The best logging truck crash attorneys understand the industry.

It is imperative for our timber industry that logs are transported from the forest to lumber mills. However, nearly every year Arkansas lives are lost (or destroyed) in logging truck crashes.

Between 2007 and 2015 there were 576 fatal log truck crashes in the United States (FARS database) and between 2007 and 2016 there were 11,014 log truck crashes resulting in injury or property damage (MCMIS database).

The timber industry relies on contractors for cutting and hauling the timber. These “independent” contractors are often small and, sometimes, rather fly-by-night. However, they are also commercial trucking companies, whether they know it or not, and as such are bound by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations …whether they know it or not.

When a logging truck crashes, often the results are horrifically tragic and the limits of liability insurance carried by the contractor will be insufficient to remedy the harm.  Thus, an experienced lawyer in these types of cases will carefully analyze the relationship between the contractor employing the driver and the timber company that hired the contractor. What the timber company knew when it hired the contractor, and the contractor’s history while under contract, are important considerations in determining if there was negligent hiring and retention on the part of the timber company that contributed to the tragedy.

Moreover, the extent to which the timber company controlled the contractor, through its contract and/or conduct, must be analyzed. This is important because in Arkansas one who has the ability to control the actions of another, whether or not they use that control, may be held responsible for the conduct.

When a logging truck crash occurs, understanding the industry can make a big difference in investigating the collision and, ultimately, the success  of a case against the driver, logging contractor and/or timber company or shipper involved in the tragedy.

Mulkey Law Firm was proud to help victims of a logging truck crash recover jury verdicts of $1,980,000.00, $500,000.00 and $175,000.00 in 2018.

Bruce L. Mulkey is a member of the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys.

Please click HERE to learn more.

AVVO 2016 CLIENTS’ CHOICE AWARD – THANK YOU CLIENTS!!!!

Mulkey Law Firm is proud to announce that Bruce has received Avvo’s Client Choice Award for 2016. We are dedicated to providing each client with personal attention and service and to obtaining the best possible results for each case.

Avvo is an online legal service marketplace that offers legal advice and showcases ratings of legal professionals. About 97% of U.S. lawyers are rated by Avvo, which allows prospective clients to research attorneys based on their reviews and ratings.

In addition to his most recent achievement, Bruce also maintains a “Superb” Avvo rating of 10 – Avvo’s highest rating.  Ratings on Avvo are calculated by using information from state bar associations, along with the attorney’s honors, experience, and qualifications.

Please click HERE to read Bruce’s full Avvo profile and read his latest client ratings and reviews.

 

 

THE BEST NWA PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER – (in his own mind)…. that you may NOT want to hire!

The other day I was reading an article I found online by Ann Bittinger entitled Disarming the Narcissistic Attorney.  It is an insightful essay on how attorneys should deal with other attorneys afflicted with narcissistic personality disorder.  However, it really  made me think about how sad it is when people facing very real and very serious problems entrust their cases to such attorneys. That is because, as Ms. Bittinger points out, attorneys are supposed to advocate for their clients.

True advocates put the interest of the person for whom they advocate ahead of their own. Thus, when we take a case, the client’s interest comes first. While a self-absorbed attorney often has trouble with this very simple concept, a narcissist finds it impossible. That is because the client and the client’s case are merely vehicles by which the narcissistic lawyer feeds his or her constant need for admiration.

Ms. Bittenger writes, “[t]he narcissistic attorney is the direct opposite of the attorney advocate. We are all familiar with the stereotypical narcissistic attorney: puffing his chest, bragging about his cases, his achievements and at the same time insulting and deflating those around him, including partners, associates and even the client. The narcissistic attorney must keep inflating his ego and perceived persona, like a balloon, while behaving in a way that deflates the behaviors of those around him.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, a narcissistic personality disorder can include these features:

• Having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
• Expecting to be recognized as superior even without achievements that warrant it
• Exaggerating your achievements and talents
• Being preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate
• Believing that you are superior and can only be understood by or associate with equally special people
• Requiring constant admiration
• Having a sense of entitlement
• Expecting special favors and unquestioning compliance with your expectations
• Taking advantage of others to get what you want
• Having an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others
• Being envious of others and believing others envy you
• Behaving in an arrogant or haughty manner

Do any of the foregoing describe someone you initially admired, or wanted to admire you, only to later despise as their true narcissism became evident?  We have all encountered a narcissist and many of us are forced to encounter them everyday for the sake of a paycheck!

When you are trying to select the right attorney, who will truly put your needs ahead of their own, then you should at least make a mental check list to take into the initial conference with the lawyer.

• Does the attorney whom you actually wanted to see, pop into the meeting to be introduced but then leaves you in the hands of other “staff” in the firm to get the details?
• Does the attorney make statements such as, “oh we’ve handled cases just like yours half-a-dozen times successfully” (often asking a member of his or her staff to confirm his or her boast)?
• Does the attorney casually tell you of some “really important” thing (or things) he or she has recently done?

Keeping in mind that a narcissist usually makes an impressive first impression and surrounds himself with only admirers, if everything you see and/or hear is a little over the top with respect to “how great we are” or “how great he or she is,” – you might want to visit a few other attorneys before signing a contract.

Trust is extremely important when it comes to finding the right lawyer. If you genuinely trust the attorney, then others will, too. (That can be really important when it comes to a jury trial.)  If you have reservations regarding this …then others will, too.  Find a true advocate by trusting your instincts.

-bruce

Please click HERE to learn more about my practice.

 

18 WHEELERS CRASH ON I-55 KILLING TRACY WALLACE AND INJURING DANIAL K. WATSON

According to a preliminary report issued by the Arkansas State Police, two tractor trailers collided on I-55 in Mississippi County at approximately 7:31 p.m. on January 15, 2016, at mile marker 56.

The report indicates that the two trucks were southbound when Daniel K. Watson, age 43 of Dyersberg, Tennessee, slowed his 2013 Freighterliner. The second truck (which is not identified in the report), driven by Tracy Wallace, age 40 of Jonesboro, struck the rear end of Watson’s truck and both trucks reportedly then ran off the roadway.

Mr. Wallace reportedly died at the scene and Mr. Watson is listed as injured. Trooper Patrick Salmon investigated and noted the weather clear and the road dry.

 Note:  Information obtained from an Arkansas State Police fatal crash summary represents only the initial findings by an investigating law enforcement officer. The summaries are not considered official reports of a highway crash investigation, but merely a summary of preliminary information presented to an investigating officer. The information contained in a summary may not represent the facts eventually placed on file in the official final report.

 

WHEN AN INTOXICATED DRIVER CAUSES INJURY OR DEATH – Our firm led the fight!

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention every single  day, almost 30 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 51 minutes.  The annual cost of alcohol-related crashes totals more than $59 billion.

Clearly drivers that are intoxicated endanger not only themselves but every man, woman and child on the road. When such a driver causes injury or death in Arkansas, our state law allows the victims to seek, not only compensation for their losses, but punitive damages in order to punish the wrongdoer and, more importantly, send a message to the entire community that Arkansans will not tolerate drunk drivers killing and injuring our families.

Recognizing the danger to our communities posed by drunk drivers, in 1994 the Arkansas Supreme Court first decided to allow lawsuits against liquor stores and bars that illegally sell alcohol to minors, who then cause harm to themselves or others when intoxicated.  Our firm was proud to have represented the parents of sixteen year old Charles Shannon who tragically died after such an illegal sale. After the Shannon case was dismissed for failing to state a cause of action, we challenged the dismissal in our Supreme Court and successfully convinced the Court to change the law so that they were able to hold the liquor store accountable.

Eventually, based in part on the Shannon case, our state legislature set down specific statutes whereby victims of drunk driving can sue not only the drunk driver but, under certain circumstances, the seller of the alcohol.  Victims can now sue the liquor store or bar if intoxication resulted in injury and death under two circumstances:

(1) When the alcohol is sold to a minor, and the intoxicated minor injures or kills themselves or someone else as a result.

(2) When the alcohol is sold to an adult (a person of legal age to purchase the alcohol) after that person is visibly intoxicated, and that person thereafter injures, kills or causes property damage to another due to the intoxication.  An important distinction here is that a sale to a person that can legally purchase the alcohol does not give rise to a cause of action when they injure or kill themselves due to their own intoxication…unlike in the instance of a minor to whom the sale was illegally made.

Evidence of such sales sometimes does not last long.  Security camera video at liquor stores and bars will often record over itself after a few days.  Was there a sales receipt in the drunk driver’s vehicle?  Tragically, drunk drivers sometimes do not live to tell us where and under what circumstances they got the alcohol.  This is why it is always important to move quickly to gather evidence of the sale. You can’t fight back and send a message, unless you know who to fight!

Mulkey Law Firm will proudly continue to fight for families whose lives have been changed forever due to drunk driving.

 

ENOUGH ALREADY! The trucks are big enough!

ACTION NEEDED TO PREVENT HEAVIER TRUCKS ON OUR ROADS
September 19, 2015

BACKGROUND:
Representative Reid Ribble (R-WI) introduced a bill to increase the federal weight limit for large trucks from 80,000-lbs. to 91,000-lbs. Based on a letter he sent to Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Foxx detailing his eagerness to see the results of the Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight Limits Study (Study), it is surprising that Rep. Ribble ignored the results. The DOT concluded that there should be no increase to truck size and weight due to a lack of data.

There was so little national data regarding six-axle 91,000-lbs. trucks that the DOT could only use one state, Washington, to study this configuration. In that state, these heavier trucks experienced a 47 percent increase in crash rate. Moreover, the Technical Report of the Study found that truck configurations operating over 80,000-lbs. had 18 percent more brake violations and a higher number of brake violations per inspection.

TAKE ACTION NOW:
Please take the time to contact your Member of Congress either by phone or email, and urge him/her to oppose H.R. 3488.
To Contact Your Representative Click the Link Below:

http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

HERE’S WHY:
– Every year on average 4,000 people are killed in truck crashes in the U.S. and another 100,000 are injured.
– According to 2013 U.S. DOT data, fatality figures have increased for the fourth year in a row – a 17 percent increase in truck crash deaths since 2009.
– Public opinion polls are clear and consistent – Americans strongly oppose bigger trucks.
– In addition to a wide coalition of safety advocates, leading trucking groups, including the Truckload Carriers Association and the Trucking Alliance, oppose this measure.
– The annual cost to society from crashes involving Commercial Motor Vehicles is estimated to be over $99 billion
– Big rigs carrying loads close to the current Federal Limit (65,000 to 80,000 lbs.) are already twice as likely to be involved in a fatal crash as trucks carrying less than 50,000 lbs.
– Overweight trucks disproportionately damage the already deteriorated roads and bridges. An 18,000 lb. truck axle creates over 3,000 times more damage to pavement than a passenger vehicle axle.

Congress Must Do All It Can To Improve Truck Safety And Keep Our Roads Safe…
Increasing Truck Weights Will Not Do That!

Thanks,

MULKEY LAW FIRM