Trained Attorneys Will Negotiate With The Insurance Company
Cases involving collisions with trucks are not like typical car accidents. Commercial trucking cases are often more complicated for at least two reasons. First, truck accidents cause more serious injuries than standard motor vehicle accidents. The more serious your injuries, the more expensive the medical care and the more profound impact the injuries will have on your life. This makes it more difficult to value your injuries and recover full compensation.
Second, in a truck accident, there is a greater likelihood of having more than one responsible party. Under Texas law, all responsible parties are assigned fault according to their involvement in the accident. When damages are awarded, each liable party is responsible for their assigned percentage of fault. As a tactic to escape or reduce liability, trucking companies seek to blame any and all parties remotely connected to the crash. While this complicates the case, it also provides you, the injured motorist, with more liable defendants, often resulting in more insurance providers to recover from.
An experienced 18-wheeler accident attorney will know how to handle these complexities and maximize your recovery. A lawyer with experience handling truck crash cases will identify all parties responsible for the accident and ensure the evidence required to prove liability is secured.
An experienced attorney will also use industry experts to assess your injuries and ensure you receive full damages. Properly identifying and proving the life-long impact of an injury requires doctors and other professionals who understand how an injury develops over a lifetime. Without this experience, a liable defendant may not be held responsible for all your damages.
A Truck Accident Attorney Will Gather The Information To Prove Liability And Damages
After hiring a truck accident attorney, your lawyer will begin to assemble information to gain a better understanding of the crash and your injuries. This information will relate to two primary concepts, liability, and damages.
Damages is the legal term for compensation. In a lawsuit, you are entitled to recover financial compensation for all of the harm you have suffered as a result of someone else’s wrongful conduct. This includes economic harms, such as medical bills and lost wages, and noneconomic harms, such as pain and suffering. To properly assess and value these damages, your lawyer will need information about your injuries, such as medical and billing records, past employment records, and loss of income. With the help of trained experts, your attorney will use this information to create a damage model that will be used as a basis for negotiating your claim with the liable parties.
Your attorney will also begin compiling information to prove liability. Since a lawsuit has not been filed, your attorney must gather this information without the help of the defendants. Instead, your attorney will gather information such as the police report, the defendant’s FMCSA records, and prior lawsuits against the defendant. Your attorney will also inspect the vehicles involved in the crash and, if necessary, have an accident reconstruction analysis completed to better understand the cause of the crash.
Armed with this information, your attorney can assess the case’s merits and create a theory of recovery and a basis for damages that can be used to negotiate your claims and settle the case without ever filing a lawsuit. The clearer your attorney can convey to the trucking company liability and damages, the more likely your case will settle.
Our Houston truck accident lawyers are prepared to fight for you. Call us at (281) 801-5617 or contact us online for help identifying the cause of your truck crash.
