The Best Advice You'll Receive About Truck Accident Attorneys
The Process of a Truck Accident Lawsuit
Accidents involving trucks can cause serious and permanent injuries. Accidents can result in substantial medical expenses, loss of income and psychological traumas.
Your attorney will prepare an Summons and Complaint against all responsible parties. This process could take a few years. Because New York uses comparative fault rules, your lawyer can ensure that any shared responsibility is correctly defined and allocated to defendants.
Investigations
If someone is injured in a truck crash, there is a lot more at stake than an auto collision. A truck accident could result in life-changing consequences. The consequences are more complex due to its size and weight. These accidents also involve more intricate investigation.
To protect their interests in the event of a crash, trucking firms or insurance companies usually investigate immediately following the accident. The victims are left to deal with their injuries, and are not able to gather evidence. This puts them at a disadvantage comparison to the trucking company and insurance companies.
A truck accident lawyer with experience will search for evidence in a variety of sources, such as police reports, witness testimony and inspections of vehicles. A seasoned lawyer won't just rely on police reports however, as these documents are usually not sufficient for civil litigation purposes. Police officers aren't trained to conduct an appropriate investigation, and they may not be able to gather all the evidence needed to support an action.
Other types of data include logbook entries maintenance and service records for the truck and other equipment, data from the event data recorder (also known as a black box) and more. A competent attorney will demand these as well as other types of evidence from the truck driver as well as the trucking company and then carefully analyze the evidence to determine what led to the accident.
new jersey truck accident law firm from a truck accident can aid your lawyer in proving different elements of the case. A medical professional could, for instance, provide proof to your attorney that the accident resulted in your injuries. Your expert may also testify as to how your injuries will impact your quality of life in the future. Expert witnesses can also help your lawyer assess the value of your damages, including lost income and loss of future earning capacity.
An expert can look over the physical evidence and explain the impact of your injury on your future. For example medical experts can explain how your accident will affect your physical and mental well-being. A metallurgist, for instance, is another kind of expert that can examine the reasons why a vehicle component failed. Experts can determine if the weather played a role in the crash.
Your expert's responsibility is to provide an unbiased and objective opinion after examining the evidence. However, some expert witnesses could pose an issue in your case if they are biased or have connections to the defendants' companies. Your lawyer can conduct a background check to find the risks and ensure that you have the best expert witnesses on your side.
Aside from expert witnesses, your attorney will also interview you as well as other eyewitnesses, such as people who saw the crash taking place prior to when it occurred. It is important to note that the defendants' insurance companies will try to get you to acknowledge fault or to make statements they can twist and distort to deny your claim.
Litigation
Truck drivers are also required to obey traffic laws and drive with reasonable care. If they do not comply with this obligation and their negligence results in a crash, they could be held accountable for the damage to the victims of that collision.
To prove the defendant's negligence, our attorney will gather a number of eyewitnesses who witnessed the crash and provide oral or written evidence of the circumstances of the collision. Our team will also review other evidence like skidmarks and points of impact and conduct crash testing.
Sometimes the reason for the truck crash is complex, involving multiple parties. If the truck accident was caused by defective equipment, or maintenance that was not done properly, we could sue the producers or the trucks. We might also sue the mechanic or repair shop who performed the repairs.
We will try to resolve your case without going to the courtroom. If, however, the trucking company or its insurer does not agree to an equitable settlement or offer, we'll prepare to go to trial. During the trial in court, a jury or judge will decide on issues that are disputed, such as who was responsible for the crash and what amount of compensation you are entitled to be awarded. The total of your legal damages will be based on your documented losses, which include physical, financial and emotional pain.
Statute of Limitations
Understanding how these cases normally go about their business can help you prepare for what lies ahead and give you an idea of the time it might take to settle your case.
Finding out who is responsible is one of the most crucial steps. If the truck driver was drunk or distracted, for instance then it is likely that they will be held responsible for your damages. However, there might be other parties who are also liable. For instance, if the crash was caused by poor repairs for instance, a mechanic who did the work or a business which made the truck or its components could be held responsible in the legal concept of respondeat superior.
It's also possible that the responsible party has did a greater risky act, which might entitle you to punitive damages. To establish this, we have to prove that the responsible party was reckless to your safety, or that of others.
It's crucial to work with an attorney who is knowledgeable with the complexities involved in truck accident cases. Insurance companies and the attorneys of the at-fault parties are frequently sheep in sheep's clothes and will attempt to obtain statements from you that they can use against you in the future. You can avoid these traps by having an attorney manage your communications.