A case against a negligent driver doesn't start when you walk into the office of a truck accident attorney. It starts the moment the crash happens and everything from that moment forward may very well be imperative to your chances of success in court. If the crash was severe, you probably have very little memory of the immediate minutes following the incident. You were likely more concerned about getting medical attention than building a lawsuit. But, this is something you should begin thinking about before you hire a lawyer. If you make enough mistakes, there may not be much of a case to build.
Agree to Nothing
It's very common for the opposing insurance company to try and get you to agree to provide a statement of some kind to the adjuster. They will phrase this in terms of, "The quicker we get this done, the faster you can get paid," which sounds good to someone who is wondering where the money for bills is going to come from. This is taking a short-term reward for a long-term loss, however. It may very well be that the money they are offering you is as much as you're ever going to get. You won't know that until you have a nice long chat with a truck accident attorney, though. Until then, mum's the word.
Admitting Fault
This is a scenario that any truck accident attorney who has been around for more than a year has seen multiple times. A client comes in and lays out his case. It's a good one, but the other party was not the only participant at fault in the crash. This doesn't really matter as much as the client thinks it does, of course. Car crashes often share blame. The question is who is mostly at fault in the scenario. The lawyer won't be concerned with some shared fault, but they will be concerned if the client has already admitted some degree of fault to the police or insurance company. This could easily be a case-sinker, especially if the client took on more blame than was really his to take.
Waiting Too Long
You don't have the rest of your life to decide whether or not you want to file suit. Every state has statute of limitation laws that apply to cases like this. In your state, that may be five years or it may be six months. The point is that you shouldn't wait around too long if you think you might want to file a lawsuit. Contact a truck accident attorney as soon as possible and discuss your options.
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