The Process of a Truck Accident Lawsuit
Accidents involving trucks can cause serious and permanent injuries. These accidents can result in substantial medical expenses, loss of income, and psychological injuries.
Your attorney will make an Summons and Complaint against all parties liable. This process could take many years. Because New York uses comparative fault rules, your lawyer will ensure that any shared responsibility is correctly evaluated and distributed to defendants.
Investigations
When someone is injured in a truck accident there is much more at stake than in an auto crash. The effects of a crash involving a truck can be life-changing and the impact can be more complex due to the size and weight of commercial trucks. These accidents also involve more complicated investigations.
As a result, insurance companies and trucking firms often conduct investigations right after an accident to safeguard their interests. The issue is that the injured are left to handle their injuries and aren't able to collect evidence. This puts them at a disadvantage in comparison to the trucking company and insurance provider.
A skilled attorney for truck accidents is able to find evidence from numerous sources which include police reports witness statements, and inspections of vehicles. A knowledgeable lawyer will not rely solely on police reports, however, as these reports are usually not sufficient for civil litigation. Police officers aren't always properly trained to conduct an investigation properly and might not gather all the evidence needed to file a lawsuit.
Other kinds of data could include logbook records and maintenance and service records from the truck. Data from the device for recording events (also called a black box) is also available. An experienced attorney will seek these as well as other types of evidence from the truck driver and the trucking company and carefully examine them to determine what caused the accident.
Expert Witnesses
A expert witness in a truck accident can assist your attorney in proving various elements of the case. Medical experts for instance, can provide evidence to your lawyer that the accident caused your injuries. Your expert can also testify on how your injuries will impact your future quality of life. Expert witnesses can also assist your lawyer calculate the value of your losses, including lost income and loss of future earning capacity.
A medical professional can analyze the physical evidence and explain how your injuries will impact your future. For example an expert in medical science will explain how the accident can affect you in terms of physical and mental well-being. Another kind of expert is a metallurgist who can analyze why a vehicle part failed. There are experts who can determine if weather played a part in the crash.
arizona truck wreck lawyer of an expert witness is to give an impartial and objective opinion after examining the evidence. Expert witnesses can be a liability in your case if their opinions are biased or they have connections to the defendants. Your lawyer can conduct a background check to find these risks and ensure you have the top experts in your case.
Alongside expert witnesses, your attorney will also speak with you and witnesses, including people who saw the crash take place before it happened. It is important to keep in mind that the defendants' insurance firms will attempt to force you to admit that they are at fault or to make claims they can twist or distort to deny your claim.
Litigation
Like all drivers truck drivers also have a obligation to follow traffic laws and take reasonable care when driving. If they do not fulfill this obligation and their negligence causes a crash, they could be held liable for the accident damages suffered by those who were injured in the collision.
Our lawyer will gather evidence from eyewitnesses and seek either oral or written evidence to prove the defendant was negligent. Our team will also look at other evidence such as skidmarks as well as points of impact. We will also conduct crash testing.
Sometimes, the cause of an accident involving a truck is complex and involves multiple parties. For instance, if a truck crash was caused by defective equipment or poor maintenance, we may sue the manufacturers of that equipment or the trucks themselves. We could also sue the mechanic or repair shop who performed the repairs.
We will try to resolve your case out of court, but if the trucking company or its insurance company refuses to accept an acceptable settlement offer and we prepare for trial. During the trial the judge or jury will decide on the merits of the dispute like who was at fault for the accident and what amount of compensation you are entitled to receive. Your legal damages will be determined according to the total of your losses, including physical, financial, and emotional suffering.
Statute of limitations
Knowing how these cases typically are handled can help you prepare for what lies ahead and provide you with an idea of how long it may take to settle your case.
One of the most important actions is to establish liability. It is likely that a trucker who was drowsy or distracted or impaired will be held accountable for the harm you suffered. There may be other parties also liable. For instance, if the accident resulted from poor repairs such as a mechanic who completed the work or a company that manufactured 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 if the guilty party committed an act of recklessness that was more severe. To be able to prove this, we must to establish that the liable party acted in reckless disregard for your safety or the safety of others.
It is vital to hire an attorney who is experienced with the complexities of truck accident cases. Insurance companies and the at-fault parties' attorneys are often as wolves in sheep's clothes and will attempt to obtain statements from you that they could use against you in the future. You can avoid these traps by hiring an attorney to handle your communications.
