Trucking Cases Are Marathons, Not Sprints

When it comes to handling commercial trucking injury cases, it's helpful to understand they are marathons, not sprints. I thought of that analogy recently in connection with a $11 million trucking case we just settled for a client who suffered a traumatic brain injury and other injuries in the crash.

Many of the details of that case are confidential, so I will not go into too much detail. What I can tell you is that it was a tractor-trailer crash case, it was pending in the western part of Virginia along the I-81 corridor, and it involved a traumatic brain injury as well as other injuries to our client.

Another point I can share with you is this: early in the case, the most I thought it was worth was $1 million. This was due to what I perceived were the limits of available liability insurance coverage. I was even offered that $1 million very early in the case to go away.

But we kept digging. And this is where the marathon analogy comes in.

The Mindset Game: Pushing for All Available Coverage

In these larger cases, you have to keep pushing for all available insurance coverage. I believe this is largely a mindset game, in which you need to turn the case over and over in your head, diagram it on paper, and look at it from different angles.

In a trucking case like this, that means looking at all steps in the "transportation cycle." For those who may not handle commercial trucking cases, this is a reference to all steps in the movement of goods or people from one place to another. It is also a reference to all people who are involved in that process from beginning to end.

Critical Questions in the Transportation Cycle

What was being shipped? Who shipped it? Who was hired to transport the load? How were they selected? Who selected them? Who had responsibility for the selection of the equipment involved? Who had responsibility for its maintenance? In a tractor-trailer case, who owned the tractor? Who owned the trailer? What was the nature of the legal relationship between them?

These are just some of the questions you go through.

It's also helpful to decide right up front what you feel a case should be worth, even before you know what insurance is available. This helps to pull you along as you hit roadblocks along the way.

The Value of Persistence in Catastrophic Injury Cases

This case demonstrates why persistence matters in catastrophic injury cases. What initially appeared to be a $1 million case grew to $11 million because we thoroughly investigated every party in the transportation cycle and identified all available insurance policies.

This approach is especially critical in Virginia truck accident cases along corridors like I-81, where complex commercial arrangements often involve multiple parties with separate insurance coverages.

Partner With Us on Your Trucking Cases

If you have a case you'd like to discuss with us, we'd like to hear from you. We routinely partner with other attorneys in catastrophic injury cases, either as an outright referral or in a co-counsel arrangement.

Contact us today to discuss how we can help maximize recovery for your client in a commercial trucking injury case.