How to Find a Good Truck Accident Lawyer

This video features Christy Childers, a Personal Injury attorney based in Georgia.

Macon Attorney Tries Cases Throughout Georgia 

Video Transcript: 

Christy Childers: 

You are literally meeting someone who just lost their husband or maybe lost their child or lost their ability to walk, and so before you ever get to the hard questions, you have to be able to step back and realize that loss and feel it, and once you do that it helps you later on when you're telling their story.

Rob Rosenthal: 

So if you or a loved one have been injured in a crash with an 18-wheeler, where do you turn for help? And what are your options? We're gonna find out right now. On this episode of Ask The Lawyer, my guest is Georgia attorney Christy Childers, who's based in Macon, Georgia. I want to remind you right off the top, if you want to ask Christy any questions of your own, it's easy, go to askthelawyers.com, click the button up at the top that says Ask A Lawyer, it'll walk you right through the very simple process right there, or of course, you can call the phone number you see on the screen during our conversation.

Rob Rosenthal: 

Christy, thank you for making some time to answer our questions today, I appreciate it.

Christy Childers: 

Thank you for having me as your guest, glad to be here.

Rob Rosenthal: 

It would seem like when it comes to truck accident cases, and generally those come with sometimes catastrophic injuries, a lot of lawyers are willing to take those cases on. What's your advice, how should someone begin that process of choosing a lawyer to take on their trucking case?

Christy Childers: 

I think it's a good idea to look at all of your options. We have a very male-dominated field, especially here in Georgia, and we have a lot of very good trucking lawyers all across the state of Georgia. I think that what I can add as a lawyer, and what a lot of female lawyers add to the equation, is our ability to tell your story in a way that values what you've lost. And also I think it's very important for that lawyer to be knowledgeable in the area of trucking law. I just passed the board exam for truck law, I'm very proud of that, and moving towards getting my certification, and I just not too long ago started out board certification in the area of truck law. And I want to be one of the first women in Georgia to have that by my name, and I think that that would be a great way to choose a lawyer as well.

Rob Rosenthal: 

Let's talk about your experience with trucking cases. Tell me a little bit about that, maybe give me an example or two of some cases you've handled.

Christy Childers: 

Okay, so truck crash cases are all over the place, and the ones that are most interesting to me usually have some kind of different fact pattern, but the ones that stick with you the most, I would say, are the death cases. You are literally meeting someone who just lost their husband or maybe lost their child or lost their ability to walk, and so before you ever get to the hard questions, you have to be able to step back and realize that loss and feel it, and once you do that, it helps you later on when you're telling their story.

Christy Childers: 

One case that comes to mind is a tractor trailer driver who was in a small town, and he ran over, not one or two, but three rumble strips, but still ran a stop sign and it resulted in a death. And I'm still close with that family today, but we have all kinds of cases, you know, cases that may seem small but that are not small to those people involved, and I really just like taking on the challenge of proving fault in these cases so that these trucking companies that are held accountable when they do make their drivers drive too long and push them too hard or have unsafe equipment for their drivers.

Rob Rosenthal: 

Let's talk a little bit about the drivers. You've gone to driving school, tell me a little about that, you've been behind the wheel, tell me a little bit about that and how that affects your practice.

Christy Childers: 

Yeah, so it was a great experience. I was just sitting there thinking one day, what can I do to become more knowledgeable about tractor trailers and to set myself apart in the field, and an email came in about truck driving school. So I went and I hauled all kinds of... I was in a closed tractor trailer, as well as a flat bed, I secured loads. I think I only took out one cone, and so... Yeah, right, but it was a lot of fun and really the greatest part about it is getting hands-on experience and see how hard the job is. Once you understand how big the vehicle is that you're in, that you're operating and how difficult it is, I mean, shifting gears alone, you know, takes concentration, and the off-tracking when you turn, all these things, it helps you understand why we do have so many rules in place for our tractor trailer drivers, because it's not like driving a car, it just really isn't.

Christy Childers: 

And now I can say that when I speak to opposing counsel or even witnesses or my client, I can say, look, I know, I know about this because I've been behind the wheel of the tractor trailer, and that's not right, here's what... Here's how you have to do that.

Rob Rosenthal: 

Did anything surprise you? Were you surprised at something, anything you learned in the driving school?

Christy Childers: 

Gosh, I mean, like every day, just... My brain would just go to my cases, right. And so I've got a case right now that involves a tractor trailer who turned right and their load resulted in the death of my client. And so as I'm taking right turns, I'm thinking about that case. And so that's what was so surprising is that the fact patterns in my cases really came alive as I was learning how to drive the tractor trailer.

Rob Rosenthal: 

You mentioned that you're close to getting your certification in truck accident litigation, and you would be maybe the first woman in Georgia. Why is it important, I know you've taken it on as a cause, why is it important to you to encourage women lawyers to become truck accident lawyers?

Christy Childers: 

So when I went to our annual trucking convention this year, they told me that there were, I believe at that time, 47 board-certified lawyers in the nation, and only five were women, and they said we need some more women to step up and take this exam. And I said, yeah, I'm good at tests, I'll give it a whirl, and luckily I passed, but the board certification process is pretty rigorous. There's a lot of things you need to do, I will surely, probably complete it by the time that this video airs, maybe, I'm not sure when it's gonna air, but I'm very close to completing it so that I can be the next one, and will be the first woman who practices in Georgia as of right now, once that goes through.

Rob Rosenthal: 

And again, how does that benefit your clients?

Christy Childers: 

So the... Being board-certified benefits my clients because just going through the process of becoming board-certified, you learn all of these rules that you probably will never need to know, but you might. And so, knowing these little intricate rules, just it helps in your cases, it helps you be a resource for other lawyers who may have a trucking case and may call me, and so just being that person who can be on the other end of a phone call, no matter what the situation is, you know the rules and you've done enough of the work to where you feel like you can handle just about anything that comes in the door.

Rob Rosenthal: 

Lots of really interesting helpful information, Christy. Thank you for making some time to answer your questions, I appreciate it.

Christy Childers: 

Glad to be here. Thank you.

Rob Rosenthal: 

And that's gonna do it. For this episode of Ask The Lawyer, my guest has been Georgia attorney Christy Childers. I'll remind you again, if you want to ask Christy any questions about your situation, go to askthelawyers.com, click the button up in the top that says Ask A Lawyer, it'll walk you through the process, and it doesn't cost anything to ask your questions. Thanks for watching, everybody. I'm Rob Rosenthal with Ask The Lawyers.

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