Personal Injury Law – Wrongful Death Trucking Accidents
It is almost always the goal of an at-fault trucking firm and its insurance company to make a quick offer to achieve the smallest settlement possible. After you accept such a settlement, you can’t make a legal claim for additional compensation. Therefore, it is imperative to consult with your attorney to make sure you are getting the best available settlement. The settlement should be just and compensate you for all of the injuries and damages you have sustained. In determining the amount you deserve, the insurance firm may not be taking into account all of the damages caused by the accident such as loss of wages, pain and anguish, car repairs, health care fees, future treatment costs, and other damages.
The hefty insurance policies that trucking firms are required to carry on their drivers are worth 50 times or more than passenger vehicles and insurance firms don’t like having to pay that out. Trucking firms in turn don’t like losing a lawsuit and having their insurance payout because this has a large effect on the rates they have to pay if the firm is found responsible. With the insurance firm standing to lose sometimes millions when their client is found responsible for a wrongful death trucking accident lawsuit, they are motivated to work as hard as possible not to lose any of that profit. They may spend much more money defending against paying these claims in a court of law than the costs to pay for the damages.
That’s tough for them but that’s not our concern. We are concerned for you that if you’ve lost a family member due to a trucking accident, you’re entitled to seek compensation. To accomplish this, you’ll need a strong jury trial strategy. You’ll need a compelling body of physical evidence presented in a way that convinces the jurors. You’ll need a lawyer knowledgeable with the tactics defense attorneys use in fatal truck accidents.
A successful jury trial strategy and lawsuit show the four elements of duty, breach, causation, and damages. These are complicated issues and this is why you need someone who has handled these kinds of lawsuits. The lawsuit you present must show that the defendant in your accident owed your late family member the duty of acting in a way that wouldn’t cause them harm. Generally speaking, the duty that people owe to protect others is dictated by law. This depends largely on the details of the situation and on the relationships between the parties themselves. Our firm knows the law and precedents that govern fatal truck accidents very well. For our team of attorneys, it is not hard to show that defendant or defendants in the fatal truck accident lawsuit that took your family member owed the deceased at least some duty.
The next part of a complete lawsuit will be about proving that the defendant’s conduct breached that duty in the accident. Here much of the physical evidence comes into play. Our firm uses what we gathered to show the action or inaction by the trucker, the trucking firm, and any responsible third parties. Our firm establishes that the defendant or defendants were negligent in some manner leading to the fatal accident. The standard here is the reasonable person standard. Our firm shows that the defendant breached the duty that he owed the accident victim in a fatal truck accident by doing or failing to do something that a reasonable person would have. Our firm will make the assertion that a reasonable person would have taken the action to keep the accident victim safe, and the defendant did not. The jurors are the ones who will decide whether the defendant’s actions were severe enough to constitute a breach and our firm knows how to present a compelling case to jurors as we have done so for twenty years.
That leads us to causation. Many vehicles may be on the road at the time an accident occurs and many parties may have contributed to the fatal truck accident. Our firm shows to the jurors in a step-by-step manner backed by physical evidence exactly how the breach and negligence caused the fatal accident. It is not enough simply to show breach. You will not win in a jury trial if you don’t have the physical evidence to show that this was the defendant you’re naming as the cause.
The last thing you have to show is damages. As our firm discussed, this is not easy to calculate or to make a case for. “Damages” refers to the money the defendant will pay you if you win your lawsuit before the jurors and judge for all the various harms you have suffered in losing your family member. You have to be able to show your damages. Asserting them is not enough and there is no set formula for damages that a juror follows. Each lawsuit is different and there’s no guideline beyond that you may show in a court of law. This means you must bring physical evidence of your injuries to court to support your calculations and claim.
Many times in these kinds of fatal truck accident lawsuits, the amount of damages is contested by the defendants. The defendants will argue that your damages are worth far less than your estimation because to them, the bottom line is the bottom line. They want to pay as little as possible. These are sometimes presented well by defendants, and sometimes they are merely last-resort attempts to avoid legal and monetary responsibility. This will take some work to estimate how much your family member’s final health care fees and your own (if you were also a party to the accident) will ultimately amount to. This is because many times this is still unclear how extensive your treatment will be, how long your recovery will take, and if you will need therapy or counseling in dealing with your loss.
Then there is figuring out the loss of your late family member’s future earnings. Figuring up the loss of future earning capacity is not some set formula where you take the accident victim’s last yearly salary and multiplying by his life expectancy. Few people have stagnant earnings and income over their lives, so you will need to account for factors such as the time value of money and promotions, any raises that the victim would have received had he been able to continue to work and you have to show the likelihood of these gains. Then you have to figure out how to put a value on the intangible losses such as pain and anguish – both the pain and anguish of your lost family member before their death and your own for the loss of your family member and many other intangibles.
Call Us Today
Our fatal truck accident attorneys will offer you the experience and knowledge necessary to properly and fully litigate a wrongful death trucking accident lawsuit, or make a strong enough case that the insurance companies and responsible parties offer you a just settlement.
Our Law Office is familiar with the challenges, complexities, and many times arcane intricacies that are involved in litigating fatal trucking accidents. Our firm may protect you from aggressive or unfair insurance firms and our firm knows how to fight well-trained defense attorneys. Our firm will thoroughly examine an accident scene to make sure that the facts of what happened are established beyond any doubt so that all responsible parties are brought to justice. You are going through a hard time right now. Our firm is sensitive to your loss and our firm may be there to help you navigate these troubling, tragic times. Our goal is to help you get some semblance of your life back. Our reputation is well known among the insurance firms. Our Law Office is fully prepared to seek justice on your behalf. Telephone our fatal truck accident attorneys toll-free. Our firm is here to stand up for you.