10 Important Questions to Ask Your Truck Accident Lawyer
Hiring a lawyer can be easy when you have a strong word-of-mouth reference from someone you trust, but lacking that, it might make the entire process more difficult.
However, hiring a lawyer after suffering an injury in a truck accident requires a specific type of law practice that specializes in truck personal injury cases. As a result, after an accident, it’s important to hire an attorney quickly to safeguard your right to compensation.
Formulating a List of Questions
After suffering an injury, you might be emotional, but you can’t allow that to affect your decision when hiring a lawyer. Make a list of questions that explore practical things you need to know. Ideally, you should make your list based on your needs, but you can draw inspiration from the following ten questions:
Do you offer representation on a contingency basis?
Most personal injury lawyers offer the option of working on contingency, which means they must win compensation, or you don’t pay any fees or expenses.
Do you strongly negotiate with insurance companies?
Most people prefer a quick settlement over a prolonged court case. Hiring a car accident attorney with lots of experience can improve your prospects of getting a faster settlement.
Does your firm specialize in truck accident injury cases?
Most truck injury lawyers handle other types of personal injury cases, including accidents with other passenger vehicle drivers. However, not all personal injury lawyers specialize in truck accidents.
Find out if your lawyer has tried lots of cases and won settlements. Truck accidents have specific types of challenges, and unfortunately, your injuries might be severe and require lots of expensive medical attention.
Doesn’t insurance cover all my bills?
Insurance may or may not cover all your bills. Attorneys should advise their clients that in Indiana, the state uses a fault-based approach to insurance. If you were held 51% or greater at fault for the accident, you can’t recover any compensation. Your actual compensation is limited to the percentage of fault assigned to the other defendants.
For example, if the other defendants were assigned 100% liability, you would receive all of the money for your claims up to the limits of each defendant’s insurance policy. If the other driver were 60% at-fault, you would only receive 60% of your claims up to the coverage limit. You
Do you negotiate with the other drivers and defendants who share liability?
Good lawyers investigate all the possibilities for winning your case, which include negotiating with all liable parties and their insurance companies. Truck accident cases often involve multiple defendants that include the driver, truck maintenance staff, truck equipment manufacturers, manufacturers of hazardous cargo, the truck’s owner, the driver’s employer, and third parties who load trucks and secure the cargo against shifting.
What kind of damages can I recover?
Indiana awards economic, non-economic and punitive damages in many truck accident cases. The damages you qualify for depend on the specifics of your case, and most attorneys will give you an answer that includes what’s available in your case.
What are non-economic damages?
These damages include pain and suffering, emotional distress, and losses of enjoyment of normal activities and consortium.
Will you be my attorney, or will I get someone else at the firm?
Just because one attorney assesses your case doesn’t mean that’s the one you will be assigned. Find out whether the attorney who discusses the case can be your attorney.
Are you willing to take my case to court?
Most attorneys will assure you of their willingness to take a truck accident to court if necessary but ask for examples for confirmation.
How much will I be involved?
Depending on your health and inclinations, you might prefer to be involved in everything or not, but some attorneys might prefer to handle things behind the scenes.
The Bottom Line
In conclusion, the best lawyers are those willing to investigate your case, challenge fault assignments, and negotiate aggressively with attorneys. For example, if you are in Indiana narrow your list based on website information, and contact a truck accident lawyer who is willing to answer your questions.
