Truck Accident Lawyer in Calcasieu Parish

Your Local Partner After a Truck Accident in Calcasieu Parish

If you or someone you care about has been injured in a truck accident in Calcasieu Parish, you know how quickly life can change. At Sudduth & Associates, LLC, we help individuals and families move forward after serious crashes involving commercial vehicles, 18-wheelers, or large trucks.

Truck accidents along major routes like I-10 and Highway 90 often involve multiple parties, including trucking companies based in Louisiana and across state lines. Navigating these cases requires knowledge of local court systems and insurance regulations unique to our parish. 

Clients in Calcasieu Parish value direct answers, and we always strive to provide a clear path forward after a commercial truck crash. By understanding the transportation environment in southwest Louisiana, our commercial truck accident attorneys apply practical strategies that reflect both state law and the real needs of area residents.

Protect your rights and secure maximum compensation. Call (337) 282-9003 or reach out online for a free consultation with a dedicated truck accident lawyer in Calcasieu Parish. We are ready to fight the corporate giants.

Understanding the Complexity of Truck Accident Liability

The biggest difference between a standard auto claim and a truck accident lawsuit is the number of potentially liable parties and the web of complex regulations that can be violated. Successfully litigating these cases means identifying everyone whose negligence contributed to the crash.

Unlike a simple car wreck where only two drivers are involved, a Calcasieu Parish truck accident attorney must pursue all entities that contributed to the incident:

• The Truck Driver: Negligence due to fatigue (Hours of Service violations), distracted driving, speeding, or intoxication.
• The Trucking Company (Motor Carrier): Negligence due to poor hiring practices, inadequate training, pressuring drivers to violate HOS rules, or failure to perform mandatory maintenance.
• The Cargo Loader: Liability if the cargo was improperly secured, balanced, or overloaded, causing the truck to jackknife or roll over.
• The Manufacturer: Responsibility for defective parts (e.g., faulty brakes, tires, or steering components) that contributed to the loss of control.
• The Maintenance Provider: Liability if external vendors failed to properly service critical safety equipment (e.g., brakes or lights).

We meticulously investigate all parties, ensuring that every available insurance policy is brought to the negotiating table to cover your catastrophic losses.

The Decisive Role of Federal Trucking Regulations

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations are the cornerstone of our investigative strategy. A violation of these strict federal rules often constitutes negligence per se under Louisiana law, making it easier to establish fault.

Key Regulations We Use to Prove Negligence

• Hours of Service (HOS) Rules: These rules strictly limit the amount of time a commercial driver can operate a vehicle to prevent fatigue. We seize and scrutinize the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) data and logbooks to prove the driver exceeded legal limits.
• Maintenance and Inspection: Commercial vehicles must undergo mandatory pre-trip and post-trip inspections. We demand maintenance records to determine if the trucking company ignored known mechanical defects (e.g., worn tires, faulty brakes) before the accident.
• Weight and Size Limits: Louisiana Revised Statutes impose strict limits on truck weight and cargo dimension. Violations contribute to longer stopping distances and increased rollover risk.

The failure to comply with any of these regulations transforms a simple crash into a case of corporate negligence. Our firm is led by a former prosecutor who understands complex statutory investigations, giving us the ability to handle the intricate discovery required in these high-stakes cases.

Catastrophic Damages We Fight to Recover

Due to the immense size disparity—a semi-truck can weigh up to 80,000 pounds—injuries sustained in a truck accident are typically catastrophic and require aggressive litigation to secure full compensation.

Recoverable Damages in Louisiana Truck Accidents

Economic Damages:

• Past and Future Medical Expenses: Covering emergency care, specialized surgeries, long-term rehabilitation, and in-home care for permanent injuries.
• Lost Wages and Loss of Earning Capacity: Compensation for income lost during recovery and projected future earnings lost due to permanent disability or impairment.

Non-Economic Damages:

• Pain and Suffering: Compensation for physical and emotional distress, anxiety, and trauma.
• Loss of Enjoyment of Life: Damages for the diminished quality of life resulting from permanent physical limitations.
• Wrongful Death/Survival Actions: In fatal accidents, we pursue both claims to recover the family's loss of financial support and the deceased's pre-death pain and suffering.

We work with medical specialists, vocational experts, and economic analysts to accurately value your lifetime of losses, ensuring the defendant's insurance policy covers every expense.

The Calcasieu Parish Litigation Strategy

The defense for a truck accident case begins the moment the crash occurs, with trucking companies dispatching adjusters and experts to the scene immediately to minimize liability. You need your truck accident lawyer in Calcasieu Parish to move even faster.

1. Evidence Preservation (Spoliation)

The most critical step is sending a Spoliation Letter to the trucking company, legally requiring them to preserve all crucial evidence, including:

• Black Box/EDR Data: Electronic data recorders hold crucial information (speed, braking, steering) in the seconds before the crash.
• Driver Logs and Drug Test Results: Hours of Service logs and post-accident drug screening results.
• Maintenance Records: Inspection reports for brakes and tires.

If the company destroys this evidence, we can petition the court for sanctions against them, which can significantly strengthen your case.

2. Trial Readiness as Leverage

Insurance companies are prepared to fight truck accident claims because the settlements are often multi-million dollar affairs. We prepare every case as if it is going to a jury trial in the 14th Judicial District Court. This trial readiness forces the insurers to negotiate in good faith, as they know our firm is prepared to prove their negligence to a Calcasieu Parish jury.