Truck Accident Lawyer in Los Angeles

What evidence decides a truck accident case?

Interstate carriers are regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. That means records exist that have no equivalent in an ordinary crash:

• Hours-of-service logs and electronic logging device data
• Driver qualification files
• Maintenance and inspection records
• Drug and alcohol testing results, including the test after the accident
• Truck telematics data and the load record
• Increasingly, forward-facing and cab camera footage

Those records usually decide the case, and the retention periods are short. Several categories can lawfully be destroyed within six months under the federal rules, and camera footage is often overwritten in weeks. Big companies move fast: an investigator and sometimes a lawyer can be at the scene within hours, photographing everything and taking statements before the injured person has left the hospital. For that reason a preservation letter to the carrier is the first thing this office sends, and it has to go out in weeks, not months.

Who is liable for a truck accident in California?

In a collision between two cars there is normally one driver and one policy. In a truck case there can be several, each with its own insurance:

• The driver whose negligence caused the crash.
• The motor carrier that employed or dispatched the driver.
• A broker that arranged the trip.
• The shipper who loaded the trailer, if the load shifted.
• A maintenance contractor that serviced the truck.
• The owner of the tractor or trailer, where it is leased rather than owned.
• A public agency, for a dangerous road condition under Government Code section 835. These claims carry the six month deadline.

Los Angeles adds its own pattern. Drayage traffic out of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach runs heavy on the 710, the 5 and the 60, and the carriers involved are frequently based outside California, which affects where a case is filed and which records are reachable. If you work in transport or in a warehouse and were hurt by another company’s truck while working, there can be a workers compensation claim and a separate claim against that third party. They should be reviewed together from the start.

What insurance pays after a truck accident?

A private California driver needs only $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident in liability cover, the minimum since 1 January 2025. A commercial carrier typically holds a policy an order of magnitude larger, and finding every layer is often the difference between covering treatment and not covering it. Beyond the carrier’s policies, look to:

• Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, if a smaller vehicle or an uninsured driver was also involved.
• Medical payments coverage on your own auto policy, which can pay bills early regardless of fault.
• Health insurance, which pays treatment as it happens and may later claim reimbursement from the settlement.

What compensation can you recover after a truck accident?

• Medical expenses, past and future, including surgery, therapy and long term care.
• Lost earnings and loss of future earning capacity.
• Property damage to your vehicle and belongings.
• Pain, suffering and emotional distress, and the loss of enjoyment of life.
• Punitive damages under Civil Code section 3294 where a defendant acted with malice, oppression or fraud.
• Wrongful death damages for the family under Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 when a crash is fatal.

A case’s value cannot be known before the medical picture is clear. California applies pure comparative fault, so partial blame reduces a recovery and does not bar it.

How long do you have to file a truck accident claim?

• Two years from the date of injury to file an injury lawsuit, under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1.
• Three years for property damage only, under Code of Civil Procedure section 338.
• Six months to present a written claim if a public entity is involved, under Government Code section 911.2. This shorter deadline governs.

Under Los Angeles Superior Court Local Rule 2.3(a)(1)(A) an unlimited civil injury or wrongful death action is filed in the judicial district where the incident arose, so a collision in Los Angeles County is not filed downtown by default, and the Court’s own filing locator settles which courthouse hears it.

How much does a truck accident lawyer cost?

No fee unless there is a recovery. Broukhim Legal PC takes truck accident cases on a contingency fee, so there is nothing to pay up front and the fee is paid out of what is recovered. If nothing is recovered, no fee is owed. The fee agreement is put in writing and signed before any work starts, as California law requires, and the costs of running the case are explained in that same agreement rather than left to the end. Your first conversation is free, confidential and carries no obligation.

Personal injury lawyers across Los Angeles County

Broukhim Legal PC represents people injured throughout Los Angeles County from its office at 550 S Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles. Each city page sets out the courthouse an incident in that city is filed in, how a claim against that city is presented and the deadlines that apply:

See all locations we serve, or tell us about the truck crash for a free case review.

Meet your Los Angeles truck accident lawyer

Bejan Broukhim, Founder and Lead Attorney
State Bar of California, license number 183036

Bejan Broukhim brings years of California legal experience to injury and mass tort cases and personally reviews each one. He earned his J.D. at the University of West Los Angeles School of Law, served as a judicial extern in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and the Van Nuys Superior Court, and appeared in preliminary hearings as a certified law clerk with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Every case is prepared from day one as though it will go to trial.

Office: 550 S Hill Street, Suite 1390, Los Angeles, CA 90013, serving all of Los Angeles County and California. Get directions