A California Truck Accident Lawyer is an attorney, barred in the State of California, who represents clients who have been injured due to the negligence of truck drivers. Trucks form an everlasting presence on the nation’s highways, are intimidating, and negligence on the part of a truck driver, even minor negligence, can cause major accidents that result in serious injury to other individuals who are responsibly using the roadways.
A California Truck Accident Lawyer specializes in the area of tort law in which a plaintiff will sue a defendant, here the truck driver, for injury, whether intentional, negligent, or strict liability, that has resulted in damages. The injuries can include damage to your motor vehicle, medical costs, loss of work, and non-economic damages such as pain and suffering and wrongful death.
Why do I need a California Truck Accident Lawyer?
There are numerous reasons why you would want a California Truck Accident Lawyer. The first being that California Truck Accident Lawyers are knowledgeable about the law involving automobile accidents and the procedures that are followed in these actions. Some important aspects of personal injury law that your California Truck Accident Lawyer should be knowledgeable of are:
The State of California follows a pure comparative negligence standard when deciding damages for personal injury actions. This means that a defendant’s liability will be based on his, or her, percentage of negligence, even if the plaintiff is more than 50% at fault. For example, if a jury finds that a plaintiff suffered $100,000 in damages and the jury finds that the defendant was 10% at fault, despite the plaintiff’s overall negligence, the defendant will be liable for $10,000.
The State of California has a 1 year statute of limitations for negligence actions. This begins to toll at the point where the cause of action arose; here, the truck accident. Because of the short statute of limitations period it is important that you hire a California Truck Accident Lawyer immediately when you are injured in a truck accident through the fault of another. The California Truck Accident Lawyer will be able to file a timely claim and ensure that you do not sit on your rights.
Another reason why you would want a California Truck Accident Lawyer is for their specific knowledge and expertise in dealing with this type of litigation. As noted earlier, California is a pure comparative negligence state. Where this definitely has its advantages over contributory negligence states; where the defendant cannot recover if they were at all negligent, it also means that the plaintiff must prove that all aspects of their damages were the cause of the negligence of the defendant. The better your California Truck Accident Lawyer the greater your chances of convincing a jury that the injuries you received were the sole result of the defendant’s negligence.
California Truck Accident Lawyers will be able to put you in touch with the right medical professionals do perform medical examinations after your accident; do investigations of the accident scene to help determine fault; and litigate in court against the truck companies insurance corporation to get you the money you need.
What is Respondent Superior?
Respondent Superior is a legal term for when an individual injures another through the course of his, or her, employment, and due to that employment, the employer is held responsible for damages. Often times in truck accidents, the driver of the truck are an employee of a much bigger entity. It is the job California Truck Accident Lawyer to determine that the employee was acting within his, or her, scope of employment and therefore open up potential pool of defendants to get a higher damage award.
Where do I find California Truck Accident Lawyers?
The California Bar Association also operates a legal referral service from their website at www.calbar.ca.gov. By going to the California bar associations website you can input the county in the State of California where you will be needing a California Truck Accident lawyer and the referral service will give you a list of resources in your county to contact. You may also call the referral service at 415-538-2250.
You can also take advantage of a legal aid service provided by lawyers in California. California requires that its lawyers provide a certain amount of pro bono services per year. A California Truck Accident lawyer can be retained for free through a legal aid service if your income is less than 125% of the national poverty level.
You can also find California Truck Accident lawyers by taking advantage of the laws.com website. By going to the top of this page and clicking on the “find a lawyer” link you will be brought to the laws.com referral service. By plugging in your name, location, contact information, and description of your legal problem. Laws.com will then contact you about possible California Truck Accident lawyers who may be able to help you with your problem.
Remember, the statute of limitations for negligence actions in the State of California is only one year from the date that the cause of action begins to accrue. If you have been injured by a truck driver in the State of California you should contact a California Truck Accident Lawyer immediately so that you may get the recovery you need to move on with your life.
