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Comparing truck accident attorneys: public records and questions

From TruckAccidentLawyers.wiki, a directory of truck accident law firms

Comparing truck accident attorneys: public records and questions
License and disciplineState Bar of Georgia member directory[1]
Truck accident law certificationNational Board of Trial Advocacy[2]
Georgia appellate docketsCourt of Appeals of Georgia, cases since January 2003[3]
Federal docketsPACER, charged by the page[4]

Comparing truck accident attorneys draws on two kinds of information. Some facts can be checked in records kept by the State Bar of Georgia and the courts. Others, such as who will handle a matter and how expenses are treated, have to come from the lawyer and the written agreement. This guide covers both and does not rank the firms in this directory.[1][3][5]

See also: Truck accident law firms in metro Atlanta

Contents

License and discipline records

The State Bar of Georgia describes its member directory as providing contact, membership and public disciplinary history information for lawyers licensed in Georgia. A firm name is not a license, so the check is made for each lawyer who would work on the matter, using the steps in the license-check guide.[1]

See also: How to check a Georgia lawyer's license

Board certification in truck accident law

The National Board of Trial Advocacy offers a board certification in truck accident law, a field it defines as the procedural, substantive and practical issues unique to collisions involving commercial tractor-trailers, buses and other commercial motor vehicles. The board's own site includes a search for board-certified attorneys, so a statement that a lawyer holds the certification can be confirmed there. Not holding it is not evidence about a particular lawyer's work.[2]

See also: What lawyer ratings and directory badges mean

Court records of truck cases

Court dockets show which lawyers appeared in a case. The Court of Appeals of Georgia's online docket covers cases since January 2003 and can be searched by appellate docket number, trial-court case number or case name, and a docket record lists the attorneys for the parties. Federal court records are available through PACER, which charges by the page, caps the charge for most single documents and waives fees for users whose quarterly charges stay small.[3][6][4]

A docket listing confirms that a lawyer appeared for a party. It does not show who led the work at trial, and a firm's description of its own results is a separate claim. Under this directory's editorial policy, a trucking result appears in a profile only when a court record or a news publisher reports it.[3]

See also: How listings are compiled and corrected

Questions the records do not answer

Georgia's Rule 1.4 requires a lawyer to keep a client reasonably informed about the status of the matter, to comply promptly with reasonable requests for information and to explain the matter enough for the client to make informed decisions. Those duties make communication a fair subject for comparison: who will handle the file day to day, which lawyer will appear in court and how updates will be given.[7]

Truck cases add questions about records. Federal rules require carriers to keep duty-status records, driver qualification files and maintenance records only for set minimum periods, so a prospective client can ask how a lawyer has obtained those records in earlier matters and how soon a preservation request goes out. The answers are the lawyer's own account and cannot be checked in the Bar directory.[8][9][10]

See also: Related network publication: timeline after a tractor-trailer crash (truckaccidentlawyer.wiki)

Fee terms belong in writing. Under Rule 1.5, the scope of the representation and the basis of the fee and expenses must be communicated, preferably in writing, and a contingent fee agreement must be written. The guide to fees and consultations covers those terms in more detail.[5]

See also: Fees and consultations when comparing law firms

Using this directory's profiles

Each profile in this directory uses the same fields: identity, metro office information, named leadership and stated practice. Office cities come from each firm's published addresses rather than its stated service areas. A profile is a starting point for the checks in this guide, not a substitute for them.

See also: Selection and inclusion policy

References

  1. abc "Member Directory". State Bar of Georgia. Official source. Checked . Source record
  2. ab "Truck Accident Law". National Board of Trial Advocacy. Independent source. Checked . Source record
  3. abcd "Docket Search". Court of Appeals of Georgia. Official source. Checked . Source record
  4. ab "PACER Pricing: How fees work". Administrative Office of the United States Courts, PACER. Official source. Checked . Source record
  5. ab "Bar Rules/Handbook". State Bar of Georgia. Official source. Checked . Source record
  6. ^ "Transportation Inc. Agent Group, Inc. v. Huynh et al.: A27A0339". Court of Appeals of Georgia. Official source. Checked . Source record
  7. ^ "Bar Rules/Handbook: Rule 1.4, Communication". State Bar of Georgia. Official source. Checked . Source record
  8. ^ "49 CFR 395.8: Driver record of duty status". Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Office of the Federal Register and GPO. Official source. Checked . Source record
  9. ^ "49 CFR 391.51: Driver qualification files". Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Office of the Federal Register and GPO. Official source. Checked . Source record
  10. ^ "49 CFR 396.3: Inspection, repair and maintenance". Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Office of the Federal Register and GPO. Official source. Checked . Source record