The Process of a Truck Accident Lawsuit
Truck accidents can cause severe and permanent injuries. These can result in significant medical expenses as well as psychological damages.
Your lawyer will prepare an Summons and Complaint to all the parties responsible. This process can take several years. Since New York uses comparative fault rules, your lawyer will ensure that any shared responsibility is appropriately defined and allocated to defendants.
Investigations
A truck crash could be more serious than an auto collision. The consequences of a truck accident can be life-altering and the resulting damage is more complex due to the size and weight of a commercial truck. These accidents also require more complex investigations.
This is why insurance companies and trucking companies frequently conduct their own investigations following an accident to safeguard their interests. The victims are left to deal with their injuries and are not able to gather evidence. This puts them at a disadvantage comparison to the trucking company and insurance company.
A truck accident lawyer with experience will search for evidence from a variety of sources, including witness testimony, police reports, and vehicle inspections. A lawyer who is knowledgeable does not rely on only police reports as they can be not sufficient for civil litigation. Police officers might not be trained to conduct an inquiry properly and may not gather all the evidence needed to file the court case.
Other types of data include logbook records, maintenance and service records for the truck as well as data from the event data recorder (also known as a black box), and more. A competent attorney will request these and other forms of evidence from the truck driver and the trucking company and then carefully analyze them to determine the cause of the accident.
Expert Witnesses
A expert witness from a truck accident can aid your attorney in proving various aspects of the case. A medical professional for instance, can prove to your attorney that the accident resulted in your injuries. Your expert can also testify on how your injuries will impact your life's quality of living in the future. Expert witnesses can also assist your lawyer determine the worth of your losses, including lost income and loss of future earning capacity.
stamford truck accident lawsuit can analyze the physical evidence and explain the impact of your injury on your future. For instance an expert in medical science can show how your accident can affect you in terms of physical and mental health. Another kind of expert is a metallurgist that can determine the reason why a component of a vehicle failed. There are experts who can determine if the weather was the cause of the crash.
A key role of your expert witness is to analyze the evidence and offer an objective and impartial opinion. However, certain experts can be an issue in your case if they're biased or have connections to the defendant's companies. Your lawyer can conduct an investigation of the background of the expert witness to find out any risks that could be present.
Your attorney will conduct an interview with you, as well as any other eyewitnesses that witnessed the incident prior to it happening. It is important to note that the defendants' insurance companies will attempt to force you to admit fault or make statements that they can twist or distort to weaken your claim.
Litigation
As with all drivers truck drivers are also required to obey traffic laws. obligation to observe traffic rules and to use reasonable care on the road. If they fail to do so and their negligence causes a crash, they could be held accountable for the damages caused by the accident victims are liable for.
Our attorney will collect evidence from eyewitnesses, and get either oral or written evidence to prove that the defendant was negligent. Our team will also examine the various other evidences, including skid marks and areas of impact, as well as conduct crash tests.
Sometimes, the cause of the truck crash is complex with multiple parties. If the accident was caused by defective equipment or maintenance that was not done properly, we could sue the producers or the truck. We might also bring a lawsuit against the mechanic that performed the repairs or the repair shop.
We will attempt to resolve your case outside of court, however should the trucking firm or its insurer is unable to make an acceptable settlement offer, we will prepare for trial. During the trial the judge or jury will decide on any disputed issues like who was at fault for the accident and the amount of compensation you must receive. The amount of your legal damages will be based on the losses you have documented that comprise financial, physical and emotional suffering.
Statute of Limitations
Understanding how these cases typically take place can help you prepare for what's to come and provide you with an idea of how long it will take to settle your case.
One of the most important steps is to establish the responsibility. It is likely that a trucker who was drunk or distracted or impaired will be held accountable for the damage you suffered. There may be other parties that are also accountable. For instance, if the crash resulted from faulty repairs for instance, a mechanic who completed the work or a business that manufactured the truck or its components might be held responsible under the legal theory of respondeat superior.
It's also possible that the responsible party has did a greater reckless act that could be grounds for you to receive punitive damages. To prove this, we need to prove that the liable party acted with reckless disregard of your safety or that of others.
It is crucial to choose an attorney who is knowledgeable with the complexities involved in truck accident cases. Insurance companies and lawyers for the at-fault party are often wolves in sheepskins and will try to get you to sign documents that they later use against you. If you hire an attorney to handle all communications, you can stay clear of these traps.