Tennessee Truck Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Morgan Adams : Trucking Accident, Truck DUI DWI, Semi-Truck Accidents

One of the most devastating injuries anyone can have, and still live, is a mild traumatic brain injury or TBI. This is sometimes referred to as post concussive syndrome.

In fact, there is nothing "mild" about a TBI. If you or someone you love has this type of damage to the brain you know what a problem it causes within and without the family.

There is greater chance that a person involved in a collision with a tractor trailer will receive a TBI than in other, milder collisions, although it must be considered and evaluated in EVERY case involving a truck or a car wreck. Even mild impacts to the head can have devastating results. In fact there does not have to be a significant amount of damage to a car to cause a TBI. One of the greatest myths perpetuated by defense lawyers is that you can't have a TBI without a loss of consciousness. This is simply not true.

Many Dr's don't look for TBI it as it doesn't show up on an X-Ray, and it generally requires consultation with other experts. What should a family look for if they are concerned about a TBI in someone they love? Factors include:

1. Headaches
2. Dizziness
3. Diplopia (double vision of one or both eyes)
4. Fatigue
5. Irritability
6. Sleep Problems
7. Concentration Problems
8. Memory Problems
9. Problems involving stress, emotional, alcohol
10. Affect changes, anxiety, depression
11. Changes in personality
12. Apathy
13. Tinnitus (ringing in the ear)
14. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

If any of these are noted after a collision, WHETHER OR NOT THERE WAS A KNOWN LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS, the treating doctor should be told as soon as possible. Even after the problem is diagnosed, treatment remains an issue. The Brain Injury Association of America has stated that:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that at least 5.3 million Americans currently have a long-term or lifelong need for help to perform activities of daily living as a result of a TBI.

According to one study, about 40% of those hospitalized with a TBI had at least one unmet need for services one year after their injury. The most frequent unmet needs were:

Improving memory and problem solving;
Managing stress and emotional upsets;
Controlling ones temper; and
Improving ones job skills.

TBI can cause a wide range of functional changes affecting thinking, language, learning, emotions, behavior, and/or sensation. It can also cause epilepsy and increase the risk for conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other brain disorders that become more prevalent with age.

The national brain injury associations can be very helpful. One of them, The Brain Injury Association, can be reached at: www.biausa.org To read about someone who has had a TBI and provides insight , links, and other resources to those who have, or have had a loved one with a TBI, see secondchancetolive.wordpress.com

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I have been asked this question in one form or another over the years and thought I would share the following thoughts on how to hire a great lawyer for your trucking case:

1. The lawyer should not ask you for money, and should appear to be well to do. Trucking cases are expensive, an accident reconstructionist can easily run up $15,000 in charges reconstructing a collision. The case may also require an expert on trucking company practices, an economist, a vocational expert, etc... The doctors who are involved in the case must be paid for their time to explain the injuries to a jury. Then there are the focus groups , these can run up to $20,000. In short a lawyer can spend $100,000 in getting a case into court. Can the lawyer you hire afford to do that? You may never know how the lawyer is doing but, if your lawyer is in a dump, that should give you a clue.
2. Are they a member of one or more lawyer's groups that deal with truck, bus, and commercial vehicle accidents? Generally this means the lawyer should be a member of his state trial lawyers association, the national trial lawyers association (called the American Association for Justice [AAJ] www.justice.org (and they should also be a member of the AAJ Interstate Trucking Litigation Group)),and finally they should be a member of the Association of Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America www.aitlamerica.com . Then there are other groups that, while not specifically related to trucking, indicate a special level of competence of a lawyer in representing the injured. These groups include, amongst others, the Belli Society and The Academy of Trial Advocacy. Both groups are invitation only with a strict membership criteria.
3. Anyone you entrust your or your families case to should have the experience of handling, and recovering, at least one, and preferably several million dollar cases.
4. You should chose someone who has lectured other lawyers in the area of trucking litigation, and preferably more than once. Only the best lawyers can stand before fellow lawyers, who do the same thing they do, and teach them something new about how to handle a trucking case. Any lawyer might be given one chance to speak at a seminar, but since the presentations are graded by the audience, only the best of the best get invited back to teach their fellow lawyers a second time. If the audience of lawyers feels the seminar is not worthwhile the speaker won't be invited back a second time.
5. The lawyer should be able to immediately hire the best experts and get them involved in your case. Frequently I am retained on cases by other lawyers who failed to to get experts involved early in the case. This can result in evidence being lost and a host of other problems. Knowing the best experts in a field of study, and when to get them involved in a case, is critical in the succesful representation and conclusion of a commercial trucking case.
6. CHECK OUT THE LAWYER'S WEB SITE - The web site will tell you what type of cases the lawyer's firm handles. Do they have an extensive trucking site or is it more focused on car wrecks or general personal injury matters? Does the lawyer have a blog, and if so in what area of the law? Do they list papers written by the lawyers, and if so what are the topics?

My firm fits the above qualifications (I am an officer of the AAJ Interstate Trucking Litigation Group, on the National Advisory Board for the Association of Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America, etc...) and most of the other good trucking lawyers I know have accomplished the above... at a minimum. There are a few lawyers in every state that meet the above qualifications and it is to these lawyers that you should entrust your case. If you don't know who they are, give me a call toll free at 866-580-4878 and I will be happy to discuss your case and pass on a name or three for you.

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Training remains the number one way to prevent truck rollovers according to government and industry officials. A 2007 report by Battelle Memorial Institute for the FMCSA found “75% [of rollovers] are attributed to driver error.” The primary cause was running off the road, caused by driver fatigue or inattentiveness.”

Trucking companies could reduce rollovers by the following: Lowering a trailer 3” would reduce rollovers approximately 12% annually. A wider trailer track, from 96” to 102”, would reduce rollover’s 17%. The study found the average cost of a rollover was $600,000 and that for every dollar spent on stability control devices the company would save $2.20. According to Steve Niswander, vice president of safety and policy regulatory relations for Groendyke Transport, driver training is still the most effective way to present crashes. (See Transportation Topics, December 10, 2007, p11)

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The American Trucking Association (ATA) has announced plans to lobby states to put large truck company profits over the well being of owner-operators (O-O) (See Transportation Topics, December 10, 2007 page 1). Specifically the ATA stated that they were lobbying states to ensure owner operators were exempted from workers compensation laws (stating O-O’s had to be covered by workers compensation insurance by the companies that hired them) since it was clear that any federal legislation taking away this benefit would not pass. 

Workers compensation protects O-O’s by insuring that, if they are hurt on the job, they can get their medical bills paid and have a small income until they heal. Under the laws of many states O-O’s are considered employee’s for purposes of workman’s compensation. This is because the trucking companies dictate the route, times, and frequently provide the truck to the O-O on a payment plan. In my experience the payments under the workers compensation system are never enough to keep the O-O’s truck from being repossessed, but are sometimes enough to keep the driver’s house out of foreclosure until the driver can go back to work. If the large companies don’t cover workers compensation for the small O-O, then many will go without insurance or go to work for a larger company. If the O-O goes without insurance, and is injured, it is the taxpayer that will eventually pick up the medical bills.

These O-O’s are frequently mom and pop drivers and often reflect the finest ideals that the trucking industry has to offer. They are pursing the American dream of owning their own business and making that first step. While any other employer would have to cover workers compensation insurance, the trucking companies want to shift this cost to the O-O who already are facing all the costs of higher fuel and taxes, with none of the pricing power of the larger companies to pass these costs on. The ATA should be ashamed of its position on this issue.

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Truck Drivers are at risk every time they step into a truck because the cab of the truck they are driving can easily be crushed in a rollover. While manufacturers have long know of this problem, little has been done about it. The fix is cheap and inexpensive, yet the manufacturer's refuse to admit responsibility despite government data and lawsuits which have highlighted the problem.

If someone you know was injured or killed in a cab crush, whether multiple vehicles were involved or just a single vehicle accident, you should immediately act to preserve the tractor. Without the cab there is little a lawyer can do to bring a case. Trucking company insurance companies know this, frequently destroying the tractor after a wreck. This is why it is critical to send a spoliation letter to preserve evidence. Please see my earlier post for an example.

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