Going to court for your truck accident is a possibility, but it’s not a certainty. Many truck accident cases avoid court because the evidence of your damages is obvious. Going to court would just open the insurance company to more liability.
However, anytime there is a dispute about a truck accident case, the court may be necessary to reach a settlement. Here are some factors that can affect your chances of going to court for a truck accident.
Truck Accident Liability
In truck accident cases, there can be a lot of blame passed around between different parties. There are many potential defendants, and none of them want to catch the liability hot potato. They will also try to blame you for holding some of the liability.
If you are partially liable, your percentage of liability will reduce by that amount. If it reaches 50% or more, you could lose all compensation. Your truck accident lawyer will fight against accusations of your liability. But if the insurance company won’t budge, your case may need to go to trial.
If there are multiple defendants passing the buck and an agreement can’t be reached, trial may be necessary so that the court can divide up the liability according to law.
Injuries May Determine a Case Going to Trial
Truck accidents create an enormous amount of damage in collisions, so you may face high medical bills. While insurance companies don’t like paying expensive claims, they’re actually more likely to pay without going to trial if you have severe injuries with an obvious cause.
However, if your injuries are less obvious, or you had pre-existing conditions, an insurance company may challenge your claims and push a case to trial.
Hiring a Lawyer Improves Your Chances of Avoiding Trial
When you hire a lawyer for your truck accident case, they can bring together the evidence about liability, injuries, and damages to create a strong case for the insurance company. If it’s strong enough, the insurance company will try to avoid trial by offering a fair settlement.
While we love to go to trial at the Buzbee Law Firm and prepare every case as if we’re going to go there, many of the truck accident cases we take settle well before trial. Insurers and truck company lawyers know that if they have to face us, they’re going to have a tough time in court.
The choice to go to trial is always yours. Your lawyer will advise you on your chances of winning and how much more you might get if you go to trial. They may advise you to take the settlement, but you always
have the choice to proceed.
Why Avoiding Court May Be Better
Going to court may be the only way to settle your case, but there are advantages to settling before a trial. First, going to court is always more expensive. Contingency fee rates go up, and you may have additional court fees for filing your case.
Going to court is an all-or-nothing situation. You may end up with a result that is totally the opposite of what you or your lawyer want. If you get no compensation, your lawyer likely won’t get paid and could even lose money on the case.
Finally, it will take longer. A settlement before trial will get your money faster. Once the court is involved, the whole settlement revolves around their schedule. You may have to wait quite a while for your day in court.
Will I Need to Appear?
Likely not. By the time a case goes to trial, your lawyer should have enough statements from you that you shouldn’t have to go to court for your truck accident case. However, if the court summons you to appear, you have no choice. You must appear or face legal consequences.
When you contact our truck accident lawyers at the Buzbee Law Firm, we can help you build your case and determine whether or not going to court is in your best interest.
