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On August 6th, the American Bar Association officially approved the industry’s first board certification program for attorneys who handle semi-truck accident cases. The only such accreditation in the country, the Truck Accident Law certification will soon be offered by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) to attorneys practicing in all 50 states.

The program was created with the help of The Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys—a non-profit organization that focuses on recognizing attorneys with the knowledge, the experience, the education and the advocacy required to effectively and efficiently handle a truck accident case. “If someone hires a board certified truck accident attorney, they can now rest assured that this lawyer’s credentials have been fully vetted and their knowledge has been thoroughly tested,” explains Joe Fried, ATAA co-founder. Additionally, the certification enables truck accident victims to judge which attorney would be best for their given situation—without the influence of lawyer advertising or marketing websites that might misrepresent an attorney’s abilities.

The driving force behind this initiative is simple; in other professions such as medicine, a doctor would be forbidden to practice without certification in their specialty—yet, attorneys have no such correlation with regard to specific areas of practice. The value is obvious in that consumers can now objectively evaluate attorneys and choose representation with confidence. This is because, in order to become certified in Truck Accident Law, lawyers will have to demonstrate a substantial percentage of their practice to trucking litigation, show hands-on experience in multiple truck accident cases and pass a comprehensive written exam.

Such assurance is welcomed now more than ever, as mounting pressures within the trucking industry have increased the number of life-threatening accidents on our nation’s highways. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), more than 3,860 large trucks were involved in crashes that produced at least one fatality in 2016—a statistic that is 29 percent higher than the lowest figure observed during the last 10 year of 2,983 fatal crashes in 2009.

Exam dates and the application for board certification in Truck Accident Law will be available in early September. For more information, visit academyoftruckaccidentattorneys.org.

A co-founder of The Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys, Michael Leizerman is a truck accident attorney who specializes in catastrophic multi-axle collisions with an understanding of federal regulations, drug and alcohol testing and hours of service requirements. He has authored a treatise entitled Litigating Truck Accident Cases and often educates other attorneys on trucking laws and regulations. You can learn more about Leizerman & Associates by visiting their website, www.truckaccidents.com.

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