The Process of a Truck Accident Lawsuit
Many accidents involving trucks cause severe and lifelong injuries. They can result in substantial medical expenses, lost wages and psychological trauma.
Your attorney will file a Summons and Complaint against all responsible parties. This process can last several years. Your lawyer can help you determine whether any shared responsibility been properly assessed and assigned.
Investigations
A truck crash can be more severe than a car accident. The consequences of a truck crash can be life-changing and the impact can be more complicated due to the size and weight of commercial trucks. These accidents also require more intricate investigation.
Due to this, trucking companies and insurance providers often conduct investigation immediately following a crash to protect their interests. The issue is that the victims are left to take care of their injuries, and aren't in a position to gather evidence. This leaves them at a disadvantage compared to the insurance company and trucking company.
A seasoned attorney for truck accidents knows to look for evidence from numerous sources such as police reports, witness statements and vehicle inspections. A knowledgeable lawyer will not rely solely on police reports, however, since these reports are usually not sufficient for civil litigation purposes. Police officers might not be equipped to conduct an investigation properly and they may not be able to gather all the evidence required to support the court case.
Other kinds of data could include logbook records and maintenance and service records from the truck. Data from the device for recording events (also known as the black box) is also available. A skilled attorney will request these as well as other types of evidence from the truck driver as well as the trucking company, and then analyze the evidence to determine what led to the accident.
Expert Witnesses
An expert witness can aid your lawyer to prove different elements of your truck accident case. For instance an expert in medical science will provide your lawyer with evidence that the crash resulted in your injuries. Your expert can also testify about how your injuries will affect your life's quality of living in the future. Expert witnesses can help your lawyer assess the damages, such as lost income and future earning capacity.
Your expert can review the physical evidence and explain how your injury will impact your future. An expert in medicine for instance, can explain how the accident could affect your physical and mental health. Another type of expert is a metallurgist who can determine the reason why a component of a vehicle failed. Experts can determine if the weather played a role in the crash.
The main function of your expert is to analyze the evidence and provide an unbiased opinion. However, certain expert witnesses can become a liability risk for your case if they are biased or have ties to the defendant's companies. Your lawyer can conduct an investigation into the background of the expert witness to identify any risks that could be present.
Apart from expert witnesses, your lawyer will also interview you and other eyewitnesses. This includes people who saw the crash taking place prior to when it happened. It is crucial to remember that the defendants' insurance companies will attempt to force you to admit fault or to make claims they can twist or distort to undermine your claim.
Litigation
As with all drivers truck drivers also have a duty to obey traffic laws and to use reasonable care on the road. If they do not fulfill this duty and their negligence leads to an accident, they could be held accountable for the accident damages suffered by the victims of the crash.
Our lawyer will obtain evidence from eyewitnesses, and get 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 reason for the truck crash is complex that involves multiple parties. If baltimore truck accident lawsuit was caused by defective equipment, or improper maintenance, we could sue the manufacturers or the trucks. We might also sue the mechanic who made the repairs or the repair shop.
We will try to resolve your dispute out of court, but should the trucking company or its insurance company refuses to make an equitable settlement offer then we will prepare for trial. During the trial, a jury or judge will decide on issues that are disputed like who was the culprit and the amount of compensation you'll receive. Your legal damages will be determined in accordance with the totality of your losses, which include financial, physical and emotional pain.
Statute of Limitations
Knowing how these cases typically proceed can help prepare you for what is to come and give you an idea of how long it will take to resolve your case.
One of the most important steps is to establish the liability. If the truck driver was tired or distracted, as an example the chances are that they'll be held accountable for your damages. However, there may be other parties who are accountable as well. If the accident was the result of poor repairs or a mechanic, then a company that made the truck or its components could be held liable under the legal theory of respondeat superior.
You could also be entitled to damages for punitive harm if the accountable person acted in a manner of recklessness that was more severe. To prove this, we must establish that they acted in a reckless, impulsive manner with a disregard for your safety as well as that of others.
It's important to work with an attorney who is familiar with the complexities involved in truck accidents. Insurance companies and lawyers for the at-fault party are often the wolves in sheepskins who try to get you to sign statements which they later use against you. You can avoid these traps by having an attorney handle your communications.