Ken Shigley is an experienced trial attorney in Atlanta, Georgia, focused on cases of catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death resulting from motor carrier accidents - commercial trucks, buses, tractor trailers, big rigs, dump trucks, tanker trucks, cement trucks, straight trucks, delivery trucks, log trucks, etc. 

With over three decades statewide experience in Georgia courts, he is now president-elect of the State Bar of Georgia.

Any lawyer who views a catastrophic commercial truck or bus accident as just a big car wreck is dangerously naive. Truck and bus operations are governed by complex sets of federal and state regulations and involve much specialized technology. Adequate preparation of such cases requires extensive knowledge of motor carrier law and technology, industry practices, and unique insurance features.

After any major truck or bus crash, the trucking company or its insurer sends a rapid response team to the scene. Often they have their defense lawyer and an investigator present before the debris is cleared. They may be able to influence the direction of police investigations, preserve evidence favorable to their defense and "lose" evidence favorable to a victim who may be unconscious or dead.

Therefore, it is critically important after a catastrophic truck or bus accident to immediately contact a lawyer who knows how to take prompt action to preserve important evidence that otherwise could be lost or destroyed, and undertake the right kind of investigation. Delay can only help the company's defense. Of course, the response must be scaled to the seriousness of the crash.