Changing Truck Accident Lawyers in Texas

Changing lawyers in a Texas truck case

Texas law gives you the right to fire your lawyer and hire a new one. The Texas Supreme Court said so plainly in Hoover Slovacek v. Walton. In a lawsuit, the change becomes official when the court signs a substitution under Rule of Civil Procedure 10.

Truck cases are harder to hand off than car cases. There may be a driver, a motor carrier, a trailer owner, a broker, a shipper and a maintenance shop, each with its own insurer and lawyer. Our Texas truck cases are handled by Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou, who are licensed in Texas. The general process is on our Texas switch-lawyers page.

Trucking records with short retention periods

Federal motor carrier rules set minimum times that trucking companies have to keep certain records. Once that time runs, the company may lawfully throw them away unless someone has demanded that they be kept.

Engine control module data, dash camera video and GPS or dispatch messages have no long federal hold time at all. Many fleets record over them on a schedule. If your first lawyer did not send a preservation letter to the carrier soon after the crash, the log data may already be at risk. That is the first thing we check.

What your new lawyer has to catch up on

• Whether a lawsuit was filed against every company that may share fault, and whether each one was properly served.
• The carrier’s USDOT number, operating authority and insurance filings, which show who was really running the load.
• What discovery has been sent and answered, and whether any responses are overdue.
• Whether the driver and company representatives have been deposed, or scheduled.
• Any defense medical exam the defense has asked for, and what your treating doctors have said about future care.
• Expert deadlines. Truck cases often need an accident reconstruction expert and a trucking safety expert, and missed designation dates are hard to fix.

Texas fault rules in multi-defendant truck cases

Under Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 33.001, you recover nothing if you are found more than 50 percent at fault. With several defendants, the jury assigns a percentage to each one, and to you (§ 33.003). A defendant found more than 50 percent responsible is liable for the full recoverable damages; others pay only their share (§ 33.013).

Trucking defendants often point at each other, or at a driver who is not in the suit. A defendant can move to designate a responsible third party at least 60 days before trial, and an objection is due 15 days after service (§ 33.004). A new lawyer stepping into a truck case has to check right away for pending designations, since a missed objection can move fault onto someone who will never pay.

Deadlines

A Texas truck accident injury suit generally has to be filed within two years (§ 16.003). If a public vehicle or a road defect is involved, written notice to the government is due within six months (§ 101.101). A change of lawyers does not extend either one. For more on our trucking work, see our Texas office page.

Fees when you switch a truck case to us

Your attorney fee stays where it is when you move your case to Beverly Law. Any amount your first firm earns for its work is taken from our fee, not charged to you on top. Truck cases often carry large costs for experts and depositions. Those advanced costs are normally repaid from the recovery, as on any case, and if nothing is recovered you owe nothing.

Texas does weigh why you made the change. A lawyer fired without good cause may claim the contract fee under Mandell & Wright v. Thomas, subject to the unconscionability limit in Hoover Slovacek. When the lawyer failed to act as a reasonably skilled lawyer would, Rocha v. Ahmad limits recovery to the reasonable value of the work done. We go over this with you before anything is sent.

If you signed a release and the truck case already settled, we are not able to help; the release generally ends the claim.

Signs a truck case is stalling

Truck cases move slower than car cases, so slow by itself is not a warning sign. These are more concerning:

• No one can tell you whether the trucking company was sent a preservation letter.
• Months pass after the crash and only the driver has been named, with no check on who owned the trailer or arranged the load.
• Discovery deadlines pass without responses from your side.
• You learn about a hearing or deposition date only after it happens.

If any of these sound familiar, ask your lawyer about them in writing. Our guide to switching lawyers mid-case covers what to do if the answers do not come.

Before you decide

Talk to your current lawyer first if you can. Ask whether preservation letters went out, which defendants are in the case and when expert deadlines fall. If the answers do not come, or you cannot reach anyone, a free second opinion from us is a reasonable next step. Start on our contact page, in English or Spanish.

Sources

1. Hoover Slovacek LLP v. Walton, 206 S.W.3d 557 (Tex. 2006) (courtlistener.com)
2. Mandell & Wright v. Thomas, 441 S.W.2d 841 (Tex. 1969) (courtlistener.com)
3. Rocha v. Ahmad, 676 S.W.2d 149 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 1984) (courtlistener.com)
4. Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 10 (txcourts.gov)
5. 49 C.F.R. § 395.8(k) (ecfr.gov)
6. 49 C.F.R. § 396.3(c) (ecfr.gov)
7. 49 C.F.R. § 390.15(b) (ecfr.gov)
8. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.001 (statutes.capitol.texas.gov)
9. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.003 (statutes.capitol.texas.gov)
10. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.013 (statutes.capitol.texas.gov)
11. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.004 (statutes.capitol.texas.gov)
12. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003 (statutes.capitol.texas.gov)
13. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 101.101 (statutes.capitol.texas.gov)