Truck accidents send hundreds of people across Arizona to the hospital each year, and these collisions happen right here in Gilbert, too. At CLS Law, PLLC, we are dedicated to winning cases on behalf of injured accident victims. Your journey begins as soon as you are hurt in a wreck with a commercial truck. Please call our firm to speak with a Gilbert truck accident lawyer.

Based on the facts, you might have the right to sue for compensation. Don’t let this opportunity slip away. Our law firm can gather evidence and negotiate a settlement on your behalf if you call and schedule a free consultation.

Is a Truck Accident Lawyer Necessary?

Hiring a professional legal advocate is one of the best choices you can make. The months following a wreck are usually a blur. Many victims can’t even begin to think about a legal case for a year or more. Their injuries are that serious.

Our Gilbert truck accident attorney can:

  • Open an investigation into what happened. The evidence we uncover is critical for obtaining compensation in a settlement or lawsuit. We might talk with witnesses and inspect the vehicles, including the truck. We also have a network of expert witnesses we can lean on to help with accident reconstruction.
  • Document your injuries and financial losses. The amount of compensation you can receive is directly tied to the severity of your injuries, as well as your out-of-pocket expenses.
  • Communicate on your behalf with insurance adjusters and others. Let us take the annoying phone calls and fill out paperwork. You should not be bothered at home.
  • Negotiate with the other side. Once we know who is to blame, we can demand equitable compensation for your injuries. Most people have no idea how much to request in a settlement, but we do.
  • Protect your rights any way we can. We might even file a lawsuit to provide added protection during settlement negotiations in case talks break down.

Trucking Companies Are Not Your Friends

You might expect a trucking company to show sympathy and extend a generous settlement when it’s obvious their driver is to blame. Sadly, that’s not how they operate.

Instead, trucking companies hire big insurers and law firms to defend them. They deny liability and might even accuse you of tailgating a truck or cutting them off. These companies would rather pay millions of dollars to law firms than simply write a check for someone struggling with painful injuries.

At CLS Law, we’ve had success countering these tactics. We can minimize your fault while amplifying the trucking company’s blame. Our detailed approach relies heavily on being better organized than the competition and knowing an accident in greater detail than they do.

Let’s get started soon. These companies send investigators to the scene of an accident to collect evidence and talk with witnesses. Don’t fall behind. Hire your own law firm who can go into the field and find useful evidence for you.

Possible Defendants in Your Trucking Case

We can submit a claim against anyone who has some liability for your crash. The most common defendants include:

  • Truckers who drove dangerously or without sufficient care.
  • Trucking companies who employ negligent truckers or who fail to supervise or hire properly.
  • Manufacturers of defective parts, like tires whose tread separates, causing a truck to crash.
  • Government entities for designing a road or work zone improperly, which leads to a collision.
  • Any other person responsible for the accident.

The presence of so many possible defendants makes truck accidents more complex and confusing than regular car wrecks. We can sift through all the evidence to identify the correct defendant(s).

How Trucking Regulations Impact a Case

The trucking industry operates in a web of regulations. Both Arizona and the federal government have detailed requirements. These regulations might impact your case, so it’s best to hire a lawyer experienced in this industry. Our Gilbert truck accident attorneys follow the industry closely and stay on top of new regulations adopted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the main federal regulator.

Some regulations that come into play for your case involve:

  • Mandatory rest breaks during the day and week;
  • Prohibitions on hand-held cell phones;
  • Maintenance and inspection procedures;
  • Physical exam requirements for truckers;
  • Licensing requirements;
  • Drug and alcohol restrictions;
  • Mandatory drug testing following a crash;
  • Logbook and record-keeping requirements.

We also understand the trucks involved in crashes, whether a semi-truck, box truck or moving van. We will coordinate with experts to inspect the vehicles involved and request any data downloaded by the black box. This evidence can play a vital role in any truck accident negotiations.

Truck Accident Settlements

CLS Law aims to win. Our firm prepares our cases thoroughly, which includes analyzing all your economic and non-economic damages. Then we make a fair settlement request of all defendants, and we work overtime to increase what the other side is willing to pay.

Your economic damages are things like:

  • Lost income or wages if you can’t work after the truck accident
  • Medical bills for any treatment for your injuries
  • Damage to your vehicle or other property
  • Rental car expenses and any other out-of-pocket expenses

Non-economic damages are also included in a settlement. They include:

  • Emotional distress
  • Loss of consortium
  • Disfiguring scars or amputation
  • Bodily pain
  • Mental anguish

These damages are “non-economic” because there isn’t an obvious market value. How much will fairly compensate you for feeling chronic pain in your hip after shattering the bone? How much is fair compensation for sleepless nights? Let us use our experience to negotiate a meaningful settlement for all losses.

We might also seek punitive damages in some cases, especially where a trucking company or driver made an egregious mistake. A trucker might have been high on cocaine when they ran a red light, and punitive damages can punish them. They aren’t available in every case, but we seek them when the facts warrant.

Your Share of Fault: Can You Still Receive Compensation?

There’s no way around it: some of our clients were careless themselves. They might have passed a truck illegally or been tailgating. Others were talking on a cell phone and failed to pay attention as they drove, which led to an accident.

In Arizona, a victim’s negligence can make them partially to blame for an accident. For example, you might be 50% to blame for texting and driving, but the trucker is also 50% to blame for making an illegal lane change.

Any fault chargeable to a victim reduces their settlement by a similar percentage. Consequently, if your case is worth $70,000 but you are 50% at fault, you’ll receive only $35,000. That’s how comparative negligence works.

Let us gather evidence and see if you really are partly to blame. Many trucking companies like to throw around accusations of comparative fault. We always double-check the facts to see if these allegations have any merit. We can also play up the other side’s negligence to reduce your own.

We Work for You—Call Our Gilbert Truck Accident Lawyers

At CLS Law, PLLC, we believe accident victims and their families deserve a talented legal advocate following a wreck, regardless of their ability to pay. Most collisions cause severe injuries, including fractures and brain injuries. It might be hard for you to talk on the phone or come into our office. Nonetheless, reach out to us today. We can meet anywhere convenient to discuss your crash and provide an overview of the injury claims process. We can also discuss our contingency fee agreements. You’ll never pay a fee unless we win!