HELP FOR ATTORNEYS HANDLING TRUCK ACCIDENT CASES

A truck accident is different from other personal injury cases — and that is the single most important thing for any lawyer to understand when handling a truck accident case.   The biggest mistake personal injury lawyers make is thinking that a truck accident case can be handled the same way as a car crash case, but with bigger insurance policy limits. 

When a truck causes a serious accident, there are state and federal laws and safety regulations that apply that do not apply to a car accident. Also, truck accident cases are far more complex and expensive for lawyers to handle properly. A lawyer must know the proper experts to work with and have experience in investigating everything from truck maintenance to driver hiring, training, and supervision, to the download of the truck engine data recorder. To help Michigan attorneys better handle truck crash cases, and help create safer roads for everyone, Michigan Auto Law has provided a wealth of information on the fundamentals of handling a truck accident lawsuit.  

Truck Accident Investigation in Michigan
All truck accident fatalities and catastrophic injury cases must begin with an investigation of the scene of the accident and a detailed inspection of the truck and download of the engine data recorder. Our truck accident personal injury lawyers stress that the evidence-gathering process must start immediately, in order to preserve information vital to the case before it can be lost or intentionally destroyed by the negligent trucking company.  

Finding All Insurance After a Michigan Truck Accident
In any serious truck accident that has caused death or serious personal injury, the amount of insurance available to the victims becomes critical.  In these types of cases, the identity of every liable party and every layer of insurance must be established. The personal injury lawyers of Michigan Auto Law offer tips on ways to evaluate contractual relationships and determine who has financial responsibility for insurance coverage.

Michigan Legal Discovery — Truck Driver
A successful truck accident case is won in discovery. Accident lawyers start with the truck driver, and should also file discovery such as interrogatories, requests for production, notice of depositions and requests for admissions, with the complaint.

Michigan Legal Discovery — The Truck
The most important single area of discovery for Michigan truck lawyers is the truck itself.  Other important and sometimes critical areas will include truck driver log books, electronic on-board recorders, black boxes, truck accident reports, commercial bills of lading, gas and meal receipts and cell phone records.

Discovery Documents for Michigan Truck Accident Attorneys
There are many additional documents generated during the course of a commercial truck operation that are important areas for Michigan no-fault lawyers to obtain discovery in truck accident cases.

Issues That May Require Experts in Truck Accident Cases
Most truck accident lawyers make the mistake of hiring top experts only after they have obtained discovery following a truck accident, only to realize too late that experts should be contacted very close to the truck crash, to help build the strongest case possible.

Black Boxes
Often after a serious truck accident, the truck’s black box data can prove what really happened before, during and after the crash.

Michigan Auto Law has provided this information for other personal injury lawyers in Michigan and throughout the United States who are pursuing truck accident injury claims so they can do a better job for their clients and so we can all help put the brakes on bad trucking companies.
Experienced truck accident lawyers have played a crucial role over the years in forcing bad trucking companies that put profits over public safety to change. With a decline federal and state enforcement and inspections, it is sometimes only lawyers, lawsuits and the threat of litigation that force dangerous trucking companies to adopt safer policies. As lawyers, we must all remember that lawyers helping injured people in need is and will always be the noblest aspect of the legal profession. We hope this guide will help lawyers less familiar with handling truck accident personal injury and wrongful death cases achieve more fair and just compensation for their clients. 
To request a free, no obligation case evaluation with one of our truck accident attorneys, please fill out our contact form and we will respond to your inquiry within one business day. Or to speak to an attorney immediately, please call (800) 777-0028.