Best Truck Accident Lawyers El Paso, TX Of 2024

• Alejandro Acosta, III
• S. Clark Harmonson
• Daniela Labinoti
• Robert L. Lovett
• Cal Mundell
• James D. Tawney
• Robert C. Trenchard, Jr.

Personal injury laws, especially truck accident laws, are a vast subject and can get extremely complex depending on your case. An experienced truck accident lawyer in El Paso can help you better understand the legal procedure and remedies available to you after a truck accident. But here’s a short guide to get you started.

Texas Statute of Limitations

The statute of limitations is the time within which the court will accept a lawsuit from the victim against the party that injured them. This is calculated from the date on which the cause of action arises. In Texas, the statute of limitation is two years from the day of the accident.

However, in cases where the victim dies as a result of the accident, the statute of limitation shifts to two years from the day of the death. This is because in these cases, the resulting death becomes the cause of action instead of the injury caused on the day of the accident.

If you or your loved ones were involved in a truck accident, you will need to file suit within this time frame, otherwise, the court may dismiss your case.

Texas Laws for Truck Drivers

Texas truck drivers are required to follow a combination of federal and state laws at all times. If you were in a truck accident, your El Paso truck accident lawyer can help you determine if the truck driver, trucking companies and loading companies were complying with all the required laws. Some of these rules are:

• Permits & Papers Requirements. Truck drivers must carry registration papers on their vehicles while operating on a public highway. These papers should contain information like the weight of the vehicle empty and how much it is registered to haul. They require special permits to carry equipment heavier, larger or higher than what is allowed by the law.
• Permitted Driving Hours. Truck drivers are not permitted to be on duty for more than 14 hours with 11 hours of driving time interstate. When commuting intrastate, a driver can drive for 12 hours and be on duty for a total of 15 hours.
• Record Maintenance. Every truck driver driving interstate is required to maintain daily logs containing the records of their duty status using a recording device installed in the vehicle.
• Alcohol And Drug Restrictions. Truck drivers are strictly required to maintain a blood alcohol level below 0.04% as opposed to 0.08% which is the legal limit for regular drivers in Texas. They are also subject to random drug tests by their employers at any time.

Identifying Fault for a Truck Crash

Texas is an at-fault state, which means the party at fault for causing the accident will be liable to pay the damages. The task of proving the negligence of the truck driver may seem easy at first glance, especially considering the potential wreck their mistake can cause. But that’s not really the case.

This is because Texas also follows a modified comparative negligence rule to determine liability. What this means is if you were 30% at fault for causing the truck accident, your claim will reduce to 70% of the total damages. But if the trucking company proves that your negligence was 51% or higher, you can lose out on the claim altogether.

Truck accident cases can get extremely complicated and the trucking companies are always prepared to fight any claim that might arise. Therefore, if you’re involved in an accident, it is in your best interest to reach out to a truck accident lawyer in El Paso as soon as possible.

How Can An Attorney Help You?

An attorney can be of great help during this stressful time in your life. They can guide you through the legal system and get you the best possible settlement or verdict. Here are some ways your El Paso truck accident attorney can assist you:

• Identifying the party at fault: On the surface, it may seem like truck accidents are always the fault of truck drivers. But they can be the result of the negligence of many other parties. For example, the cargo company may have overloaded the truck and that could be the ultimate reason for the crash. Your El Paso truck accident attorney can help you determine the party who should pay for the damage.
• Investigating and collecting evidence: Your attorney will investigate your case and collect evidence on your behalf. Since your statement and the police report might not be sufficient to prove the fault of the other party, they can gather video footage, obtain truck driver’s logs and all the other possible evidence.
• Filing the insurance claim: Once you are able to recognize the at-fault party, your attorney will help you file a claim with the insurance company of that party.
• Collecting eye-witness testimonies: If you or your loved one were involved in a truck accident, it might not be your number one priority to identify potential eyewitnesses and talk to them. Your attorney will take up this responsibility for you and collect witness testimony before it’s too late and it becomes impossible to locate the people present at the time of the accident.
• Negotiating with the insurance company: The first settlement amount offered by the insurance company is usually low. Your attorney can review the offer and either help you negotiate a better award or file a lawsuit if a settlement is not reached.

A lawyer holds the power to either make or break your case, especially in claims against defendants as prepared as trucking and insurance companies. To find the best truck accident attorney in El Paso for your case, you should consider the following factors:

• Experience with truck accident cases. Truck accidents have their unique set of laws and can involve multiple defendants, unlike other auto accident cases. Therefore, you must check your lawyer’s experience with filing and negotiating truck accident claims.
• Payment structure. Most personal injury lawyers charge on a contingency basis. This means if you win a settlement or verdict, they will take a percentage of the amount you receive. But if you don’t win anything, they will not take any fee.This percentage may vary from attorney to attorney and may increase if the case proceeds to trial. You should always discuss the fee structure and additional charges involved, if any, before making the final decision.
• Trust and compatibility. Since you will need to divulge a lot of personal information, you should always work with a lawyer you feel comfortable with. You also need to be able to trust the lawyer you hire because they will not only help you recover monetary damages but also your mental peace.
• Trial success history. You should find out the number of claims your lawyer has taken to trial. An attorney without much trial experience will try to get a settlement quickly and this may prove detrimental for you.Also, the insurance and truck company lawyers can sense your lawyer’s reluctance towards going to trial and may offer you a lower settlement amount than you deserve.

To come up with the Best Truck Accident Lawyers in El Paso in 2024, Forbes Advisor considered many factors. Forbes Advisor’s mathematical module considers and weighs the information collected to calculate a specific rating and reviews these results to find the best attorneys in a given practice area.

Within the model, we take into account factors that legal professionals and consumers value in an attorney’s qualifications. After assigning weighted scores to hundreds of data points, we narrowed the field down to our top choices based on:

• Legal experience
• Special licenses & certifications
• Ethics and bar disciplinary measures
• Legal thought leadership
• Education & employment background
• Scholarly lectures & writings
• Awards & honors

Forbes Advisor collects public data from a variety of sources, including state bar associations, court records and other published sources on the internet. This information should not be considered comprehensive, however. It might not include additional relevant information on an attorney’s legal skills and experience.

Each lawyer listed here has their own merits. Bear in mind that our list relates to these lawyers’ legal backgrounds, but does not evaluate their personalities or their knowledge of the law. One attorney may be more suitable than another for your specific legal situation.

One thing that can’t be quantified, though, is the rapport you establish with your attorney. Personality goes a long way when teaming up with an attorney, especially when going through a potentially difficult legal situation. These rankings should serve as a reference and potential starting point in your search for the right lawyer for you and your legal concerns.