Truck Accident Lawyer Burnsville, MN
If a commercial truck hit you near Burnsville, the days and weeks that follow can feel overwhelming. You're managing pain, missing work, fielding calls from insurance adjusters who represent the trucking company's interests, not yours. The medical bills start arriving before you've had a chance to figure out what your injuries actually mean for your life long-term.
At Johnston | Martineau PLLP, our Burnsville, MN truck accident lawyer handles these cases for injured victims throughout Minnesota. Both founding partners have built their practices around commercial truck litigation, and they understand how these cases differ from standard car accident claims. The regulations, the liable parties, the insurance structures — all of it requires a different approach, and we've been doing this work long enough to know what that looks like in practice. There's no fee unless we recover for you, and the first consultation is free.
Why Choose Johnston | Martineau PLLP For Truck Accidents In Burnsville, MN?
Attorneys Focused on Commercial Truck Litigation
When you need a truck accident attorney in Burnsville, MN, you want lawyers whose practices are actually built around this work, not attorneys who handle it occasionally alongside everything else.
Christopher P. Martineau is a founding partner at Johnston | Martineau PLLP whose practice is built around truck accident cases, wrongful death claims, and serious commercial vehicle crashes. He is a member of the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys, an organization specifically dedicated to lawyers who handle truck accident litigation, as well as the Minnesota State Bar Association and the Minnesota Association for Justice. He is admitted to practice in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota.
Christopher A. Johnston focuses his practice on semi-truck, tanker truck, and commercial vehicle cases across Minnesota and beyond. Admitted in Minnesota, Iowa, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, and the Federal Court — District of Minnesota, he brings experience across multiple jurisdictions to cases that often involve out-of-state carriers and complex insurance arrangements. He is a member of the Minnesota Association for Justice and the American Association for Justice.
Results That Matter
Johnston | Martineau has helped injured clients recover millions of dollars through settlements and verdicts across Minnesota. Christopher Johnston earned placement in the Million Dollar Advocates Forum after securing a single settlement of one million dollars, a distinction that requires an actual verdict or settlement at that level to obtain. He has also been named a Super Lawyers honoree five times, received the Rising Star designation in 2011, was recognized among Minnesota's Outstanding Young Lawyers that same year, and earned the Up and Coming Attorney of the Year award in 2007.
Contingency Fee Representation
There are no upfront costs. We work on contingency, meaning our fee is a percentage of what we recover on your behalf. If we don't win, you owe us nothing.
What Our Clients Say
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"Chris is knowledgeable and professional. He genuinely cares about assisting the public." — Darling Draven
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Types of Truck Accident Cases We Handle in Burnsville
Commercial truck accidents vary widely in how they happen and who bears responsibility. The type of vehicle, the cause of the crash, and the parties involved all shape how a claim gets built. We handle the full range of truck accident cases in Burnsville and throughout the Twin Cities metro.
- Semi-truck accidents. These collisions produce some of the most serious injuries we handle. We investigate driver conduct, carrier compliance with federal regulations, and hours-of-service violations that put fatigued drivers behind the wheel. Multiple parties are often liable, and identifying all of them is part of the work.
- 18-wheeler accidents. A fully loaded 18-wheeler can weigh up to 80,000 pounds under federal limits. When something goes wrong at highway speed, the forces involved are in a different category than a passenger vehicle crash, and the injuries reflect that.
- Tractor-trailer accidents. Cargo issues, improper loading, and brake failures are among the most common causes of tractor-trailer crashes. We look at the full mechanical and carrier history behind each case, not just what happened in the moments before impact.
- Jackknife accidents. When a trailer swings outward and folds against the cab, it can block multiple lanes before other drivers have any chance to react. Liability in these crashes often extends to the carrier, particularly when brake defects or inadequate driver training contributed to the event.
- Highway accidents. Burnsville sits along I-35W and I-35E, two of the busiest commercial truck corridors in the state. High-speed collisions on these routes frequently result in catastrophic injuries and complicated insurance disputes involving multiple policies.
- Oversize load accidents. Minnesota has specific permitting and routing requirements for oversized and overweight loads under state load regulations. When carriers bypass those requirements and a crash follows, the paper trail often tells the story of negligence clearly.
- Delivery truck accidents. Delivery drivers operating under tight schedules and high daily volume are in conditions where mistakes happen with real consequences. When an employed driver causes a crash on the job, the company behind that driver frequently shares liability.
- Fatal truck accidents. When a truck collision takes a life, the surviving family may have a wrongful death claim with its own procedural requirements and filing deadlines. We handle these cases with the seriousness the situation demands.
- Commercial truck accidents. Box trucks, concrete mixers, garbage trucks, and other large commercial vehicles operate throughout Burnsville. Negligent hiring, inadequate training, and deferred maintenance are issues we look at closely in every commercial vehicle case.
Minnesota Legal Requirements For Truck Accident Cases
Several areas of Minnesota law directly affect what you can recover and how long you have to act after a truck accident.
Statute of Limitations. Under Minn. Stat. § 541.05, most personal injury claims in Minnesota must be filed within six years of the date of injury. Wrongful death cases are governed by Minn. Stat. § 573.02 and carry a shorter deadline. Once either window closes, the right to pursue compensation is typically gone regardless of how strong the underlying facts are.
Comparative Fault. Minnesota's modified comparative fault rule under Minn. Stat. § 604.01 allows recovery as long as you are found 50% or less at fault, though your compensation is reduced proportionally by your share of responsibility. At 51% or more, recovery is barred entirely. Insurance adjusters for trucking companies understand this rule and apply it aggressively from the first contact. How fault gets determined in a commercial truck case involves factors that don't come up in typical car accident claims, and the evidence preserved in the immediate aftermath of a crash often determines how that analysis plays out.
Federal Motor Carrier Regulations. Commercial trucks on Minnesota roads are subject to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rules covering hours of service, vehicle maintenance, driver qualifications, and load securement. A regulatory violation is not automatic proof of liability, but it is frequently significant evidence of negligence. Minnesota also enforces its own post-crash inspection law under Minn. Stat. § 169.783.
No-Fault Insurance. Minnesota is a no-fault state under Minn. Stat. § 65B.44, which means your own personal injury protection coverage pays out first regardless of who caused the crash. In serious truck accident cases, those PIP benefits are often exhausted well before a full recovery is reached, and the path to full compensation then runs through the at-fault carrier's commercial insurance policy.
What Damages Are Recoverable In Burnsville Truck Accident Cases?
The injuries from commercial truck crashes tend to be severe, and the financial impact that follows is often just as significant. Minnesota law allows injured victims to pursue compensation across several categories.
Economic damages are the losses you can document and quantify. That includes all medical expenses from the initial emergency response through surgery, inpatient care, physical therapy, and any ongoing treatment the injuries require. Lost income during recovery is part of the calculation, and if your injuries affect your ability to work at the same level going forward, that future earning loss belongs there too. Vehicle damage, out-of-pocket costs, and any expense that flows directly from the crash all factor in. These figures are built from actual records and, where future losses are at issue, from testimony by medical or vocational specialists who can speak to what lies ahead.
Non-economic damages cover the harm that doesn't show up in a bill or a pay stub. The chronic pain that follows a serious injury. The way a traumatic crash can affect your ability to sleep, concentrate, or feel comfortable doing things you did before. The strain on a marriage when one partner is seriously hurt. Loss of enjoyment of life. Minnesota does not cap non-economic damages in most personal injury cases, which means there is no arbitrary ceiling on what a jury can award when the evidence of harm is real and well-presented.
Punitive damages require clearing a higher bar. Under Minn. Stat. § 549.20, the standard is clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with deliberate disregard for the safety of others. In trucking cases, that threshold becomes reachable when a carrier continued putting a driver on the road despite known hours-of-service violations, or when documented maintenance failures were ignored until something preventable became inevitable.
Contact Johnston | Martineau PLLP
If you were injured in a truck accident in Burnsville, MN, it's worth talking to an attorney before you say anything more to the insurance company. We offer free consultations with no obligation, and we don't collect a fee unless we recover compensation for you.
Evidence in truck accident cases moves fast. Black box data gets overwritten, driver logs go missing, and inspection records become harder to obtain as time passes. The sooner we can look at what happened, the better we can preserve what matters most for your case. Contact us today to get started.