Many personal injury lawyers treat truck wreck cases as if they were simply big car wreck cases; and in so doing, they miss unique opportunities to maximize results for their clients. The focus of my practice is handling truck crash cases in Georgia and around the country (I have handled cases in over 25 States), usually on referral from, or in a co-counsel arrangement with, other personal injury lawyers. In this process, I have worked with many great lawyers and have learned a tremendous amount about how to best handle truck crash cases. I've developed a few tips that will help personal injury lawyers maximize recoveries in truck collision cases.
Tip#4 - Don’t Miss the Truck
When people think about a “trucking case” they think about big rigs and 18 wheelers. Many plaintiff lawyers miss an entire class of cases that can and should be treated as trucking cases. The FMCSRs, and most state equivalent trucking safety regulations, define a commercial motor vehicle as any vehicle used in commerce that has a “gross combined vehicle weight” of over 10,001 pounds. See 49. C.F.R. Section 390.5.
What this means is that any commercial vehicle (not your personal vehicle pulling a boat) that either alone or in combination with a towed trailer weighs in excess of 10,001 pounds, that vehicle qualifies as a “commercial motor vehicle” under the FMCSRs. If the vehicle so qualifies, then just about all of the same regulations apply to the operation of this vehicle as would apply to the operation of a big rig. There are certain exceptions. I wrote a detailed article on this subject in the February 2013 TRIAL magazine.
I've battled some of the most powerful trucking companies to obtain justice for victims of catastrophic injuries or wrongful death. As a former police officer, I rely on my investigative and forensic skills in combination with cutting-edge work in psychodrama and communication theories to find the truth behind every case. I'm a board member of the Association of Plaintiff Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America, and I was the first lawyer in Georgia certified by APITL America as a specialist in handling truck accident cases. I'm also an officer in the Interstate Trucking Litigation Group (ITLG) and founding member of the Truck Accident Attorneys Roundtable.
Content by Joe Fried mylawyerjoe@gmail.com