Our Big Rig Truck Accident Lawyers and Large Commercial Large Commercial Truck Accident Attorneys Represent Those Who Have Been Seriously Injured in Most States, from Florida to Hawaii, from California to New York, from Texas, Alabama and Georgia to Alaska, in Arkansas, Arizona, and Colorado to Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho and Illinois, as Attorneys for Semi or Tractor Trailer or 18 Wheeler Accidents, from Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and Massachusetts to Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania Rhode Island and South Dakota to Tennessee, Utah, Virginia Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin West Virginia and Wyoming. .

Accidents involving large commercial and big rig trucks are almost always complex, recommending lawyers who are highly educated in the state and federal laws and regulations governing the operation of large commercial trucks over 10,000 pounds, big rig trucks, semis, tractor trailers, and 18 wheelers. This patchwork of federal and state laws and regulations govern everything from the weight of loads to the logs the driver must keep current, accounting for his driving and rest periods, that attempt to modify some of the most common causes of large commercial truck and big rig truck accidents, can provide or supplement additional causes of action that can turn a difficult contested liability big rig truck accident case into a clear case of liability against the driver and often against the trucking or shipping company which hired him.

Furthermore, every serious injury truck accident case is complex, recommending highly qualified trial lawyers extensively experienced in presenting the client's general and special economic damages, including future medical expense and future loss of earnings claims, to maximize the opportunities to obtain full compensation for the client. Additionally, one of the most daunting hurdles big rig truck accident lawyers must overcome in obtaining full compensation for the client's general and special economic damages is "collectability."

In many big rig truck accident cases, in large part just because of the size of the trucks and impact energies involved, the client may suffer serious or catastrophic injuries. The experienced serious injury big rig truck accident trial lawyer can often establish damages in the millions or tens of millions of dollars, considering all the future medical expense the client will likely be required to incur over the course of his life expectancy, and the measure of his past and future loss of earnings and earning capacity which he will sustain over the course of his pre-accident work-life expectancy. However, federal laws applicable to trucks carrying non-hazardous loads in excess of 10,000 pounds in interstate commerce, require the driver to carry only $750,000 in liability insurance. Some states require the drivers to carry one million dollars in coverage. As the result, most big rig drivers carry no more than one million dollars in coverage, commonly inadequate to pay even a fraction of the total compensation the client would be due for the full measure of his general damages and special economic damages. Therefore, serious injury big rig truck accident lawyers most commonly will need to establish liability also upon the shipper, trucking or freight company in order to maximize the opportunities to obtain for the client full compensation for the full measure of his or her damages.

Serious injury attorneys with experience in big rig truck accident cases, however, have a number of strategies available to them to impose liability also on the trucking company, shipper or freight company. The problem is that most of these companies which employing big rig and large commercial truck drivers attempt to shield themselves from liability, including by hiring their drivers as an "independent contractors." By doing so, the shippers and trucking companies attempt to make more difficult the task of the big rig truck accident lawyer to demonstrate the shipper or freight company's liability under "respondeat superior" theory, the legal theory that would apply in the usual employer/employee context to hold the employer liable for the negligence of its employee occuring during the course and scope of the employment. But there are a number of ways that sophisticated serious injury big rig truck accident lawyers can pierce through this tactic and state good causes of action against the trucking or freight company nevertheless, as for negligent entrustment and negligent supervision.

We will discuss below the various means by which our serious injury large commercial truck accident lawyers and big rig truck accident attorneys commonly investigate large truck accidents, engaging highly qualified investigators and accident reconstruction experts, and often times other experts to establish liability. Our serious injury big rig truck accident lawyers will discuss the types of preparation that goes into establishing the full measure of the seriously injured client's general and special economic damages. And then we will discuss the various strategies that the experienced big rig truck accident lawyer has at his disposal to overcome the "collectability" hurdle, to establish the liability of the more well insured freight or other companies.

Our Big Rig Truck Accident Lawyers Offer Free Consultations: If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a large commercial truck accident our big rig truck accident lawyers welcome you to contact us for a free attorney case evaluation. Simply fill out the Contact form and one of our highly qualified big rig truck accident lawyers will call you to discuss the facts of your case and provide you with our initial recommendations. Our big rig truck accident lawyers represent those seriously injured in accidents involving large commercial trucks in most states from Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, in cases involving semis, tractor trailers and 18 wheelers from Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, big rig truck accident attorneys from North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Our Big Rig Truck Accident Lawyers Discuss the Complexities of Establishing Liability in Large Commercial Truck Accident Cases.

Some big rig truck accident cases may appear at first glance to present simple issues of liability, as where the truck driver failed to yield the right of way, or where the truck jackknifes due to the driver's over-braking. However, in the serious injury big rig truck accident case, it is always important to identify all contributory causes for the accidents, from overweight loads to failures to properly secure the loads, and even the evidence of the driver's lack of sleep or failures to keep logs with respect to his driving and rest hours because this may in many cases provide the evidence to sue other defendants, such as the trucking company or shipper which hired the driver. The legal theories under which this information can prove important, particularly in serious injury truck accident cases where the driver's liability insurance is insufficient to fully compensate the accident victim for the full measure of his general and special economic damages, will be discussed in the next section. Here we discuss the various aspects of the investigation that big rig truck accident lawyers may undertake to identifying the contributing causes for the accident, essential also to identify the proper parties defendant.

- The first task of the big rig truck accident lawyer is to employ appropriately qualified accident investigators and accident reconstruction experts and then, as the individual case may require, other experts, such as brake or mechanical or tire experts, as we discover the probable contributory causes of the accident, from overweight loads to failures to properly secure the loads, to brake or mechanical failures, which may implicate additional potential defendants, including those that had the responsibility to secure the load or maintain the truck or trailer. As discussed above, there are also a panoply of federal and state regulations that may apply, some identified above, which can be found to have been violated by the driver or the trucking company that hired him.

Another part of the big rig truck accident lawyers and their investigators and accident reconstructionist's common responsibilities in the initial investigation will be to interview all witnesses to the accident and obtain their signed statements. Access to the truck will be accomplished by subpoena or notice to produce the truck to determine whether any defects may be present, such as brake or mechanical defects that might have contributed to the accident. Records pertaining to truck maintenance and repairs and the history of inspections are subpoenaed, as well as other records with regard to the weight of the load, the drivers daily logs and the trucking company's copies of the logs, the data in the truck's recording device, as well as the drivers driving record and the company's personal record. Big rig truck accident lawyers are aware of the statutory requirements with regard to log and record keeping for drivers and the companies employing drivers to operate large commercial trucks and big rig trucks, and can examine them for evidence of failures to comply with the laws, and for inconsistencies between the records, or evidence in them that can establish driver or freight company negligence, as examples, for negligent entrustment or negligent supervision. From the witness statements, the evidence discovered at the scene of the accident, the information developed by the accident investigators, and from the opinions of accident reconstruction experts, also with the big rig accident attorneys overview of all the evidence through his educated prism permitting him to recognize the various causes of action available, the lawyer will identify the potential defendants who may be sued, from the driver to the trucking company to outside companies, for example, those responsible for the maintenance of the trucks. And as the result of the investigation, the big rig truck accident lawyers will also have much of the evidence that will be required to establish liability upon these defendants.

Even in what appear simple big rig truck accidents, as we will discuss in the next section, the role of the serious injury lawyers can be complex, requiring the above investigation, for the reason that the driver's insurance may be inadequate to pay for the serious or catastrophic injuries sustained by the client; and so it the big rig accident attorney's responsibility to consider broadly the potential contributing causes for the accident in order to bring the case against defendants with adequate insurance to fully compensate the client.

Our Big Rig Truck Accident Lawyers Discuss The Damages Recoverable in Serious Injury Large Commercial Truck Accident Cases, And the Importance of Overcoming the Collectability Hurdle.

The "damages" recoverable by those seriously injured in big rig truck accident are often measured in the millions or tens of millions of dollars. Big rig and large commercial trucks generally weigh many times the weight of the ordinary passenger car, and therefore, often the impact energies are hugely greater than would be sustained in a car accident. The safety components of cars, such as their cage, interior padding, and other engineering designed to protect the car's occupants in the usual car accident, can often be inadequate to sufficiently reduce the impact energies sustained in a big rig truck accident. As the result, car drivers and their passengers impacted by large commercial trucks or big rigs commonly suffer a much greater likelihood of serious injury and death. Yet, as noted above, the truck drivers will commonly carry insurance insufficient to pay the victim's damages, and the companies that hire the truck drivers commonly engage in strategies to avoid common respondeat superior or employer vicarious liability for the negligence of their employees, including by hiring the truck drivers as independent contractors. It is therefore important that the big rig truck accident lawyer have the knowledge and trial lawyer experience both to prepare and present the client's general and special damages to assure that the opportunity is maximized to obtain full compensation; and to avail every opportunity to establish liability upon the "deep pocket" trucking companies that attempt so deviously to avert liability through legal technicality.

The client's "general damages" are commonly referred to by auto accident lawyers as "pain and suffering," but it is our serious injury big rig truck accident lawyers experience that many seriously or catastrophically injured clients view their greatest aspect of general damages as their "loss of enjoyment of life." The lawyers first task is to identify highly qualified medical experts in the specialties essential to fully describe the full nature and extent of the client's injuries. The medical records and other information describing the client's medical history, surgeries and rehabilitation will also be obtained by the attorneys. In terms of "loss of enjoyment of life damages," what experienced serious injury trial lawyers will do is also elicit the information from the client, his family and friends with regard to the activities that he most enjoyed prior to the accident that he can no longer enjoy. And then the serious injury lawyer will commonly engage a professionally produced Day in the Life film to capture the client's courageous efforts to overcome all of the big and small challenges presented in his post accident daily life. It is indeed our judgment that in most cases it is the courage of the client that engenders the empathy of the settlement judge or jury maximizing the opportunity to recover fully for the client's general damages.

Special economic damages include past and future medical expense and past earnings losses and future loss of earning capacity. Again, these are highly complex responsibilities of the serious injury big rig truck accident lawyer, but properly prepared and presented can contribute enormously to maximize the clients recovery.

While past medical expenses are generally simple to establish, as simple as comprehensively obtaining all of the client's medical bills from the date of the accident through the date of the settlement conference or trial, the preparation of the client's future medical expense is always complex. Big rig accident trial lawyers in serious injury cases will commonly engage a number of experts to present the client's future medical expense, starting with medical experts to describe the type and character of care the client will require over the full course of his life expectancy. The serious injury big rig truck accident lawyers will then send the physicians' reports to a "life care planner." He will then speak extensively with these experts and the treating physicians and then consult a variety of sources to determine the cost of all of the hospital and medical care, part time or full time nursing care, the cost of future surgeries and replacement prostheses, everything from modified vehicles and replacement vehicles required by the client's disabilities, right down to the cost of the medical sundries the client will require over the course of his life expectancy. The serious injury big rig truck accident attorneys will then send the life care planner's report to a forensic economist who will increase the estimated costs of the panoply of medical care and equipment the client will require over his lifetime according to government statistics estimating the rise in cost of these items over the decades of the client's life expectancy. And then, he will discount the total to present value according to general historical inflation statistics. His report then will be presented to the settlement judge, and if the case doesn't settle, then the physicians, life care planner and forensic economist will be called at trial to establish the full value of the client's future medical expenses for consideration by the jury.

The client's claim for loss of earnings and future loss of earning capacity is even more complex, again requiring highly qualified serious injury trial lawyers to prepare, with the aid again of a number of experts. Just to simplify the analysis we will take the example of the salaried employee, but the earnings analysis can be much more complex in the case of a business owner, and for purposes of this discussion we will forego the additional complications in establishing the client's likely increases in salary that might be derived from advancement to more high paying employment. Establishing the past loss of earnings of the salaried worker may again be as simple as multiplying the dollar amount of the worker's daily wage by the number of days from the date of the accident to the date of the settlement conference or trial. But establishing future loss of earnings is much more complex.

The serious injury big rig truck accident lawyer will commonly require a number of experts to competently establish the full measure of the client's future earnings losses. Medical experts will be required again to establish the client's full nature and extent of his disability, and to provide medical information as it may pertain to the client's post accident work life expectancy. A "rehabilitation expert" is engaged, whose function is to identify the trades and professions the client would have had available to him both before the accident, based upon his education, training and experience, and then the trades and professions that might be available to the client after the accident, based upon his injuries and disabilities. His report is then submitted to the forensic economist who reviews the government statistical literature regarding the income of persons involved in the trades in which the client was engaged before the accident and those trades and professions which he had available to him, as well as those more limited trades or professions in which he might still obtain gainful employment, if any. He then engages in the complex task of determining the client's likely work life income which would have been available to him if he had not been injured compared with the income he might receive over the course of his post accident work life as diminished by the nature and extent of his disability. Again, he increases the amounts according to government statistics on the rise in wages over time, and then discounts the total to present cash value.

It is a rather sophisticated task of qualified serious injury big rig truck accident lawyers to prepare and then present the evidence of general and special economic damages in settlement conferences and trial. However this is how the attorney maximizes the client's opportunity to obtain full compensation for his damages.

Given that the ultimate goal of serious injury big rig truck accident attorneys is to assure that the client recovers the full measure of his damages, the next important task of big rig accident lawyers is to overcome the "collectability" hurdle, by establishing that defendants with sufficient insurance are proven liable to pay the damages.

Our Big Rig Truck Accident Lawyers Explain the Complexities And Opportunities in Establishing Liability on Trucking Companies in Serious Injury Large Commercial Truck Accident Cases.

As our big rig truck accident lawyers hope we've established to your satisfaction, the seriously injured client will often be entitled to millions or tens of millions of dollars in general damages, past and future medical expense and past and future loss of earnings. The big rig truck drivers, however, will most commonly carry only $750,000 or $1,000,000 in liability coverage. Furthermore, trucking companies commonly hire the drivers as independent contractors, attempting to insulate themselves from liability resulting from their drivers negligence, attempting to undermine the big rig truck accident attorney's efforts to establish their liability under common theories of employer responsibility, respondeat superior, and vicarious liability by which in most other contexts the employer will be held liable for injuries caused by the negligence of its employees.

Therefore, it is of vital importance that the serious injury big rig truck accident attorneys discover the evidence to establish alternative causes of action against the "deep pocket" trucking companies. This can be accomplished in some cases by showing that they contributed to cause the accident by overloading the truck, failing to properly secure the truck, failing to properly maintain the truck, as examples of evidence that may be discovered upon the attorneys and investigators and accident reconstruction experts investigation.

In addition, the trucking company or other corporate employer may be found to have violated federal and state regulations applicable to it, both in the above regards and in for failure to review the driver's logs reporting his driving and sleep schedules, negligent hiring, where the employer knew or should have known that the driver didn't have the appropriate class of licence to drive the truck or had a history of driving violations or convictions for driving under the influence of drugs such as amphetamines often used by truck drivers to stay awake. Legal theories are available to the big rig truck accident lawyers to impose liability against the trucking company for negligent entrustment. Also where the truck driver logs more miles than he realistically could log driving within the speed limit in the driving times reported in his logs, or where the driver improperly secured the load, as examples, the big rig truck accident lawyers my establish the evidence to establish liability against the trucking company for negligent supervision. In addition, there may be other "deep pocket" defendants, such as outside companies responsible for the maintenance of the vehicle. The opportunities to overcome the collectability hurdle are as varied as the big rig truck accident cases that the big rig truck accident lawyer will face.

The serious injury big rig truck accident attorneys most important contribution to his client's case may be in the preparation of the evidence of the full measure of his general and special economic damages and then the lawyer's development of the evidence of the trucking company liability to pay the damages. It is only in this way that the sophisticated big rig accident trial lawyer will have the evidentiary ammunition to maximize his client's opportunities to obtain full compensation at the settlement conferences and at trial.

Our Big Rig Truck Accident Lawyers Welcome You to Contact Us for A Case Evaluation. Our Big Rig Truck Accident Attorneys Will Consider Cases Arising in Most States, from California to New York, from Texas to Florida, in Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Large Commercial Truck Lawyers, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, For Cases Involving Semi, Tractor Trailer and 18 Wheelers from North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Our serious injury big rig truck accident lawyers welcome you to contact us for a free consultation. Simply fill out the Contact form and one of our large commercial truck and big rig accident attorneys will call you to discuss your case and your injuries, and will provide our initial recommendations. We welcome you to ask us about our qualifications and experience, both as big rig truck accident lawyers and experienced trial attorneys. We encourage you to inquire about our qualifications and experience, as all good attorneys should, and we respect your right to want to assure that the big rig truck accident lawyers whom you select for your case will be appropriately qualified as complex trial lawyers fully competent to present both the liability case and damage case, to maximize your opportunity to prevail in the litigation and receive just compensation for your general and special damages. Our big rig truck accident lawyers will consider the cases of those seriously injured from Florida to Hawaii, from California to New York, and from Texas, Alabama and Georgia to Alaska. We are big rig truck accident attorneys for cases involving large commercial trucks, from Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware and Idaho from Illinois to Indiana. We are big rig truck accident lawyers for cases involving semi, tractor trailer and 18 wheeler trucks in Kansas, Kentucky and Louisiana, to Massachusetts, Maryland, and Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska. Our big rig truck accident attorneys will consider cases in New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, from South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin to West Virginia and Wyoming.

*Landmark Jury Verdicts:

$2.5 million dollar jury verdict in a contested liability motorcycle accident case in which Mr. Henke's client was "splitting lanes" and was injured turning left between cars in two left turn lanes by a large commercial truck. The defense attorney took the position that it was the motorcyclist's negligence in splitting lanes that resulted in the accident. Attorney Henke took the deposition of the police officer who investigated the accident and obtained his testimony that it was legal in California to split lanes, including between to left turn lanes, and that in his opinion that the commercial driver was responsible for the accident and the client's having split lanes was not a contributing factor in the accident. The driver carried only the statutory minimum auto liability coverage. However, serious injury accident attorney, Henke, established that the defendant driver was operating his vehicle in the course an scope of his employment, forming the basis upon which Mr. Henke then named the employer also as a defendant, and was able to recover the full measure of his client's damages against the employer's much larger liability and excess insurance policies. Attorney Henke's client suffered a below knee amputation and broken clavicle.

$3.8 million dollar gross jury verdict in brain injury case. Attorney Henke's client suffered mild aphasia as the result of strokes caused by emboli from an atrial myxoma, a tumor in the upper left chamber of the heart. The case investigation and Henke's trial work was also the subject of a legal journal article published in "Forum" the journal of the California Trial Lawyers Association.

*State Bar of California Disclaimer: The results obtained in the cases listed were dependent upon the facts of the cases, and the results will differ in other cases based on different facts

Driving Under the Influence of Cell Conversation Results in DUI Level Driving Impairment And a 4 fold Increased Likelihood that the Driver will Cause an Accident.

Read Henke Law Group Scientific Review Article. As Knowledgeable Cell Phone Accident Lawyers We Can Investigate to Establish That The Other Driver Was On His Cell Phone. The Evidence Can Make the Difference in a Contested Liability Case.

Where we Can Establish That the Other Driver Was Engaged in a Business Call We Can Bring his Employer in as a Defendant and Recover Against the Employer's Assets and Insurance Coverage.

California serious injury accident attorney Henke has reviewed all the scientific literature on the effect of cell phone use to impair driver attention. Driving under the influence of cell conversation renders the driver DUI level driving impaired and results in a four fold increased likelihood that the driver will cause an accident. Contrary to popular belief, it is not "holding" the cell phone which resulting the impairment. It is the diversion of conscious attention to the internal-cognitive tasks associated with the give and take of the cell conversation away from the external-visual tasks essential for safe driving. Indeed, it matters not whether the motorist is driving under the influence of handheld or hands-free cell conversation, the impairment and the 4 fold increased likelihood that the driver will cause an accident are precisely the same. Yes, California and a number of other states have enacted handheld laws; unfortunately that is just a function of politics. The scientists are not in dispute. All agree that driving under the influence of any cell phone results in the identical DUI level driving impairment.

It is important that the serious injury auto accident lawyer obtain the cell phone records of the other driver in every contested liability case, and especially in any serious injury case in which it appears that the other driver lacks sufficient insurance coverage to fully compensate the plaintiff for his injuries and full measure of his damages. In the contested liability case, the evidence of the other party's cell phone use in the moments prior to the accident may snatch victory from the mouth of defeat. In the most common serious injury auto accident case in which the other driver lacks sufficient insurance to fully compensate the plaintiff for his injuries and damages, it is essential that the cell phone records be obtained and appropriate depositions taken of the defendant and the other party to the call to determine whether the other driver was engaged in a business call in the moments leading up to the accident. If he was, then the knowledgeable cell phone auto accident lawyer can bring the employer into the litigation as a defendant "vicariously liable" for the injuries caused by its employee in the "course and scope of his employment." In this way the auto accident lawyer may assure that the plaintiff will be fully compensated up to the limits of the employers insurance policy, and indeed, the employer's assets would be available to execute against.

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The Law Group - An Affiliation of Trial Lawyers Serving Clients Seriously Injured in Large Commercial Truck and Big Rig Truck Accidents. Our Big Rig Truck Accident Lawyers Will Consider Representing the Seriously Injured in Most States, from New York to California, from Texas, Georgia and Florida to Michigan, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania, from Alaska to Hawaii, and in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Our Law Group was first conceived in the 1990's when attorney Henke was serving as a Governor of the 5th largest trial lawyer association in the United States and regularly met with the officers and Governors of most of the state trial lawyers associations, including to develop strategies to defeat insurance industry efforts to obtain "tort reform laws" -- laws which would have significantly curtailed the rights of the injured to be fully compensated, for example by placing "caps" on general damages. Many of us came to gain high regard for the professionalism of others of the trial lawyers from across the county. And where it was common that we would be contacted by potential clients from other states we would often recommend or refer the potential clients to lawyers in our loosely affiliated group or to other attorneys who we considered best situated or qualified to consider the cases. In personal injury litigation where a particular lawyer already had a "leg up" on a particular type of case, for example an auto defect case, with his experts already developed, we might recommend that the potential client might save substantial litigation costs or otherwise be best served by the other trial attorney. We also will sometimes cooperate with others of our serious injury trial lawyers, either in sharing documents and other evidence developed in previous cases against the same defendant, as in product liability cases, or sometimes by helping to identify and prepare an expert for another lawyer in another state. Sometimes we may offer to serve as local counsel where an out of state attorney appears as trial counsel pro hac vice, or we may assist with appeals in our states for another trial lawyer where we may be more familiar with the issues or appellate litigation. This is the way our informal affiliation of lawyers grew with experienced trial lawyers in most of the states. Our big rig truck accident lawyers will consider representing potential clients who have suffered serious or catastrophic injuries in most states of the nation, from California to New York, from Texas, Georgia and Florida to Michigan, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania, from Alaska and Hawaii to Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

It is every potential litigant's right to ask about the credentials of any lawyer whom he would consider to represent him. Decisions with regard to the best lawyer for you should not be made on the basis of attorney advertisements. Rather such decisions should be made on the basis of a comparison of the credentials of the lawyers whom the potential client would consider to represent him. Our Law Group attorneys provide free consultations and we welcome your inquiries with regard to our credentials as serious injury trial lawyers and as experienced in our practice areas specifically relevant to your case, including as big rig truck accident lawyers, and we invite you also to ask any additional questions about our qualifications that you may deem important in the attorney you will choose to represent you.

It is beyond the scope of this web site and page to attempt to do justice to the credentials of all of our Law Group lawyers, and so on the web site subject matter pages and here we have limited our discussion of specific credentials to those of Group attorney Henke, as was most convenient, given that he is the author of most of the practice areas pages, which we hope will provide greater information with regard to the sophisticated trial strategy that qualified and experienced lawyers bring to the prosecution of the broad description of cases discussed. In addition, because it would be beyond the scope of our page limits to discuss the significant trial victories and settlements of all our group members, in the left column of this page it is discussed only the jury verdicts of this one Group lawyer, except that, given that he doesn't practice food poisoning law, a recent E. coli HUS case and settlement obtained by another of the Group members, Nick Allis, is discussed. The cases cited are furthermore intended to describe the type of trial advocacy that can be brought to bare in the various auto and motorcycle and big rig truck accident cases, medical malpractice, drug product liability and food poisoning cases described, not to stress the amounts of the settlements and jury verdicts, because as noted in the left column, the damages recovered in any particular case are dependent upon the facts of each case, including the nature and extent of the client's injury, and his general and special economic damages.

So that the reader may consider some of the types of credentials that trial attorneys, including big rig truck accident lawyers, may have, among others, in determining a lawyer's suitability for a particular case - from lawyer directory legal ability and ethics ratings to elected office in state trial lawyers associations, awards and recognition by the attorney's peers, such as trial lawyer awards, education, training and experience in the particular practice areas, such as big rig truck accident cases or medical malpractice or pharmaceutical product liability or food poisoning or premises liability or elder abuse litigation, as examples; articles published on specific legal subject matter, or experience serving as class action lawyers, as might pertinent in some cases, or examples of the attorney's appellate advocacy, we provide the specific credentials of attorney Henke, however only by way of example of one Group member's qualifications. By providing his credentials he does not claim that his credentials are superior to those of any other Group lawyer or any other attorney in his or any other state. He will not accept cases arising outside the state of California, and will only appear as trial counsel in pending litigation in another state at the request of an attorney in the other state, where the attorney requests that he serve as trial counsel in the pending litigation, with the consent of the client, and only where the trial court judge in the out of state litigation consents to his appearance as trial counsel pro hac vice. His credentials, however, might serve the purpose sought to be achieved here, only to suggest what might be some of the questions that any prospective client may want to ask the lawyers in the state in which his cause of action arose whom he would consider to represent him, along with all the other questions that the prospective client deems important in selecting the attorney best qualified and experienced to prosecute his or her potential litigation.

For example, the first of attorney Henke's credentials discussed below is his Martindale & Hubbell rating. And indeed, often as lawyers consider recommending or referring clients to lawyers in other states they will commonly consult the lawyers' Martindale & Hubbell "legal ability" and "ethical standards" ratings. Martindale & Hubbell is the most respected attorney rating directory in the United States. The ratings are most commonly based upon interviews with Judges before whom the lawyer has appeared and interviews with other prominent lawyers in the attorney's community.

Law Group attorney, Henke and his law firm are "AV" rated by Martindale and Hubbell, the highest lawyer "legal ability" rating ("A") and highest attorney "general ethical standards" rating ("V"). The "A" is defined by Martindalee & Hubbell to mean "very high to preeminent" in "legal ability" and the "V" is defined to mean "very high" in "general ethical standards". According to Martindale & Hubbell: "AV Peer Review Rating shows that a lawyer has reached the height of professional excellence. He or she has usually practiced law for many years, and is recognized for the highest levels of skill and integrity." Martindale & Hubbell also assigns numerical ratings, from 1.0 to 5.0, with 4.5 to 5.0 satisfying the criteria for an "AV" rating. Henke's numerical rating is 5.0.

He is recognized as one of the "Top Lawyers in America," a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, commonly referred to as "the most prestigious group of trial lawyers in the United States."

He is a former Governor of LATLA, the 5th Largest Trial Lawyer Association in the United States, elected and reelected to the position, year after year, by LATLA's large trial lawyer membership.

He was nominated by LATLA for the coveted and prestigious "Trial Lawyer of the Year" Award. He was also given its President's Award, and was given the privilege to serve as the Editor-in-Chief of the Association's Law Journal, "The Advocate.".

His cases, trial work and victories in "test" litigation, including medical and drug litigation have been the subject of substantial legal commentary in respected state and national legal journals from the National Law Journal to the California Lawyer.

His cases and trial work have also been the subject of substantial legitimate news coverage from front page articles in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, from the Washington Post to the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner. He has appeared to discuss his cases on national legitimate television news, Tom Brokaw's Evening News, CNN; his cases, trial strategies and successes have also been described in 2 books.

He has also testified before Congress at the invitation of the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives specifically with regard to his successful prosecution of certain medical and drug "test" cases, and his contention that punitive damages are an important tool in assuring that drugs are safe and that health care providers, including physicians and hospitals, adhere to the medical standards of care.

He has also published over 30 legal articles in professional journals from "Trial" the Journal of the American Trial Lawyers Association, "The Forum," the Journal of the California Trial Lawyers Association, Consumer Attorneys Association of California, and the "Advocate," the Journal of the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Association, Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, including , "Mandatory Class Action," Trial Magazine, ATLA; Henke with Professor Dean Neubauer, "Medical Malpractice Legislation," Trial Magazine, ATLA, "Negligence Per Se and Drug Product Liability Cases," Advocate, LATLA; "Statute of Limitations/Delayed Discovery Rule in Drug Product Liability Litigation," Advocate, LATLA, "Amending the Complaint at Trial to Add Punitive Damages, "Advocate," LATLA; Henke with Inner Circle Member James Butler, "The Right of Counsel to Speak to Press on Pending Civil Litigation: First Amendment Protections Reaffirmed," Forum, CTLA; "Falsification of Medical Records: How to Establish it and how best to handle it," Advocate, LATLA; "Medical Malpractice, Overcoming Common Defenses in Uncommon Medical Malpractice Cases," Forum CTLA; "Children’s Rights v. Government Claims Provisions," Advocate, LATLA; "Statistics," Advocate, LATLA; "Defendant's Counsel's Sub-rosa Interview with Plaintiff's Treating Physicians," Advocate, LATLA; "Special Defenses, "Advocate, LATLA; "Framing Economic Damages," Advocate, LATLA; "Character Evidence and the Ostensible Secondary Purpose, " Advocate, LATLA; "Legislation," Advocate, LALTA; "Proving Economic Damages of Undocumented Aliens, " Advocate, LATLA; "Initiative Checklist," Advocate, LATLA; "Selecting the Medical Negligence Case," Advocate, LATLA; "The Reasonable Suspicion Standard in Drug Product Liability Cases," Advocate, LATLA; "Use of Rebuttal Expert Testimony at Trial,"Advocate, LATLA; "Proving Negligent Failure to Diagnose a Rare Disease," Advocate, LATLA; "Breach of the Physicians Obligations of Confidentiality," Advocate, LATLA; "Taking Expert Depositions," Advocate, LATLA; "Jury Selection," Advocate, LATLA; "Epidemiology and Applied Statistics," Advocate, LATLA; "Recovery for Increased Susceptibility for Future Medical Disease," Advocate, LATLA; "Strict Liability," Advocate, LATLA; "Contention Interrogatories," Advocate, LATLA; "Ex Parte Interviews with Plaintiff's Treating Physicians," Advocate, LATLA; "The High Cost of Forum Depositions," Advocate, LATLA. Full Bibliography Available Upon Request.

He has also obtained extraordinary published state and federal appellate results, including in sophisticated medical and pharmaceutical product liability litiagtion effecting lasting, significant changes in the law favorable to his clients and other plaintiff litigants. An attorney's experience in appellate advocacy is not only useful on appeals, but may be important in some cases to overturn before or during trial a bad ruling of the trial judge that guts the case or deprives the client of an element of his damages. To take one example, in the context of pre-trial motions a Judge struck Henke's clients' punitive damage claims relying of newly enacted tort reform legislation requiring that in cases against health care providers the punitive damage claim must not be stated in the original complaint, as was the practice when the complaint was filed prior to enactment of the law, but by amendment to the complaint based upon evidence of the validity of the punitive damage claim. Henke obtained a stay of the trial to take an extraordinary writ to the appellate court, obtaining an immediate decision from the Court of Appeals ordering the trial court to reinstate the clients' punitive damage claims, and then he went forward to obtain in addition to compensatory damage awards for his clients, a $1.6 million jury verdict against one of the defendants.

To take another example, after more than 1000 federal cases involving children who had suffered serious birth defects were assigned by the federal Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation to a federal Judge sitting in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, the District Court Judge in Ohio certified a "mandatory class action" binding together the 1000 birth defect cases assigned to his court and all the other thousands of birth defect cases involving the drug filed nationwide, including those filed independently in the state courts. The pharmaceutical product liability lawyers in Henke's office had over 40 cases involving exposure to the drug, most of them involving children born with severe limb defects, and had developed an extensive list of experts fully prepared to testify in the individual pharmaceutical product liability trials against the manufacturer. The Plaintiffs' Lead Counsel Committee and the attorneys for the drug manufacturer then settled the mandatory class litigation involving the thousands of children born with birth defects nationwide for $120,000,000. The federal District Court Judge then issued an order approving the settlement. Group attorney Henke and his other firm members considered the settlement to be woefully inadequate to compensate the many thousands of children with serious birth defects for even the smallest fraction of the fair measure of the value of their injuries and damages. So Henke filed a petition for writ of mandamus in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit challenging the District Court's certification of the mandatory class action and settlement. Attorney Henke's petition for writ of mandamus was successful in obtaining the United States Court of Appeals' order instructing the District Court Judge to decertify the mandatory class and void the class settlement.

Henke had argued that "mandatory class action" offended the individual client's right to the attorney of his choice, and control over his individual litigation, arguing that the sole legitimate exception that the Court of Appeals should recognize should be that mandatory class action might be justified in the rare instance where the defendant had a demonstrated limited fund of assets and insurance insufficient to pay all claims brought against it, proof that the large manufacturer in this drug product liability class action clearly could not and had not substantiated. The United States Court of Appeals adopted Henke's arguments, issuing a landmark published decision severely restricting the availability of mandatory class actions, with the sole exception mentioned above. The decision altered the law of class action in an enduring way, and now almost all class actions must be framed as "voluntary class actions" where each plaintiff has the opportunity to opt out, choose his own attorney to represent him and pursue his individual litigation independently if he so chooses. The case indeed applies to all mass tort litigation, and all class actions, rendering mandatory class action essentially unavailable except in very rare class litigation.

Mr. Henke received his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of San Francisco, served on the USF Law Review, received the American Jurisprudence Award for Civil Procedure, and interned at the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit while in Law School.

Martindale & Hubbell ratings, elected offices in trial lawyers associations, awards and honors from professional organizations, recognition in professional journals, publications in trial lawyer journals, significant appellate victories, and experience preparing and presenting to settlement judges and juries cases in the legal subject area of the potential client's case, as well as the relevant settlements and jury verdicts the lawyer has obtained as the lead trial attorney, are all credentials that a potential client may wish to consider in comparing the qualifications of the lawyers whom he would consider to represent him, among such other qualifications as the client deems important in the lawyer who will represent him. We strongly recommend that decisions with regard to the choice of a lawyer be made on the basis of legal qualifications, and we welcome all prospective clients to inquire about our Group lawyers' qualifications.

Our serious injury big rig truck accident attorneys welcome you to contact us with regard to your case. We provide free consultations. You may submit the "Contact" form and one of our big rig truck accident lawyers will call you to discuss your case, offer his initial case evaluation, and provide his initial recommendations. Our big rig truck accident attorneys will consider serious injury cases including traumatic brain injury, TBI, spinal cord injury, quadriplegia, paraplegia, internal injury, orthopedic injuries, leg or arm amputation. Our serious injury big rig truck accident lawyers will consider representing seriously injured potential clients in most states, from New York to California, from Texas, Georgia and Florida to Michigan, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania, from Alaska to Hawaii, and in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming. We welcome the opportunity to speak with you.

Our Big Rig Truck Accident Lawyers Provide the Following Attorney Disclaimers For All States of the United States, Including New York to California, from Texas, Georgia and Florida to Michigan, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania, from Alaska to Hawaii, and in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Please read the full Terms and conditions on our Required Legal Notices page. The following is a synopsis:

Please understand that this Big Rig Truck Accident Lawyers page, and all other pages on this site are provided for informational purposes only, describing the various practice areas discussed. The content of the pages, including this Big Rig Truck Accident Lawyers page, are not intended as legal advice and should not be interpreted as legal advice; and in particular the content should not be interpreted as legal advice as to the potential merits or viability your particular case or any particular case.

Our personal injury lawyers provide free consultations to those who contact us, but again, you must understand that if we are unable to accept your case, that will be merely a function of our law firm specific intake guidelines and should not be interpreted as a conclusion on our part that your case lacks merit or that it is not viable litigation.

Furthermore, please understand that merely reviewing this site, this web page or any of the other pages of this site, or submitting a case evaluation request, or speaking with Mr. Henke or another attorney does not and cannot create an attorney-client relationship with Mr. Henke or his law office. The only way that an attorney-client relationship can be created with Mr. Henke or his law firm is by a written attorney-client retainer agreement signed both by the client and Mr. Henke. If a case does not fall within our office intake guidelines or if it arises in another state, we may recommend or refer you to another lawyer, but please understand also that our recommending or referring you to another lawyer does not create an attorney-client relationship with Mr. Henke or his law firm. We do not supervise any litigation undertaken by any other lawyers, including attorneys or law firms to which we may recommend or refer a client. The recommendation or referral of potential client to another lawyer does not give rise to any duty or obligation or responsibility on the part of Mr. Henke or the Henke Law Office. Furthermore, every client must independently investigate the credentials of any lawyer whom he would consider to represent him, and the Henke law office does not under any circumstances accept liability for errors or ommissions of other lawyers or any other liability including in connection with his recommendation or referral of the client to another lawyer. Our Law Group, as set forth above, is merely a loose affilliation of lawyers, we are not a law firm or a partnership or association of lawyers.

It is the intent of our Group personal injury lawyers in framing this page, and the content of this Serious Injury Attorneys web site, to comply with all laws and attorney ethical rules in all states in which such rules exist. Specific Rules applicable in particular states are set forth below and on the Required Legal Notices Page of this web site, which we invite you to consider, and incorporate on this web page.

By virtue of the characteristics of Internet communication of lawyer advertisements generally, including by the ability of persons to view the advertisement beyond state borders, and indeed worldwide, the following notices are provided for all states of the United States. The state laws and state bar rules and other laws governing Internet communication generally and lawyer advertisements in particular are constantly changing. Mr. Henke, has made an effort on this general informational web page and on the Required Legal Notices page to comply with all the applicable state laws, state bar rules and other rules governing lawyers and attorneys in anticipation that this lawyer advertisement might be viewed by citizens of any state of the United States.. This attorney advertisement, authored by attorney Henke, is not intended for those whose potential cases do not have a nexus with the state of California, e.g., by virtue the cause of action arising in the state or a defendant's incorporation in the state or the location of its principal place of business in the state.

The following are particular admonitions intended to comply with the laws and rules of the identified states:

Alabama: No representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.

Colorado: Colorado does not certify attorneys as specialists in any field.

Florida: The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements. Before you decide, ask us to send you free written information about our qualifications and experience.

Iowa: The determination of the need for legal services and the choice of a lawyer are extremely important decisions and should not be based solely upon advertisements or self-proclaimed expertise. This disclosure is required by rule of the Supreme Court of Iowa. NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC: Memberships and offices in legal fraternities and legal societies, technical and professional licenses, and memberships in scientific, technical and professional associations and societies of law or field of practice do not mean that a lawyer is a specialist or expert in a field of law, nor do they mean that such a lawyer is necessarily any more expert or competent than any other lawyer. All potential clients are urged to make their own independent investigation and evaluation of any lawyer being considered. This notice is required by rule of the Supreme Court of Iowa.

Kentucky and Oregon: THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT.

Mississippi: The Mississippi Supreme Court advises that a decision on legal services is important and should not be based solely on advertisements.

Missouri: Neither the Supreme Court of Missouri nor the Missouri Bar reviews or approves certifying organizations or specialist designations.

Nevada: The State Bar of Nevada does not certify any lawyer as a specialist or expert.

New Mexico: LAWYER ADVERTISEMENT.

Tennessee: None of the attorneys in this firm are certified as a Civil Trial, Criminal Trial, Business Bankruptcy, Consumer Bankruptcy, Creditor's Rights, Medical Malpractice, Legal Malpractice, Accounting Malpractice, Estate Planning or Elder Law specialist by the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization. Certification as a specialist in all other listed areas is not currently available in Tennessee.

Texas: Unless otherwise stated, Henke Law Office attorneys claiming certification in an area of law are not certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Wyoming: The Wyoming State Bar does not certify any lawyer as a specialist or expert. Anyone considering a lawyer should independently investigate the lawyer's credentials and ability, and not rely upon advertisements or self-proclaimed expertise.

For all those states which consider informational lawyer web pages to be advertisements, please take notice, this web site and web page is an advertisement. Mr. Henke considers the foregoing disclaimers to be good for all to consider, including that decisions with regard to your choice of lawyer should not be made based on the content of attorney advertisements, and the disclaimers in this section and on the Required Legal Notices page should be considered by those seeking counsel in all states: The determination of the need for legal services and the choice of a lawyer are extremely important decisions and should not be based solely upon attorney advertisements or self-proclaimed expertise. The lawyers of the Law Group and Henke Law Office state: “Before you decide on an attorney to represent you, to the extent that you may consider this office, please ask us to send you free written information about our qualifications and experience.” We do not hold ourselves out to be specialists in states which certify specialists. All potential clients are urged to make their own independent investigation and evaluation of any lawyer being considered.

This web site and the instant page are not intended by Henke for the purpose of soliciting any prospective clients in any state except California for the commencement of any civil action. If attorney Henke were to serve as an attorney in a civil lawsuit in any of the other state, he would do so only on the request of an attorney who was a member of the Bar of the other state, who would serve as the local attorney in the litigation, only in connection with pending litigation, with the consent of the client, and only with the permission of the state court for Henke to appear as the attorney for the client pro hac vice. We do not solicit clients in any such state; we will only consder inquiries from attorneys in these other states who consider that they might benefit from our expertise.

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