When you are involved in a crash in Philadelphia, it becomes critical that you seek medical care, file a police report, and then contact an attorney. Tractor trailer accidents are serious and often involve significant losses, including physical and financial. Without an attorney, you are faced with trying to ensure the insurance company treats you fairly. To avoid those complications, hire the right attorney to guide you.
The best way to determine who the ideal tractor trailer accident lawyer in Philadelphia is for you is to ask some key questions during a free consultation. These questions allow you to gauge how well the Philadelphia tractor trailer accident attorney can meet your needs.
Do You Have a Case?
One of the first questions to ask a tractor trailer accident attorney is whether or not you have a case. If you have minor injuries and limited damage to your vehicle, you may be able to file a claim with the insurance company and move on.
Most of the time, tractor trailer accidents are far more intense, with a higher level of risk to victims. As a result, you may need to have legal guidance to know how to value your case. You also need guidance in handling the aggressive insurance companies that want to limit how much compensation they pay to you.
What Is My Tractor Trailer Case Worth?
The value of your tractor trailer case is dependent on the losses you have and can demonstrate. Your attorney’s job will be to estimate every component of this, including your medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages, and impact on your overall health and well-being.
Asking this question during a consultation is a good starting point for opening the discussion on what you believe your case may be worth. Your attorney should be transparent, honest, and, most importantly, frank with you about the reality of your case’s worth. They should not encourage you to settle for less than you are owed, but they also should be willing to work hard to build value based on evidence of your losses.
Do You Have Experience Going Against Tractor Trailer Companies?
Choose an attorney with a proven level of experience against trucking companies. This is very different from what you may expect from a car accident. Insurance companies are more intense than trucking companies.
You also want to be sure the attorney has experience navigating the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s rules for trucking companies and drivers. These are some of the most common causes of truck accidents. You need an attorney to fight for you under these very stringent rules.
What Additional Evidence Can We Obtain?
In some situations, your attorney needs to be able to obtain additional information and evidence about your case. You want to choose a lawyer who will do the hard work of building a strong case for you because they will go after the hard-to-access information that could make a difference in your case.
Choose an attorney who has a network of professionals ready to help. That should include accident reconstruction professionals and medical experts. You also want to ensure they have a team that can put the hard work into pursuing that evidence, such as obtaining police reports, getting medical and truck maintenance records, and maximizing your claim.
Are You a Skilled Negotiator?
Tractor trailer accident lawyers need to be skilled negotiators. Ask your attorney about their experience in navigating these types of intense situations. Do they hold insurance companies accountable? What steps do they take to ensure you are getting treated in a fair manner?
Ask about their most challenging cases and how they produced the outcome that occurred. Find out about what they expect to be necessary in your own case. Though this is a preliminary conversation, they can often tell you how challenging your case may be and what they can specifically do to support your recovery.
How Much Does a Tractor Trailer Accident Attorney Cost?
Discuss costs with your attorney during the consultation. You should learn that there is no cost for the consultation itself. This is where you are just finding out if you have a case and, most importantly, if this is the right lawyer for you.
The second step is to find out what you will pay upfront for their services. Some of the best attorneys offer a contingency fee method. That means you do not pay anything upfront. If, for any reason, you do not win your case, you do not pay for any of the services provided to you. Rather, you pay a percentage of the settlement. This information should be clearly determined as well.
Schedule a Free Consultation with Our Legal Team Today
Turn to Kwartler Manus now to learn more about the options available to you for moving your case forward. Our tractor trailer accident lawyer is ready to answer your questions at a free consultation.