Truck Injury Lawyer Blog : Truck Accident Lawyer & Attorney: Morgan Adams : Contingency Fee Truck Accident Lawyer

One of the most common injuries for survivors of a truck accident is a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). These are actually traumatic brain damage cases because people don't get well from these injuries. As a result of handling large numbers of these cases for clients I have developed a sub-specialty in the area of TBI. Recently my hard work paid off and I was elected to the Board of the American Association for Justice's Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group (TBILG). This is the largest group of lawyers in the country representing those injured through the negligence of others. I look forward to helping other lawyers across the country handle these cases.

Some facts have become apparent in these cases : 

1. ER doctors don't focus on TBI injuries because they wont kill you immediately, and that is all the ER doc is concerned about.
2. In Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI) cases family members are in the best spot to determine the extent of the injury and the changes to the victim.
3. A loss of consciousness is not needed in order for a TBI to occur

I highly recommend that anyone that believes they, or a loved one, has a MTBI or a TBI, review the government's Center for Disease Control website and publications on TBI's. The government website can be found HERE.

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I have written several articles on what you should look for when you hire a truck accident attorney for your case (See Here and Here). One of the attorneys I have learned from over the years, and who knows his stuff,  is Bob Karns, a phenomenal Rhode Island truck accident attorney . Bob Karns also has a sub concentration in traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries which is a necessary focus of any lawyer handling trucking cases. I had the pleasure of catching up with Bob recently while speaking at the Rhode Island Bar Association.

Bob Karns' knowledge and experience in these areas is immense, and he is well respected by defense lawyers and insurance companies. Since insurance companies routinely lie to victims of trucking accidents (See HERE for an article on how insurance companies trick the victims of truck accidents), hiring a lawyer that is known for making insurance companies pay when they are unfair is critical. There is no question that Rhode Island truck accident victims are better off, and able to focus on healing and getting better, when Bob Karns is handling their case.

So what makes Bob different? He is a nice guy, but there are lots of "nice guys." Bob, however, is one of those nice guys that the bad guys just don't want to cross and get angry. He continues to attend trucking specific legal seminars and stays current on truck accident litigation trends and the trucking industry. He not only stays current on trucking law, he also stays current on the cutting edge medical treatment and needs required by his seriously injured clients. Just like there is special knowledge and materials needed to handle a trucking case not found in every car wreck lawyer's office, there are even more stringent needs and requirements required to handle clients with the special needs that arise from TBI (traumatic brain injuries) and spinal cord injuries.  

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I am happy to announce that my book chapter "Trucking Accident Litigation" has been published by West Publishing, the nations largest and most respected legal publisher. The chapter is published in the multi-volume set Handling Motor Vehicle Accident Cases, 2d.

West allows one author per topic and I was chosen to write the chapter on commercial truck and bus litigation.

Interested in hiring a truck accident lawyer? While there are thousands of lawyers advertising for truck and bus accident victims, consider how much of that lawyer's practice is actually devoted to handling commercial motor vehicle accident cases before hiring them. For more information on this subject I previously posted on how to hire a great truck and bus accident lawyer here, here, here, and here.  

A picture of the four volume treatise, with CD, is below, and you can order a copy here.

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One of the injuries that is of greatest concern for those involved in a truck wreck is a brain injury. While severe brain injuries are easy to identify, mild traumatic brain injuries are not. Explaining the way the brain was injured, and proving to a jury the long term impact of having a brain injury when the victim looks normal, requires training and expertise. I previously blogged on the requirements a competent trucking lawyer should have but I neglected including expertise in handling brain injuries.

Please keep in mind that even though doctors will frequently use the term "mild" to describe many brain injuries, there is nothing mild about brain damage. The use of "mild" by a doctor only means that the person isn' t dead or in a coma. If someones brain is damaged, they have lost their future. They may have memory problems that will have caused them to lose their past. They will never be everything they could have been, even if they do everything they can to try to recover. 

Mild brain injuries typically occur from a wave effect. The brain is like jello, made up primarily of water and is encased in one of the hardest bones in the body, the skull. Because the brain is somewhat fluid, in a wreck it can move and strike the skull. The cells are torn under the forces involved in a wreck. Current medical science makes it clear that it is not necessary for the head to have hit anything in order for brain damage to occur.

Personalities change, memory becomes a problem, frustration and anger are not uncommon. The victim however is able to talk. They don't want to admit anything is wrong, and the family is just so happy for the victim to be alive that they blame the changes on other problems. A questionnaire can help experts determine whether there is a mild traumatic brain injury such as the one that can be downloaded here: Symptom Questionnaire.

If you think someone you love has had some of the changes discussed above have them tested by a neuropsychologist. These are the trained professionals best able to determine whether or not a mild traumatic brain injury has occurred.

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I have a client that was hit by a Swift Transportation Truck in mid-May 2009. Some weeks later, after my client left the hospital, I was hired. I sent a spoliation letter to Swift on June 5, 2009 by fax, mail, and certified mail alerting them to the fact my client was injured and they needed to keep documents that might help figure out who was responsible for the wreck. A spoliation letter is a letter that asks a company to preserve evidence that would show why the wreck happened. Often the major cause of a wreck is not the driver, but the trucking company. The trucking company is typically found at fault for failing to train its drivers, refusing to fire dangerous drivers or hiring them in the first place, failing to properly maintain trucks and not giving drivers the tools they need to drive safely, and for not supervising the drivers while they are on the road. Click her to see a sample spoliation letter.

Swift responded to this letter by stating they refused to save all the documents requested but only to "preserve information [Swift] believe is relevant..." If that isn't putting the fox in charge of the hen house I don't know what is! They went on to say "we will not preserve each and every item enumerated on your list. ...If you believe this response to your request is inadequate, you may wish to file a lawsuit..." They say they will only preserve documents "as required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration..." which allows documents, relevant to determining fault in a wreck, to be destroyed in 30 days. (Specifically, post trip inspection documents are only required to be saved for 30 days according to  FMCSR 396.11(c)(2). ) Electronic material is frequently only kept for days and can be critical in a case. Many of the most important liability documents are destroyed in 6 months while a minority of documents are required to be kept for 3 years.

The ironic thing is that Swift will have insurance adjusters actively discouraging surviving family members from hiring a lawyer, even though the company itself is destroying documents which are critical to proving Swift was responsible for the wreck. Families typically are told to "wait and see what we offer before hiring a lawyer," even though the proof a lawyer needs to prove your case is actively disappearing." This is the worst sort of corporate abuse.

PLEASE DON'T THINK SWIFT, OR ITS INSURANCE AGENTS, IS ON YOUR SIDE. For more on problems caused by insurance adjusters see my prior post  "Insurance Companies Trick Victims in Trucking Cases"

The Law Offices of Morgan Adams concentrates in protecting the rights of those who were seriously injured or lost a loved one in a serious accident with a commercial truck. Our lawyers are based in Tennessee but serve clients throughout the nation. If you or someone you love has been seriously hurt by a careless truck driver, don’t sign anything the trucking company gives you -- contact us as soon as possible at 800-580-4878 or by email to learn more at a free, confidential consultation.

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I just returned from the American Association for Justice's 2008 Trucking Litigation Seminar where, with hundred's of lawyers from around the country, we gathered together to talk about the complicated world of tractor trailer litigation. The program was designed to teach lawyers new to the area of trucking litigation how to handle cases and to give experienced lawyers new tips and insights to take their practices to a new level. It was a great seminar and I would like to thank all the staff at AAJ who made it possible as well as this year's chair of AAJ's Interstate Trucking Litigation Group Steven Gursten from Michigan. So what did we discuss?

I presented a program on the Direct Examination of the Accident Reconstructionist, a critical witness in a trucking case that can make sense of conflicting witness statements and the physical evidence left at a crash scene. Other speakers and their topics included:

1. Michael Leizerman - How to Discover Service Violations and What to do With Them
2. Edward Hershewe - Convincing Arguments fro Damages in Trucking Cases
3. Steven Friedman - Spoliation of Evidence
4. Stephen Gorney - Technology Update in Trucking Cases (GPS, Black Boxes, and On    Board Computer Operating Systems)
5. Emily Hawk Raley - Truck Driver Training and Standards
6. Sylvester James - Themes in Trucking Cases
7. Eddie Davidson - Jury Selection in a Trucking Case
8. James Sloan - Investigating the Crash and Accident Reconstruction
9. Kenneth Shigley - Understanding NHTSA
10. Robert Bailey - Crafting the Trial Story for Trucking Cases
11. Richard Holmes - Common Pitfalls in Handling Trucking Cases - The Defense Perspective

Specialized programs like this make a huge difference in a lawyer's ability to handle trucking cases. It puts the sharpest legal minds together in one room talking about one thing, how to handle those tragic cases where someone was injured or killed from a crash with a tractor trailer. The faculty did an outstanding job and are to be commended for all their hard work. I was honored to be asked to speak and  be a part of such a highly respected group.

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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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In a Tractor Trailer rollovers, who is to blame is frequently a major issue. Federal regulations generally require the driver to bear responsibility for the loading, and faulty loading, of the trailer. However an exception is made for loads that are sealed. www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/administration/fmcsr/fmcsrruletext.asp Who then is responsible? Generally speaking it is the company that loaded and sealed the trailer. Frequently these companies point at the driver and blame him for excessive speed and allege this is the real cause of the collision. While this may be a cause in wrecks, there are a number where the driver is as much of a victim as any other innocent party and,  it is the company that improperly loaded the trailer who is truly at fault.

In 2002 new rules on securing cargo were adopted that went into effect  Jan 1, 2004. www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/truck/vehicle/cs-policy.htm The new rules require motor carriers to change the way they use cargo securement devices to prevent articles from shifting on or within, or falling from commercial motor vehicles. The changes may require motor carriers to increase the number of tie-downs used to secure certain types of cargo. If you have a case where a truck rolled over, or material fell off of a truck. these rules would also apply to those companies loading and sealing trailers. It is critical that experts be retained as soon as possible to determine if a cargo securement issue is involved in a collision, and to determine who is at fault for the improperly loaded trailer.

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