What to Do if the Trucking Company Is Delaying Evidence Disclosure

If a trucking company’s negligence caused your injuries, you may have the right to pursue compensation. However, recovering damages can be difficult when a trucking company delays producing material evidence.

Understanding your legal options – and speaking with a Tulsa truck accident lawyer — can help you move your case forward.

What is evidence disclosure, and why is it crucial?

Evidence disclosure occurs when the parties to a case share evidence with one another. This evidence is used to strengthen the claims made by each party. Disclosure usually happens during the discovery process, but ensuring the evidence is preserved and accessible during discovery is something that takes place early on in a case long before litigation ensues.

For example, if you were injured by a truck owned by a commercial trucking company, you and your truck accident lawyer might request the maintenance records for this truck. You might be able to use these maintenance records to suggest that the truck was improperly maintained. Or you may request access to the truck’s black box data to show the speeds of the vehicle, as well as the use of the brakes and steering wheel movements leading up to an event.

What are the different types of evidence you should request during the discovery process?

You can request many different types of evidence during the discovery process, where legally permissible. Some of the most useful types include:

• Dashcam footage of what happened outside the truck during the accident
• Footage from inside the truck during the accident
• Black box data/data from the Event Data Recorder
• Maintenance records for the truck
• Logbooks for a specific truck/driver
• The driver’s phone records for/around the time of the accident
• Drug/alcohol test results
• The driving record and overall personnel file for the truck driver involved in the accident

Why is timely evidence disclosure so important?

You and the truck accident lawyer working on your case should obtain evidence as quickly as possible. The main reasons for this include:

• The parties involved in your accident could delete, lose, or alter the evidence you need to prove your claims.
• If you do not have admissible evidence to support your claims, it can be very difficult to pursue compensation for your damages.
• If you do not have evidence demonstrating that the parties involved in your accident were negligent, you may be unable to obtain compensation for the damages that their negligence created.
• A lack of evidence could force you to accept a settlement that is far lower than what you are seeking.

Examples for the reasons mentioned above include:

• If you claim that a truck was not properly maintained, and this error led to your injury, the maintenance records demonstrating the lack of maintenance could be deleted before you can use them in your case.
• If you claim that a truck’s lack of maintenance caused your injury, but you have no maintenance records demonstrating the validity of this claim, you will have a much harder time obtaining compensation for this.
• If you claim that a truck driver was negligent by not obeying the speed limit, but the dash cam footage and black box records validating this claim have been lost, you may not be able to prove this claim.
• If you claim that you were injured by a truck that was going over the speed limit, but have no evidence to support this claim, you may be forced to give up the case.

Timely disclosure of evidence is of the utmost importance in a truck accident case. Not obtaining evidence in a timely manner can make it more challenging to prove your claims. Similarly, not putting a potential defendant on notice that you need the evidence preserved as soon as you know their identity can ensure that they do not lose or delete it. If they do, then they very well could be subjected to sanctions or adverse instructions depending on the nature of the evidence lost and their culpability.

What are your legal options?

Once litigation is pending or reasonably anticipated, the trucking company generally has a duty to preserve relevant evidence, but there is a risk that it may attempt to delay disclosure. Delays can affect you in many ways, including the following:

• Make things so difficult for you and your truck accident lawyer that you drop the case.
• Prolong the process so you feel obligated to accept a smaller settlement.
• Create discovery disputes, such as claiming that your requests are burdensome or overbroad, which slows the case.
• Increase the risk that evidence needed to support your claims is lost, altered, or destroyed.
• Increase the risk of missed key deadlines, thereby delaying the case further or resulting in dismissal.

To prevent the above from happening and to seek the compensation you may be owed under Oklahoma law, your truck accident lawyer can pressure the trucking company to preserve and/or disclose evidence by using these legal options:

• Sending a preservation/spoliation letter early on in the case.
• Filing a motion to compel against the party who is in possession of the evidence.
• Serving a subpoena on any third party who may also have possession of the evidence, or may be able to access it.
• Requesting sanctions or adverse instructions from the Court.

You can find a definition for each one of the above in the space below:

• A spoliation letter is a formal notice that informs the recipient to preserve evidence related to your case and warns not to damage, alter, or destroy that evidence.
• A motion to compel is a legal motion asking the court to order a party to respond to specific discovery requests.
• A subpoena is a request for materials on a given subject to a non-party.
• A court sanction is a legal sanction that, in the context of evidence disclosure, can create penalties for the trucking company if it fails to disclose the evidence you have requested.

One example for each of the above is as follows:

• You can send a spoliation letter that notifies the recipient of their duty to preserve evidence supporting sanctions if evidence is later found to be lost or destroyed.
• If a commercial truck company is not responding to your request for dashcam footage, you can file a motion to compel that forces them to supply this footage.
• If a truck’s black box is no longer available but you learn the same information is reported to a third party telematics company, you could issue a subpoena to the telematic company for the same information you would have likely received from the black box.
• If a commercial truck company has altered valuable evidence, the court may order payment of reasonable attorney fees and costs and may impose other sanctions, depending on the circumstances.

Each of these legal options is useful. However, using them is not easy; procedures must be followed, and timing is usually of high importance. The information lost can be devastating, so working with a truck accident lawyer who can guide you through this process is critical.

How can a truck accident lawyer help you?

A truck accident lawyer can help you by:

• Reviewing the facts of your case
• Outlining the damages you may be able to pursue
• Gathering the evidence, proof, and documentation you need to pursue compensation
• Using the legal options mentioned earlier to preserve and obtain the necessary evidence
• Negotiating with the truck company and other relevant parties
• Taking your case to trial, if necessary
• Presenting your claims in front of a judge and jury
• Helping you address medical liens and other debts related to your settlement

Speak with a Tulsa truck accident lawyer today

If another party’s negligence caused your injury, you may be eligible for compensation. Get in touch with Biby Law Firm using this contact form. We are ready to discuss your case.