The Process of a Truck Accident Lawsuit
Many truck accidents cause victims to suffer severe and permanent injuries. These can lead to significant medical costs, lost wages and psychological damage.
Your attorney will issue an Summons and Complaint to the parties who are liable. brooklyn park truck wreck lawyer can take several years. Since New York uses comparative fault rules, your lawyer will ensure that any shared liability is properly defined and allocated to defendants.
Investigations
When someone is injured in a truck accident, there is a lot more at stake than an auto accident. The consequences of a truck crash can be devastating and the impact can be more complicated due to the weight and size of a commercial truck. These accidents also involve more complex investigations.
Due to this, trucking companies and insurance providers frequently conduct their own investigations immediately following an accident to protect their interests. The issue is that victims are left to manage their injuries and aren't able to collect evidence. This puts them at a disadvantage in comparison to the trucking company or insurance companies.
A lawyer for truck accidents with experience will search for evidence in a variety of sources, such as witness testimony, police reports and vehicle inspections. A knowledgeable lawyer will not depend solely on police reports, however, as these reports are usually not sufficient for civil litigation. Police officers may not be trained to conduct an inquiry properly and they may not be able to gather all the evidence needed to file the court case.
Other kinds of data include logbook records maintenance and service records for the truck, data from the event data recorder (also called a black box) and more. A competent attorney will request both the driver of the truck and trucking company for these and other kinds of evidence and then carefully examine them to determine the root of the accident.
Expert Witnesses
A truck accident expert witness can help your attorney prove different elements of the case. For example, a medical expert can give your lawyer proof that the crash resulted in your injuries. Your expert can also testify about how your injuries affect your life's quality of living in the future. Expert witnesses can help your lawyer determine your damages which include lost income and future earning capacity.
Experts can review physical evidence and explain the impact of your injury on your future. For example, a medical expert can show how your accident will impact you in terms of physical and mental health. A metallurgist is an additional type of expert who can determine the causes behind why a component failed. Experts can determine if the weather was the cause of the crash.
Your expert's responsibility is to provide an impartial and objective opinion after having examined the evidence. However, some experts can be a liability risk in your case if they are biased or have connections to the defendant's businesses. Your lawyer can conduct a background check to identify these risks and ensure you have the top expert witnesses on your side.
Your lawyer will question you, along with any other eyewitnesses who saw the incident before it occurred. It is crucial to remember that the insurance companies of defendants will attempt to force you to admit that they are at fault or to make claims they can twist and deceive to weaken your claim.
Litigation
Truck drivers are also required to obey traffic laws and take reasonable care when driving. If they do not follow the rules and their negligence causes an accident, they could be held responsible for the injuries that the victims are liable for.
Our lawyer will collect evidence from eyewitnesses, and get written or oral testimony to prove the defendant was negligent. Our team will also study various other evidences, including skid marks and areas of impact, and will conduct crash tests.
Sometimes, the cause of an accident involving a truck is complex and involves multiple parties. For instance, if the truck crash was caused by defective equipment or improper maintenance, we might sue the manufacturers of that equipment or the trucks themselves. We could also sue the mechanic who made the repairs or the repair shop.
We will try to resolve your dispute outside of court. If, however, the trucking company or its insurance company refuses to negotiate a fair settlement then we will prepare to go to trial. During the trial, a judge or jury will decide on any disputed issues such as who was responsible for the accident and what amount of compensation you should be awarded. The total of your legal damages will be based on your documented losses, which include financial, physical, and emotional suffering.
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 how long it may take to settle your case.
One of the most important actions is to establish the extent of liability. If an truck driver was sleepy or distracted, for instance the chances are that they'll be held accountable for your losses. However, there could be other parties who are accountable as well. For instance, if the crash resulted from poor repairs such as an individual mechanic who did the work or a company who made the truck or its parts might be held responsible according to the legal doctrine of respondeat superior.
You could also be entitled to damages for punitive if the guilty party acted with recklessness that was more acrimonious. To be able to prove this, you need to prove that the liable party acted recklessly for your safety or that of others.
It is important to work with an attorney who understands the complexities of truck accidents. Insurance companies and lawyers for the at-fault party are often the wolves in sheepskins who try to get you to make statements that they later use against you. You can avoid these traps by having an attorney handle your communications.