The Process of a Truck Accident Lawsuit
Many truck accidents result in victims suffering severe and permanent injuries. These accidents can lead to significant medical expenses, lost income, and psychological injuries.
Your lawyer will issue an Summons and Complaint to the parties who are liable. This process can take several years. Since New York uses comparative fault rules, your lawyer will ensure that any shared responsibility is correctly determined and assigned to defendants.
Investigations
A truck accident can be more serious than an auto accident. A truck accident can have devastating consequences for the person. The impact is also more complicated due to the size and weight. These accidents also require more complicated investigations.
To protect their interests the trucking companies and insurance companies will usually conduct their investigations immediately after the incident. The victims are left to deal only with their injuries, and they are not able to gather evidence. This puts them in a position of disadvantage compared to the insurance company and trucking company.
A truck accident lawyer who has experience will look for evidence in a variety of sources, including witness testimony, police reports, and vehicle inspections. A lawyer who is well-informed is not relying on reports from the police because they are usually insufficient for civil litigation. Police officers might not be properly trained to conduct an investigation properly and may not gather all the evidence required to support the court case.
Other types of information might include logbook and maintenance records and service records from the truck. Data from the device for recording events (also known as the black box) is also available. A competent attorney will ask the truck driver and the trucking company for these and other forms of evidence, and then look over them to determine reason for the accident.
Expert Witnesses
A professional witness can help your lawyer establish the various aspects of your truck accident case. For instance an expert in medicine can prove to your lawyer that the crash resulted in your injuries. Experts can also testify as to how your injuries will impact your quality of life in the future. Expert witnesses can assist your lawyer determine your damages like lost income and future earning capacity.
A medical professional can examine physical evidence and discuss the consequences of your injury on your future. For instance an expert in medical science can demonstrate how your accident can affect your physical and mental health. A metallurgist is another type of expert that can examine the reasons behind why a vehicle component failed. Experts can determine if the weather was the cause of the crash.
The primary function of an expert witness is to examine the evidence and provide an objective and impartial opinion. Expert witnesses can be a liability for your case when their opinions are skewed or they have connections to the defendants. Your lawyer can conduct a background check on the expert witness to identify any risks.
Your lawyer will question you, as well as any other eyewitnesses who witnessed the incident prior to it happening. Be aware that the insurance companies of the defendants will attempt to get your to acknowledge your responsibility or make statements which they can twist and alter to weaken your case.
Litigation
As with all drivers truck drivers are also required to obey traffic laws. obligation to observe traffic rules and to exercise reasonable care on the road. If they do not follow the rules and their negligence results in a crash, they could be held responsible for the injuries that victims suffer.
Our lawyer 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 various other evidence, like skid marks and points of collision, and conduct crash tests.
Sometimes, the reason for a truck accident is complicated that involves multiple parties. If the accident was caused by defective equipment, or improper maintenance, then we could sue the manufacturers or the trucks. waukegan truck accident lawyer could also sue the mechanic who performed the repairs or the repair shop.
We will attempt to resolve your case outside of court, however should the trucking company or its insurer is unable to accept an equitable settlement offer, we will prepare for trial. During the trial, a judge or jury will decide on the merits of the dispute such as who was responsible for the crash and what amount of compensation you must be awarded. Your legal damages will be calculated in accordance with the totality of your losses. This includes financial, physical and emotional suffering.
Statute of limitations
Understanding how these cases normally proceed can help prepare you for what lies ahead and give you an idea of the time it might take to settle your case.
One of the most crucial actions is to establish liability. It is likely that a trucker who was drowsy or distracted or impaired will be held responsible for the damage you suffered. There may be other parties that are also liable. For instance, if a crash occurred due to poor repairs for instance, a mechanic who completed the work or a business that manufactured the truck or its parts could be held responsible in the legal concept of respondeat superior.
You could also be entitled to damages for punitive harm if the accountable party committed an act of recklessness that was more serious. To establish this, we have to prove that the responsible party acted in reckless disregard for your safety or that of others.
It is important to work with an attorney who is familiar with the complexities involved in truck accidents. Insurance companies and attorneys for the at-fault party are usually sheepskins in wolves and will try to force you to sign statements which they later use against you. By having an attorney handle all communications, you will avoid these traps.