Complex Car Accident Lawsuits Are A World Apart.
Stack-ups. Multi-car collisions with disputed liability. Injuries involving commercial trucks and defective auto parts. Those are complex car accident lawsuits, and they require a whole different game plan. We deal with them in litigation more often than you’d think, and these are some of the strategies that separate the winners from the losers.
The issue is this:
Rarely do victims of accidents know how complex their cases really are until they’re already into litigation. That’s too late. Vital evidence may have already been lost.
Winning complex car accident cases requires a winning legal strategy.
What you’ll learn:
- Why Complex Cases Are Different
- Building A Legal Strategy Foundation
- Untangling The Multi-Party Liability Puzzle
- The Evidence That Wins Complex Cases
- When You Can’t Get A Settlement Offer
Why Complex Car Accident Cases Are Different
Not all car accidents are created equal.
Two cars in a rear-end collision. Those are easy to handle. But add more vehicles and defective auto parts and disputed liability claims… and the formula changes. Very few actually make it to trial. The Bureau of Justice Statistics tell us that 3-5% of car accident claims ever see the inside of a courtroom. But the complex cases? They make up a disproportionate percentage of those that go to trial.
The reason is simple.
Insurance companies settle the “simple” cases as quickly and as cheap as possible. Why? It’s less work for them and less money paid out. When faced with multiple liable parties and millions of dollars in damages, they’re far less likely to budge. It’s then that you need a skilled car accident attorney in Richmond to understand the complexities of the case and navigate the legal process.
A car accident lawyer knows the kinds of evidence that will win the case and the way to build a legal strategy from the ground up.
Building A Legal Strategy Foundation
Winning complex car accident cases start with proper preparation.
It all starts from day one:
- Preserving evidence from all accident scenes
- Documentation of medical treatment from day one
- Identifying and securing expert witnesses
- Creating a timeline of all events
- Reviewing insurance policies of all liable parties
If you rush this part or leave out even one step, you’ll pay the price down the line.
Document, document, and document some more is the name of the game in complex litigation. Accident reports, medical records, witness statements, cell phone data, vehicle event data recorders… everything needs to be gathered and kept for trial.
Most people never realize this either…
Your opponent has begun building their defense even before you know you have a case. Every day without legal counsel is one more day they get ahead of you.
The Multi-Party Liability Puzzle
Multi-vehicle accidents create liability matrices that can be nightmarish to disentangle.
You’ve got three, four, five cars involved in an accident. If the impacts are simultaneous, it can be nearly impossible to know what happened and who did what. The last thing anyone in any of the vehicles wants to happen is to end up being fully liable for all injuries. And it’s for that reason that many drivers and insurance companies take the approach of blaming everyone else.
Comparative negligence comes into play.
We’re pretty used to thinking about auto accidents as being the fault of one party or another. But where the state uses a comparative negligence standard, fault gets shared among all parties. If you, the car accident victim, are even 1% responsible for the crash, you have the right to recover damages. But they will be reduced by your own share of the blame. That makes proving that the other parties were MORE at fault essential to recovery.
Complex, right?
An experienced car accident lawyer will investigate every possible source of evidence:
- All possible witnesses and their accounts
- Traffic camera and private security camera footage
- Vehicle damage patterns and collision physics
- Cell phone records and any other potential distraction
- In-vehicle data recorders, or “black boxes”
The goal is establishing a clear narrative of cause and effect that will demonstrate exactly what each driver did (and didn’t do) and when. Without clarity and unambiguous evidence, the insurance companies will exploit any doubt or gaps to further minimize the value of your claim.
Evidence That Wins Complex Cases
So what’s the difference between a winning and losing case?
Evidence. Expert evidence.
Complex auto accident lawsuits often end up being decided by expert testimony and opinion evidence. Accident reconstruction experts can determine what happened using the laws of physics, engineering, and sometimes forensic analysis. Medical experts can pinpoint the specific causes of injuries.
The National Center for State Courts tells us that personal injury cases like car accidents that do make it to trial have a 60% chance of victory for the plaintiff. But with proper evidence preservation and preparation, that percentage can change dramatically.
So what kind of evidence will help you win a complex case?
- Accident reconstruction analysis and reports
- Causation and future medical damages from medical experts
- Vehicle inspection and auto part defect reports
- Economic analysis of future lost wages, medical costs, etc.
- Data recovered from vehicle event data recorders
Pictures and visual evidence are equally important as well. Diagrams, charts, and video reenactments help juries to understand the facts of complex accident cases much better than they would with words alone.
When Settlement Isn’t An Option
At some point in your case, the insurance company may refuse to offer a reasonable settlement.
It happens more than most people think. Complex auto accident cases where damages are high are the ones most prone to it. The insurance company knows that they’re facing a very expensive payout. They lowball an offer hoping that you’ll be desperate enough or just plain exhausted from litigation to take it.
If you need to go to court to recover your damages, be prepared for the long haul.
Litigating a complex car accident case to verdict involves the following:
- Complete the discovery process
- Depose all witnesses
- Motion practice
- Jury selection
- Trial presentation
Litigation is expensive and time-consuming, to be sure. But for cases with catastrophic injuries, wrongful death, or significant economic damages, it’s sometimes the only way to fair compensation.
One last thing about settlements and trials. Most defendants and insurance companies fear trial. Uncertainty is their biggest nightmare. The best time to receive the highest possible settlement offer is just before the scheduled trial date. If you’ve prepared the case properly and are willing to go to trial, the insurance companies will be far more likely to pay up. The perceived risk they face is the leverage that you can turn to your advantage.
Choosing The Right Lawyer
Complex car accident cases take specialized legal representation.
Rarely will you find an attorney handling these types of cases. Search for those with experience in multi-party auto collisions, those with the resources to investigate and bring in qualified experts, and who have the track record to back it up.
The right car accident attorney will evaluate the case and build a legal strategy for a trial specific to that case.
Bringing It All Together
Complex car accident lawsuits require a level of legal sophistication far beyond a basic insurance claim.
From initial evidence collection to liability parsing to pre-trial preparation, each step demands its own skillset and level of experience. The stakes are far too high to leave it to amateurs. The strategies listed here are the ones that have built our firm’s reputation as trial lawyers who understand complex car accident lawsuits and how to win them.
To recap the basics:
- Build the foundation of the case immediately after the accident
- Document and preserve every piece of evidence
- Find and identify all potential liable parties
- Locate and retain qualified experts as early as possible
- Prepare the case for trial from the outset
Victims of complex car accidents need to have a team in their corner just as formidable as the insurance companies have in theirs. The difference between good representation and great can mean the difference between millions in compensation and settling for much, much less.
