Collierville Truck Accident Lawyer

The goal after a wreck with a tractor-trailer is simple to say and hard to reach: medical bills paid, income replaced, and the company behind the truck held to account. Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette handles truck and commercial vehicle crashes for injured people and grieving families in Collierville and across Shelby County, and we take on serious injury and wrongful death cases anywhere in Tennessee. If you are searching for a Collierville truck accident lawyer, you are likely dealing with a crash that involved far more weight, far more insurance money, and far more corporate resistance than an ordinary fender-bender.

Collierville sits where freight moves constantly. Memphis is one of the country’s major logistics hubs, and the trucks serving its distribution centers use highways and state routes that run through and around Collierville, including Poplar Avenue, Highway 72, and the interstate corridors nearby. A loaded tractor-trailer takes a long distance to stop, and when a driver is tired, rushed, or distracted, the person in the passenger car pays for it. The injuries tend to be catastrophic, and the company on the other side usually has lawyers and adjusters moving within hours.

Common Collierville Truck Crash Situations We Handle

• Rear-End and Underride Collisions: A truck that cannot stop in time on Poplar Avenue or at a highway merge can drive a smaller vehicle into the car ahead or crush it from behind. Our firm recovered $3.4 million for the family of a man killed in a rear-end collision caused by a construction company driver, a reminder that these cases can involve company-owned trucks and not just long-haul carriers.
• Fatigued Driver Crashes: Federal hours-of-service rules limit how long a commercial driver may stay behind the wheel. Logbooks, dispatch records, and electronic data can show whether a driver was pushed past those limits.
• Head-On and Lane-Departure Wrecks: Distracted or impaired commercial drivers drift across center lines. We handled a case in which an Anderson County man was struck head-on by a commercial delivery truck on his way to work, resulting in a $1.6 million recovery.
• Delivery and Local Commercial Vehicles: Box trucks, utility vehicles, and delivery vans operating around Collierville’s commercial areas can cause just as much harm as an interstate semi, and the companies that employ those drivers can be held responsible.
• Brake, Tire, and Maintenance Failures: When a truck is poorly maintained or loaded improperly, responsibility can reach beyond the driver to the carrier, a maintenance contractor, or a cargo loader.
• Wrongful Death After a Truck Collision: When a crash kills a family member, Tennessee law directs who may bring the claim, and the damages can include lost income, medical and funeral expenses, and the value of the life that was taken.
• Catastrophic Injuries: Traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, and amputations are common outcomes when a heavy truck meets a passenger vehicle, and they require long-term planning, not a quick settlement.

What Makes a Truck Case Different From a Car Case

A truck crash is a business dispute as much as an accident. The driver may work for a carrier, the trailer may belong to another company, the load may have been packed by a third party, and a broker may have arranged the haul. Each of those parties carries its own insurance and its own explanation for what went wrong. Identifying every responsible party matters because Tennessee abolished joint and several liability in most negligence cases and allows fault to be assigned to nonparties. If a defendant can point to an empty chair, your recovery may shrink. A thorough investigation keeps responsibility attached to the companies that earned it.

The evidence is also perishable. Electronic logging data, dashcam footage, maintenance files, driver qualification records, and the truck’s own event data can be overwritten or lost through routine business practices. A prompt preservation demand to the carrier is one of the first moves in a serious trucking case, and the delay of even a few weeks can cost a family proof they will never get back.

Insurance dynamics differ too. Tennessee’s minimum liability coverage for ordinary drivers is modest, set at $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury. Commercial carriers generally carry far more, which is why these cases attract aggressive defense. It also means the stakes of a lowball offer are higher. Settling quickly with a carrier’s adjuster, often before the full extent of an injury is known, is among the most expensive mistakes an injured person can make.

How Tennessee Law Shapes the Value of a Truck Claim

Tennessee follows a modified comparative fault rule. You can recover as long as you are less than 50 percent at fault, and your award is reduced by your share. At 50 percent or more, the claim is barred. Trucking companies know this and routinely try to shift blame onto the other motorist, claiming a sudden lane change or a failure to yield. Skid marks, vehicle data, witness statements, and the truck’s own records are how those arguments get answered.

Economic damages, including medical expenses and lost earnings, are not capped in Tennessee. Noneconomic damages for things like pain and suffering are generally limited to $750,000, rising to $1 million for a defined catastrophic loss, such as paraplegia or quadriplegia, amputation of two limbs, or the wrongful death of a parent with minor children. A jury decides whether a catastrophic loss exists, and the court applies the cap afterward without telling the jury. The caps are lifted in certain circumstances, including when the defendant was intoxicated to the point of substantially impaired judgment, intentionally caused the injury, destroyed evidence, or was convicted of a related felony. Punitive damages, where warranted, are limited to the greater of two times compensatory damages or $500,000.

Distracted driving can also matter. Tennessee’s Hands Free law makes it a Class C misdemeanor for a driver to hold a phone, read or send text messages, or watch video while driving. A commercial driver’s phone records can become important evidence of negligence.

Why Choose Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette for a Collierville Trucking Case

This firm has recovered more than $100 million for clients, and its trucking and commercial vehicle results show the kind of work these cases demand: $3.4 million for a Morgan County family after a fatal rear-end crash with a construction company driver, $2.3 million for a Knox County motorcyclist who lost his leg when a driver struck him and fled, and $1.6 million for an Anderson County man hit head-on by a delivery truck. Our attorneys bring more than 170 years of combined experience to car and truck crashes, wrongful death claims, and catastrophic injuries.

Two of our partners spent the early part of their careers defending insurance companies, trucking companies, and businesses before moving to the plaintiff’s side. They know how a carrier’s claims department evaluates a case and where defense lawyers look for weakness. Bruce D. Fox, co-founder, has tried more than 125 jury trials in state and federal court, belongs to the American Board of Trial Advocates, is a past president of the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association, and received that association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025. Partner Brad C. Burnette holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell and serves on the association’s Board of Governors, as does partner John Willis. Trial attorney Michael C. Beehan is fluent in Spanish and represents Spanish-speaking clients in their own language; hablamos español.

Our attorneys are regularly voted among Knoxville’s Top Attorneys by CityView Magazine. You pay no attorney fees unless we recover compensation, and every consultation is free. If your injuries make travel difficult, we can meet you at home or in the hospital.

Serving Collierville and the Rest of Shelby County

We represent injured people in Collierville and throughout Shelby County, including families in Germantown, Bartlett, Cordova, Memphis, Lakeland, and Arlington. Truck crashes rarely respect city limits, so our work follows the highways: drivers hurt on the routes through Collierville may live in neighboring Fayette County or just across the state line, and we handle cases from Memphis to Nashville, Johnson City, and everywhere in between. Our attorneys also serve clients across East Tennessee, including Knox, Sevier, Blount, Anderson, Roane, and Campbell counties, and in Clinton, Maryville, Sevierville, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and LaFollette. Wherever the wreck happened, we can review it, explain your options, and travel to you when your injuries make it hard to come to us.

What to Do After a Truck Wreck Near Collierville

Start with medical care. Call 911, accept treatment even if you feel you can walk away, and follow up with your own doctor. Adrenaline hides injuries, and a gap between the crash and your first treatment gives the insurer an argument that you were not really hurt. Ask the responding officer for the report number, and get the driver’s name, the carrier’s name and the markings on the truck, such as the USDOT number on the cab door. Photograph the vehicles, the road, skid marks, and your injuries before anything is moved or repaired.

Be careful with the trucking company’s insurer. Adjusters often call within days, sounding sympathetic and asking for a recorded statement. You are not required to give one, and what you say about your speed, your lane, or your pain can be used to assign you fault. Refer those calls to your attorney.

Know the deadline. Most Tennessee personal injury lawsuits must be filed within one year of the injury, which is one of the shortest windows in the country. It can stretch to two years when criminal charges are brought against the person who caused the injury, such as a DUI prosecution begun within that first year, but you should not count on it. Wrongful death claims follow the same one-year clock, running from the date of the crash, not the date of death. Property damage claims have a longer three-year period. If a government vehicle was involved, claims under the Governmental Tort Liability Act must be filed within 12 months and carry their own damage limits. If the injured person was under 18, the clock is paused until the person turns 18.

Lawsuits arising from a Collierville crash are typically filed in the state courts of Shelby County, and where a case involves an out-of-state carrier or other qualifying circumstances, it may land in the Western District of Tennessee federal court, which sits in Memphis. Appeals from either route go on to higher courts, so the early record matters. Contact a lawyer quickly so a preservation letter can go out to the carrier before logs and data are erased.

Collierville Truck Accident Questions, Answered

How long do I have to file a truck accident lawsuit in Tennessee?

Generally one year from the date of the injury. The period can reach two years if criminal charges are brought against the at-fault driver within that first year and you sue that same person. Because the window is short and truck cases require heavy investigation, calling a lawyer right away is the safest course.

Who can be held responsible for a truck crash?

Possibly more than one party: the driver, the trucking company that employs or contracts with the driver, the owner of the trailer, a maintenance contractor, a cargo loader, or a parts manufacturer. Which ones apply depends on what the records show.

What if I was partly at fault?

You can still recover if you are less than 50 percent at fault. Your compensation is reduced by your percentage. At 50 percent or more, Tennessee law bars recovery, which is why carriers work hard to push blame onto injured drivers.

Is there a cap on what I can recover?

Economic damages like medical bills and lost wages are not capped. Noneconomic damages are generally limited to $750,000, or $1 million for catastrophic losses as Tennessee defines them. Exceptions apply in cases involving intoxication, intentional harm, destroyed evidence, or a related felony conviction.

How much does it cost to hire your firm?

Nothing up front. We work on a contingency fee, so there are no attorney fees in a personal injury case unless we recover compensation for you. The first consultation is free.

Who can bring a wrongful death claim after a fatal truck crash?

Tennessee law lets the surviving spouse or the personal representative bring the action; if there is no surviving spouse, the children or next of kin may do so. A spouse’s right can be lost if the children or next of kin prove the spouse abandoned the deceased or withdrew from the marriage willfully for two years.

Why does evidence preservation matter so much in a trucking case?

Driver logs, electronic data, maintenance files, and video can be overwritten or discarded in the normal course of business. A prompt written demand to the carrier to keep those records can be the difference between proving fatigue or a brake failure and having only your word against theirs.

Will the trucking company’s insurer offer a fair settlement on its own?

Rarely at the start. Early offers often arrive before the full extent of your injuries is known, and accepting one usually ends your claim. Brain injuries, spinal damage, and surgeries can take months to fully understand. A fair number reflects the long-term picture.

Can I still pursue a claim if the driver was cited or charged with DUI?

Yes, and a criminal case can help. Intoxication at the time of the crash can lift the noneconomic damages cap, and a pending prosecution can extend the filing deadline to two years. Your civil claim proceeds separately from the criminal case.

My family lives out of state but the crash happened near Collierville. Can you still help?

Yes. We handle the investigation, insurance negotiations, and court filings here in Tennessee while keeping you updated by phone and email wherever you live, and we can travel to you if your injuries make travel hard.

What if my health insurance has paid my bills?

Health plans and other payers often have a right to be repaid from a recovery. Sorting out those claims, and negotiating them where possible, is part of getting the final settlement into your pocket. Keep every bill and every explanation of benefits.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer if the injuries seem moderate?

Truck crashes frequently hide injuries that surface later, and carriers treat unrepresented claimants differently. A consultation costs nothing and will tell you whether the case warrants representation.

Talk With a Collierville Truck Accident Attorney Today

If a commercial truck has changed your life or taken someone you love, speak with a Collierville truck accident attorney at Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette while the evidence still exists. Call to schedule a free consultation. We will review what happened, explain where your claim stands under Tennessee’s one-year deadline, and tell you plainly what we can do. You owe nothing unless we recover compensation for you.