Why Are We the Right Choice?
- $817+ million recovered for injury victims
- Board certified trial lawyers
- AV® Preeminent™ by Martindale-Hubbell®
- Dedicated to immersing ourselves in investigation
- Compassionate, caring, and genuine advocates
When you choose our firm for counsel, you choose a team who aligns their interests with yours. You can learn more about our contingency fee representation for truck accident cases by calling us at (561) 922-0258!
No Case
Is Too Difficult For Our Team
We'll take the cases that other lawyers are unable to. Let us handle yours.
What Caused My Accident?
There are approximately 500,000 truck accidents every year, with nearly 5,000 resulting in fatalities and thousands more in injuries. Knowing what your options are after a truck accident can be crucial to the success of your case. When an act of negligence or reckless behavior caused your accident, you may be able to pursue compensation.
Some common causes of truck accidents include:
- Defective or damaged vehicle parts
- Poor maintenance or lack of maintenance
- Improperly loaded trailer
- Drowsy or distracted driving
- Lack of screening and training of employees
- Inexperienced / reckless driving
- DUI or drug use
These are just a few of the issues that can lead to devastating truck accidents. If you or a loved one is suffering due to a collision with a truck, do not hesitate to reach out to our truck accident lawyers in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Who Is Responsible for My Truck Accident?
While you may have identified the cause of your crash, understanding which parties may be deemed responsible or liable is also extremely important for your case.
Some of the main parties that may be held liable include:
- Manufacturers
- Maintenance companies
- Trucking companies
- Drivers
- Supervisors / trainers
What Are the Hours of Service Regulations?
Because trucks are capable of causing so much damage in the event of an accident trucking companies and their drivers are heavily regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The hours of service regulation are one of these rules, the main goal of which is to prevent fatigued driving and overworking truck drivers. According to these rules:
- Truck drivers can work up to 14 hours in one day but can only drive for 11 hours. The remaining three hours must be spent on rest or meal breaks.
- Drivers must rest for at least 10 consecutive hours at the end of the day before starting a new workday.
- Truck drivers must take days off work regularly.
Truck Accident Lawsuits are on the Rise: What a Truck Accident Lawyer Can Do For You
The commercial trucking industry is different than the automobile industry. Truckers operate on a strict set of regulations to ensure the safety of both truck drivers and the motorists with whom they share the road. It can be a complicated area of law as it is frequently changing, which is why choosing an attorney who is experienced in trucking accidents is so critical.
We’re Seeing More Truck Accident Lawsuits
West Palm Beach truck accident attorneys who pursue trucking accidents play an important role in ensuring our roads stay safe. Amid increases in wrecks and growing safety concerns, verdicts and settlements awarded in civil truck accident cases across the country are getting larger – and legal experts say it is because plaintiff attorneys are focused on the fight for justice.
Juries commonly award large verdicts for victims and their families after a trucking accident given the extent of the injuries and long-lasting impact on the victims’ livelihood. In May 2018, the Clark, Fountain, La Vista, Prather & Littky-Rubin team secured a $15.5 million verdict for a 19-year-old boy who lost his single father in a sewage pumper truck accident.
Four Things a West Palm Beach Trucking Accident Attorney Does During a Commercial Trucking Case
An experienced West Palm Beach trucking accident attorney can highlight the violations, call attention to a long-standing problem, expose corporate shortcuts, and persuade a jury to see the harm caused by the accident.
#1: Highlight the violations made by the truck driver or company.
State and federal laws, including those enforced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), impose numerous requirements on trucking companies, truck drivers and others in the industry. From regulations to properly secure cargo and set vehicle weight limits, to guidelines regarding commercial licensing, hiring practices, employee oversite, and hours-of-service rules, there are many rules in place. When trucking companies violate those rules, experienced injury attorneys know how to highlight violations in ways juries can understand, illustrating the laws in place, why they exist, how they were violated, as well as why violators should be held accountable.
#2: Call attention to a long-standing problem throughout the state.
Truck accidents today are caused by many of the same factors that caused truck accidents in the past. Attorneys have begun to focus on chronic problems in the trucking industry, which include putting profits over people, taking the same risky short-cuts, and failing to take steps proven to ensure safety. It is an approach that puts the entire trucking industry on trial, allowing juries to see how there are long-standing and systemic problems that extend beyond any one case. As a result, jurors tend to better identify and empathize with victims and feel invigorated in being able to play a role in doing something to stem the tide.
#3: Expose corporate shortcuts that may have contributed to the accident.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys who handle trucking cases also expend more effort exposing the motivations of trucking companies accused of harming victims. An attorney will show why a trucking company may have overloaded a tractor-trailer that later lost control or overturned, or why companies may have encouraged truckers to drive beyond their allotted number of hours, even though those drivers would be more fatigued and more dangerous to those around them. Proving fault and negligence is one thing, but proving unsavory motives is something that can resonate strongly with jurors, and prompt them into awarding larger verdicts.
#4. Persuade a jury that your damages require a certain amount of compensation from the at-fault party or parties.
Trial attorneys are constantly setting the bar higher for what it means to be a successful litigator. In many high stakes truck accident cases, it’s not uncommon for plaintiffs’ attorneys to turn to complex investigation and accident reconstruction techniques, new technology, and medical and industry experts who help make their arguments easier to visualize and understand, and ultimately more persuasive.
Our West Palm Beach attorneys at Clark, Fountain, La Vista, Prather & Littky-Rubin know we play an important role in helping victims and families in their fight for justice. We also know our work can have a meaningful impact when it comes to accountability, the “bigger picture,” and prompting needed change. With a team of talented and nationally recognized trial attorneys, we fight for our clients and our communities and are passionate about providing high-quality representation that makes a real difference.
We are here to help. Call our West Palm Beach truck accident lawyers at (561) 922-0258.
