Many people who experience catastrophic injuries or lose a family member in a tractor-trailer accident have never had to retain an attorney. The chances are that you will not have had reason to retain let alone speak to a trucking accident lawyer until you or a loved one suffers an injury in a trucking collision. We represent many clients that have never dealt with an attorney in any context before retaining our law firm. This lack of familiarity makes it difficult to determine what questions to ask when interviewing attorneys to handle your trucking accident claim. In this blog post, our Mississippi trucking accident lawyers highlight key areas of inquiry when evaluating a personal injury lawyer to represent you in trucking litigation.
What types of trucking litigation cases have you handled in the past?
Tractor-trailer accident lawsuits are not simply motor vehicle collision cases that involve a large vehicle. Trucking litigation involves special issues and challenges that are not present in a typical car accident case. For example, the trucking industry is subject to extensive regulation both at the federal and state level, so effective representation in a trucking case requires extensive knowledge of trucking laws, regulations, and industry practices. If a potential lawyer does not have specific experience in successfully handling trucking litigation, you might want to keep looking because trucking accident litigation does not provide a good venue for on-the-job training.
How does your law firm intervene to preempt trucking companies from manipulating or destroying evidence?
The trucking industry has developed a reputation for the alteration or destruction of evidence in tractor-trailer litigation. The practice of falsifying driver logbooks or keeping two sets of books is so common that these records are derisively referred to as “lie books” by a fair number of commercial drivers and trucking companies. Many trucking companies have investigators that can be dispatched to a crash scene within minutes, so they can quickly gather evidence. A commercial carrier might repair damage to a cab or trailer which prevents an accident reconstruction expert from analyzing the damage patterns to the vehicle. The big-rig also might be placed back in service causing data on the event data recorder to erase vital information about the vehicle and driving of the trucker immediately before the crash.
Our experienced Mississippi tractor-trailer accident lawyers at Barrett Law take affirmative steps to preserve evidence in trucking accident lawsuits. Our trucking accident law firm frequently sends a notice to the trucking company advising that the semi-truck that was in an accident is the subject of litigation and must not be changed or altered from its current condition. This notice includes the data maintained on the electronic recorder for the large truck. If the commercial carrier does not comply with the notice, we can seek sanctions. These sanctions can impair the position of the trucking company in litigation or result in an attorney fee award.
While the threat of sanctions often will be sufficient to discourage attempts to modify or destroy evidence, we also might seek a restraining order prohibiting such action if the commercial carrier ignores our notice. Our Mississippi trucking accident lawyers recognize the importance of acting promptly to prevent evidence from disappearing, which might prove critical issues, such as driver fatigue, speeding, inadequate vehicle maintenance, sudden braking, GPS location, and other information that might be relevant to liability, causation, or damages.
If you have been injured in a trucking accident in Jackson or the surrounding areas, our Mississippi Tractor-Trailer Accident Lawyers have successfully represented many victims of negligent commercial carriers and their drivers. At Barrett Law, we are here to help. Contact our law firm today at 800-707-9577 to schedule your free consultation, so we can answer any questions you may have regarding filing your claim.
