Southfield Truck Accident Lawyer

The nation relies on big rigs to supply homes and businesses with goods for every facet of life. However, the danger these large vehicles represent is real. Each year, there are nearly 15,000 accidents involving trucks in Michigan alone, causing thousands of injuries and over 100 fatalities. With the aid of a Southfield truck accident lawyer, victims of these accidents can demand justice from those who caused them harm.

Why Choose Goodman Acker to Fight for You?

We Have a Long Track Record of Winning for Our Clients

Our record of successfully representing injury victims shows that our Southfield truck accident lawyers do not settle for lowball insurance company offers. Goodman Acker’s clients have received substantial compensation payouts instead of paltry awards from penny-pinching insurance companies.

When you choose Goodman Acker, you get the benefit of working with a firm that:

• Has recovered multiple millions of dollars for injury victims
• Has an ever-growing list of satisfied clients
• Has a team with a passion for helping injury victims get properly compensated
• Gives clients a direct line to the attorneys representing them.

We always want our clients to have peace of mind that advocates are confidently pursuing their claims. As a client of Goodman Acker, you can expect to be kept in the loop and receive regular updates regarding the progress of your case.

From the first time you enter our office until the end of your case, you can rely on our team to vigorously fight for the compensation you need to help make your life whole. We understand how far compensation goes in helping truck injury victims, and make every effort to negotiate a compensation number that is worthy of your losses.

Justice Through Compensation for Truck Accident Victims

Making Negligent Actors Pay for Their Destruction

The law is clear that truck accident injury victims have the right to pursue compensation for their losses when another party causes them harm. Rules governing injury claims lay out a specific path to recovering compensation that starts with identifying the cause and the negligent party or parties who are responsible. This feat is accomplished by gathering evidence, which may include:

• Police and DMV reports of the accident
• Medical records documenting injuries sustained
• Traffic cam footage and still shots
• Private party videos and home and business surveillance videos.

The prior safety records of the driver and company may also figure into your attorney’s search for evidence.

Truck Driver Negligence

Truck drivers must fulfill a myriad of duties when operating their vehicles. In addition to knowing and obeying the basic rules of the road, such as signaling and yielding, truck drivers must also:

• Drive only a certain number of hours per day
• Perform a daily pre-trip vehicle safety inspection of their truck
• Acquire and maintain all required licenses and permits.

Additionally, operating a big rig requires specific skills and a heightened awareness compared to drivers of standard vehicles. These souped-up requirements exist because large commercial trucks are dangerous vehicles that cause much destruction when drivers do not operate them properly. When truck drivers fail to comply with these rules and regulations, they can be held liable for the damage they cause.

Trucking Company Liability

Trucking companies can be held directly responsible for the negligent actions of their truck driver employees. Therefore, Southfield truck accident lawyers can include a negligent truck driver’s employer when seeking compensation. You see, the truck driver’s liability is imputed to the trucking company under the doctrine of vicarious liability, which means the trucking company does not have to be negligent to be sued for a truck accident.

When the trucking company is negligent, it can also be held to pay for a victim’s losses, even if the driver behaved appropriately. Consider a trucking company with an in-house fleet service department. If the service department fails to properly service the vehicles and ensure that they are safe to drive, the company can be held liable for accidents that ensue.

Negligent Mechanics

Many truck drivers are independent contractors and thus have no in-house fleet operation to service their vehicles. In these cases, truckers typically use mechanic shops to keep their vehicles maintained safely. When these businesses perform negligent work, the result could lead to an accident on the road. For example, negligently installed or repaired brakes could cause a catastrophic truck accident.

Negligent Shipping Companies

If you are in an accident involving a truck, a negligent shipping company could potentially be the cause. Shipping companies load and unload cargo onto big rig trucks. Workers are responsible for ensuring that all loads are packaged and safely loaded onto the trucks. Unfortunately, mistakes happen, and improperly loaded trucks become dangerous vehicles on the road. If an accident happens, the shipping company could be held liable.

Faulty Vehicles and Parts

Sometimes, truck accidents occur due to faulty vehicle parts that the trucker or trucking company is unaware of. When instances such as this occur, the liable party may be a vehicle manufacturer or designer, or it may be a parts manufacturer or designer. Sometimes, the trucker and their employer may also be held liable for faulty parts if they knew of their existence yet continued to use them.

Whatever the cause of your accident, a Southfield truck accident attorney from our firm will identify the liable party or parties and demand compensation.

Determining Your Compensation Total

Once a truck accident attorney from our firm determines who is responsible for your injuries, they will then set about demonstrating and proving the value of your losses. Damages are the monetary remedy you receive to compensate you for the harm you suffered because of an accident. In many truck accident cases, damages can frequently surpass one million dollars and are often in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

You can expect our firm to fight diligently for every penny that you deserve. Although we can never guarantee results, our history shows us to be a firm that stands strong in our pursuit of just compensation for our clients.

Your Financial Losses

Typical financial losses associated with truck accidents include:

• Medical treatment and care costs
• Lost income due to time spent out of a job
• Domestic homecare expenses for debilitated truck accident victims.

Your truck accident lawyer will use your medical records, account statements, work schedule, and other records to demonstrate the financial losses you have experienced.

Your Intangible Losses

When it comes to intangible losses, however, there are no account balances or records for calculating the compensation total. Instead, your truck accident lawyer may use one of a couple of different formulas to arrive at a figure, such as a per-diem formula.

It is during the calculation of damages that many truck injury cases get contentious. Insurance companies do what they can to reduce the amount they have to pay and employ experienced negotiators to fight clients’ attempts at getting what they deserve. A skilled truck accident attorney can handle your compensation calculations to counter insurance company tactics.

Goodman Acker employs attorneys who take loss calculations seriously and know how much our clients deserve. You can, therefore, rely on the truck accident lawyers from our firm to doggedly pursue maximum compensation for our clients.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are some of the most common questions with answers that will help you further understand the truck accident claims process. Please reach out anytime with any additional questions you would like to have answered.

What are some common regulatory violations that lead to accidents?

As mentioned earlier, truck drivers and trucking companies must follow strict regulatory rules. Violating them can easily lead to car accidents. Some of the most common of these regulatory violations are:

• Out-of-service violations and failing to take required breaks from driving
• Failure to perform pre-trip vehicle inspections for safety issues
• Failure to acquire proper permitting.

Failure to properly train and ensure that drivers are competent to operate company vehicles are other common trucking company violations.

How long will my truck accident claim take?

It is impossible to determine how long your case will take without first reviewing the facts of your accident. If you have a relatively straightforward claim, your case could be settled within a few months. However, if there are complexities, the case could take much longer. In some instances, Southfield truck accident lawyers are forced to go to trial to get insurance companies to pay. When this is the case, your claim will take much longer to resolve. However, most cases are settled without having to go before a jury.

Is there a statute of limitations for truck accident cases?

Yes. Truck accident victims have a limited amount of time to seek compensation. From the date of the accident, truck accident victims in Michigan have a total of three years to file a lawsuit for damages based on injuries. There is also a three-year limit for claims for property damage.

Insurance companies may have deadlines for filing claims as well. Hence, it is important to act quickly after your accident and contact a Southfield truck accident lawyer as soon as possible to safeguard your claim.

Can I afford a truck accident lawyer?

Yes. Southfield truck accident lawyers at Goodman Acker charge attorney’s fees at the end of your case, meaning you pay zero upfront. It also means that you pay nothing if we are not successful in recovering compensation for you. However, if we take your case, you can be sure that our Southfield truck accident lawyers believe you deserve to be compensated and will fight to get you justice.

How a Southfield Truck Accident Attorney from Our Firm Can Help

We Handle Everything So You Can Focus on Recovering

Clients of Goodman Acker get the time they need to recover from their truck accident injuries while our Southfield truck accident attorneys navigate the entire claims process for them. As an injury victim, you require time and the absence of stress to recover correctly. If you must deal with a compensation claim on your own, you will be subjected to a stressful, unfamiliar, and unforgiving process that can hamper your recovery efforts.

Additionally, injury victims who represent themselves are more likely to receive far less compensation for their losses than represented accident victims. This is true because the compensation process is an adversarial process that requires injury victims to fight for a fair payout and to know the rules of the compensation game.

At Goodman Acker, we take charge of your case and set our sights on the compensation payout that will make a difference in your life and help you deal with your losses.

Some of the many tasks the Southfield truck accident attorneys at Goodman Acker handle for you include:

• Taking care of all case paperwork, including drafting and filing documents
• Investigating every aspect of your accident
• Hiring medical and auto-accident experts when necessary
• Dealing with insurance company adjusters
• Representing you at trial if the insurance company will not pay.

Contact Goodman Acker Today for Help with Your Case

Goodman Acker Truck Accident Lawyers Are Ready to Assist You

You do not have to take on unreasonable insurance companies on your own. Let the Southfield truck accident attorneys from Goodman Acker fight for you. You deserve to have the assurance that your claim for compensation is being handled by seasoned professionals who get their clients results.

Contact our office today at 248-286-8100 and schedule a free consultation with one of our truck accident lawyers.

LEGALLY REVIEWED BY BARRY J. GOODMAN

Barry J. Goodman has devoted his professional life to keeping courthouse doors open for victims seeking justice. Always a tireless advocate for his own clients, Goodman sees his responsibility as a Detroit personal injury attorney in a broader sense as well. [ Attorney Bio ]