The Process of a Truck Accident Lawsuit
Many truck accidents leave victims with severe and permanent injuries. Accidents can result in significant medical expenses, lost income, and psychological injuries.
Your attorney will file a Summons and Complaint against all responsible parties. The process can take a few years. Because New York uses comparative fault rules, your lawyer can ensure that any shared responsibility is correctly evaluated and distributed to defendants.
Investigations
If someone is injured in a truck accident, there is a lot more at stake than in an auto collision. The consequences of a collision with a truck can be life-changing and the resulting damage is more complex due to the weight and size of commercial trucks. These accidents also involve more complicated investigation.
To protect their interests trucking companies or insurance companies usually investigate immediately following the incident. The issue is that victims are left to take care of their injuries and are not in a position to gather evidence. This puts them at a disadvantage comparison to the trucking company and insurance companies.
A seasoned truck accident attorney is able to find evidence from a variety of sources, including police reports, witness statements, and inspections of vehicles. A lawyer who is experienced will not rely on the reports of police officers alone as they can be not sufficient for civil litigation. Police officers aren't trained to conduct a proper investigation, and they may not be able to gather all the evidence needed for an action.
Other types of data include logbook records maintenance and service records for the truck, data from the event data recorder (also called a black box) and many more. A competent attorney will request the driver of the truck as well as the trucking company for these and other forms of evidence, and then examine them to determine the causes of the accident.
Expert Witnesses
An expert witness can assist your lawyer establish the various aspects of your truck accident case. For example medical experts can provide evidence that the crash caused your injuries. Experts can also testify regarding the impact your injuries will have on your future quality-of-life. Expert witnesses can assist your lawyer determine the worth of your injuries, which includes lost income and loss of future earning capacity.
Your doctor can look over physical evidence and explain the impact of your injury on your future. For example, a medical expert will explain how the accident can affect your physical and mental well-being. A metallurgist is a different kind of expert that can examine the reasons behind why a vehicle component failed. There are also experts who examine the way in which weather conditions could have contributed to the crash.
The primary role of your expert witness is to analyze the evidence and provide an unbiased opinion. Certain expert witnesses could be a liability in your case in the event that their opinions are biased or they have ties with the defendants. Your attorney can perform an investigation into the background of the expert witness to find out any risks.
newport beach truck accident lawyer will interview you, along with witnesses who were present at the incident before it occurred. It is important to note that the defendants' insurance firms will attempt to force you to admit fault or to make statements they can twist and distort to diminish your case.
Litigation
As with all drivers truck drivers are also required to obey traffic laws. obligation to follow traffic laws and to use reasonable care when they travel. If they do not comply with this obligation and their negligence leads to an accident, they could be held accountable for damage to the victims of the collision.
Our attorney will collect evidence from eyewitnesses as well as oral or written testimony to prove that the defendant was negligent. Our team will also look at other evidence, including skidmarks and points of impact, and conduct crash testing.
Sometimes, the cause of an accident involving a truck can be complex and involves multiple parties. For example, if the truck crash was caused due to defective equipment or insufficient maintenance, we might bring a lawsuit against the manufacturer of the equipment or the trucks themselves. We could also sue the mechanic who performed the repairs or the repair shop.
We will attempt to settle your dispute out of court, but should the trucking firm or its insurer is unable to make an equitable settlement offer and we prepare for trial. In trial in which a judge or jury will decide on disputed issues like who was the culprit and how much compensation you should get. The legal damages you receive will be calculated according to the total of your losses, including physical, financial, and emotional pain.
Statute of limitations
While navigating the legal process following a crash with a truck can be a bit complicated, knowing the way these cases are handled can help you prepare for what's to come and provide you with a better understanding of the length of time your case may take.
One of the most crucial steps is to establish the liability. If a truck driver was drowsy or distracted, for instance the chances are that they will be held responsible for your losses. However, there might be other parties liable as well. For instance, if a crash resulted from poor repairs, for instance, an individual mechanic who did the work or a business that manufactured the truck or its parts might be held responsible in the legal concept of respondeat superior.
You could also be entitled to damages for punitive if the guilty person committed an act of recklessness that was a lot more serious. To be able to prove this, we must to establish that the liable party acted with reckless disregard of your safety or that of others.
It is crucial to choose an attorney who is experienced with the complexities involved in truck accident cases. Insurance companies and attorneys for at-fault party can be seen as wolves in sheepskins and will attempt to convince you to sign documents which they later use against you. You can avoid these pitfalls by hiring an attorney to manage your communications.