Truck Accident Attorney: The Information a Lawyer Needs

If you're thinking of hiring a truck accident attorney to recover damages, you might be interested in knowing where your case will go from here. No two personal injury cases are ever exactly alike, but in all cases there is some crucial information a lawyer will need to uncover in order to accept a client. Since most of the better lawyers work on a contingency basis, they can hardly afford to take cases where there isn't a good shot of winning a substantial judgment or settlement. This is actually a good scenario for the client, meaning they won't waste their time or money trying to pursue a case where they don't have the upper hand. Here are the questions a lawyer will need the answers to.

The Weight of Negligence

A truck accident attorney is expected to get a settlement (or judgment, should the case go to court) for their client. Typically this is done by pursuing the insurer of the negligent party. But negligence isn't always a cut and dried concept. In most situations, both parties bear at least some weight of the fault. It may be as unbalanced as 90/10 or even more, but there are usually things even the most victimized driver could have done to prevent the crash. Unfortunately, this knowledge often stops drivers from seeking their due compensation. Let an experienced lawyer determine how much fault you bear and whether it will mean anything in your attempt to recover funds.

Court Strength

Before taking a case, a truck accident attorney needs to make some preliminary observations about how strong a case may be if it went before a jury. Few cases make it that far, but it is always a possibility. The weaker an insurance company's lawyers perceive a case to be, the more likely it is that they won't settle. Your lawyer then will need to know whether they have enough strength in the case to persuade a jury to vote for a judgment.

Damages

The layman will hear plenty of stories about juries who awarded plaintiffs millions of dollars in punitive damages, making them instantly rich. In the real world, however, this seldom happens. Many states, in fact, have laws in place preventing these kinds of wild judgments. A truck accident attorney needs the hard numbers. Medical bills, lost wages, physical therapy. These are real numbers he can take to the opposing side and develop a settlement. If the amount doesn't exceed the amount the company is already offering, it may not be worth it to move forward.