Attorney Experience Matters in an Arkansas Commercial Vehicle Accident Case
Let’s be frank. Anyone with a “Lawyer” ad in the Yellow Pages will take your truck accident case. But how many of them can truthfully claim they specialize in handling 18-wheeler and other commercial vehicle accident cases?
The experienced Texas truck accident lawyers of Grossman Law Offices have. We’ve been practicing truck accident litigation for the past 20 years and have won hundreds of these cases.
Commercial vehicles come in many forms. Grossman Law Offices’ Hot Springs commercial vehicle accident injury attorneys have successfully litigated personal injury and/or wrongful death claims against virtually all types of commercial vehicle defendants. From rock haulers, dump trucks, all manner of construction vehicles and moving vans, to buses, tankers, and numerous other types and configurations of commercial vehicles. We’ve successfully represented injured plaintiffs against all types of cases. Often – we’ve found – they do have a few common denominators:
- Trucks and other commercial vehicles are generally larger and can inflict more harm than passenger cars.
- They are ruled by different laws and civil procedures than passenger vehicle wrecks.
- But most importantly, they are owned by powerful corporate (and governmental) entities that are certain to mount an aggressive defense aimed at denying plaintiffs their rightful fair compensation.
Defendants will do all they can to intimidate you. So, in order for your commercial vehicle accident case to have the best chance of success, you must select a law firm that has the experience, resources, knowledge, and reputation to beat your opponents at trial; or force them into a fair damage settlement. And even the latter is something they fight hard to avoid.
When you choose Grossman Law Offices to represent you in your commercial vehicle accident case, you gain the clear advantage of over two decades of experience from attorneys who have hundreds of truck accident defendant “scalps” (and thousands of successful personal injury cases altogether) on their wall.
We invite you to review the wealth of information that explains this often complicated process that is a commercial vehicle accident injury case. Not only will you identify some of the major obstacles to a successful recovery, but agree that an experienced Hot Springs commercial vehicle injury accident attorney is a necessary element to your anticipated success.
Hot Springs 18-Wheeler Accident Attorney
Hot Springs Truck Accident Lawyer Michael Grossman Discusses Arkansas 18-Wheeler Accidents
- Who’s At Fault in Arkansas Tractor-Trailer Accidents?
- Investigating Arkansas 18-Wheeler Accidents
- Settlements in 18-Wheeler Accidents
- Trial Cases in 18-Wheeler Accidents
- Challenges in Arkansas 18-Wheeler Accident Cases
18-wheeler accidents can cause severe personal injury or even death. If you have had the unfortunate experience of suffering an injury or losing a loved one due to a semi-truck accident in Hot Springs, the physical, emotional, and mental pain is often compounded by the financial losses that often accompany such accidents.
An injured victim or a bereaved family may not know what to do after such an accident, while medical bills or other expenses continue to accrue with each passing day. While our goal at Grossman Law Offices is to help such aggrieved parties to seek fair compensation for their injury or loss, we also desire to hold a liable party accountable for their negligent behavior so that a similar accident does not have to occur in the future, causing further harm to another individual or family. Hot Springs truck accident lawyer Michael Grossman offers the following informational article on 18-wheeler accidents in Arkansas to provide you with a better understanding of your legal rights after such an accident, as well as the likely challenges that can often arise in pursuing compensation for your injury or loss.
Since Hot Springs tractor-trailer accidents can cause immense amounts of damages in terms of personal injury, property damage, and loss of life, the compensation sought in such cases is often quite high so that a plaintiff’s damages can be fully covered. However, since these amounts are often quite sizable, a liable insurer will work as hard as possible in order to ensure that they’re not the ones that must sign such a sizable amount of compensation over to an aggrieved party. In other words, they will construct a stout case in their defense. As such, seeking the help of an experienced Hot Springs truck accident lawyer like Michael Grossman is an important first step toward ensuring that you’re as equally well-represented. With 20 years of litigation experience in personal injury, wrongful death, and 18-wheeler accident cases, Michael Grossman and his team at Grossman Law Offices are ready to help you recover full and fair compensation for your injury or loss. However, the following information can prove beneficial to you as you consider your next legal steps.
Why Should I Seek Legal Action in an Arkansas 18-Wheeler Accident?
In seeking legal action against a negligent party involved in your semi-tractor accident in Arkansas, you will be working toward accomplishing two goals: compensation and justice. In the first instance, the technical goal of a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit is for the plaintiff, i.e. victim, to be able to recover compensation for the financial losses, i.e. damages, that they’ve incurred as a result of an injury or the loss of a loved one. Such compensation can go toward medical bills, property damage costs, lost wages due to time off from work, and pain and suffering, amongst other items. We understand that such compensation cannot cure an injury or bring back a loved one, but the compensation received through the successful outcome of a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit can greatly assist an aggrieved party in their time of financial need.
It should also be noted that an aggrieved party must pursue legal action in order to compel a liable party to award them compensation. In other words, an injured victim or a bereaved family member cannot simply wait for a negligent party to freely offer compensation to them. The legal fight must be taken to them if the aggrieved party desires to seek proper compensation for their injury or loss.
Furthermore, a personal injury lawsuit or a wrongful death lawsuit can be used to hold a negligent party accountable for their misconduct. We will work toward securing fair compensation for you while simultaneously working to ensure that the liable party enacts necessary changes in their mode of operation such that similar accidents to yours don’t have to occur in the future. In other words, we want justice for you and safety for the future.
Who’s At Fault in Arkansas Tractor-Trailer Accidents?
The first issue that must be properly assessed in any personal injury or wrongful death case is the issue of liability, or who’s at fault. Properly identifying the negligent party or parties is vital toward ensuring that an aggrieved party is fully compensated and that all such liable parties are held accountable. In a majority of semi-truck accidents, the truck driver will bear some type of liability for the accident. Such accidents can be the result of simple negligence, like a momentary lapse of concentration, or can occur due to more egregious forms of negligence, such as drunk driving or driving while under the influence of drugs. Furthermore, truck drivers are sometimes pressured, either by their employers or themselves, to drive quickly in order to make up for lost time or in order to make more money. Other drivers may be pressed, for any number of reasons, to drive for longer periods of time than they’re allowed to or capable of adequately performing. When such negligence occurs resulting in a wreck causing injury or death, a trucker can be held liable through a personal injury lawsuit or a wrongful death lawsuit for the results of the accident.
However, 18-wheeler accidents in Hot Springs and elsewhere in Arkansas can often involve more than one liable party. For instance, many people injured in tractor-trailer accidents may believe that the only liable party in such an accident is a negligent truck driver. While such a trucker will likely bear liability for an accident causing injury or loss, there are often other entities that may also bear liability that must be taken into consideration when pursuing legal action to recover compensation.
For example, many trucking accidents will involve semi-trucks owned by a company. In these instances, the trucking company may be held partially liable for the accident, depending on the specifics of the accident site. When a trucking company is involved, it is almost guaranteed that their insurance agency will also then be involved. These insurance agencies and their adjusters are what often cause many of the perceived challenges in 18-wheeler accident cases, and these issues will be further discussed in detail later in this article. Suffice it to say that these employers and their insurance adjusters and defense attorneys can build a stout defense in their interests, regardless of an injured victim’s or bereaved family member’s real need for compensation.
In addition to a truck driver, a trucking company, and their insurer, 18-wheeler accidents can also involve other third-party entities that may not have even been at the accident site. For example, many trucking companies utilize the services of third-party companies to perform certain jobs, such as cargo-loading and route-planning. If these outside companies are negligent in any way and such negligence contributes to a semi-truck wreck causing injury or loss of life, then these outside companies could be held partially liable for the injury or death. As an example, a shifting load on a trailer bed or unsecured cargo on a tractor-trailer that causes an 18-wheeler rollover accident can be cause to hold an outside cargo-loading company partially liable for such an accident. If another car or vehicle causes or contributes to a semi wreck, the other driver may also bear partial liability for the accident.
Lastly, if safety equipment is found to have been defective or if a type of mechanical defect contributes to an accident, the manufacturer of that specific piece of machinery could be held partially liable for an 18-wheeler accident. Defective tires can be a common cause of semi-truck accidents, in addition to brake failures, or the malfunction of safety devices.
Essentially, there can often be much more than one liable party involved in a semi-truck wreck in Arkansas, many of whom may not even have a readily-identifiable presence at a crash site. Consequently, this is one of the reasons why it’s often vitally important for an aggrieved party to quickly seek the help of an experienced Hot Springs truck accident lawyer in the immediate aftermath of an 18-wheeler accident causing injury or loss of life. By contacting us quickly, we can begin investigating the scene of an accident as soon as possible in order to ensure that all relevant evidence is captured. While such evidence can work to help build a strong case, it can also be used to identify all possible liable parties so that you could stand to receive full and fair compensation from the negligent parties.
Investigating Arkansas 18-Wheeler Accidents
Conducting a thorough investigation into 18-wheeler accidents is vital toward building a strong case in defense of a plaintiff’s rights. When Grossman Law Offices is contacted to investigate an 18-wheeler accident scene, we will gather relevant evidence where possible in the form of surveillance video and photo, 911 calls, police reports, measurements at the scene of the accident, close inspections of all vehicles involved in the accident, extraction of data from data-recording devices, eyewitness testimony, and any other evidence that can be used to build a strong case on your behalf. Furthermore, we pay careful attention to how this evidence is gathered so that it can be presentable in a court case.
It’s important to consider having an investigation conducted quickly in the aftermath of an 18-wheeler wreck in Arkansas since a trucking employer and their insurer will likely have already sent a team of defense attorneys to an accident site before you may have even considered contacting legal help. Since 18-wheeler wrecks happen with an alarming frequency, these trucking companies and their insurers are well-prepared to deal with the results of such an accident. Consequently, they will often have experienced defense attorneys on quick-dial that can respond to the scene of accident quite quickly, sometimes even within minutes. These defense lawyers will look for evidence that can be used to release their client from any or all liability for the accident. If such evidence is found and substantiated, then a plaintiff may stand to receive little to no compensation for their injury or loss. Ensure that this scenario does not have a likelihood of occurring to you by contacting an experienced Hot Springs truck accident lawyer that can send an investigative team to the site of an 18-wheeler collision in Arkansas so that a robust case can be built on your behalf using relevant evidence gathered at the crash scene.
As evidence of the need for securing evidence quickly after an 18-wheeler wreck, the following true-life client story attests to the reason why fast action is often necessary toward the beneficial outcome of a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit. This particular client was involved in a catastrophic underride accident with an 18-wheeler where the top of his car was sheared off in a collision with the broad-side of a semi-truck’s trailer. The truck driver had been attempting to make an awkward turn, resulting in his trailer being perpendicular to the road, essentially cutting off all lanes of traffic. As it was nighttime and the only lights on the trailer were the small, red running lights on the side of the trailer, our client approached the bend in the road only to see a trailer occupying all lanes. Without enough time or space to make any evasive maneuvers, our client crashed into the trailer and went underneath it. The accident caused him severe personal injury and caused his passenger to lose their life. The passenger’s family also contacted us to help investigate this fatal 18-wheeler accident.
We flew to the scene of the accident and visited a salvage yard where our client’s car had been towed. Much to our surprise, we saw that the headlights on his car were not installed. They were not simply smashed; they were completely missing. Unaware of this fact prior to heading out, we procured surveillance video footage from the proprietor of the salvage yard. This video showed that a representative of the negligent trucking company had visited the salvage yard and stolen the headlights from our client’s car. The insurance company later tried to pin blame on our client for driving without headlights at night. They were unaware of the video footage we had obtained. This crucial piece of evidence was then used to exonerate our client from liability that was not his to begin with. We later learned that the vital video footage would have deleted itself shortly after we had viewed it. In other words, had our client not acted quickly to contact us and had we not been able to reply in kind, our client may have been held liable for the accident due to the further negligent behavior of a trucking company that simply wanted to cover their tracks in regards to their truck driver’s responsibility.
Settlements in 18-Wheeler Accidents
Seeking compensation for an injury or accident caused by an 18-wheeler accident can occur through the settlement process or through a trial case. Settlements occur when a defendant voluntarily offers a fair amount of compensation to a plaintiff in exchange for the plaintiff forgoing any future legal action. These settlements mean that a plaintiff and a defendant do not have to go through the trial process and spend the time and money that accompanies that process. Seeking such a settlement is beneficial because it could mean that an injured victim or a bereaved family could receive proper compensation more quickly than if a trial case commenced. Additionally, there is a certain amount of certainty in regards to settlements as opposed to the uncertainty that can exist in trial cases that are decided upon by a jury.
However, seeking a fair settlement often requires the assistance of a knowledgeable Hot Springs truck accident lawyer in order to make sure that the defendant is not taking advantage of the plaintiff. Since defendants know that they are not obligated to voluntarily compensate an injured victim or a bereaved family, they will seldom offer a settlement unless they fear the outcome of a trial case. In other words, if a defendant believes that they will owe less compensation to a victim through a settlement than through the trial process, then they will likely opt to settle. In order to make such a defensive team believe that they have a strong likelihood of losing a court battle, strong evidence must be obtained. Furthermore, such defensive teams will seldom fear a non-attorney or a lawyer that they’ve never heard of; however, they will respect an attorney with a well-earned reputation, such as tractor trailer wreck attorney Michael Grossman. With 20 years of experience in 18-wheeler accident cases, Michael Grossman and his team at Grossman Law Offices have faced almost every major insurer in the country. Since they’re familiar with us and our past history in regards to our cases against them, they frequently decide to settle with our clients instead of meeting our attorneys in court.
One of the situations to be wary of in the aftermath of an 18-wheeler accident is if an insurance company offers you a settlement that has not been looked over by your attorney. Such a settlement is often a calculated move on behalf of the insurance company to make fast, cost-effective work of your claim or case. This settlement number is often a low-ball offer meant to entice an aggrieved party with the promise of sure, fast money. However, such a settlement comes with one major string attached. When an aggrieved party signs a document or cashes a check from an insurance company, before having their own attorney look over it, they are likely signing away their rights to pursue further legal action. This could leave an injured victim without legal recourse and with a compensation amount that is far less than what is adequate to cover their incurred damages. Ensure that such a scenario doesn’t have a likelihood of occurring to you by enlisting the help of a knowledgeable Hot Springs truck accident lawyer to make sure that an insurance company is not taking advantage of you. When Grossman Law Offices is hired for an 18-wheeler accident case in Arkansas, we will become the entity that speaks to an insurance company on your behalf, meaning that you won’t have to deal with them or be taken in by their tactics.
Trial Cases in 18-Wheeler Accident Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Lawsuits
Settlements may not be reached in 18-wheeler cases for a number of reasons. If this occurs, then a trial case must proceed in order to determine the fault-hood of the liable parties. The plaintiff, i.e. the victim, bears the burden of proof in such trails, which means that their legal representation is tasked with proving that the defendant caused or contributed to the accident causing injury or loss of life. Choosing to represent yourself in such cases is seldom a good idea, especially in relation to 18-wheeler cases. With the possibility of multiple liable parties, a complex accident scene, and the involvement of highly experienced insurance adjusters and defense attorneys, a non-attorney stands little to no chance of seeing a successful result to their claim or case. This can hold especially true within a courtroom, as proper application of the law is just as important as robust knowledge of the law.
For instance, there are four main aspects that must be proven in a court case: duty, breach, causation, and damages. If any of these aspects cannot be proven to have existed or to have been a result of an 18-wheeler accident, then the case will be moot or thrown out.
Duty refers to one person’s or entity’s legal duty to another person or entity. In the instance of a vast majority of commercial trucking accidents, the legal duty owed is one of public safety. A legal duty must have existed in some capacity between the plaintiff and the defendant.
Breach refers to the violation of that legal duty. In the simplest terms regarding car wrecks, breach occurs when one person crashes into another person causing injury or death. As a legal duty can change, depending on the circumstances of an accident as well as the relationship of the parties involved in the accident, so too can the breach. A defendant must have breached their legal duty to the plaintiff for a case to proceed.
Causation refers to the negligence of the defendant. In other words, a plaintiff’s legal representation must be able to prove that the negligent behavior of a defendant is what caused injury or loss of life to a victim. Such causation can be direct, or it can be proximate, meaning that the defendant may have been one of many contributing factors to an 18-wheeler accident.
Damages refers to the financial losses that a victim accrues as a result of an injury or loss. Damages are an economic number tied to a real financial loss such as medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, or other types of monetary losses caused by an injury or death. Properly calculating damages is an important aspect of any personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit since the amount of damages assessed equals the amount of compensation being asked for by a plaintiff. Without prior experience in calculating rather subjective damages like pain and suffering and loss of earning capacity, a plaintiff may not be able to recover a full amount of compensation that can assist them in the recovery process. With 20 years of experience in proving up damages, Hot Springs truck accident lawyer Michael Grossman can help ensure that your damages are rightfully calculated.
Challenges in Arkansas 18-Wheeler Accident Cases
Certain challenges exist in every legal realm, and seeking compensation for an injury or loss due to an 18-wheeler accident is no different. However, Grossman Law Offices is familiar with the following challenges and is ready to defend your best interests, even against these seeming obstacles.
Expensive Insurance Policies
As briefly stated before, insurance policies that cover 18-wheelers and trucking companies are often very expensive, even into the millions of dollars, since such policies have to be able to cover the possibility of an immense amount of property damage, personal injury, or loss of life. As a result, the insurers that hold trucking insurance policies will utilize their most experienced adjusters to work these claims. Their goal will be to save their company as much money as possible regardless of the injured victim’s or bereaved family member’s need for compensation. They will likely employ certain tactics in order to see if they can’t ascribe some amount of liability to the victim or to any other possible liable party. If any or all liability can be exorcised from their client, then a plaintiff may see little to no compensation as a result. When the 18-wheeler accident law firm of Grossman Law Offices is hired, we will talk to these insurance companies on your behalf. Since we’re familiar with the many tactics that often try to employ on otherwise naive victims, you can be sure that your best interests will be looked after, even against such insurance adjusters.
Self Insured 18-Wheeler Companies
While a majority of Arkansas trucking companies will likely be insured by a traditional insurance company, some may choose to be self-insured, meaning that they’ve set aside a portion of their assets to cover themselves in the event of an accident causing injury or death. However, since these companies do not have to maintain the same standards that traditional insurers do in order to maintain their licensure, they may sometimes stoop to unethical behavior when a claim is brought against them. Such actions can take the form of plaintiff threatening, witness badgering, or evidence manipulation or deletion. Our law firm has been contacted in the past to help victims seeking compensation against such an entity. Once we become involved, we’ll pursue legal action that can compel such an unethically acting company to begin acting rightly so that a level legal playing field can be established.
Lying 18-Wheeler Drivers
Another possible issue that can arise in seeking compensation in an 18-wheeler accident is the fact that some truckers may lie about their involvement in a wreck. They may do so for a variety of reasons, but such lies are often motivated by the fear of losing a job or even a livelihood. Such falsification of events often occurs when a semi-truck accident has caused loss of life or severe personal injury. However, since Hot Springs truck accident lawyer Michael Grossman has been litigating trucking accident cases for 20 years, he has heard most every story. Through careful depositions and thorough investigations, we’re often able to assess the validity of a truck driver’s story in light of the facts of the accident scene. As such, having such experienced help in your legal corner can prove to be beneficial should a truck driver choose to be deceptive in their retelling of events.
Contact Hot Springs Truck Accident Lawyer Michael Grossman to Help You Recover Compensation in an Arkansas 18-Wheeler Accident
Did You Know?
Our Hot Springs 18 wheeler accident attorneys have won thousands of cases. Call us today to discuss your case. 1-855-425-0000
Seeking compensation and justice for an injury or loss of a loved one caused by an 18-wheeler accident can be challenging without the help of an experienced attorney to guide you through the legal process. With 20 years of experience in 18-wheeler accident cases, including personal injury and wrongful death cases, Hot Springs truck accident lawyer Michael Grossman has the knowledge and reputation that can assist you in recovering full and fair compensation for your injury or loss. When hired, we will help you with all of the following:
- Seeking medical attention for your injury, even if you think you may not be able to afford such help or lack medical insurance.
- Conducting a thorough investigation into the accident site to ensure that all liable parties are held accountable for their negligent behavior.
- Putting pressure on the defense to settle out of court.
- Building strong and robust cases in defense of our client’s rights.
- Working, on your behalf, against insurers and defendants.
In other words, we will do everything we can in order to help you stand to receive full and fair compensation for your injury or loss. Contact Grossman Law Offices at 1-855-425-0000 (toll free) for a free legal consultation where you can ask questions and get answers in regards to your specific 18-wheeler accident. Hot Springs truck accident lawyer Michael Grossman and his team at Grossman Law Offices are ready to help you start the recovery process.
Recovery for client who suffered soft tissue injuries when she was struck by an 18-wheeler.
$41,000.00
$13,666.00
$135.00
Recovery for driver struck from behind by 18-wheeler: Driver sustained back and neck injury.
$145,000.00
$48,333.00
$2,696.00
Plaintiff, a delivery driver, suffered a back injury resulting in spinal fusion surgery when he was injured in an accident involving falling cargo from an 18-wheeler. The defendants cited the plaintiff's failure to take evasive action as a source of contributory negligence and litigation commenced accordingly which culminated in an acceptance of liability and eventually satisfactory resolution.
$530,000.00
$210,000.00
$5,000.00
(policy limits) A husband and father of three was killed when the driver of an 18-wheeler veered into oncoming traffic, striking the young man's vehicle and several others. The defendant was employed by a small construction company that operated only a single 18-wheeler. As such, the defendants were largely underinsured and were not financially solvent.
Furthermore, the defendants had an eroding insurance policy and numerous other parties were intent upon filing claims of their own since the 18-wheeler struck multiple other vehicles. This created the need for an aggressive and rapid response before the other claimants could erode the policy.
Defense counsel made it clear that they wished to litigate the case despite the insurmountable liability arguments that our attorneys presented. They intended to designate a third party as a responsible defendant since the accident happened in a construction zone, even though it was abundantly clear that the construction zone played no role in the crash.
Additonally, the defendants made it clear that they wished to downplay the extent of the damages by virtue of a character assasination on the decedent. Fortunately for our clients, our firm has successfully litigated against the defendant's insurer in nearly a dozen cases, so the carrier was quite aware of our courtroom capabilities. We presented a sample lawsuit to the defendant's insurance carrier and informed them that the lawsuit was to be filed the moment that they refused to settle.
Additionally, our attorneys submitted a Stowers' Demand with a brief window of time for the defendants to respond. We made it abundantly clear that we intended to seek punitive damages and that we would assert the full limits of the carrier's exposure under the Stowers' Demand should the carrier not offer policy limits.
The defendant's attorney adamantly persuaded the carrier to litigate, however, our attorney's threats of litigation, past track record, and incredibly aggressive pre-litigation actions convinced the insurance carrier to disregard their own attorney's advice and to settle the case, lest they face our attorneys in court.
Had our clients been represented by virtually any other firm who did not have our specific track record or who would have not recognized that this case required special and immediate attention coupled with an abnormally aggressive stance, the client's would have certainly been tied up in litigation for years, with the limited supply of funds rapidly depleting since the other claimants who did not need to litigate would have essentially had right of first refusal.
$1,000,000.00
$333,333.00
$0.00
(policy limits) A young mother was killed in an accident involving two commercial vehicles, one an 18-wheeler. The accident occurred as the young woman was a passenger in a vehicle that was traveling down a highway in the early morning hours. Without warning, the vehicle in which she was a passenger collided with a stalled 18-wheeler that parked in the right of way, resulting in catastrophic injuries that claimed the young woman's life soon thereafter.
The authorities initially faulted the driver of the vehicle in which the victim was a passenger, stating that he was using an electronic device rather than paying full attention to the roadway. However, the 18-wheeler was indeed blocking the roadway and plaintiff alleged that the vehicle did not follow the requirements of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act in regard to providing adequate reflective or laminated warning at specific intervals. Further, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendant failed to remove his vehicle from the roadway when he first noticed signs of mechanical failure.
Had he simply moved to the shoulder of the road, plaintiffs argued, his lack of adequate warning signs would have been inconsequential. An initial settlement has been obtained in this case, yet litigation has commenced in full against the remaining defendant, and is currently ongoing.
$250,000.00
$78,000.00
$370.00
Our firm was hired by a young woman who was rear-ended by an 18-wheeler when she slowed for traffic in a construction zone. Initially, she attempted to represent herself and the insurance carrier offered roughly $1,000 to settle her case. She then contacted our firm and we filed suit soon after our initial investigation. The case was successfully resolved in litigation.
$187,500.00
$61,875.00
$2,500.00
The mother of a young man hired our firm to investigate the death of her son following a fatal car accident. The incident occurred as one of the two vehicles involved ran a red light and drive into the path of the other. The defendant was driving a work vehicle for a construction company. The defendant survived the accident and stated to police that the decedent caused the accident. The police could not conclusively determine who was at fault, yet the police report strongly implied that the decedent was likely at fault based on the statement provided by the defendant.
The plaintiff's mother was not convinced. Through a thorough investigation, we ultimately determined that the stoplight that the defendant claimed that our client ran, in fact, worked on a timer whereby the light was always green between certain hours unless a vehicle traveling on the intersecting road had been stopped at the right light for more than 30 seconds. Based on an analysis of the vehicles and tire markings, it was conclusively determined that both vehicles were traveling at the speed limit, which clearly indicates that the defendant driver had not accelerated from stop, rather, he was traveling at the speed limit, which would not have triggered a green light for the defendant.
The logical implications of this information is that the light could not have been red for the plaintiff, and it certainly would have been red for the defendant. As a consequence of this information, the case was resolved through litigation.
$335,000.00
$134,000.00
$63,000.00
A loading dock employee suffered a fractured and damage to internal organs as the result of a crushing injury sustained when an 18-wheeler backed into him and crushed him between the trailer and loading dock.
$700,000.00
$175,000.00
$1,084.00
Recovered for client who suffered soft-tissue damage which required physical therapy after being rear ended by a commercial vehicle.
$40,000.00
$13,333.00
$50.00
Our client was injured in a motor vehicle accident when an employer driving a company vehicle failed to yield the right of way and collided with the plaintiff's vehicle. The defendant's employer was sued for negligence soon thereafter. The defendants alleged that the company should not be held liable for the actions of the employee.
They claimed that the employee was not in the course and scope of his employment at the time of the accident. Through discovery, our attorneys learned that the defendants had a policy, both written and implied, whereby employees of the company were allowed to drive work vehicles after hours.
Furthermore, our attorneys argued case law that expanded the definition of course and scope which showed that the defendant was indeed "on the clock" when the accident occurred.
As a result, the defendants conceded liability and turned their defenses toward the alleged damages. They claimed that our client had a preexisting condition that was responsible for her current state.
We deposed the emergency room physician who assessed the client and recommended surgery regarding the medical necessity of the surgical procedure and the proximate cause of the plaintiff's condition. He testimony unequivocally defeated these arguments. The case was satisfactorily resolved through litigation.
$210,000.00
$70,110.00
$3,787.00