The devastation that a truck accident can cause a victim is often incomprehensible. Truck accidents can often end in the victim’s death due to the severity of injuries resulting from the enormous impact and force of these large vehicles carrying heavy loads.
Survivors of truck accidents face many challenges after an accident. They try to move forward from the crash to heal from their injuries, the trauma, and the overwhelming financial impacts of their losses. A Manhattan truck accident attorney can help you seek compensation for your losses from the parties responsible following a large truck accident.
Can Help You Understand Your Rights
Your first encounter with a truck accident lawyer will be at your initial consultation or case evaluation. During this meeting, you have not yet hired an attorney but will discuss the process of seeking compensation, and they will discuss the details of your case with you.
The attorney will listen to your perspective on the accident and your injuries and may ask to review any evidence you have with you. Some information that can be helpful include photographs of the scene, the police report, or any other pertinent information you may have available at this time.
The attorney will likely go over your rights under the law and their opinion on your case. They may discuss whether they believe you have a valid case against the parties you believe caused your injuries.
A truck accident attorney can also go over the timeline for seeking compensation and any constraints you may be facing, such as the statute of limitations in your state. During this initial meeting, a lawyer will likely inform you whether they will accept your case. At that time, you will decide whether to hire an attorney to represent you in your claim and case.
Will Estimate the Value of Your Truck Accident Case
As part of the preparation stage of filing a claim for damages in a truck accident case, an attorney will work with you to estimate the number of losses you have and will encounter due to the accident with a truck. Knowing the value of your truck accident case is vital to seeking fair compensation for your losses against insurance companies or the parties at fault. If you do not know the worth of your claim, it is impossible to negotiate a settlement or pursue compensation through a court that is in line with your losses.
Your attorney will use the estimation of your truck accident damages along each step of the claims process or in the build-up to a lawsuit if it becomes necessary after a truck accident. The estimation of your damages made at the outset of your case is subject to change as your recovery progresses or new losses and damages come to light. An attorney representing you in a truck accident case will keep track of any changes in circumstance that result in additional financial losses or other damages to you.
Knows the Process and the Right Steps to Take to Protect Your Rights
A sure-fire way to have an insurance claim end in denial or excessive delays for damages from a truck accident is errors or missing information in a claim. Insurance companies will look for any defect to deny claims or reduce liability.
They are not looking to help you get the money you need following a crash, and they are looking to boost their companies’ earnings and minimize their losses. Rather than communicate with you to correct issues in the process, insurance companies and their representatives will just deny your claim, lower your compensation and not explain why or how to fix it.
A truck accident attorney knows how to file an insurance claim to avoid problems and delays. Attorneys will meticulously review a claim and ensure that they include all information and provide the support necessary to increase the likelihood of a successful resolution in the first place.
If you find that you have already received a denial of a claim you filed on your own, you can still seek the help of a qualified truck accident lawyer. While it is likely to take longer to resolve your case, the attorney can review your claim to look for mistakes or lack of supporting evidence and help you correct these inaccuracies to continue to seek compensation for your losses.
Work to Identify Anyone Who May Be Liable to You
Truck accidents involve commercial vehicles where a company or other party employs drivers. Due to the relationships between drivers, truck owners, and companies, various parties could be to blame following a truck accident. However, it is common for there to be confusion at the scene of a crash.
While police can assist victims in gathering the information of the truck driver and company they are working for, there may be discrepancies or other parties potentially liable to you that you or an officer may not be aware of.
A truck accident lawyer understands how the liability in truck accident cases works. They know that liable parties may not be evident to a crash victim that could be responsible for the events leading up to the accident and, in turn, responsible for paying for your damages or losses.
Your attorney will leave no stone uncovered as they consider who may be liable to you for the truck accident and your losses. The lawyer will dig into the driver’s details, what caused the truck accident, their employer, owner of the truck, and other parties that could create circumstances that lead to an accident and your injuries.
Liability for a truck accident can include:
- The truck driver
- The employer of the driver
- The truck owner
- The shipping or loading company
- Truck or parts manufacturers
- Truck maintenance companies
Truck Accident Attorneys Have Access to Resources and Information
A truck accident attorney has a network of resources that an everyday person, such as an accident victim, will not have. Your attorney and their staff team know how to access information quickly and efficiently. Whether you need to preserve evidence, access records, or get valuable information for your case from an uncooperative party, your attorney can help you get the information necessary to build your case.
In addition, a lawyer that represents you in a truck accident case will investigate the accident and the parties involved in an attempt to reveal any other evidence that may help you prove fault, liability, or the extent of your damages. While a lawyer may rely on other pieces of evidence, when there is information missing or incomplete, they will attempt to discover what they can through their independent investigation.
Attorneys can help you get evidence for a truck accident case such as:
- Witness statements
- Expert testimony
- Police reports
- Statements by other interested parties
- Video or photographic evidence
- Medical records
- Employment records
Manage All Calls and Communications
You may overlook the important benefit of overall case management. When a lawyer takes on a case, they will oversee all aspects of the truck accident case, including the influx of requests, communications, and demands from other parties to a victim.
Often, truck accident victims do not realize how overwhelming, stressful, and time-consuming it can be to manage these day-to-day aspects of a truck accident.
Beyond the constant attempts at communications by other parties, which can interfere with your day-to-day and recovery, lies the looming danger of saying something you should not that can damage your case and your right to compensation.
When you have a lawyer, these worries instantly lift as the responsibility for these communications will lie on your attorney and their team. You can rest easy knowing your truck accident attorney will stay up to date on the status of your case and respond to any inquiries by insurers or other parties appropriately.
Help You Gather and Compile Evidence to Support Your Case
While you may have some evidence of the crash, your lawyer will bring together the evidence collected to support and build your case—through discovery and working with you. Evidence is necessary to prove who is to blame for an accident and to prove aspects of your injuries that can affect the amount of compensation available to you. Your truck accident attorney knows what evidence an insurer will be looking for and what they are likely to determine is sufficient to prove your losses after an accident.
Account for All of Your Losses and Damages
When it comes to accident damages, the amount of compensation available to a victim will vary greatly based on injuries and the rippling impacts of those injuries on your life. The difference between an insurer and an attorney on your behalf is that an insurance company will want to settle your case for the bare minimum. They will depreciate your injuries and fail to recognize the widespread impact your injuries will have on your current and future lives.
A truck accident attorney acting on your behalf will fight not for the minimum but the maximum amount of losses you sustain. An attorney knows just how costly an injury can be and what unexpected expenses you are likely to face as time goes on. When insurers make settlement offers that do not account for all of your losses, you are at risk of dealing with mounting expenses and financial impacts from your injuries in the future that you cannot overcome or prepare for.
Damages from a truck accident can include compensation for:
- Medical expenses
- Loss of income
- Pain and suffering
- Wrongful death
- Property loss or damage
Work to Negotiate a Settlement
A lawyer is better positioned to negotiate a settlement on behalf of a truck accident victim than the victim. A victim does not have the negotiation experience, legal knowledge, and tactics to successfully negotiate a settlement with an insurance company or at-fault party. Your lawyer will not become overwhelmed, rush through the process or make decisions out of necessity. They will work alongside you and fight hard to get the maximum compensation possible in your case.
You will stay informed of all settlement offers by the defendants in your case and will be able to decide what is best for you with the advice and guidance of your attorney. If you can settle, your attorney will disburse your settlement, resolve your bills and expenses, and get the money into your hands as quickly as possible.
Represent You in Court Proceedings and Build Your Case in Preparation
Truck Accident Lawyer, Andrew Finkelstein
While a truck accident attorney knows that many cases will settle out of court for truck accident victims, they will always operate as though a lawsuit is on the horizon. Every step your attorney takes will protect your rights and build your case should a lawsuit against the parties responsible become necessary.
It is not always possible to avoid a lawsuit. High amounts of monetary losses, disputes over fault, or inadequate insurance coverage can create a need to file a lawsuit for a victim to seek the compensation they deserve after a truck accident.
An attorney will work with you to reach a successful settlement that is reasonable in light of your losses. If you have no success settling, your lawyer will continue to work hard to represent your interests through a trial until a court enters a resolution.
Contact a truck accident attorney for a free evaluation to discuss your compensation case if you are in a truck accident.