If you’re a truck driver, the nightmare scenario is getting into an accident. If you put in enough miles, then accidents are difficult to avoid. Given the new distractions on the road and other dangers, you are likely to encounter a difficult situation. Whether you avoid an accident often depends on how lucky you are or how quickly you can navigate yourself out of the situation. With this in mind, if you do end up in an accident, it’s important to call a truck accident lawyer. This sort of personal injury lawyer will be able to guide you through the challenging moments that lie ahead. So why do you need a truck accident lawyer? Here’s why.
To avoid making mistakes if you’re given a traffic ticket
If you’re in an accident, you end up getting a traffic ticket. The ticket alone is not a big problem, as it can be paid. However, it may impact your commercial driver’s license or your ability to keep your job. Above that, it may even have an impact on any kind of personal injury claim that results from your accident. West coast trial lawyers help people all the time when they’ve been placed in this position. It’s important to have a good one on your side before you take action on any ticket.
Paying a ticket will be an admission of guilt. It operates like a guilty plea, and it may end up being used against you in a civil lawsuit. If you are found to be at fault for the accident, then any injuries caused will be your responsibility. This means that if another person was hurt, you may be required to pay up and face a very draining lawsuit. If you were hurt, then a personal injury lawyer will be able to help you, but it will be critical to avoid mistakes in how you deal with that ticket. Having a good lawyer on your side early in the process will ensure that you don’t make those critical errors.
An attorney will immediately investigate your case
If you get on the horn to a good Los Angeles truck accident attorney right away, they can start investigating the case. This will allow them to preserve any evidence that might later be helpful in proving your claim or defending against the claim of another. For instance, what if there happens to be video of the accident from some camera in the vicinity? That video will not be kept forever, and if the police did not get it when they investigated the crash, it may be lost. A good attorney will jump right up and preserve this critical evidence as soon as they can.
This, in turn, will allow you to properly make your claims later. For instance, you might have rear-ended a vehicle on a highway. That person may claim you just went too fast and slammed into them when you couldn’t stop. What if that is not true? What if the true story is the person made an unsafe lane change right in front of you, and you had no choice but to slam into them? A video can help reveal these facts, allowing your lawyer to fight for you appropriately. This means getting compensation for your injuries and making sure you don’t have to pay for the injuries of others if you were not at fault. The best West coast trial lawyers make sure their clients have the best possible chance given the facts at play.
Working out a settlement if necessary
Not every case is going to be a good one. While a Los Angeles truck accident attorney can help you in many ways, some cases may not be the best for trial. A good lawyer’s job is to figure out which cases are good for trial and which cases should be settled. This is true whether you were at fault or you were the person who got hit. There are many ways that a lawyer can figure that out. It begins with using the experience the lawyer has developed from his time trying cases. The best lawyers know what juries will do and how they will react to certain facts. It is from that wealth of experience that you will be able to draw, as your lawyer will help you understand the best options in your case.
It may be that your case is a good one for trial, so you will have all of the power and leverage over the other side. In cases where the facts are a little less certain, the job of your lawyer is to understand all of these facts and use them to effectively advocate for the right settlement. Settlements will be worked out with the other side’s lawyers according to your wishes. There is some skill required to properly negotiate a good settlement. Lawyers have to know who they are dealing with and what kinds of things they can get out of the settlement. If you find yourself in this position, then it is critical to have a lawyer who has experience and talent. This will allow you to get a result that’s best for your needs.
Fighting the case at trial if needed
When most people think of a lawyer for their personal injury situation, they are thinking of a trial lawyer. They want someone to do what lawyers do on television, which is fight and argue. While this is a major part of what it takes to win at trial, what a real truck attorney will do is give you the best chance during the trial preparation process. Trials are won and lost based upon how much preparation a lawyer puts in and how well he understands both the facts and the law. Choosing the right lawyer will serve as a guarantee that you have someone by your side who has put in the work during the lead up to trial. Then when the big lights of trial come on, that person just has to use talent to get the most out of their prep.
At the end of the day, fighting it out at trial requires a person who knows how to handle juries and make a compelling argument. If you envision yourself going to trial either on a claim where you were hurt or defending against someone else’s claim, you should make sure your lawyer has those trial skills. If you do your due diligence in selecting the right attorney, you’ll be able to rest easy with the knowledge that if the case ever makes it to trial, he’s got you covered.
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