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Preserving Evidence In A Trucking Accident

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Don’t take anything for granted. Many people assume that the police will do a full and thorough investigation after a collision. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case. Your safety and health are the primary concern after a wreck, so if you need medical care, get it taken care of by going to the hospital or seeking medical help as soon as possible. If you are physically able (or have someone with you who can do it) get the name, address, phone number and driver’s license number of the truck driver. Take photos of the vehicles involved, including any signage on the truck or trailer. Take photos of the license plates of all vehicles involved, as well as the damage to the vehicles. Photos of any skid marks or gouges in the pavement may be helpful.

Get the contact information of any witnesses who are at the scene. Take photos of the witnesses also; it may be helpful when you need to find them later. Get whatever information you can at the scene and get it to your lawyer as soon as possible.

The police agency hopefully will do a full and complete investigation that may result in a lot of things being duplicated with your own efforts. However, there are many times that the police reports generated after a wreck are just plain wrong. Having collected your own information helps when we need to correct any errors or misunderstandings that appear in the police report.

How Important Are Witnesses In These Cases? What Is The Best Way To Utilize Them?

Witnesses come in a couple of different categories. Of course, witnesses to the actual collision itself are very important to the investigation of the rack. These witnesses can provide information regarding the speed, direction, and any movements of the vehicles that were involved. The guy witnesses can also talk about the damage to the vehicles and the injuries that they saw they were caused by the wreck.

The other type of witnesses that are of utmost importance are what we call “before and after” witnesses. These are the people in your life who can come in and talk about how this collision has impacted your daily activities, physical health, mental health and outlook on life. These witnesses are typically family members, close friends, co-workers and others in our life on a day-to-day basis. These witnesses are key in showing a jury ultimately the full impact that these injuries and damages I’ve had in your life.

What Are The Biggest Challenges Involved In A Trucking Accident Situation?

Some of the biggest challenges that you will face following a collision have to do with getting the appropriate professional medical care that you deserve. Many people assume that their health insurance will not pay for medical expenses caused by a truck crash that was someone else’s fault. Some doctors will even tell you that they are not allowed to bill your health insurance for charges as a result of an automobile or truck collision. That’s simply is not true. Health insurance as an obligation and responsibility to pay for your medical expenses, regardless of how they are caused. Most health insurance policies contain a subrogation clause which allows the health insurance company to seek reimbursement from the wrongdoer’s liability insurance. The reason you want to use your health insurance, in my opinion, is so that you can get quality medical care immediately.

Health insurance companies usually have a list of quality medical care providers who have previously agreed to accept the payment of the health insurance company. Often times, the health insurance rate is a rate reduced from the full rate that would be charged by the doctor to a “cash” customer. Unfortunately, some medical care providers do not like to get involved in an auto collision or truck college in cases.

I believe they stay away from those types of injuries because they do not want to be involved in the litigation where they may be forced to give their deposition or gift trial testimony regarding their care and treatment. If your doctor refuses to treat under your health insurance for auto injuries, then your options are somewhat limited. That is why it is important to retain a lawyer early in the process to help you navigate this medical care situation.

The next biggest challenges they face and a truck collision cases dealing with the trucking companies adjuster or claims service. Trucking companies are involved in claims on a daily basis. These people are professionals. They keep their jobs by paying as little as possible on claims. The profitability of the company and the insurance company involved is based on paying as little as possible for claims. Period because these people are professionals and deal with this type of situation all the time, they know all the tricks of the trade to Minimize the value of your claim and minimize your loss. They will lie to you, they will trick you and they will try to convince you that your injuries are “no big deal”. They will also try to convince you that you do not need to hire a lawyer. Now, why would they do that?

The reality is that claimants who are represented by skilled, competent attorneys recover more money for their injuries and damages the people who are not represented. They are not saving you money by telling you to not hire a lawyer. Instead, they are saving themselves money by dealing with you directly.

For more information on Evidence In A Trucking Accident, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling today.

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Normally the name defendants in a truck inclusion matter are the truck driver, the trucking company that employed the driver, any motor carrier or shipper who owns the truck or the trailer involved in the collision and occasionally Any other company that may been involved in loading the truck if there is an indication that the trailer was improperly loaded or overloaded and that was a cause of the wreck.

The elements of damage that Texas law allows a person injured in a collision to recover generally fall into the following categories: number one: medical expenses, past and future; number two: loss of earning capacity, past and future; number three: physical impairment, past and future; number four: physical pain and mental anguish, past and future; number five: Disfigurement, past and future; number six: reasonable and necessary future medical expenses.

Obviously, not every case has all of these elements of damage. The claim in the lawsuit will reflect the types of losses that you have actually incurred. Additionally, there may be potential claims for any loss of out-of-pocket expenses for damage to property such as your car, or the contents of your car that were destroyed in the collision.

What Federal Insurance (Fmcsa) Are Trucking Companies Required To Carry?

Interstate trucking companies and vehicles are required under federal law to maintain and carry a liability policy of at least $1 million of coverage. Intrastate truckers, meeting those who only service within the borders of a single state and do not travel to another state, are required to maintain a liability insurance policy with at least $750,000 of coverage per occurrence.

Do Trucking Companies Often Have Insurance Policies Beyond The Mandatory Policy?

Depending upon the size and scope of the motor carriers operation, a trucking company may have additional insurance that exceeds the $1 million mandatory minimum limit. It is not unusual for a motor carrier to have an additional “umbrella” policy or what is known as an “access” policy. Often those policies are sold in $1 million or $10 million increments. National trucking companies often have coverage limits even higher than that

What If The Insurance Company Makes Me An Offer? Do I Have To Take It?

The decision to settle or not settle your case is yours and yours alone. You are not required to accept any offer of settlement given to you by the defendant. Likewise, they are not required to make any offer of settlement to you. Settlements are an agreement between the parties. The reason the cases and claims are settled is that it makes economic sense to both parties. Insurance companies settle cases because of the risk of going forward to trial and the cost of defending the case or more than the proposed settlement. Insurance companies and trucking companies do not settle cases because they are nice, or fair, or care about you. They settle cases because it’s in the best interest of their business.

The way to create pressure for them to settle this by pushing forward with your claim, hiring competent counsel who are trial attorneys, filing a lawsuit and pressing the case towards a trial date. It is only when the insurance company or trucking company feels the pressure Of an upcoming trial date that you will get their best settlement offer.

Why Is It Critical To Hire An Experienced Personal Injury Attorney To Handle A Trucking Accident Case?

Because of all the potential parties involved in the nature and severity of the injuries that can be caused by a tractor-trailer collision, it’s important to please retain a lawyer who has experience in dealing with these types of cases. Modern trucks today or sophisticated machines with a lot of computer technology on board. Because of all this technology on board, there is a wealth of information that can be learned from the various devices on the truck if that information can be downloaded and preserve after the collision. It is important that the investigation start early before any evidence is destroyed or “lost” by the defending truck driver or trucking company.

That’s why it’s important to retain the lawyer who has experience finding this material and getting it in the hands of experts who can utilize it to show the justice of your cause. Tractor-trailer wrecks are just “big car wrecks” and check the trailer and such. Almost all commercial vehicle racks are the result of one of three things: number one: impairment/intoxication; number two: sleep deprivation; or number three: distracted driving. Isolating the Root cause of the collision takes some investigation. Perhaps the trucking company lacks sufficient system to fully investigate the background and qualifications of the drivers they hire. Perhaps the trucking company pushes its drivers too hard to meet their deadlines, which in turn pushes the drivers towards not getting enough sleep or changing or falsifying their driver logs. With the addition of new technology in the trucks including onboard computers, GPS devices, and cell phones, there are many things that can be a distraction from of the primary duties of the driver which is to operate the vehicle safely. It is the job of the truck accidents attorney to get all these potential claims and causes to try to make our roadways safer for all of us and our community as a whole.

For more information on Liability For Trucking Accident, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling today.

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  • Report the incident. If you are able, report the incident to management. Next, try to get names and phone numbers of any witnesses to the fall or the events leading up to the fall. As an example, if another shopper tells you they saw the water on the floor before you fell and they already reported it to the store employees who did nothing, you really need to be able to find that witness.
  • Get medical care. Delays in going to the doctor are used by claims adjusters as an excuse not to pay you or pay you very much. If you are hurt so bad, why didn’t you go to the doctor? Use your health insurance, if necessary. Your health insurer will likely have to be reimbursed from any settlement, but the most important thing is to get you the medical care you need to get better. If you don’t have a doctor or health insurance and your pain level is high, consider going to the emergency room. Finally, if you have no options regarding health providers, you may need to consult with a lawyer to assist you in finding a doctor who will treat your injuries and is willing to wait for payment at the end of the case.
  • Don’t give a recorded statement to the insurance carrier without speaking to a lawyer.

Insurance adjusters take recorded statements to lock people down on their stories. Sometimes people say things they don’t really mean in their statements. For example, “it was an accident” may mean “they didn’t do it on purpose” to you when it means “no one was at fault” to an insurance adjuster. In premises case, your admission that you don’t know where the defect came from or how it was there will be used against you to show that the defendant also didn’t know where the defect came from or how long it was there. Finally, people will often say they are “OK” immediately after the incident only to find out that a day or two later that they have a significant pain level that requires significant medical care. So, were you “OK” or not? Something else happen to you? So you just started to say you were injured after you thought about it a while? These are the way insurance “think” are your statement. Don’t give them the ammo to use against you.

How Long Do I Have To File A Premises Liability Claim?

Texas law requires a lawsuit must be filed before the expiration of two years from the date of your injury. That is known as the “statute of limitations”. Making a claim against the insurance carrier is not the same as filing a lawsuit. You need to speak to a lawyer well in advance of the two year mark to determine if a lawsuit should be filed and to make sure the correct defendants are named in the cas

How Long Will My Premises Liability Claim Take To Resolve?

That depends on the nature and extent of your injuries as well as whether it becomes necessary to file a lawsuit. Keep in mind that if you are willing to take a poor offer, you can get your case settled quickly. Adjusters desire to settle your case quickly, before you realize how severe your injuries are or how significant your loss is. Ask yourself: Why are they willing to settle this so quickly? Adjusters are only interested in the “bottom line”; they don’t do anything for “fairness” or “justice”, just trying to close the file for as little money as possible.

Why Do I Need To Hire A Lawyer For A Premises Liability Claim?

These types of cases are often misunderstood. They are tricky and the injuries arising can be disabling and long-term in nature. Only through consulting a qualified premises liability attorney can you learn the true value of your claim and maximize your recovery. Finally, most of these cases require litigation to get the full value of the claim from the defendant. Your decision on hiring a lawyer with a history and reputation for litigating this cases and GOING TO TRIAL WHEN NECESSARY, will go a long way to maximizing your recovery.

For more information on Injured In A Premises Liability Scenario, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling today.

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Premises liability cases are negligence cases and are submitted to the jury similar to other negligence cases. The categories of damages available under Texas law generally fall into the following categories:

  • reasonable and necessary medical expenses – past and future;
  • loss of earning capacity – past and future
  • physical pain – past and future
  • mental anguish – past and future
  • physical impairment– past and future;
  • disfigurement – past and future

Can Punitive Damages Be Recovered In A Premises Liability Case?

Yes, under very special and extreme circumstances. In short, there would have to be evidence of “gross negligence” on the part of the defendant. That term is defined in Texas case law as

Gross negligence is “an act or omission involving subjective awareness of an extreme degree of risk, indicating conscious indifference to the rights, safety, or welfare of others.” State v. Shumake, 199 S.W.3d 279, 287 (Tex. 2006) (citing Transp. Ins. Co. v. Moriel, 879 S.W.2d 10, 21 (Tex. 1994)).

The Texas Supreme Court is very conservative and very pro-business when reviewing these types of cases. While a jury can sometimes be persuaded to award punitive damages in these cases, the likelihood of holding that aware on appeal is pretty thin.

Regarding Premises Liability Claims?

  • Misconception #1: I fell in their store, so it has to be their fault. While a business owner has a duty to customers (known as “invitees” under the law) to keep the business premises reasonably safe, the law does not make the business owner automatically liable for every injury that occurs on the premises. The concept that is used often in these cases is “notice”. If a condition existed for such a short period of time that the owner/occupier did not have the opportunity to discover or warn of the defect, then it’s likely that the business will be found to not be negligent in the incident. For example, let’s say that a mom is pushing a cart through a grocery store and has a small child in the cart, drinking from a ‘sippy cup”. The child takes the lid off the cup and spills his drink on the floor. I second later you come around the corner and step in the liquid, slipping and hurting your back. The store will take the position that they were not negligent because the defect (liquid on the floor) was there such a short time that they could not have reasonably been expected to find it and clean it up. And, in my experience, that defense will be a winner for them at the courthouse.
  • Misconception #2: Slip and Fall cases are easy. Nothing could be further from the truth. Slip and fall cases are amount the most difficult to win and trial due to the proof of notice of the condition that is necessary. In fact, many law firms have a blanket rule that they do not accept slip and fall cases, due to the lack of success. Plaintiffs win jury verdicts in this cases less than 50% of the time if the case proceeds to trial and when the Plaintiff does win, contributory negligence often reduces the amount of the recovery by the percentage of negligence that is assigned to the Plaintiff for failing to “watch where they were going”.
  • Misconception #3: Big companies always settle these cases. Not True. Different companies obviously have different philosophies about how to handle injury claims, but most have a significant role in deciding what claims are settled and what claims are denied. Business policies often have a “self-insured retention” (think “deductible”) for which payments come directly from the business as opposed to the insurance carrier. Other companies often will take a strong position on denying claims with the thought that they are sending the message that they will not be “labeled” as a company that is easy pickings for claimants. Walmart, for years, took a very hard line on claims and didn’t settle even clear liability claims in an attempt to dissuade claimants from making claims.

For more information on Damages In Premises Liability Cases, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling today.

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Every case is different, and I don’t know that there is a typical personal injury case. It depends on the triggering mechanisms that move things through the system or how long it will take you to receive your care and treatment because you don’t want to talk about settling your case until you are done treating with your doctor so you have a handle on what your future medical needs might be. The statute of limitations in Texas for personal injury claims is two years from the date of the wreck; so if your claim hasn’t been resolved within two years, then you will need to file a lawsuit in order to keep your case from being barred by the statute of limitations. Once a lawsuit is filed, different courts work at different paces and at different workloads, though it’s really hard to tell.

The Texas Supreme Court has some rules in place where they try to force the parties to have the case ready for trial within 18 months of the date of the finding, but often backlogs can cause those trial dates to take longer than that. Keep in mind that as the claimant, you are the one that wants to keep things moving forward; so when you are considering hiring a lawyer, you need to hire one who is going to continue to push the ball forward and keep things moving. The insurance company and their lawyers are more than happy to let things sit because they have the money. It’s in their account, working for them. It’s up to us to keep stirring the soup and make sure that the case is moving forward towards a resolution.

How Do People Generally Hurt Their Own Personal Injury Claim?

Hurt people go to the doctor; and while trying to tough it out may have been admirable when you were on your high school football team, making appointments and waiting to go to care like it’s no big deal, must not be heard by the insurance adjuster. Another thing that people do that may unintentionally hurt their claim is that sometimes they will admit fault that wasn’t there.

Lots of people are very non-confrontational and don’t want any fuss when an injury occurs. I understand that, but you must be mindful of your comments that when repeated later are going to be taken as admitting responsibility that wasn’t there. For example, if you made a hard stop at a red light, it doesn’t give another car the right to slam into your vehicle. If you told the other driver or the police officer that you were cutting it close at that light, then it might get embedded into the police report for that adjuster to use against you. It’s okay to exchange information and be polite to the other parties involved in the wreck, but they may take it too far and assume you were taking responsibility for something that wasn’t your fault. That is something I see people doing all the time, unfortunately.

What Sets You And Your Firm Apart In Handling Personal Injury Cases?

This is all we do. I don’t do divorces, I don’t do criminal work, and I wouldn’t know where to stand in the bankruptcy court if you called me down there. I do personal injury work for plaintiffs, for victims of negligence and only for those people. For the first seven years of my career, I worked on the other side for a law firm that did insurance defense work. After a while, I learned that if I’m going to spend my career doing this, I’d rather be doing it for the people who have been hurt and are being victimized for a second time by the conduct of the insurance company, seeing how they handle their claim. My practice is small by design; when you call here, you are going to talk to me, my assistant or my voicemail. Those are the only three options.

I encourage my clients to keep in touch and call if they have questions. The last thing I say to someone after we sign the paperwork to retain me is remember this: If you have questions, call. That’s what we are here for; you are not wasting our time. I’m board-certified in personal injury trial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and have been since 1995. What that means is my practice is primarily personal injury and I’ve taken a really nasty written exam that only a small percentage of lawyers, who’ve practiced in this area, has passed. So I think it’s important to show that I’m well qualified to do what I do, which is represent you and get you the best result in your case.

For more information on Timeline Of Personal Injury Claim, a Complimentary Strategy Session is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling today.

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Personal Injury Case Types

We represent people who have been hurt as a result of the carelessness of others and the violation of safety rules. The law places those kinds of injuries into different categories. You hear about auto collisions or premises defects, dog bites or other liability claims, but it’s really about the conduct of others and what they did or what instrumentality they used to cause harm to you. The bottom line is that society has rules that have to be followed to prevent injury and to protect us all from harm. When these rules are violated, then you have a right to be compensated for your harms and losses. That’s what we do. We only represent people: we don’t represent insurance companies, and we don’t represent corporations that are defendants in lawsuits.

Why Your Claim is Important

People have a true misunderstanding that the process is easy and simple. We are bombarded every day with the messages of the Good Hands people, the Good Neighbors and the lizard who is bending over backwards to help us when the reality is that the behavior of the insurance company, after something happens, is usually not very helpful. Keep in mind the business model of the liability insurance company is simple: pay as little as possible to resolve your claim and close your file. Adjusters are not rewarded for being “fair” or for caring. They are encouraged to resolve claims as cheaply as possible, which usually means settling fast before people realize the full impact their injuries are having on their lives.

With regard to perceptions or misperceptions about personal injury attorneys, I tell my clients the first time I meet them that if they are looking for a mahogany desk and fancy furniture, they will be severely disappointed. If you want somebody who is going to return your phone calls, then you will be happy with us

That’s how our business is set up, and that’s what we aim to do: to communicate and keep in contact with our clients so they know what’s going on. I think a lot of people misunderstand the process of claims and litigation from the start. We have new potential clients coming in, saying, “I don’t want to file a lawsuit; I’m not one of those kinds of people.” The problem is that’s your only leverage you have when you are dealing with an insurance company. It’s the threat of a lawsuit. Insurance companies don’t settle claims because they are nice or because they care. They settle claims because it makes economic sense for them to do so. The risk of loss at the courthouse is the risk they are assessing; the cost of defending the lawsuit and the money that they spend on experts to defend the case are all factored into the insurance company’s evaluation.

Your happiness and caring about you have nothing to do with the process. If you hire a lawyer or a law firm that has a reputation for settling cases easily, chances are you are giving away your best leverage to hold the other side accountable for the full value of your loss.

Is Filing A Personal Injury Claim A Relatively Easy Process Or Not?

There is no typical case. Every case is different, every client is different, every wreck or incident is different, every defendant is different, and every insurance carrier is different. There is nothing routine about your injury or the impact that it’s had on your home life, your work life and your future. There is nothing routine about any case. The way we approach things at my office is the assumption that every new case we sign up is going to trial. It is only from that position of preparedness that we are able to get the full value of your case. If you or your lawyer assumes that the case will settle or sends them the message that you are here to settle, the insurance company will smell that, and you will never get top dollar for your case. While we hear about things being routine, there is always a complicating factor. Sometimes that complicating factor comes from the other side: the conduct of the defendant or the conduct of the insurance company. It’s really rare that anything is easy in the process.

Do Most Personal Injury Cases Settle Or Do They Go To Trial?

Just as a matter of pure statistics or math, most cases do settle. Why they settle is what matters. They settle for all kinds of different reasons, depending upon the circumstances. One of the main reasons cases settle is because of the lack of available proceeds to pay the loss. For example, if you are in a car collision and suffer tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical damages, and you are hit by a driver who only has a minimum limits insurance policy, in that case, it’s going to settle fairly quickly because they’ve only got a small amount available to pay on the claim.

The next factor that affects things is the cost of getting prepared for trial. Considering depositions, experts and mediation fees for all the parties involved, sometimes it makes economic sense to settle the case before spending all that money. The third big factor in whether cases settle before trial or not is, frankly, time. The insurance company and the corporate defendants live forever. They know that they have the financial ability to wait you out. If you are injured and missing time from work, your bills will start to pile up, and the stress of that or associated with that puts a lot of pressure on victims to settle cases earlier and for less than they deserve.

Another thing that happens is sometimes you get a lot of pressure from the judge or court to settle cases. Many judges will force parties to attend a mandatory mediation before allowing them to go to trial. Trials can be time-consuming, and judges are busy. They will put pressure on all the parties to settle the case so that the court’s time is not tied up in a trial. This works to the detriment of the injured person usually because the defendant is perfectly happy to hang onto their money as long as they can and wait you out. Those are some things that tend to pressure people into settling cases when it might not really be in their best interest to do so.

For more information on Personal Injury Claims In Texas, a Complimentary Strategy Session is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling today.

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When a victim is planning on filing a lawsuit for a personal injury, they might be wondering “How much will I recover from my case?” Discovering exactly how much a case will be worth depends on the damages that the victim endured. The injuries endured will be assessed through the physical aspect, monetary expenses, mental anguish, along with any punitive damages that the court may order the defendant to pay.

With a personal injury case, the plaintiff is paid monetarily by the person, owner, or company that was found negligent and was the cause of the accident that resulted in damages. With a settlement, the plaintiff, defendant, and both lawyers will agree upon an amount of which they are both pleased with. With a settlement, the plaintiff would usually receive less than they would at a trial, for the most part. If the plaintiff is not sure whether they will win the case or not or does not have enough evidence to back up their claim, it is best to settle.

The best personal injury attorneys will decide whether the case is valid enough to make it to trial. The firm wants what is best for their clients and does not want them to miss out on the opportunity to recover for the damages they have endured.

Damages That Can Be Awarded In Personal Injury Cases

There are different types of damages that can be awarded to the plaintiff of a personal injury case.

Some of those damages include:

  • Compensatory Damages:  These damages are awarded with the intention to make the plaintiff “whole” again from a financial standpoint. We know that no amount of money can ever rid the trauma or pain that a victim suffers from a personal injury accident, but the compensation serves its purpose. Compensatory damages consist of two types of damages: specific and general damages. Specific damages are those harms that can have a dollar figure placed upon it like medical bills and property damage, while general damages are harder to place a monetary value on it because it involves the pain and suffering of the victim.

Some examples of compensatory damages include:

When a jury deems the actions of the defendant egregious or outrageously careless, they can sometimes award the plaintiff with “punitive damages”. These damages are not awarded for the purpose of compensating the victim, but rather in an attempt to punish the defendant and deter them from committing the same act in the future. Typically, caps have been placed on the punitive damages that a victim can receive.

  • Medical care and treatment bills
  • Loss of income and of earning capacity
  • Damaged property
  • Pain and suffering
  • Emotional anguish
  • Loss of consortium
  • Loss of enjoyment of life

Working To Obtain Maximum Compensation For Our Clients

Our firm works to obtain the most amount of money for their clients. When a person’s negligent acts affect another person in a way of harming them, they can be found liable for their injuries and should suffer the consequences of their actions.

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You really need to consult with an attorney before you give a statement to the other party’s insurance company. It’s a really important part of the process, and it will be used against you should you say something that hurts your case, either as to how the incident happened or how your injuries have affected you. What you need to look at is why did the adjusters want to take your statement? The answer is to lock you down on your story. Do they really need to hear from you about how the wreck happened? Chances are no. They’ve probably already heard from their own driver as to how it happened if it’s a car wreck or their own business if it was a premises case.

If you give them your statement, while you are usually not under oath, you will likely be asked if your answers are true or correct to the best of your knowledge at some point during the recording; and because of that, it’s likely to be used against you. So why would you want to help them do that? The things that are said in a recorded statement can be taken out of context and used against you. For example, a recent client was rear-ended at an intersection, which resulted in over $6,000 worth of damage to the rear of her car and over $4,000 damage to the front of the defendant’s car. She was not bleeding and did not ask for an ambulance due to her concerns about how it would be paid for.

The defendant asked at the scene if she was “okay”, and she responded that she was. So her answer was that she was okay but what was that based on? Compared to what? She had just been rear-ended while stopped with no indication that she was about to get hit. She thought she could have been killed, could have broken her neck, and could have been in the hospital for days and unable to work, unable to play with or care for her kids: All these thoughts ran through her mind right after the wreck. So when asked about how she was doing when she got out of the car, she said she was okay. Compared to what she could’ve been, she was okay, but that doesn’t mean she was free of injury.

So how does that play out? A year later, in her deposition, the lawyer for the at-fault driver pulled out her recorded statement and pointed out to her that she said she was okay at the scene, so therefore there must not have been a significant injury. Another thing is that people sometimes are too forgiving of the actions of others. I’ve had recorded statements where the injured person bent over backward to point out that the defendant didn’t mean to do it or it could’ve happened to anybody; and while these are nice things to say, these quotes can come back later and be used as an excuse to deny responsibility for your loss.

When you go to trial in these cases, the question is always about negligence. Negligence is a hard, mean-sounding word, but that’s what has to be proven to win at trial. If you give a statement right after the wreck stating that no one was at fault or negligent, it’s going to be used against you at trial.

Is Filing A Personal Injury Claim A Relatively Easy Process Or Not?

A long time ago a lawyer much older and wiser than me explained to me the concept of the three-legged stool. For a stool to stand on its own, you have to have a minimum of three legs. If any of those three legs is missing, then the stool will fall over and not support the weight that you place upon it. The three legs of a stool necessary to have a viable personal injury claim are:

Liability, which is how it happened and why it’s someone else’s fault. This includes the carelessness or the violation of safety rules that caused the injury.

Damages, which is how it has impacted you and that’s where we talk about your injury, your medical expenses, your impairment, your lost wages, the way this has affected your personal life, your family and your work life.

The ability to pay, which is usually determined by the availability and the amount of insurance. The ability to pay leg generally depends on the level of insurance, how much of it there is or if there is a corporate payer. If you have your choice and you are going to get hit, you want to get hit by someone who has the ability to pay you. Truck wrecks have a tendency to result in larger settlements because they have larger insurance policies. If you are hit by someone with no insurance, then they likely don’t have the ability to pay you; you may have a million dollar loss, but that doesn’t mean you have a million dollar lawsuit against the person that caused you harm if he doesn’t have the ability to pay you. The damages kind of speak for themselves. You have to have damages in order to have a claim.

What I tell my clients is if you stop at a light and a drunk driver blows through the light going at 80 miles an hour and almost hits your car, you almost have a claim because you weren’t injured or you weren’t damaged and it hasn’t impacted your life. Finally, the liability, which is who is responsible for the rule violation or the fault that forces the other person to pay, is usually what we end up fighting about. How an incident happened is always the source of a lot of difference of opinion, depending upon whether you were the bad actor or the victim. Those are the three things that you have to look at; and if one of those legs of the stool is missing, weak or damaged, then that’s going to be the part of the case that the insurance company and the defense lawyer focus on to prove your claim is not liable.

For more information on Dealing With Insurance Companies, a Complimentary Strategy Session is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling today.

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Don’t take anything for granted. Many people assume that the police will do a full and thorough investigation after a collision. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case. Your safety and health are the primary concern after a wreck, so if you need medical care, get it taken care of by going to the hospital or seeking medical help as soon as possible. If you are physically able or have someone with you who can do it, get the name, address, phone number and driver’s license number of the truck driver. Take photos of the vehicles involved, including any signage on the truck or trailer. Take photos of the license plates of all vehicles involved, as well as the damage to the vehicles. Photos of any skid marks or gouges in the pavement may be helpful.

Get the contact information of any witnesses who are at the scene. Take photos of the witnesses also; it may be helpful when you need to find them later. Get whatever information you can at the scene and get it to your lawyer as soon as possible.

The police agency hopefully will do a full and complete investigation that may result in a lot of things being duplicated with your own efforts. However, there are many times that the police reports generated after a wreck are just plain wrong. Having collected your own information helps when we need to correct any errors or misunderstandings that appear in the police report.

How Important Are Witnesses In These Cases? What Is The Best Way To Utilize Them?

Witnesses come from a couple of different categories. Of course, witnesses to the actual collision itself are very important to the investigation of the rack. These witnesses can provide information regarding the speed, direction, and any movements of the vehicles that were involved. The guy witnesses can also talk about the damage to the vehicles and the injuries that they saw they were caused by the wreck.

The other type of witnesses that are of utmost importance are what we call “before and after” witnesses. These are the people in your life who can come in and talk about how this collision has impacted your daily activities, physical health, mental health and outlook on life. These witnesses are typically family members, close friends, co-workers and others in our life on a day-to-day basis. These witnesses are key in showing a jury ultimately the full impact that these injuries and damages I’ve had on your life.

What Are The Biggest Challenges Involved In A Trucking Accident Situation?

Some of the biggest challenges that you will face following a collision have to do with getting the appropriate professional medical care that you deserve. Many people assume that their health insurance will not pay for medical expenses caused by a truck crash that was someone else’s fault. Some doctors will even tell you that they are not allowed to bill your health insurance for charges as a result of an automobile or truck collision. That’s simply is not true. Health insurance as an obligation and responsibility to pay for your medical expenses, regardless of how they are caused. Most health insurance policies contain a subrogation clause which allows the health insurance company to seek reimbursement from the wrongdoer’s liability insurance. The reason you want to use your health insurance, in my opinion, is so that you can get quality medical care immediately.

Health insurance companies usually have a list of quality medical care providers who have previously agreed to accept the payment of the health insurance company. Often times, the health insurance rate is a rate reduced from the full rate that would be charged by the doctor to a “cash” customer. Unfortunately, some medical care providers do not like to get involved in an auto collision or truck college in cases.

I believe they stay away from those types of injuries because they do not want to be involved in the litigation where they may be forced to give their deposition or gift trial testimony regarding their care and treatment. If your doctor refuses to treat under your health insurance for auto injuries, then your options are somewhat limited. That is why it is important to retain a lawyer early in the process to help you navigate this medical care situation.

The next biggest challenges they face and a truck collision cases dealing with the trucking companies adjuster or claims service. Trucking companies are involved in claims on a daily basis. These people are professionals. They keep their jobs by paying as little as possible on claims. The profitability of the company and the insurance company involved is based on paying as little as possible for claims. Period because these people are professionals and deal with this type of situation all the time, they know all the tricks of the trade to Minimize the value of your claim and minimize your loss. They will lie to you, they will trick you and they will try to convince you that your injuries are “no big deal”. They will also try to convince you that you do not need to hire a lawyer. Now, why would they do that?

The reality is that claimants who are represented by skilled, competent attorneys recover more money for their injuries and damages the people who are not represented. They are not saving you money by telling you to not hire a lawyer. Instead, they are saving themselves money by dealing with you directly.

For more information on Evidence In A Trucking Accident, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling today.