Preparing for Trial with an Oregon Truck Injury Lawyer

Have you or a loved one been involved in an Oregon truck accident caused by a truck driver’s negligence, or a trucking company’s negligence?  Have you been injured in this accident and have spent a significant amount of time away from work and a substantial amount of money on medical expenses?  If you answered “Yes” to either of these questions, then you have joined a large group of people who have found themselves victims of truck accidents across the country, and it may be time for you to consider filing a claim with the assistance of an Oregon truck injury lawyer.

Before embarking on this journey, however, you will need to be prepared and understand exactly what to expect during a truck accident lawsuit.  This is certainly one of the biggest questions that those involved in truck accidents have when they initially meet with truck accident attorneys.  And they are right to want to know.  Truck accident litigation is extremely complex, and the average person is not at all aware about how these kinds of proceedings can go.

When you work with an Oregon truck injury lawyer, there will be certain things that they will do in order to prepare you for filing the claim and preparing for a possible trial.  These may include the following tasks:

1. Interview you and any witnesses regarding the accident.
2. Obtain the basic facts regarding the truck accident, and review any tangible evidence with you, including any filed accident reports.
3. Seek as much information regarding the accident from outside sources.
4. Work with you to determine the cause of the accident and who is at fault and who the claim should be against.
5. Begin to consult any expert witnesses that can provide evidence to support your claim.
6. Work with you to come up with a tangible number representing any and all damages you have incurred.

In terms of the trial, there are several things that will happen right at the very beginning.  First, it is important to understand that as the person injured in the truck accident or the person claiming damages, you are the plaintiff in the case.  You and your attorney will be seeking a remedy or a settlement, which is typically compensation in the form of monetary damages.  Second, the actual event that will start the claim process in the court system is when your attorney actually files a complaint with the court.  In this complaint, the Oregon truck injury lawyer you choose to retain will do their best to clearly state what happened in the accident and who they believe is responsible based on evidence obtained.

Once these things have happened, you are well on your way to a trial date, but it must be noted that it could take several weeks, if not months to actually get a trial date.  This is because there are a variety of other things that must happen before the case can actually go to trial, including the filing of particular motions and the filing of an answer by the defendant or defendants.  The important thing is really to file a claim as early as possible.  There are statutes of limitations that apply to personal injury cases, which means that if you wait too long, you could miss your opportunity to hold the responsible parties accountable for their negligence.