The Importance of an Experienced 18-Wheeler Accident Attorney

Miles removed from major U.S. interstates, Tyler is the not the most suitable city for 18-wheeler traffic. However, the “Rose Capitol of the World” still has more than its share of semi-trucks rumbling through town, leading to occasional accidents with passenger cars and pedestrians.

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Once you have been injured or a family member has been killed in a wreck with a semi-truck, you have the right to pursue compensation. In order to actually obtain the fair restitution you deserve for the harm that you have suffered, however, you will need a knowledgeable and time-tested Tyler 18-wheeler accident attorney guiding you through the complex and challenging compensation process. As the county seat, it’s not hard to find an attorney in Tyler. However, you don’t need just any old lawyer you find the phone book protecting your rights, but you need to find a trustworthy lawyer who has dealt with tractor trailer accident litigation and insurance claims before and knows what to expect and how to best handle your case.

For the past 20 years, the Tyler 18-wheeler accident attorneys at Grossman Law Offices have been helping accident victims in Texas, and we’ve dealt with hundreds of accidents involving 18-wheelers and other commercial vehicles. Our efforts have delivered many awards & settlements to hundreds of injured Texans.

When we say commercial truck accident, you’re probably thinking of the typical 18-wheeler, but in reality commercial truck accidents can involve a wide array of vehicles. Moreover, each type of vehicle presents unique perils to both drivers and passengers of neighboring automobiles and pedestrians. In Tyler, just like any part of Texas, the oil industry makes tanker trucks a constant threat with their dangerous cargo. Moreover, with the surrounding piney woods, lumber haulers and logging equipment can also present a problem. Although, that’s just the tip of the iceberg in regard to the types of commercial vehicles with which you can have an accident, including: utility trucks, flatbed trucks, rock haulers, buses, dump trucks, farm machinery, construction vehicles, moving vans, delivery trucks, and others. Despite the different vehicles involved and the inherent dangers each presents, most accidents involving commercial vehicles involve similarities, including:

• The immense size of most commercial vehicles leads to very serious injuries to anyone who gets involved in an accident with one – either in a passenger car of on foot.
• The means for resolving accidents with commercial vehicles are completely different from those to settle an accident with a passenger car.
• While some 18-wheelers are privately owned, most commercial vehicles are owned by large companies who have a significant amount of resources at their disposal.

With all of the assets they have at their disposal, commercial trucking companies won’t think twice about hiring a pricey team of attorneys to protect them against a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit. With more money to lose from costly injuries and even more costly fatalities, the trucking companies and the insurance companies have more reason to fight. Someone without any legal experience who attempts to butt heads with these skilled and experienced defense attorneys is going to end up with nothing but a headache. A Tyler semi-truck accident lawyer who has proven that he or she can win personal injury and wrongful death cases in court gives you the edge you need to combat the seasoned defense team. Someone with a history of success provide proper incentive for the defendants to settle fairly.

At Grossman Law Offices, our Tyler 18-wheeler accident attorneys have over two decades of experience dealing with commercial vehicle accident cases of various sorts, and our long record of success will give you an excellent chance of recovering the restitution your injuries or loss merits. After helping hundreds of other injured Texans, we understand how badly you need to be compensated so that you can get back to enjoying your life again.

Helpful Links

• To learn about Grossman Law Offices’ past history, click here.
• To learn more about our most recent successes, click here.
• To learn more about our team of lawyers, click here.

Through 20 years and hundreds of cases, we’ve learned that accident victims and their families are shaken up and confused after a devastating wreck with a commercial vehicle. In order to assuage your discomfort, our attorneys have put together this article, for we know that knowledge is key. An accident victim who understands the compensation and legal process involved with 18-wheeler accidents will better make the right decisions to secure the compensation he or she deserves. Read on and choose wisely.

Tyler 18-Wheeler Truck Accident Attorney

Tyler Truck Accident Attorney Michael Grossman Explains the Legal Remedies, Common Pitfalls, and Subtleties of the Modern Truck Accident Case According to Texas Law

• Determining Fault
• Large Insurance Policies
• Your Opposition
• Self-Insured Truckers
• What Should I Do Next?

18-wheelers make up a considerable portion of highway traffic in Tyler and East Texas in general. Long hours in large trucks coupled with monotonous miles and the occasional bad decision lead to inevitable accidents that leave lasting scars.

Auto accidents involving 18-wheelers are a devastating experience for all involved. If you or a loved one has been involved in such a catastrophic event, the additional pain endured during the aftermath in having to deal with the legal ramifications of such an event can be overwhelming. If you or a loved one has been injured in an 18-wheeler accident in Texas, the Tyler truck accident attorneys of Grossman Law Offices can help you understand your legal rights and help you recover the compensation that you deserve.

Whose Fault is it?

If you’re hit by an 18-wheeler, you’re probably wondering who to blame. The important thing to note in any truck accident case is that there usually is not one single defendant. In Texas, the applicable laws are based on a legal doctrine known as “respondeat superior” which essentially means that the actions of the employee are the responsibility of the employer. As such, it is quite common in an 18-wheeler accident case to discover that there are multiple defendants that share varying portions of liability for your injuries.

Liability can lie with the driver, the driver’s employer, the company that loaded the cargo or planned the route, the insurance company, another outside source, or some combination of all of these mentioned. It is therefore vital to conduct an in-depth investigation into the precise cause of the accident in order to determine exactly who is at fault. For instance, if an 18-wheeler driver loses control and crashed into a car, did he simply let go of the wheel or was a mechanical failure to blame? What if the trucker's load was improperly secured by someone other than the driver and this caused the truck to swerve uncontrollably when the load shifted? Would you still blame the driver? Ultimately, there are few cases that are clear cut and only an experienced truck accident attorney can help you ensure that ALL responsible parties are brought to justice.

Why Do I Need a Lawyer?

Don’t be led to believe that auto accidents involving 18-wheelers are simply “big car” accident cases. There are multiple and major differences to know about in seeking help for this kind of case. Just the same way that most people would not perform their own surgeries or dental work, any legal case, particularly a truck accident case, is a complex matter that non-attorneys (and even most lesser-experienced attorneys) will have no real chance of winning. Here are some of the reasons why that is:

Large Insurance Policies

Trucking companies carry very large insurance policies to protect themselves. And it is federally mandated that they do so. While you might be led to believe that this would allow for a quick and easy out-of-court settlement, this is far from the truth. Just the same way that there is more effort put into securing Fort Knox than a typical office building, insurance companies go through considerable lengths to protect these high-value policies more so than a typical car insurance carrier will defend a car insurance policy. This is self explanatory for the most part; the policy is valuable and they don’t want to give that money away. However, the general mindset by most insurance carriers is the old adage that if they give you an inch, you’ll take a mile. In other words, if they show you that they are willing to pay you something then you will ask for everything. As such, they aggressively defend their policies.

Furthermore, even though the personal injury and wrongful death laws in the Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code are very clear that if a trucking company causes someone to suffer, the victim has a right to seek a legal remedy. In any truck accident case in Texas, the burden of proof lies with the victim or their family and ultimately the plaintiff has to be able to prove that a legal duty owed to them was violated and that the defendants (the trucking companies and their insurance carriers) must compensate the plaintiff. The plaintiff must then prove that the amount they are demanding is justified. Naturally, the defendant insurance company has a right to dispute this in a largely interpretive and open-ended way. As a result, they are well within their rights to deny the injury claim or attempt to pay as little as possible. The only way to ensure that you are compensated fairly is to hire an experienced Tyler truck accident attorney who can make them pay you what you deserve.

Specialist Defense Lawyers

Insurance companies will aggressively defend these cases with defense attorneys well-suited to the task. They are rapid-response lawyers who are typically fully prepared for a court course before a possible plaintiff has even considered hiring a lawyer. They are usually dispatched to the scene of most 18-wheeler accidents within minutes after the accident has occurred. In other words, trucking companies are prepared for these inevitable 18-wheeler accident cases and they send a team of attorneys, adjusters, and accident investigators to the scene of the accident to immediately start building a case against you. Typically, they are prepared to defend a case before the accident victims have even considered hiring an attorney. By contacting Grossman Law Offices after an accident, you too will be prepared.

Aggressive Insurance Adjusters

Insurance adjusters that work these cases are very aggressive and experienced, and nothing like your friendly neighborhood car insurance agent. They are well trained to maximize their company’s profits instead of agreeing with the amount you believe you’re due. These adjusters are in charge of the largest and most valuable automotive policies in the industry and are seen as being the best of their field.

In the majority of the 18-wheeler accident cases that our firm litigates, the insurance adjuster is typically flown in from either New York or Chicago and will attend the negotiation session during mediation. Make no mistake about it; they are specialists that have only gotten to their current position by saving money for their employers. The only thing these adjusters respond to is an aggressive attorney that can cause their employer to lose money. Therefore, you must only trust your truck accident case to an experienced Tyler truck accident attorney that can put adequate pressure on the adjuster and the carrier.

Unscrupulous Truck Drivers

Another big obstacle in a truck accident case is that if a truck driver causes an accident, that person may lose their job. We have seen many cases where a driver has consciously lied about an accident in order to protect their livelihood.

In one particular case, a truck driver claimed that our client was driving with their lights off which caused the accident. Through our diligent efforts, we uncovered surveillance footage from a nearby store that showed that our client did, in fact, have his lights on and that the truck driver was lying. This is but one example of hundreds that we’ve encountered where a defendant driver has been exposed as lying about the cause of the accident. The truth generally comes in out when deposing the truck driver, but this is a delicate process best left to experienced attorneys. Our Tyler truck accident attorneys have conducted thousands of such interrogative depositions and our Law Offices have repeatedly been able to seek the truth in these cases and see that the plaintiff receives their due compensation.

Beware the Self-Insured

Some companies have self-insurance, setting aside a portion of their assets to cover themselves in the event of 18-wheeler auto accident cases rather than purchasing a typical insurance policy. Unfortunately, these companies are typically less likely to play by the rules or provide fair compensation for you. A regular insurance adjuster is bound by certain ethical standards and is licensed. While they are still plenty capable of acting quite aggressive, they have rules that must be followed in order to keep from losing their license. However, when dealing with a self insured trucking company, it’s like you’re in the Wild West. They typically do not play by the rules and you are generally dealing with an officer of the company (someone’s whose pay is directly linked to profit) and not an actual adjuster. We have seen some rather shocking examples of self-insured trucking companies manipulating evidence, badgering and threatening witnesses, and even illegally approaching the plaintiffs in a manner that can only be perceived as threatening; that is, until our firm comes into the picture. In a significant portion of the trucking cases that we are hired in we are hired largely because the self-insured companies are violating the rights of the accident victims and our first order of business is to compel the defendants to behave appropriately through the use of legal action.

I Think I Can Handle This By Myself

It’s seldom a good idea to represent yourself in any court case, much less in complex cases involving 18-wheeler accidents. Successfully defending yourself from the aggressive and knowledgeable lawyers that insurance companies use to defend their interests is a demanding and time-consuming endeavor. Proving the fault of the correct party, as well as knowing the correct and ethical procedures for how to do that, are specialized areas of knowledge that our lawyers have spent countless hours attaining. Simply knowing what the laws are is maybe 20% of the equation. The other 80% is knowing how to apply the applicable laws, understanding the procedural aspects such as how to file a suit, how to answer interrogatories, how to prepare a demand packet, and many other important facets, and lastly, the most important element is having a winning track record. An insurance company is no less frightened by the threats of a non-attorney (or even an attorney that doesn’t consistently win 18-wheeler accident cases) than the Dallas Cowboys are frightened by the threats of a junior varsity football team.

We get results largely because we have won thousands of cases. When we tell an insurance company that we will sue them if they don’t meet our demands, it is not an idle threat. Our track record speaks for itself and insurance companies, their adjusters, and their attorneys will only heed the threats of someone they know can beat them, and our Tyler truck accident attorneys have beaten virtually every major auto insurance carrier in America.

If I’ve Been in an Accident, What’s the First and Best Thing I Can Do?

The preservation of evidence is paramount. It’s very important that you hire a firm to conduct an investigation of the accident as quickly as possible. Evidence never sits still and it is absolutely vital to preserve that evidence as soon after an accident as possible. It is standard protocol at Grossman Law Offices for every major trucking accident case to begin with a thorough investigation into the accident scene. Measurements must be taken, the vehicles must be inspected in the field and in a lab, the data recording devices must be examined and data extracted from them, witness statements must be taken, photographic evidence must be gathered, and all evidence must be catalogued in such a way that it is valid and admissible in court. Adequately investigating the case is the only right way to start an important case.

A perfect example: Our firm was hired by a man that was severely injured and the family of a man that was killed in a truck accident case. In this particular case, the 18-wheeler’s trailer was stretched completely across the road as the truck driver attempted an odd turn (the sad part is that we have had several cases where nearly the exact fact pattern occurred). Since it was dark out, the only lights that were really visible were the small red bulbs on the side of the trailer. Our client came around a corner and had no way of seeing the trailer until it was too late. The roof of their vehicle was chopped off, leaving one dead at the scene and another severely injured. Our firm was hired rather soon after the accident. Our attorneys flew to the accident site and began investigating. The victim’s car was already at a salvage yard, so our attorneys went to the salvage yard to take possession of the vehicle for analysis. Upon visually inspecting the vehicle, our attorneys noticed that the vehicle did not have any headlamps installed, which is certainly odd. Our attorneys checked with the owner of the salvage yard and were able to examine surveillance footage of the salvage yard’s visitors. The video was timed to be erased later that day. The video footage showed a rep from the trucking company who came to the salvage yard and stole the headlamps from the victim’s vehicle. Later, the insurance company tried to make the claim that victim was driving around without any headlamps and that, they argued, was the reason that they couldn’t see the trailer. Little did they know that we had already obtained footage of them tampering with the evidence.

The point of the story is that had we been hired even a day later we would have never had known that the evidence was tampered with since the police photographs were too fuzzy to tell if the truck didn’t have headlamps or if they were simply off by the time the pictures were taken.

Again, conducting a thorough investigation is the only way to lock down the evidence necessary to win and we provide our investigative services to our client with no out of pocket expense.

We Want to Help, and We’re Amply Qualified

The Tyler truck accident attorneys at Grossman Law Offices possess 20 years of hard-earned experience. We will partner with you to ensure that you receive just compensation for any damages, pain, or suffering that might have occurred as a result of an 18-wheeler accident. We also seek law reform where necessary to ensure that future accidents can be prevented.

If you’ve been involved in an auto accident involving an 18-wheeler in Tyler, Texas or east Texas, we encourage you to call us at 1-855-258-1111 (toll free) at any time of the day or night, on any day of the week. We’re here to serve you and to help you through this difficult time.