Company vehicle accidents are different from the typical passenger car crashes. The size and weight of a company vehicle is usually 10 to 20 times more than the average car, which greatly increases the risk of catastrophic or permanent injuries or wrongful death. Company vehicle carriers are required by law to purchase large liability insurance policies, so that the accident victims can be adequately compensated.
Company vehicles include not just 18 wheelers, but also delivery vans/trucks, construction company trucks, contractor trucks (plumbers, landscape companies and even cable company vehicles) as well as ride share vehicles like Uber or Lyft. Even a typical car used by a corporation or for business purposes falls under the category of a company vehicle.
Click the Number Below to Call Austin Company Vehicle Accident Attorneys
Insurance companies and commercial vehicle carriers routinely deny their liability and even try to put the blame on the injured victim for the accident. At Miller Weisbrod Olesky, our Austin company vehicle accident lawyers are determined to fight for your rights, and hold these negligent parties liable for all the damages and losses that you or a family member suffers. We have the legal skills and resources to match the power of these defendants, and our decades long record of multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts speaks for itself.
Our Accident attorneys are led by Clay Miller who is Board-Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law. Less than 3% of all Texas attorneys have achieved board certification and less than that have a personal injury trial law board certification which required numerous jury trials and the passing a rigorous exam in the specialty.
Miller Weisbrod Olesky recovered $3,000,000 on behalf of a client who suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of being struck by a construction company truck when they pulled in front of our clients motorcycle.
Steps Our Lawyers Will Take to Get You the Rightful Compensation
The moment you hire our law firm to pursue a claim for personal injury damages, our experienced Austin company vehicle accident lawyers will immediately get to work. We will put the full force of our decades of experience, extensive financial resources and network of investigators and experts behind your case to obtain the maximum compensation for you. Here are some of the key steps we will take:
Medical Care: We will assist you with the best medical care you may require to recover from your injuries. We work with a network of highly qualified physicians experienced in handling the catastrophic injuries associated with commercial vehicle accidents in Austin. Whether it is a surgeon for a back injury, a life care planner for a case of paralysis or a neuropsychologist for a traumatic brain injury we will make sure you are seen by the top people in the field to maximize your recovery and explain your injuries to the insurance company and, if necessary, a jury in Travis or one of the surrounding counties.
TRO: We will quickly send a letter of spoliation or obtain a temporary restraining order (TRO) as to all the defendants. This will make sure the evidence most important to win your case is quickly preserved so no alteration or destruction can take place.
Accident Site: We will rush our investigators, video team, accident reconstruction experts and lawyers to the crash site to obtain physical, forensic and photographic evidence while it is still fresh. This will ensure we can hold the commercial vehicle accident vehicle owner or driver’s employer is held fully responsible.
Eyewitnesses: We will identify and reach out to eyewitnesses, including first responders and obtain their statements to bolster your personal injury or wrongful death commercial vehicle accident claim.
Black Box Data: We will download and preserve Event Data Recorder (EDR) information from the company vehicle to determine what happened in the moments leading up to the accident.
Other Evidence: We will obtain dashcam footage, driver’s hours of service logs, employment records, cargo load and freight information, and company vehicle inspection and maintenance records to identify violations.
Accident Reconstruction: Our accident reconstructionist experts, forensic specialists and crash investigators will work together recreate the accident scene to prove negligence of the defendants.
Negotiations with Defendants: Armed with compelling evidence, we negotiate with the insurance company and the trucking company from a position of dominance to demand the largest settlement for you.
Trial Preparation: Our Austin company vehicle accident attorneys will meticulously prepare for the trial and demonstrate our strong intent and trial readiness to obtain maximum damages on your behalf.
How Long will it Take to Get You the Financial Compensation?
But it’s a race against time in company vehicle accident cases in Austin to gain a strategic advantage over the defendants, secure all possible evidence before it gets diluted or disappears, and enter into robust negotiations with the insurers and trucking company backed by solid proof of liability.
Our dedicated company vehicle accident lawyers in Austin will closely engage with you to understand your financial needs and goals, and devise a settlement and/or trial strategy to meet those goals. In very large financial claims for damages, the insurance adjusters and the trucking company may not be willing to settle quickly or may adopt aggressive tactics to fight it out in the court.
In these cases, three things will usually work in your favor to get the largest possible settlement in the shortest possible time:
(a) The compelling evidence we will build which establishes clear liability of the defendants;
(b) Our massive trial preparedness and willingness to invest maximum resources for the trial;
Types of Compensation in Austin Company Vehicle Accident Claims
Personal Injury Claims:
Medical expenses, including surgery, physical therapy, and mental health counseling
Future medical care and rehabilitation costs
Disfigurement and scarring repair and plastic surgery
Loss of wages and future loss of income
Pain and suffering (both physical and emotional)
Mental anguish
Loss of consortium and loss of enjoyment of life
Home modifications in case of disability
Assistive devices
Wrongful Death Cases:
Medical expenses from the deceased person’s final injury
Pain and suffering endured before death
Loss of income and benefits
Funeral or burial expenses
Loss of care
Loss of companionship
Bystander’s damages for mental anguish (close relative witnessing the accident)
*Punitive (exemplary) damages may sometimes be awarded in company vehicle accident cases, if the negligent defendant’s actions were particularly egregious with an utter disregard to the safety of others.
Why Trucking Companies in Austin are Accountable for Accidents
In their motivation to maximize profits and reduce costs, large company vehicle carriers in Austin are often willing to cut corners on road safety. They may pressurize company vehicle drivers to meet unreasonable delivery deadlines, force to them to do excessive work while ignoring concerns of driver fatigue, or turn a blind eye to the driver’s pattern of Hours of Service violations.
To overcome talent shortages, trucking companies may hire younger or inexperienced company vehicle drivers, perform less thorough background checks, ignore the regulations related to medical fitness and drug & alcohol tests of the drivers, retain drivers despite their poor disciplinary record, and invest less time on driver training for new recruits.
At Miller Weisbrod Olesky, our experienced Austin company vehicle accident attorneys are aware of the safety compromises prevalent in the trucking industry. We will investigate all these aspects to establish liability of the trucking company and pursue maximum financial damages on your behalf from all the liable parties.
Protect Your Right to Financial Compensation
Our Austin Company Vehicle Accident Attorneys will explore every possibility to increase your financial compensation and hold all the negligent parties liable for damages. Once you have us on your side, we will move aggressively to obtain truck data recorder evidence, driver logs, witness information, and evidence from the crash site in order to build a strong claim for damages, while you and your family can focus on your recovery.
We will fight to make sure you get all financial compensation you deserve through settlement against the responsible trucking company and their insurers or take your case to trial with through preparation of evidence and a winning legal strategy if they fail to pay you the money you are owed. Schedule your free consultation with our legal team today. Our proven record of success in obtaining substantial settlements and verdicts for our injured clients speaks for itself.
Meet The Leader In Truck Accident Litigation With A Record Of Multi-Million Dollar Settlements And Verdicts
With a 30-year history heading the Truck Accident Department of Miller Weisbrod Olesky, firm partner Clay Miller has a proven record of holding trucking companies accountable and achieving multi-million dollar settlements and court verdicts for his clients. Clay has been consistently listed in Super Lawyers as one of the Best Lawyers in Texas, published in Texas Monthly, for over 15 years.
Clay is regularly invited to speak to Trial Lawyer Groups around Houston and across the state of Texas on the topics of trucking laws, trial tactics and techniques, and how to prepare evidence and a winning legal strategy in Truck Accident Cases throughout Texas. Clay was the featured speaker for the Texas Trial Lawyers Association on the new changes to trucking laws passed by the state of Texas.
Our truck accident legal team includes Josh Birmingham, who is currently on the Dallas Trial Lawyers Board of Directors and served as the president of the Mesquite Bar Association for four years. Josh was named Thomson Reuters | Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2016 and 2017.
We also have on our team Michael Orth, a board certified personal injury trial lawyer who has spent the last decade representing injured Texans and their families. Michael’s success in scores of personal injury cases across federal and state courtrooms has earned him the coveted Board Certification in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
Miller Weisbrod Olesky Austin Company Vehicle Accident Attorneys
Clay Miller
Clay is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Clay has practiced solely in the field of catastrophic injury and wrongful death since graduating from law school. His practice has been limited to the representation of victims. Over the past twenty-four years, Clay has successfully settled or tried to verdict cases in the areas of vehicular negligence, medical malpractice, construction site accidents, workplace injury, premises liability, and commercial trucking and a nationwide business loss case (suits filed in a dozen different states) involving defective truck engines sold to trucking companies.
Clay represented dozens of trucking companies in lost profit and diminished value claims against Caterpillar in 2010 through 2012. These cases were filed in over a dozen states with the bellwhether trial set in Federal Court in Davenport, Iowa. After intense litigation and trial preparation, a global confidential settlement was reached for all the clients.
Clay's most recent 2017 victories are a $30,800,000 jury verdict in Tennessee arising from fraud claims in the sale of heavy-duty truck engines and a $26,500,000jury verdict in a construction accident, obtained within 60 days of each other.
Clay was raised in Lewisville, Texas and completed his undergraduate degree in Finance at Texas A & M University. Following graduation from Southern Methodist University School of law, Clay worked for two Dallas firms representing victims. In 1998, Clay began his own practice before forming his current partnership. In addition to his law practice, Clay has lectured at seminars and published in the areas of construction accidents, jury selection techniques, medical negligence, trucking accidents and settlement tactics.
Josh Birmingham was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico and raised in the small oil town of Hobbs, New Mexico. He graduated from the University of Nebraska in 2004 where he was a part of the Big 12 champion baseball team and was a College World Series participant.
He obtained his law degree from the University of Tulsa: College of Law in 2007 where he earned numerous awards in Mock Trial and Negotiation competitions.
Josh began his career at another prominent law firm where he fought for the victims of other’s negligence.
After 9 years Josh left being a trial lawyer and became an executive for a healthcare consulting firm but his passion for helping others in the law quickly pulled him back. Josh has tried numerous cases in both state and federal court. Josh began his first day with Miller Weisbrod Olesky in trial with Clay Miller representing an injured construction worker, Fernando Canales. Josh second chaired the trial and handled all of the medical expert testimony in the case.
Josh is a member of the State Bar of Texas, American Association of Justice, Texas Trial Lawyers Association, Dallas Trial Lawyers Association, and Dallas Association of Young Lawyers. He is currently on the Dallas Trial Lawyers Board of Directors and served as the president of the Mesquite Bar Association for four years. Josh was named Thomson Reuters | Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2016 and 2017.
Josh accredits his passion toward helping others to his mother Pam Parkinson, a nurse and business woman, and his father Ray Birmingham a college baseball coach.
Michael is a board certified personal injury trial lawyer who has spent the last decade representing injured Texans and their families. Born and raised in Dallas, Michael attended Texas A&M University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Political Science. Following graduation, Michael worked in sales for one of the largest trucking companies in the United States. While working in the trucking industry, Michael saw the dangers that can and do occur when companies put profits before safety, and safety is not provided its proper place at the table. It was at this point Michael decided to pursue a career in law to help those harmed by the negligence of others.
Michael attended the University of Houston Law Center, where he served as a Senior Articles Editor for the Houston Journal of International Law. Throughout law school, Michael clerked at one of the 5 law firms that represented the State of Texas against Big Tobacco, where he worked on cases ranging from catastrophic crane collapses, to sexual abuse cases to environmental class action lawsuits. Most importantly, Michael learned the law could be used to do a lot of good in peoples’ lives, and could help those who had been injured because of the carelessness of others.
After obtaining his law license, Michael moved to South Padre Island and practiced personal injury law in the Rio Grande Valley. While practicing in South Texas, Michael tried nearly 20 cases in federal and state courtrooms across South Texas, consistently obtaining verdicts significantly higher than the insurance companies’ offers. As a result of his success in the courtroom, Michael is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, a designation earned by practicing personal injury law almost exclusively, showing substantial success and experience trying personal injury lawsuits, completing extensive Continuing Legal Education in personal injury trial law, and passing a rigorous written exam demonstrating superior competence in handling personal injury cases.
Michael is married to Katlyn and has 2 young daughters, Kathleen and Mary Louise. Michael volunteers for the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program, providing pro bono legal services to others in the community.
