The Process of a Truck Accident Lawsuit
Truck accidents can result in severe and permanent injuries. These can lead to significant medical expenses as well as psychological damage.
Your attorney will file an Summons and Complaint against all liable parties. The process can take a few years. Your lawyer can help you determine whether any shared responsibility been properly assessed and allocated.
Investigations
If someone is injured in a crash involving a truck there is much more at stake than a car crash. A truck accident could result in life-changing consequences. pasadena truck accident lawyer are more complex because of the size and weight. These accidents also require more sophisticated investigation.
To protect their interests, trucking companies or insurance providers will often conduct their investigations as soon as they are aware of the incident. The issue is that victims are left to take care of their injuries, and aren't in a position to gather evidence. This leaves them at a disadvantage when compared to the insurance provider and trucking company.
A seasoned truck accident attorney will seek evidence from various sources, including police reports, witness statements and inspections of vehicles. A lawyer who is experienced will not rely on the reports of police officers alone since they are typically not sufficient for civil litigation. Police officers are not trained to conduct an effective investigation and might fail to gather all of the evidence required to file the filing of a lawsuit.
Other types of records include logbook data, maintenance and service records for the truck, data from the event data recorder (also known as a black box), and more. A competent attorney will request these and other forms of evidence from the truck driver and the trucking company and carefully examine them to determine the cause of the accident.
Expert Witnesses
An expert witness can assist your lawyer prove the various elements of your truck accident case. Medical experts is a good example. They can provide evidence to your lawyer that the accident caused your injuries. Experts can also testify about how your injuries will affect your future quality of life. Expert witnesses can help your lawyer determine the value of your injuries, which includes lost income and loss of future earning capacity.
Your expert can review physical evidence and discuss the consequences of your injury on your future. Medical experts is a good example. They can explain how your accident may affect your physical and mental health. A metallurgist is an additional type of expert who can analyze the reasons behind why a vehicle component failed. Experts can determine whether the weather was the cause of the crash.
A key role of your expert witness is to review the evidence and give an objective opinion. However, some expert witnesses could be a liability risk for your case if they are biased or have ties to the defendants' businesses. Your attorney can use a background check to identify these risks and ensure you have the best experts in your case.
Your attorney will conduct an interview with you, along with any other eyewitnesses who witnessed the accident prior to it taking place. You should be aware that the insurance companies of the defendants will attempt to convince you to admit guilt or give statements that they can twist and change to make your case more difficult.
Litigation
As with all drivers truck drivers also have a obligation to observe traffic laws and take reasonable care while driving. If they fail to comply with these rules and their negligence causes an accident, then they could be held liable for the damages caused by the accident victims are liable for.
Our lawyer will gather evidence from eyewitnesses and seek oral or written testimony to prove the defendant was negligent. Our team will also look at other evidence such as skidmarks and points of impact and conduct crash testing.
Sometimes the cause of the truck crash is complex that involves multiple parties. If the truck accident was caused by defective equipment or improper maintenance, we could sue the manufacturers or the trucks. We could also sue the mechanic or repair shop who performed the repairs.
We will try to resolve your case out of court, but should the trucking company or its insurance company refuses to accept an acceptable settlement offer and we prepare for trial. In the trial where a judge or jury will decide on issues that are disputed like who was the culprit and what compensation you should get. The total amount of your legal damages will be based on your documented losses that comprise financial, physical and emotional pain.
Statute of Limitations
While the legal process following a truck accident may be complex, understanding how these cases typically proceed can help you plan for what's ahead and give you a better sense of how long your case will take.
One of the most crucial steps is to establish the responsibility. It is possible that a trucker who was drunk or distracted or impaired will be held accountable for the damages you have suffered. However, there might be other parties who are accountable as well. For instance, if the crash resulted from faulty repairs for instance, a mechanic who performed the work or a business which made the truck or its components could be held liable under the legal theory of respondeat superior.
It's also possible the accountable party may have committed a more serious reckless act that might entitle you to punitive damages. To be able to prove this, we must to prove that the liable party acted in reckless disregard for your safety or that of others.
It is essential to work with an attorney who understands the complexities of truck accidents. Insurance firms and attorneys for the at-fault parties are often the wolves in sheepskins who try to get you to give statements that they can later use against you. You can avoid these pitfalls by having an attorney handle your communications.