You generally hire a lawyer to file a truck accident lawsuit. An attorney will know how to file a lawsuit. Just as importantly, a lawyer will know how to take your lawsuit to trial if circumstances warrant.
Odds are that your truck accident lawsuit will not need to go to trial. Most civil cases, including truck accident cases, end with a settlement. However, by hiring an Austin truck accident lawyer, you prepare for every possible outcome of your case.
What Happens Before Filing a Truck Accident Lawsuit?
You only need to take one step with respect to your lawsuit: Hire a truck accident lawyer. Once you sign the paperwork granting your lawyer the power to represent you, they will handle the rest.
There is a multi-step process leading up to a lawsuit, which includes:
Identifying Liable Parties
Your attorney will identify those with financial responsibility for your damages.
Liable parties in a truck accident case can include:
- A truck driver
- A trucking company
- A truck manufacturer
- A municipality that causes (or allows) dangerous road conditions
- A cargo loader
Liability is unique to each case. Your attorney will gather all relevant information and identify who owes you compensation.
Calculating Your Accident-Related Damages
Before they can negotiate, your lawyer must know the monetary cost of your truck accident. They will calculate both economic and non-economic damages.
If you are suffering ongoing injury symptoms, financial losses, or other damages, your lawyer will discuss their strategy. They may wait for you to reach maximum medical improvement (MMI) before negotiating a settlement. This will ensure that your lawyer’s settlement target reflects your future costs.
Negotiating a Settlement
Your attorney will negotiate a settlement with liable parties, which will likely include at least one insurance company.
Settlement negotiations typically involve:
- Presenting evidence of who is liable for the truck accident
- Presenting documentation of your damages (such as medical bills, proof of lost income, invoices for vehicle repairs, and experts’ diagnoses of your injuries)
- Presenting and explaining the calculation of your damages
- Arguing for a fair settlement and against any counter-arguments
Truck accidents often cause severe injuries and can even cause victims to lose their lives. Your attorney will seek a settlement that reflects the nature and cost of your damages.
If Settlement Negotiations Fail, Your Lawyer May Then File a Lawsuit
Truck accident lawyers don’t typically start a case by filing a lawsuit. Instead, they negotiate with insurers (or civil defense lawyers) in good faith, hoping that a fair settlement offer will emerge.
However, you may need to sue it your lawyer realizes that liable parties do not intend to offer a fair settlement. If so, your attorney will draft and file your lawsuit in short order.
Once Your Lawyer Files a Lawsuit, Trial May Follow
Filing a lawsuit does not necessarily mean your case will go to court. Your lawyer may continue negotiating a settlement even once they file a lawsuit, hoping that they can secure a fair settlement without a trial.
All sides in a truck accident lawsuit may prefer to settle because:
- Trial is uncertain, as the outcome is in a jury’s hands
- Trial takes longer than a settlement
- Trial is far more expensive than resolving a case with a settlement
A trial can also be necessary. Liable parties may leave your lawyer no choice but to go to court because they will not offer the compensation you deserve.
During the trial, your lawyer will:
- Complete discovery, at which time both sides will reveal their evidence and witness lists
- Make opening arguments (and eventually, closing arguments)
- Present evidence
- Question witnesses
- Request that the jury award you the compensation you deserve
You want an experienced, proven lawyer representing you in this pressure-packed, high-stakes process, as they will calmly and confidently fight for your financial recovery.
Reasons to Hire a Truck Accident Lawyer (Whether or Not Your Case Requires a Lawsuit)
You may wonder whether you need to hire a truck accident lawyer. Knowing all a lawyer offers makes this a simple decision.
Truck accident victims hire attorneys because:
- They need to focus on recovery: Truck accidents cause severe injuries, both physically and psychologically. Survivors deserve to heal and shouldn’t worry about insurance claims or lawsuits. By hiring an attorney, you can spend your time recovering—your lawyer will cover the rest.
- They lack the money to pay for their case: Financial stress is often sky-high after a truck accident. The prospect of building an insurance claim or lawsuit can be daunting. When you hire a lawyer, you don’t pay the cost of completing your case. Your law firm will cover these expenses, and you won’t pay any upfront fees or costs.
- They don’t know how to build a winning case: The typical accident victim does not have much experience with insurance claims or lawsuits, if any. This unfamiliarity can be a glaring flaw when building an effective case. Rather than risk the blind spots that come with inexperience, you can hire a truck accident lawyer with more than enough relevant experience.
- They know a lawyer is more qualified to lead the case: A lawyer can build a winning case better than you can. This is reason enough to retain a truck accident attorney.
For your health and your case, consider working with an attorney.
Truck Accident Cases Can Be Immensely Complicated
Truck accident cases are not like other cases.
You (or your lawyer) will need to:
- Ensure that a liable trucking company does not dispose of evidence
- Secure the evidence from the liable trucking company
- Determine the cause of the accident (trucks are complex vehicles, and so truck accidents have many potential causes)
- Establish liability for the truck accident (multiple parties may share liability for the accident)
Then, you must secure the compensation you deserve. An experienced, well-financed truck accident lawyer can do that.
Truck Accident Cases Can Also Be High Stakes
On average, auto accidents that cause disabling injuries cost an overwhelming amount in economic losses alone. When you factor in non-economic damages like pain and suffering, and you consider that truck accidents often cause severe injuries, you realize that truck accident cases can be high stakes.
Losing your case can mean losing a large sum of money and feeling the weight of that loss for the foreseeable future. A lawyer is best qualified to present a winning case, so go with one.
Your Claim or Lawsuit Must Provide Compensation for All Accident-Related Damages
Every truck accident lawyer’s goal is to secure the compensation their clients deserve. However, each client has different injuries, damages, and settlement values.
Your lawyer will create a detailed inventory of your accident-related damages, which may include:
Pain and Suffering
Truck accidents often cause non-economic damages, and pain and suffering are the most common.
This category of damages can include:
- Physical pain (including acute and chronic pain)Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Anxiety (which may include fear of being in motor vehicles)
- Depression
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Sleep problems
- Lost quality of life
Everyone responds differently to a severe traffic accident. Your lawyer will arrange for a mental health professional to evaluate you and identify your pain and suffering.
Professional Damages
A truck accident can interfere with your work, causing you to:
- Lose your usual income
- Miss bonus opportunities
- Lose progress towards promotions
- Suffer psychologically because you cannot work
If you are disabled, these damages may have a lifelong effect. Your attorney will value your professional damages and seek compensation for them.
Vehicle Repairs and Other Property Expenses
You should receive fair compensation for vehicle repairs and temporary transportation. If your vehicle was totaled during the truck accident, your lawyer will seek compensation for a new vehicle.
If your phone or other property sustained damage during the accident, your lawyer will include those expenses in your claim or lawsuit.
Medical Expenses
Lawyers seek complete financial coverage of their client’s medical expenses.
Because truck accidents often cause severe injuries, your medical needs may include:
- Emergency transportation
- Surgery
- Hospitalization
- Specialist appointments
- Medications
- Rehabilitation services
- Medical imaging
Medical care is among the most expensive services anyone can receive. Your attorney will work to ensure you don’t pay any out-of-pocket costs for your medical services.
A Wrongful Death
Fatal truck accidents have increased significantly over the last decade, and trucks are more dangerous than smaller vehicles because of their massive weight. If your loved one passes away because of accident-related injuries, a lawyer will represent you with the utmost compassion.
Fatal truck accidents can cause:
- The loss of a spouse’s companionship
- The loss of a parent’s guidance, support, and protection
- The loss of a child
- Debilitating pain and suffering (including but not limited to grief and depression)
- Mental health treatment costs
- Loss of the decedent’s income
- Loss of the decedent’s contributions to their household (such as accounting services, security, chores, and handiwork)
- Funeral and burial expenses
Losing a loved one is the ultimate consequence of a truck accident. You deserve to take time to grieve, but that may mean hiring a truck accident lawyer to lead a wrongful death case at the same time.
Your Lawyer Will Hold Liable Parties Accountable for Their Negligence
Over the past decade-plus, truck accidents causing injuries have also followed an upward trend. Unfortunately, more and more players in the trucking industry are cutting corners and acting negligently, leading to more crashes and serious injuries.
All liable parties should be accountable for your losses. Your lawyer will identify all types of negligence that contributed to your accident, which may include:
Hiring Unfit Truckers
If a trucking company hires unfit employees, the company is responsible for accidents those unfit drivers cause.
An unfit driver may:
- Have unresolved substance abuse problems
- Are not physically capable of operating a truck safely
- Have psychological issues that make them a risk to themselves and others
- Do not have an active commercial driver’s license (CDL)
- Engage in any behavior that endangers others
Trucking companies must not place productivity or profits over safety. When they do, they must pay the cost of the accidents their negligence causes.
Failing to Monitor or Terminate Unsafe Drivers
A truck driver may appear fit but can engage in driving behaviors that endanger others. Trucking companies must monitor their employees and appropriately discipline dangerous employees.
A motorist may be subject to discipline (including possible termination) if they:
- Speed
- Tailgate
- Fail to secure cargo properly
- Drive while distracted
- Drive while intoxicated
- Drive under the influence of drugs
- Work knowing that they are physically, psychologically, or emotionally unfit to do so
- Violate limitations on their drive time
- Drive knowing that their vehicle has a defect (like a broken mirror)
- Engage in any other behavior that poses a risk to others
Truck drivers know how dangerous their vehicles are. Both drivers and their employees must avoid high-risk behaviors at all costs.
Using Unsafe Trucks
If a trucker or trucking company fails to report defects to the property authorities and fix or replace defective vehicles, they are responsible for accidents caused by those defects.
Unsafe Road Conditions
You can hold a municipality liable when dangerous road conditions lead to a truck accident. Your attorney can lead the legal fight against any municipality that endangered you or your loved one.
Your Lawyer May Face a Filing Deadline, So Don’t Wait to Hire Them
Truck accident victims face a strict (and looming) deadline for filing lawsuits. You must initiate a case before the filing deadline to pursue the compensation you deserve in civil court. Allowing the statute of limitations to expire can place you in devastating financial circumstances.
Research personal injury attorney in your area and hire the most qualified firm to lead your case as soon as possible.