A collision with a fully loaded, 80,000-pound semi-truck is fundamentally different from a typical passenger car accident. These incidents involve immense physical forces that frequently result in catastrophic injuries. They also unleash a difficult legal storm.
Unlike a standard car wreck, a commercial trucking accident almost always involves multiple potentially liable parties, such as the driver, the powerful trucking corporation, the cargo loader, and even parts manufacturers, each protected by aggressive legal teams. As experienced Reno truck accident lawyers, our firm understands that while Nevada law provides you with clear rights, enforcing them against corporate giants presents a formidable challenge.
Commercial trucking companies and their massive insurance carriers have rapid-response teams. These investigators are typically dispatched to the scene while the dust is still settling, with one primary goal: to control the narrative and minimize their financial exposure.
If you have questions about a recent collision involving a semi-truck or commercial vehicle, we are ready to help. Call us at (775) 322-6636.
Why Choose Leverty & Associates for Your Trucking Claim?
When you are facing the legal team of a multi-million-dollar trucking corporation, you need a multi-generational powerhouse with insider insurance knowledge.
At Leverty & Associates, we offer a unique combination of experience, legal insight, and community dedication that sets our firm apart.
The “Insurance Bedrock” Advantage
Pat Leverty holds an LL.M.—a Master of Laws—in Insurance Law. This advanced legal degree provides an uncommon depth of understanding of insurance policies, allowing our team to identify sources of coverage and financial recovery that other firms might overlook.
This knowledge separates Leverty & Associates from the run-of-the-mill personal injury law firm. We know the playbook used by insurance companies because we have studied it from the inside out.
A Multi-Generational Legacy Rooted in Nevada
Leverty & Associates is a multi-generation family firm, founded in 1979 and built on more than 100 years of combined legal experience.
Gene Leverty is a seasoned attorney and a former Chief Deputy Insurance Commissioner for the State of Nevada. This experience provides an invaluable perspective on how insurance companies operate and how claims are regulated at the state level. He has also served on the Board of the Nevada State Bar, contributing to the standards of the legal profession statewide.
This legacy of service and focus continues with Pat Leverty, who is board certified in personal injury law by the Nevada Justice Association and previously served as its President. This level of involvement in the legal community ensures we remain at the forefront of personal injury law in Nevada.
Awards & Recognition
Our commitment to our clients has been recognized by numerous prestigious legal organizations:
Patrick Leverty
- Personal Injury Specialist by the Nevada Justice Association
- Million Dollar Advocates Forum & Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum
- National Trial Lawyers: Top 100 Trial Lawyers – Nevada
- The National Trial Lawyers: Top 10 Insurance Bad Faith Trial Lawyers – Nevada
Gene Leverty
- Long-standing service on the Board of the Nevada State Bar
Community-Focused Leadership
We live and lead here. Our commitment to the Reno community extends far beyond the courtroom.
Pat Leverty serves as the president of the Reno Aquatic Club, a competitive age-group swim team, investing in the next generation of local athletes. Gene Leverty is a board member of KUNR, our local National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate, supporting access to quality journalism and information in our community.
Our Commitments to You:
- When you choose Leverty & Associates, you get a free case review and the guarantee that we fight for you on a contingency basis. This means you pay nothing unless we win.
- You also get direct attention from our experienced attorneys, not case managers. We are prepared to put our history, our knowledge, and our community dedication to work for you.
What Is Your Case Worth?
While no amount of money can undo the trauma or restore your health completely, a fair settlement provides the resources needed for your recovery.
Compensation in a truck accident claim is typically divided into three categories:
Economic Damages
These are the tangible, calculable financial losses you have suffered. They include:
- Current and future medical bills (surgeries, hospital stays, medication, rehabilitation, and necessary home modifications).
- Lost wages from time missed at work.
- Loss of future earning capacity, which is especially important in cases involving disabling injuries that prevent you from returning to your previous career.
Non-Economic Damages
These damages compensate you for the intangible, personal losses that have no exact price tag but are just as real. They include:
- Pain and suffering.
- Loss of consortium (the impact the injury has on your relationship with your spouse).
- Loss of enjoyment of life (the inability to participate in hobbies and activities you once loved).
Punitive Damages
In rare cases, Nevada law allows for punitive damages. As outlined in Nevada Revised Statutes 42.005, these damages punish the defendant for extreme misconduct, such as a trucking company intentionally forcing a driver to violate safety regulations to meet a deadline. These are awarded only when there is evidence of malice, fraud, or oppression.
What Is Nevada’s Comparative Negligence Rule?
Trucking companies and their insurers will conduct a thorough investigation, looking for any evidence to argue you were partly at fault. Under Nevada’s modified comparative negligence law, NRS 41.141, you may still recover damages as long as you are not found to be 51% or more at fault for the accident. However, your final compensation will be reduced by your percentage of fault.
Our job is to protect you from any unfair blame.
Where Commercial Truck Accidents Occur in Reno
As a local firm, we are familiar with the roads and highways where commercial truck accidents most frequently happen.
High-Risk Corridors
- Interstate 80: As the primary east-west freight route through Northern Nevada, I-80 sees a constant flow of semi-trucks. The steep downgrade from Donner Pass into Verdi and Reno is particularly dangerous, as brake failure or excessive speed has devastating consequences.
- US 395 / I-580: The Spaghetti Bowl interchange is a well-known bottleneck. The frequent congestion and difficult merging patterns create a high risk for rear-end and side-swipe collisions involving large trucks with significant blind spots.
- The McCarran Loop: This beltway carries a high volume of local delivery trucks, dump trucks, and other commercial vehicles. The numerous traffic lights and intersections increase the chances of wide-turn accidents and intersection-related collisions.
Environmental Factors
Reno’s unique environment also plays a role in truck accidents. The infamous Washoe Valley wind events frequently cause high-profile semi-trucks to roll over. During winter, snow and ice on the mountain passes make the already long stopping distances for an 80,000-pound rig exponentially longer, requiring a level of caution that some drivers and companies fail to exercise.
Trucking Accident Practice Area Basics
A claim against a trucking company involves a different set of rules, evidence, and legal principles than a standard car wreck.
Common Types of Truck Accidents
- Jackknife Accidents: This occurs when a driver loses control, and the trailer swings out to a 90-degree angle with the cab, sweeping across multiple lanes of traffic.
- Underride Collisions: These horrific accidents happen when a passenger car slides underneath the side or rear of a semi-trailer. They are frequently fatal.
- Rollovers: High winds, improper loading, or taking a turn too fast causes a top-heavy truck to roll over, crushing smaller vehicles in its path.
- Blind Spot/Wide Turn Accidents: Commercial trucks have massive blind spots. Accidents happen at intersections in Reno when a car is in a truck’s blind spot as it makes a wide right turn.
Common Catastrophic Injuries
The sheer force of a commercial truck collision leads to life-altering injuries, including:
- Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI): An injury to the brain caused by an external force leads to permanent cognitive and physical disabilities.
- Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI): Damage to the spinal cord results in partial or complete paralysis, such as paraplegia or quadriplegia.
- Severe Burns: If a truck’s fuel tanks rupture in a crash, catastrophic fires and explosions cause debilitating burns.
Key Legal Concepts
- Vicarious Liability: Under a legal doctrine called respondeat superior, an employer is legally responsible for the negligent acts of its employee if the employee was acting within the scope of their job. We almost always pursue a claim against the trucking company, not just the driver.
- Federal Regulations (FMCSA): The trucking industry is heavily regulated. We investigate compliance with Hours of Service (HOS) rules, which limit driving time, as well as vehicle maintenance and driver qualification standards.
- Negligent Hiring/Training: Sometimes, a company is held liable for hiring a driver with a known history of reckless driving or for failing to provide adequate training.
The Statute of Limitations vs. Evidence Spoliation
Nevada law generally gives you two years from the date of an accident to file a personal injury lawsuit. However, waiting is dangerous.
Trucking companies are only required to keep certain evidence, such as driver logs and black box data from the electronic control module (ECM), for a limited time—sometimes just six months.
Unless a lawyer acts quickly and sends a formal spoliation letter, this proof may be legally destroyed. This letter legally obligates the company to preserve all relevant evidence for the case. Act quickly.
Dealing with Commercial Insurers: The Insider View
A standard car insurance policy might have a limit of $25,000 or $50,000. Commercial trucking policies have limits of $1 million or more. This massive financial exposure means that commercial insurance adjusters fight significantly harder to protect their company’s assets.
Here’s What to Look Out For:
- The Quick Settlement Offer: They may offer a settlement check quickly, before the full extent of your injuries is known and before you have reached what doctors call Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI). Accepting this offer closes your claim for good, even if you later need more surgery.
- Requesting a Recorded Statement: The adjuster typically asks for a recorded statement about the accident. The goal is to get you to say something on tape that might be used to downplay your injuries or assign fault to you. We advise consulting an attorney before providing any recorded statement.
- Delay, Deny, Defend: This is a common industry strategy. The claims process is long and filled with tedious paperwork. It is easy to get frustrated as bills pile up, and some people may accept a lowball offer out of desperation.
This is where the Leverty difference truly comes into play. With Gene’s background as a former deputy insurance commissioner and Pat’s master’s degree in insurance law, we anticipate these tactics. We analyze the insurance coverage to hold the company accountable to the promises made in its policy.
What to Do After a Truck Accident (From Home)
The steps you take in the days and weeks after a crash have a large impact on your ability to recover fair compensation.
Your Checklist:
- Follow Doctor’s Orders Strictly: Attend every physical therapy session, follow up with specialists, and take all prescribed medications. Missing appointments gives the insurance company an opening to argue that your injuries are not as serious as you claim.
- Preserve Evidence: Do not repair your vehicle until an accident reconstructionist has an opportunity to inspect it. At a minimum, take extensive photos of the damage from every angle, both inside and out.
- Start a Pain Journal: Each day, write down your pain levels, the challenges you face with daily tasks (like getting dressed or making a meal), and any activities you had to miss. This journal becomes powerful evidence for demonstrating your pain and suffering.
- Institute a Social Media Blackout: Do not post anything about the accident, your injuries, or your recovery. Do not even post photos of you trying to do something simple that might be misinterpreted. Insurance investigators frequently monitor social media feeds, looking for anything that might be used against you.
- Gather Financial Documents: Keep a dedicated folder for every medical bill, receipt for prescriptions, Explanation of Benefits (EOB) from your health insurer, and pay stubs showing your missed work hours. This documentation proves your economic damages.
FAQ: Reno Truck Accident Claims
Truck accident claims involve higher financial stakes, multiple layers of complicated insurance, numerous potentially liable parties (the driver, the trucking company, the cargo loader, the maintenance provider), and a unique set of federal safety regulations that do not apply to passenger cars.
Yes, in many cases. Federal law creates a statutory employee relationship for the purposes of liability. This rule prevents trucking companies from using independent contractor labels to dodge responsibility for accidents caused by the drivers operating under their authority.
We obtain the truck’s Electronic Control Module (ECM) or black box data. We compare this information, which shows speed, braking, and hours of operation, with the driver’s official logbook, dispatch records, and GPS data. Discrepancies between these sources are strong evidence of HOS violations and fatigue.
Initially, your medical bills are typically paid by your own health insurance or any MedPay coverage you have on your auto policy. Our job is to then pursue a settlement or verdict that repays you (and your insurer) for all of those costs from the at-fault trucking company and its insurance carrier.
Don’t Let Insurance Giants Dictate Your Recovery
To succeed, you need a team that understands insurance law as thoroughly as the insurance companies do.
Leverty & Associates combines the resources and legal might of a high-powered firm with the personal care and dedication of a multi-generational family practice. We will manage the legal battle so you can focus on what matters most: your health and your family.
Take the first step toward justice today. Contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation at (775) 322-6636.
Attorney Patrick Leverty
With his master’s in insurance law, Patrick routinely helps individuals and businesses who are having issues with their insurance company. He also has extensive experience with personal injury actions, complex tort actions, product liability matters, and class actions. Patrick Leverty is rated AV by Martindale Hubbell (the highest rating) and has been granted membership in the Million Dollar Advocate Forum, and Multi-Million Dollar Advocate Forum. Patrick Leverty has been certified as a Personal Injury Specialist by the State Bar of Nevada. [ Attorney Bio ]
