Vehicle Digital Evidence in Crash Litigation: EDR, Telematics, and Fleet Data

Grant Lawson, Managing Partner | The Law Firm for Truck Safety, LLP

Grant Lawson is the Managing Partner of the Wyoming and Colorado offices of The Law Firm for Truck Safety, LLP. Over more than 19 years of practice, he has represented victims of catastrophic collisions and secured hundreds of seven- and eight-figure settlements in trucking, product liability, and oilfield cases. He began his career working alongside trial lawyer Gerry Spence and has taught at the Trial Lawyers College for the past decade. A frequent national presenter on trucking litigation and telematics evidence, he also works at the federal and state levels on legislation to improve highway safety.

• Education & Credentials

Grant earned his J.D. from the University of Wyoming College of Law in 2007 and his B.A. from the University of Wyoming in 2002, and he is a 2010 graduate of the Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College. He is Board Certified in Truck Accident Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (2023) and completed the Commercial Driver Training certification program through Legacy Corporation. He is admitted to practice in Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming, as well as in multiple federal district courts.

• Recognition & Leadership

Grant has been named to U.S. News Best Lawyers in America from 2020 through 2025, earning the Lawyer of the Year distinction in 2021 and 2023. He was selected to the Top 40 Under 40 by The National Trial Lawyers in 2013 and 2016, holds an AV Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell, and carries a 10.0 AVVO rating in Wrongful Death claims. He is a Past President of the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association (2021–2022).

• Professional Involvement

Grant serves on the Board of Regents of the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys and was Co-Chair of its New Trucking Lawyers Division (2023–2024). Within the American Association for Justice, he has been a Trucking Litigation Group member since 2015, is Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Transportation Accountability Committee (2024–present) and is Past Chair of the Motor Vehicle Collision and Premises Liability Section (2021–2022). He has served on the faculty of the Trial Lawyers College since 2016, sits on the Wyoming Bar Association Civil Jury Instruction Committee, belongs to the Colorado Trial Lawyers Trucking Litigation Group, and is involved with the Institute for Safer Trucking and the Truck Safety Coalition.

• Experience

Over more than 19 years, Grant has represented the wrongfully injured and killed in trucking, oilfield, crane, industrial, workplace, and products liability cases, securing hundreds of seven- and eight-figure settlements. He presents nationally on vehicle data evidence, including “Obtaining, Understanding & Using Telematics” for the Florida Association for Justice (February 2024) and “Understanding & Using Telematics in Real Cases” for the American Association for Justice (2023), and has been featured in 9NEWS/KUSA reporting on trucking litigation, including the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on freight broker liability (May 2026).

Joe Chenchar, Partner | The Law Firm for Truck Safety, LLP

Joe Chenchar is a Litigation Attorney at The Law Firm for Truck Safety, where he represents families and truck crash survivors across Wyoming, Colorado, and Oregon. A fourth-generation Wyoming native and a double graduate of the University of Wyoming, he served four years as a Deputy County Attorney and Assistant City Attorney before entering private practice, and he brings that motorist safety regulation background to every trucking case he handles. He writes and speaks nationally on telematics discovery and ELD metadata in commercial motor vehicle litigation.

• Education & Credentials

Joe earned his J.D. from the University of Wyoming College of Law and his B.A. in International Studies from the University of Wyoming, where he graduated from the Honors Program. He is admitted to practice in Colorado, Oregon, and Wyoming, and in the federal district courts of each of those states.

• Recognition & Leadership

Joe was rated among the top three personal injury lawyers in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle Best of the Best Community Choice Award (2023). He serves his community through the Cheyenne Civic Center Foundation Board (2019–present), Arts Cheyenne (2021–present), and the Laramie County Community Partnership (2022–present).

• Professional Involvement

Joe is an active member of the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys (ATAA), the American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Attorneys Information Exchange Group (AIEG), the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA), and the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association (WTLA).

• Experience

Before entering private practice, Joe spent four years as a Deputy County Attorney and Assistant City Attorney, including representation of a county public works department developing oversized and overweight vehicle permits. His recent work on vehicle data includes “The Digital Record: A Plaintiff’s Guide to Telematics Discovery, ELD Metadata, and Ghost Driver Fraud in Commercial Motor Vehicle Litigation” for the American Association for Justice Trucking Litigation Group (May 2026); “What to Expect When You’re Expecting: A Practical Guide to Truck Crash Inspections” for the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys New Trucking Lawyer Division (December 2025); and the article “No More Goose Chases: Catching Elusive Trucking Companies with BOC-3 Service” in the Journal of Trucking Litigation (Spring 2026).

SESSION 1 – Passenger Vehicle Data: Securing EDR, Infotainment, and Telematics Evidence | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

This session examines the digital evidence embedded in modern passenger vehicles — event data recorders, infotainment systems, and telematics platforms — and the legal and practical steps attorneys must take to identify, preserve, and produce that evidence in crash litigation. Attendees will learn the current and forthcoming federal regulatory framework under 49 CFR Part 563, the state-by-state patchwork governing data ownership and access, and the spoliation risks that arise when vehicles are repaired, traded in, or updated over-the-air before litigation holds are issued. Attorneys leave with a working framework for early preservation demands, third-party subpoena strategy against OEMs, and a litigation-ready understanding of what each data source captures and what it does not.

BREAK | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

SESSION 2 – Commercial Vehicle and Fleet Data: ECM, ELD, and Video Telematics Evidence | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

This session covers the three principal digital evidence systems in commercial vehicle crash litigation—Engine Control Modules (ECM/HVEDR), Electronic Logging Devices (ELD), and video telematics—addressing what each system records, how quickly data disappears, and how to preserve and deploy it in litigation. Attorneys will learn the controlling federal regulations, the Fourth Amendment framework governing ECM downloads, and the emerging risks posed by AI-powered dashcam platforms. Participants leave with a working preservation protocol, cross-examination strategies for fatigued-driving claims, and an understanding of spoliation exposure in a nuclear-verdict environment.