.

Identity and footprint
Houston office8584 Katy Freeway Suite 100, Houston, TX 77024 (firm site, Google and State Bar profile agree)
FounderTerry Bryant, who opened the firm as a sole practitioner in 1985 (firm about page)
Phone713-973-8888 on the site and on his State Bar profile. Google lists (936) 274-6917, and Martindale and Super Lawyers each show a different number again, so several lines reach this firm
Attorneys listedJosh Mintz, Michael Simcoe, Chelsie King Garza, Michael P. Mitchell and Gregg Anderson, plus Scott P. Armstrong and Spencer G. Welch of counsel (firm about page)
Firm size on his bar profile6 to 10 people
HoursGoogle lists the office as open 24 hours, and the site advertises 24/7 availability and a reply to web enquiries within ten minutes
LanguagesFull Spanish section of the site and Spanish consultations offered on the truck page. His bar profile reports language translation services
Truck venues namedHarris, Fort Bend, Montgomery and Jefferson counties, with truck pages for Katy, Sugar Land, The Woodlands, Conroe and Beaumont (firm truck page)
Practice and scope
Truck pages published18-wheeler and semi, commercial vehicle, tire blowout, unsecured load, intoxicated truck driver and Amazon truck, plus guides on UPS trucks, jackknifes, flatbeds and hazmat spills
Investigation method publishedSpoliation letter in week one, engine control module download, electronic logging records, driver qualification file, maintenance and dispatch records, bill of lading, and the carrier’s FMCSA SAFER record
Defendants it says it looks forDriver, motor carrier, separate trailer owner, shipper or loader, maintenance contractor, parts manufacturer and, in some cases, the freight broker
Wider practiceCar, motorcycle, work injury and workers’ compensation, medical malpractice, nursing home, product and drug injury including Depo-Provera and Oxbryta, Social Security disability and long term care insurance claims. A broad injury firm, not a trucking boutique
Self-reported practice splitTrucking accident 5 percent, against 35 percent each for car accident and personal injury (Avvo profile)
Published truck results$2.1 million to the family of a man killed head-on by an 18-wheeler, $694,000 and $589,000 in two 18-wheeler injury cases, and $540,000 for an SUV driver rear-ended by a tractor-trailer. All settlements as described, all the firm’s own figures, none independently checkable (firm truck page and results panel)
How it reports resultsEvery figure is labelled net to client, meaning what the client kept. Two of the four truck results needed an underinsured motorist recovery on top of the carrier’s policy limits
Credentials and licensing
Texas bar number03274300 (State Bar of Texas Find A Lawyer)
Licensed in Texas since15 May 1978 (State Bar of Texas Find A Lawyer)
Licence statusEligible to practice in Texas
Board certificationPersonal Injury Trial Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization, shown on his bar profile. The firm dates it to 1993
Public disciplineNo public disciplinary action found in Texas Bar Journal disciplinary listings, searched this run. Confirm on the licensee profile before you rely on it
Judicial service22 years as municipal judge in Spring Valley Village, per the firm. Texas municipal courts hear fine-only misdemeanors and city ordinance cases, not civil injury trials
Law schoolSouth Texas College of Law, J.D. 1977, after a business degree from Texas A&M in 1975
Federal admissionsUS Supreme Court, the Fifth Circuit, and the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas
Practice areas on his bar profileLitigation: Personal Injury, and nothing else
Bar associationsAmerican Association for Justice since 1985, Texas and Houston Trial Lawyers Associations, TACTAS, American Bar Association, Texas Bar Foundation
Distinguished Justice Advocates listingNone found for Terry Bryant, searched this run
Other directory recognitionTexas Super Lawyers 2020 to 2026 on his Super Lawyers profile, Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent per the firm, and an Avvo profile
Fees and consultation
Fee structureContingency, branded the No Fee Guarantee: nothing owed unless you recover money (firm fee page)
Contingency percentageNot published. The fee page says the percentage depends on the amount of the settlement, which points to a tiered schedule. Ask to see every tier
Case costsThe firm states it advances case costs and that with no recovery there is no obligation to pay any expenses, which is more than either of the other two commits to in writing
Medical billsThe fee page says you remain responsible for your medical bills, and that the firm can send letters of protection so providers wait for the settlement
ConsultationFree, advertised 24/7 by phone, chat or appointment
What clients say
✓ Associate on the file named
✓ Regular updates
✓ Medical bills negotiated down
· Visible reviews are car cases, not trucks

Reviewers name the associate who ran the case, most often Michael Mitchell, Michael Simcoe or Chelsie Garza, and describe being kept informed throughout. One credits Garza’s team with getting medical bills reduced, one says the lawyer worked around a teacher’s schedule, and one describes the founder presenting the settlement check in person. The visible reviews describe car crashes, so they say little about how a truck case is run.

Synthesized from publicly visible snippets: Google, Avvo, FindLaw
Why they fit Houston: The fit of the three if you want a firm headed by a board certified personal injury trial lawyer, and if you want to compare offers in take-home terms, since it is the only one that prints its results net to the client. Its fatal truck result is also the clearest reminder on this page that your own underinsured motorist coverage can matter as much as the carrier’s policy. The caveats: trucking is a small slice of a broad practice, 5 percent on its own Avvo profile, the visible reviews describe car cases, and the founder, licensed since 1978, is unlikely to be the lawyer running your file. Ask which of the five associates would be, and how many truck cases that person has taken to verdict.

What to check before hiring a Truck Accident Lawyer in Houston

✓ Look up the bar number yourself, it takes two minutes
The State Bar of Texas runs a free Find A Lawyer search that returns the bar card number, the exact Texas licence date, self-reported practice areas, language assistance and fee options, board certification, and the disciplinary history. Every licence figure on this page came from there. If a lawyer’s own profile does not list the practice area he is advertising to you, that is worth a question, not an assumption.
✓ Get the percentage in writing before you sign anything
None of these three publishes its contingency percentage, and one says only that its percentage depends on the size of the settlement, so ask for every tier. Texas does not cap the fee and Texas law requires the contingent fee contract to be in writing and signed by both of you. Ask what the percentage is pre-suit, what it becomes once a lawsuit is filed, and whether case costs come out before or after the fee is calculated.
✓ Ask who will actually work the file
These three are structured very differently. One is a lead attorney with support staff. One lists a single attorney on its team page across three Texas offices. One lists five associates and two of counsel under a founder licensed since 1978. None of those is wrong, but the answer to who returns your call in month eight is different in each. Ask for the name of the attorney and the paralegal, and ask what happens if the case has to be tried.
✓ If any government vehicle was involved, start the 90-day clock today
City of Houston vehicles, METRO buses, county trucks and school district vehicles are not ordinary defendants. The City of Houston charter requires a verified written notice to the mayor and city council within 90 days of the injury, and the Texas Tort Claims Act ratifies that shorter charter period. Texas courts have dismissed claims for missing it even where the injury seemed minor at first.
✓ Buy the crash report yourself for $6
The investigating officer has ten days to file the CR-3 crash report with TxDOT electronically. Once it is in, you can buy it from the TxDOT crash report purchase system for $6, or $8 certified. It names the carrier and its DOT number, which is the piece of information a preservation letter needs before the black box data gets overwritten. Do not wait for a firm to order it for you.
✓ Do not let a fault percentage go unchallenged
Texas bars recovery entirely if you are found more than 50 percent responsible, and reduces it proportionally below that. A carrier’s adjuster assigning you 20 percent in a phone call is not a finding, it is an opening position, and it costs you a fifth of the case if it sticks. Say nothing about fault to the truck’s insurer before you have spoken to a lawyer.

Truck Accident Lawyers in Houston: frequently asked questions

How much does a truck accident lawyer in Houston cost?

Nothing upfront. All three firms on this page work on contingency and advertise free consultations. What none of them publishes is the percentage. Houston injury firms commonly charge around one third of a pre-suit recovery, rising toward 40 percent once suit is filed, and Texas sets no cap. Texas law does require the contingent fee contract to be in writing and signed, so the number will be in the document in front of you. Ask separately whether case costs are deducted before or after the fee.

How long do I have to sue after a Houston truck crash?

Two years from the date of the crash for a personal injury claim, and two years from the date of death for a wrongful death claim, under section 16.003 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Courts read it strictly. There are narrow exceptions for minors and for people under a legal disability, but nobody should plan around them.

What if the truck belonged to the City of Houston or another public agency?

Then the two-year deadline is not your first problem. Article IX, Section 11 of the City of Houston charter requires a verified written notice of claim to the mayor and city council within 90 days of the injury, setting out when, where and how it happened, the extent of the damage, the amount you will settle for, your address, and the names of your witnesses. The Texas Supreme Court has held that believing your injury was trivial does not excuse missing it. The city publishes the form on its own website.

How common are commercial truck crashes in Harris County?

Harris County recorded 5,913 crashes involving a commercial motor vehicle in 2025, out of 38,533 statewide, which is more than any other Texas county and about one every ninety minutes. Those crashes produced 41 fatal collisions, 43 deaths and 125 suspected serious injuries. The figures come from TxDOT’s own annual county tables, processed as of April 2026.

What if the trucking company says the crash was partly my fault?

Texas uses a modified comparative fault rule. If you are found more than 50 percent responsible you recover nothing at all, and at any percentage below that your damages are cut by your share. So a 30 percent finding on a $200,000 case costs you $60,000. This is why carriers push fault onto the other driver early and in writing, and why a recorded statement to the truck’s insurer before you have advice is a bad idea.

What if none of these three firms will take my case?

Injury firms decline cases that are too small to fund, and that happens often when the damage is mostly to the vehicle. The Houston Lawyer Referral Service, sponsored by the Houston Bar Association, will refer you free and its panel attorneys charge $20 for a thirty-minute consultation. Claims of $20,000 or less can go to a Harris County justice court without a lawyer at all. If you file in district court, the fee is $350, and a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs requires the clerk to accept the case without prepayment.

DJA Editorial
Legal Directory Research
Compiles Distinguished Justice Advocates city guides from state bar licensee records, statute and court sources, and client reviews read in full rather than counted. Firms appear in a supplied order, never in a calculated rank, and every figure a firm publishes about itself is labelled as such.