Truck Accident Lawyers: How They’re Different from the Average Personal Injury Attorney
You might see many lawyers who get into personal injury law. They often do so because personal injury cases work their way through the court system all the time. You constantly have individuals suing drivers who hit their cars or people who became ill suing a company that made a defective or dangerous product.
Some lawyers get into vehicle accident law in particular. They may stick to representing private citizens who hit each other’s vehicles. That’s potentially lucrative. A big city like Houston sees about 640 car accident deaths yearly, and those cases typically involve both wrongful death and compensation for a survivor’s pain and suffering.
However, you also have attorneys who get into commercial truck accident law. They’re often a different breed from the average car accident lawyer. We’ll talk about what sets them apart right now.
They Often Pursue Larger Payouts
When a lawyer gets into personal injury law, they may sometimes do it because they like the fame. They might not ever receive national recognition like Johnnie Cochran. However, they may like to hear their names mentioned in commercials in their local market and see their faces on bus stop benches and billboards.
However, you also have personal injury lawyers who get into this area of the law for the money. This niche can quickly become lucrative if you are good at the job. A lawyer who represents individuals in personal injury cases can make a very decent living for themselves and their families.
With commercial truck accident cases, a lawyer can often expect a bigger payout if they win the case for their client. Trucking companies usually have deep pockets.
In cases where a trucker barely made contact with a passing car, the lawyer might not cash in. However, in instances where a commercial truck totaled a car or permanently injured a driver or one of their passengers, the lawyer might see dollar signs when they look at the victim.
A personal injury lawyer can often get anywhere from 25%-40% of a plaintiff’s winnings, so they might make thousands or even millions of dollars after a commercial accident that caused a fatality or crippled the driver. These sorts of numbers tend to attract some of the most skilled attorneys in the profession.
They Look Forward to Cases Where the Trucking Company Won’t Settle
You will always have lawyers who enter personal injury law because they want quick, easy settlements. However, some do not feel that way at all. You will often find that attorneys representing victims following commercial truck accidents almost prefer it if the trucker or their insurance company won’t settle.
These lawyers like getting dressed up in their best outfits and arguing on a client’s behalf in front of a judge and jury. They wait for those moments and relish them.
They like to make points that paint their client in a positive light and that persuade a jury of the defendant’s guilt. That makes them feel even better if they can secure a larger settlement offer or they eventually see a jury decide in their client’s favor on the occasions where the trial progresses that far.
They Want to Seek Justice for Individuals Who Sustained Serious Injuries
You will always have some lawyers who don’t care whether a client gets justice or what the plaintiff regards as justice. Some attorneys view their career as a way to make money and put food on the table. However, many personal injury lawyers, especially those who get into a legal niche like commercial truck accident law, genuinely want to balance the scales for their clients.
Many of these lawyers know that commercial trucking cases require a great deal of highly specialized knowledge and that a plaintiff probably can’t win such a case on their own. They would feel lost without the proper guidance, and that’s what a personal injury attorney who specializes in these cases provides.
When they offer a client their services, they like acting as their champion. It’s not the same as when you have a thoughtless, non-commercial driver who causes an accident. The lawyer might feel that the trucking company constitutes an entity that the plaintiff can’t contend with on their own. The lawyer likes stepping in and representing such an individual because they know they can help their client regain some semblance of their normal life, or at least get them some financial compensation.
They Know More About This Area of the Law Than You Can Imagine
You can learn about personal injury law as an attorney, and you might even make car accident law your specialty. However, you must have an entirely different area of specialized knowledge if you get into commercial truck accident law.
Such a lawyer will probably study for years, not just to pass the bar or to get ready for a career in personal injury, but to learn the ins and outs of commercial trucking laws specifically. They will probably have an encyclopedic knowledge of this legal niche that the average lawyer simply won’t have.
They will study commercial trucking law on both the national and state levels. They must do that since some trucking laws cover all commercial trucking within the United States, but some statutes only apply in certain states. They will know how long a trucker can legally drive before they have to pull over and take some hours off. They will know all of the physical requirements for a commercial truck so that a trucker can legally drive it.
When such a lawyer takes on a commercial trucking case and studies all of the details involved with it, they will instantly notice anything that’s out of the ordinary that they can use on their client’s behalf. They must have this knowledge ready if they’re going to achieve consistent success.
If you’re ever in an accident with a commercial truck, make sure you hire a lawyer who has all of these qualifications.
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