Defending trucking cases isn't the same as defending the typical automobile negligence case. Accident cases often involve serious injury or death simply due to the size and weight of the vehicles involved. In the highly regulated trucking industry you need to know how the case against your client might be built. Was the driver's log filled out correctly? Did he have the required blood test after the accident? Did he get the required hours of sleep? Were the tires checked during the pre-trip inspection? Whose DOT tags was the trailer operating under? Was the driver qualification file up to date? What about prior accidents? Were the training and safety courses adequate? Can we show that the accident was unavoidable for a fully loaded 18 wheel rig?

Some of our trucking company clients want us to be available as an emergency investigation team should a serious accident happen in our area. We often arrive while the vehicles and drivers are still at the scene. We can direct the investigation, take photographs and have confidential interviews with the drivers while the information is still fresh. Having a trucking attorney on the scene of an accident can be valuable to the defense in the long run, both to the trucking company and its insurer.

• Obtained a defendant's verdict for a trucking company at trial in Cape Girardeau County by establishing that the truck driver could not physically avoid the accident after he was cut off by co-defendant van driver.
• Directed investigation at an accident scene where our driver stopped at the bottom of a hill before entering a narrow bridge with an oncoming dump truck. The driver of a pickup truck was crushed between the rear of his trailer and another semi-trailer hauling rock. Photos taken at the scene were used in establishing that the rock truck was overloaded and had inadequate brakes leading to favorable settlement for our client.
• Successfully defended trucking company in serious injury claim by driver's girlfriend/passenger by establishing that driver broke internal rules by having her as a passenger.
• Negotiated complex settlement during mediation of rear-end trucking accident involving a death and multiple serious injury claims.