Pursuing a personal injury lawsuit after being injured in a truck accident can be stressful. But you have to be proactive if you want to give yourself a shot at recovering the compensation that you need to offset the harm you have experienced. And by filing a claim against both the trucker who caused your accident and the trucking company that employs them, you may be able to reach into deeper pockets to obtain the financial resources that you deserve.
However, if you’re going to take legal action, you need to prepare yourself as fully as possible. While this means gathering as much evidence as you can to demonstrate liability and the extent of your damages, it also means being prepared to counter aggressive defense arguments.
What defenses could you see in your truck accident case?
You may be up against multiple defense tactics. The driver who caused your wreck will probably try to sidestep liability, but so, too, will the truck company. Here are some common ways that they try to do that:
- Blame you: This is the most common strategy, and you’re likely to confront it at nearly every stage of your claim. After all, if the trucker or the truck company can successfully show that your actions contributed to the wreck, your recovery may be significantly reduced. So, as you prep your case, make sure you’re looking at it from a defense perspective to figure out how they’re going to attack your driving behaviors.
- Blame the trucker: Remember, you’re including the trucker’s employer in your claim so that you can reach into a bigger pool of resources. In order to save itself, the truck company may try to throw the trucker under the bus. If the truck company can successfully show that the trucker had strayed from his route or was engaging in personal business when the accident happened, they may be able to avoid liability, thereby leaving you with a claim against the trucker.
To protect your interests here, make sure that you’re getting access to trucking logs and have a clear understanding of what the trucker was doing when the accident occurred.
- Blame some other party: If your accident involved multiple vehicles, the truck company is going to try to shield itself by deflecting liability onto anybody it can. This includes other motorists. To anticipate this, just be sure that you fully analyze the facts of your case and include all relevant parties in your claim.
As you pursue your case, be as diligent as possible. You might want to gather not only trucking logs but also maintenance records, police reports and maybe even employment records. You may also need expert testimony from a medical professional and maybe an accident reconstruction expert. These individuals could help you prove causation, liability and the severity of the harm that you experienced. They might also help you counter defense arguments.
Take the fight to the truck company
If you want to recover what you’re truly owed, you need to be prepared to aggressively litigate against the truck company that you’re going up against. While that may sound daunting, it’s not a process that you have to face on your own. Skilled legal teams like the one at our firm know how to navigate these cases and their complications, which could put you at an advantage.
Therefore, if you’re interested in zealously pursuing your claim and fighting to maximize your recovery, now may be the time for you to reach out to a legal team to discuss representation.