When you have been injured in a car accident with a tractor trailer in Michigan, one of the most important things to do is to hire an experienced truck accident attorney. Only a lawyer who understands this specialized area of rules and regulations in trucking and identifying all the insurance and possible defendants will be able to fully protect your legal rights to pain and suffering compensation and economic loss damages.
It is very important that you know – and that the lawyer you hire knows – that a car accident with a tractor trailer in Michigan is very different from a automobile crash involving a car versus car only case.
How can an experienced truck crash attorney help after a car accident with tractor trailer in Michigan?
An experienced truck crash attorney can help you with the following after a car accident with tractor trailer in Michigan: (1) obtain better settlements faster; (2) prevent destruction of crucial evidence; (3) identify violations of federal and state safety regulations; (4) identify all the responsible parties; (5) find experts; and (6) uncover “hidden” sources of recovery, including additional layers of insurance coverage that many personal injury lawyers would miss if they do not have experience with these cases.
Here is more detail about how an experienced truck crash attorney can help:
- Settlements for larger amounts and faster: The saying in the legal world is that liability drives damages. Unfortunately, too many personal injury lawyers who are not experienced with tractor trailer car accident cases in Michigan will fail to uncover important safety violations that could have led to a larger settlement or to identifying other responsible parties to sue. Also, the track record of your attorney and his reputation with insurance companies for trying and winning these cases can help you settle your case for more money and often much faster. Industry research shows that the value of a settlement can be increased by up to 4 x more when victims are represented by experienced, skilled lawyers who are known for obtaining favorable settlements and trial verdicts. Very few personal injury lawyers try cases these days. Even fewer have tried to verdict a car accident with a tractor trailer in Michigan. I’ve tried over 20 car accident with a tractor trailer cases in Michigan over the years, which actually may be more than any other lawyer in the country today. But the real point is that insurance companies know I will try these cases, and they know my law firm knows how to try them the right way. That alone leads to both bigger and faster settlements for people we help compared to how insurance companies would view the same case with another personal injury lawyer in Michigan who does not try these cases or does not understand truck accident law and litigation.
- Prevent trucking companies from destroying crucial evidence: Hiring an experienced trucking attorney is essential because only he or she will know how to prevent the negligent trucking company that injured you from destroying key evidence of its negligence – which they are quite legally able to do shortly after the crash unless your lawyer sends a spoliation letter, files a lawsuit and requests this in discovery, or files a motion to get a judge to stop them. This crucial evidence often now includes black box and electronic logging devices (ELD) data, but it can include driver files and many other things that could significantly impact a lawsuit or truck accident settlement.
- Federal and state regulations of trucks and trucking companies: After a car accident with a tractor trailer in Michigan, in order hold the trucking company accountable for your injuries, compensation and economic damages, your litigation attorney must have a thorough knowledge of and familiarity with the many special rules and federal and state safety regulations that apply to the trucking industry, such as the federal and state regulations for insurance, retention of records and ELD data, hours-of-services, and the retention of maintenance and employment records and evidence of proper supervision, monitoring and hiring of drivers.
- Identify the responsible, negligent parties: An experienced trucking litigation attorney will know how to find the often deliberately hard-to-find negligent parties who are also liable for your injuries, compensation and damages – these are often the responsible parties that inexperienced attorneys always miss. This goes beyond the truck driver and the trucking company. It includes the maintenance company, the manufacturer of the semi or tractor trailer, the load broker, the leasing agent for the tractor-trailer company, and the company that loads or unloads the cargo. Failure to identify and name a proper party can mean the loss of millions of additional dollars in applicable insurance and recovery for someone who has suffered a catastrophic injury with a tractor trailer.
- Find experts: Your attorney must know and be able to call on the nation’s top experts for your case.
- Find sources for your settlement: In order to ensure that you obtain the best possible settlement, a skilled truck wreck attorney will know how to investigate and uncover all of the multiple layers of insurance coverage – most of which are carefully hidden – that are available to the trucking company and to the other responsible parties to pay you the compensation and economic damages you are entitled to under the law.
Wrongful death after a car accident with tractor trailer in Michigan
If you have lost a loved one in a car accident with tractor trailer in Michigan, then you and your family may be able to pursue to a wrongful death lawsuit for: (1) medical, hospital, funeral, and burial expenses; (2) pain and suffering compensation; and (3) loss of the deceased’s financial support, society and companionship.
Pain and suffering compensation
After being injured in a car accident with a tractor trailer in Michigan, you or a loved one may be able to recover pain and suffering compensation from the at-fault truck driver and trucking company and other responsible parties. However, you will need to show your injuries resulted in a “serious impairment of body function.”
No-Fault benefits
You can recover No-Fault PIP benefits after a car accident with tractor trailer in Michigan which will help pay for your medical bills, lost wages (if your injuries have disabled you from working) and transportation costs for traveling to and from doctor appointments as well as attendant care services.
To recover No-Fault benefits, you must file an application for No-Fault benefits – which is also called a “written notice of injury” – with the responsible auto insurance company within one (1) year after the crash. (MCL 500.3145(1) and (4))
If the application is not filed on time, then the auto insurance company will use this against you to deny your claim and forever refuse to pay any and all of the No-Fault benefits you would have otherwise been entitled to.
Injured in a car accident with tractor trailer in Michigan? Get help from a Michigan Auto Law truck crash attorney
If you were injured in a car accident with tractor trailer in Michigan and you want to know about your legal rights to pain and suffering compensation, economic damages and No-Fault benefits to cover medical expenses and lost wages, you can speak to an experienced Michigan truck accident attorney at (800) 968-1001 for a free consultation. You can also get help from an experienced TBI attorney by visiting our contact page or you can use the chat feature on our website.
For more than 50 years, our truck crash attorneys have been helping people like you who have been injured in a car accident with a tractor trailer in Michigan. We understand the physical, emotional and psychological hardships you are experiencing from your accident. We can help.
Michigan Auto Law truck accident attorney Steven Gursten has an extensive record of success in recovering the highest recorded jury verdicts and truck accident settlements in these cases. Steve and Michigan Auto Law have been fortunate to also recover the top reported truck crash settlement in Michigan over multiple years, according to year-end compilations of settlements and trial verdicts by Michigan Lawyers Weekly. Some of these highest reported settlements of the year for a car accident with a tractor trailer in Michigan include:
- $34.5 Million – Attorney Steve Gursten and his team secured the largest-reported tractor-trailer crash settlement in the U.S. that year. It is also the largest truck settlement ever by a Michigan attorney or law firm.
- $10.5 Million – Steven Gursten secured this settlement for a person seriously injured in a car that was struck by a tractor trailer.
- $13.5 Million – Our attorneys settled a case for a victim in a car vs. tractor trailer crash who suffered major burn injuries.
- $9 Million – Attorney Steve Gursten and his team obtained his recovery for a man who lost both of his legs in a rear-end collision. This was the largest pain and suffering trucking settlement of the preceding decade for a rear-end crash in the state.
- $6.2 million – This confidential out of state trucking death case was settled by attorney Steve Gursten.
Even more important than our record settlements in the state is how our attorneys treat the people we help. To see what our own clients have to say about the caring, compassion, and communication they received from us, you can read in their own words about their experience here on our testimonials page from the crash victims we have helped. You can also read about our 100% client satisfaction guarantee.
