Litigating Trucking Accident Claims 101: Preserving evidence, theories of liability, and investigation, discovery, and pre-trial concerns (2024 Edition)

Bryan L. Bradley | Allen Law Group

Bryan L. Bradley is a senior partner in the personal injury law firm of ALLEN LAW GROUP, LLC. He focuses his practice on catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death, concentrating in heavy truck and bus crash litigation.

He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1991 and Juris Doctorate from Valparaiso University School of Law in 1994. Mr. Bradley is admitted to practice law in both Indiana and Illinois, before the United States Supreme Court, and various lower federal courts.

Mr. Bradley has been selected by Best Lawyers in the areas of Plaintiffs Personal Injury and Plaintiff Product Liability. He holds an AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating from Martindale Hubbell. His honors include the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers, Trucking Trial Lawyers Top 10, and Indiana Super Lawyers.

A sustaining member of the American Association for Justice, Mr. Bradley is strong advocate for the rights of those injured and in the interests of improving safety whether on the nation’s highways or elsewhere. He is a sustaining member of the Indiana Trial Lawyer Association where he also serves on the Board of Directors and is a College of Fellows inductee. Mr. Bradley is also a member of the Illinois Trial Lawyer Association; Attorney’s Information Exchange Group; Million Dollar Advocates Forum Life Member; a Life Fellow of the Indiana Bar Foundation; and serves on the Board of Regents for the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys.

Mr. Bradley is a contributing author to Truck Accident Litigation, Second and Third Editions, published by the American Bar Association. Mr. Bradley is retired from the United States Army Reserve Judge Advocate General Corps and is a graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College, US Army Airborne and Infantry Schools. He has spent his entire legal career representing those who have been injured or killed due to the negligence of others. Mr. Bradley has never represented companies or corporations in defense of those parties. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his wife and their pack of adopted German Shepherds and a Siberian Husky.

Carlton D. Fisher | Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

Carl Fisher concentrates his trial practice in the defense of commercial litigation, commercial motor vehicle, general liability and product liability cases involving personal injury, catastrophic injury, wrongful death, property damage and commercial damages.

A Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Carl has tried more than 80 civil cases to verdict in Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington, and has been admitted pro hac vice in over 30 state and federal courts.

Carl is the leader of Hinshaw’s transportation practice. He has represented American trucking companies and European, Asian, and American product manufacturers in their lawsuits throughout the United States, served as national trial counsel for a management services company and several consumer services companies, and acted as national product liability supervisory counsel for a consortium of international amusement ride companies.

While a Judge Advocate with the U.S. Marine Corps, Carl tried more than 250 federal felony cases involving murder, robbery, burglary, larceny, drug offenses and military offenses.

In 1985 and 1986, Carl tried 10 straight cases to defense verdicts, the streak coming to an end in a hung jury on a wrongful death case. His trial record has continued into the second decade of the 21st century where he has prevailed in over 70% of his cases tried.

In addition to his academic accomplishments during law school, Carl was an active moot court participant. He was a member of the National Moot Court team and also served on the Moot Court Board. While attending the University of Illinois as an undergraduate, Carl became a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Kappa, Delta Sigma Rho-Tau Kappa Alpha and Phi Eta Sigma fraternities. He was on the Dean’s List all four years.

Session I – Investigation, discovery, and Pre-Trial concerns from the Plaintiff perspective | 12:00pm – 1:00pm

• Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations
• Initial Steps When Retained in a Truck Crash Case
• Preserve critical data, records, and evidence
• Confidentiality and Protective Orders
• Initially Identifying Potential Defendants and Theories of Liability
• Direct negligence of the motor carrier and vicarious liability

Break | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

Session II – Investigation, discovery, and Pre-Trial concerns from the defense perspective | 1:10pm – 2:10pm

• Rapid Response
• Preservation/Spoilation
• Preventability