$3 Million
Top Result
Chicago's Leading Truck Accident Lawyers
Over$150 MillionWon
Available 24/7. No fee unless we win.
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Recognized by the Industry
Know Your Rights
Chicago truck accident lawyers: know your rights
If you or a loved one has been hurt in a collision with a commercial truck in Illinois, you may have a valid claim — and you may not be fully aware of the compensation you are owed for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and long-term impact on your life.
Whether it was a semi, delivery van, dump truck, garbage truck, or a municipal vehicle, don't wait. Our legal team works with accident reconstruction experts, commercial-trucking safety specialists, and medical experts to preserve evidence fast and build powerful cases on behalf of our clients.
Your path to recovery starts now.
Settlement Results
Our Trucking Accident Settlement Results
$2.75 Million
Top Result
Commercial Truck Collision
$2.5 Million
Top Result
Commercial Vehicle Accident
Additional settlements & verdicts
$2.35 MillionCommercial Vehicle Accident
$2.25 MillionCommercial Vehicle Crash
$2 MillionCommercial Vehicle Crash
$1.77 MillionMunicipal Vehicle Accident
$1.5 MillionCommercial Vehicle Crash
$1.5 MillionCommercial Vehicle Crash
$1.5 MillionCommercial Vehicle Crash
$1.3 MillionWrongful Death
$1.3 MillionTruck Maintenance Accident
$1 MillionSemi-Truck Red Light Crash
$1 MillionSemi-Truck Collision
$1 MillionMotor Vehicle Incident
Case Spotlight
$3,000,000Recovered
Rear-End Semi-Truck Collision
A driver rear-ended by a tractor-trailer walks away with three million dollars.
Our client was stopped in traffic when a fully loaded semi-truck failed to brake in time and slammed into the rear of their vehicle. The collision caused catastrophic spinal injuries requiring lumbar fusion surgery and ended our client’s ability to return to their prior occupation.
We moved immediately to preserve the truck’s ECM (engine control module) data, ELD hours-of-service logs, and dashcam footage — evidence the trucking company’s insurer tried to downplay. Working with accident-reconstruction and biomechanics experts, we established that the driver had exceeded federal hours-of-service limits and was experiencing fatigue-driven reaction delay at the moment of impact.
The carrier’s insurer opened at a fraction of policy limits. We prepared the case for trial in Cook County — and by the time mediation began, the evidence and trial posture forced a $3,000,000 settlement in full recognition of our client’s future medical needs, lost earning capacity, and permanent disability.
Outcome
Full $3,000,000 recovery covering lumbar fusion surgery, projected future medical care, lost wages, lost earning capacity, and non-economic damages.
Results vary. Prior outcomes do not guarantee similar results in future matters. This matter was handled by Zayed Law Offices.
Why Choose Us
Why choose our team of Chicago truck accident attorneys?
We bring relentless dedication, deep trucking-litigation experience, and a proven track record of results to every case. With offices in downtown Chicago, we understand Illinois law, federal trucking regulations, and how to stand up to powerful carriers and their insurance companies.
99%Success Rate
Success RateOur success rate is 99%.
Our expertise and dedication deliver a reliable success rate that clients can count on — across settlements, verdicts, and complex commercial-trucking litigation.
Honored by the nation’s most selective legal organizations.
Recognized by Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers, Inc. 5000, Avvo, the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys, the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and the national legal press.
Extensive Illinois courtroom experience.
Our truck accident attorneys have represented clients in Illinois courtrooms for years. When insurers and motor carriers see our name, they know we’re prepared to try the case.
Fighting For Our Clients
There's a reason we're Chicago's leading trucking injury law firm.
Our scale lets us represent more clients across more communities — and fight for the justice they deserve in every trucking accident case.
Meet Your Attorney
Adam J. Zayed
Founder & Managing Trial Attorney — Zayed Law Offices
$150M+Recovered for Clients
100%Illinois Appellate Win Rate
15+Years in Trial Practice
Adam J. Zayed is the founder and managing trial attorney of Zayed Law Offices, a nationally recognized firm representing individuals and families in truck-accident, catastrophic-injury, and wrongful-death matters. Based in Chicago since 2009, the firm has built its practice around the state’s most demanding commercial-vehicle cases.
Mr. Zayed has recovered more than $150 million for injured clients. He carefully limits his caseload so every case receives the attention, craft, and strategic development needed to fully articulate each client’s losses — building cases brick by brick through statistics, strategy, and behavioral science.
In truck-accident litigation, that means moving fast to preserve ECM data, ELD logs, and dashcam footage; building the federal-regulations case under the FMCSR; and taking on motor carriers and their defense counsel in Cook County and courts throughout Illinois.
Fifteen years of Chicago trucking law.
Representing Chicago and Illinois truck-accident victims since 2009 — licensed Illinois attorneys, boots-on-the-ground, not a volume-practice intake shop.
Firm Founded2009Adam J. Zayed · Chicago
Commercial trucks are governed by a dense web of federal and Illinois regulations — the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) plus Illinois Motor Carrier Safety Regulations — that dictate how drivers are qualified, how long they can drive, how cargo is secured, and how vehicles are maintained. Violations of those rules are often the strongest evidence of negligence in a truck accident case.
To pursue a claim we typically establish four elements:
- The trucker/carrier owed a duty of care to other motorists
- The duty was breached (often by violating federal safety rules)
- That breach directly caused the crash and your injuries
- You suffered measurable damages — medical costs, lost income, pain
Because trucking cases involve short evidence-retention windows for ECM data, ELD logs, and dashcam footage, speaking with a qualified truck accident attorney quickly can make or break a claim.
Truck accidents make up only 3.8% of all motor-vehicle crashes in Illinois per year, but account for approximately 9% of fatal accidents.
In 2024, 147 deaths and 3,190 injuries were reported from truck collisions in Illinois, with a significant number in the Chicago area due to its position as a major commercial hub.
Victims often face long-term medical issues, emotional trauma, and financial burdens that touch every part of their lives — and these cases involve complex, multi-party liability that makes having the right legal team critical.
Causes
Common causes of Chicago truck accidents
Truck accidents in Chicago stem from preventable mistakes: driver fatigue, distracted driving, speeding, improper loading, mechanical failures from skipped maintenance, driving under the influence, and inadequate driver training. Understanding the root cause is the first step in building a strong claim.
Causes In Detail
Every truck accident has a traceable chain of causes. Four show up again and again in our cases — and each one opens a specific line of federal-regulations investigation.
Hours-of-service violations
Federal FMCSR rules cap how many hours a commercial driver can drive before mandatory rest. Fatigue-driven reaction delay is one of the single biggest causes of catastrophic truck crashes.
ELD (electronic logging device) data tells the story. We subpoena it fast, before the motor carrier can rotate or lose the records.
Improper loading and cargo-securement failures
Shifting cargo, overloaded beds, and unbalanced trailers cause rollovers, jackknifes, and rear-end collisions. Liability here can reach beyond the driver to the loader, the shipper, and sometimes a third-party cargo-handling vendor.
Skipped maintenance and mechanical failure
Brake failures, tire blowouts, and steering issues trace back to maintenance records. Federal rules require pre-trip inspections and documented repair histories — when those records are missing or falsified, the case often opens up punitive-damages territory.
Inadequate driver training and qualification
Commercial drivers must hold a CDL and meet federal qualification standards. Carriers who cut corners on training, overlook red-flag driving records, or push unqualified drivers into commercial rigs carry their own negligent-hiring exposure.
What We Handle
Truck Types We Handle
We try cases. Insurers know it.
Trucking insurers know us. Motor carriers know us. We don't settle for less because we're prepared to take every case to trial — and our Cook County record is the reason best-and-final offers actually reach the table.
Compensation
What compensation can you recover in a truck accident case?
Recovery covers the physical, emotional, and financial impact of the crash. These impacts split across three categories: economic damages, non-economic damages, and compensation for future costs.
Economic damages
Quantifiable out-of-pocket losses: past and future medical expenses, lost wages, lost earning capacity, rehabilitation costs, property damage, and every verifiable financial hardship caused by the crash.
We document every dollar with bills, paystubs, vocational-expert projections, and life-care plans so the number on the table reflects the full picture.
Non-economic damages
Compensation for intangible losses: pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium, disfigurement, and disability.
Illinois does not cap non-economic damages in most truck-accident cases. The value depends on the severity of the injury and the quality of evidence presented.
Future costs and long-term care
When injuries require ongoing medical treatment, rehabilitation, or long-term care, compensation should address future expenses too. Life-care plans and vocational economics projections quantify those costs and make them recoverable.
Deadlines
What's the Illinois truck-accident statute of limitations?
Generally two years from the date of the crash for personal injury and two years from the date of death for wrongful death.
Claims against a government entity (a City of Chicago vehicle, a suburban public works truck, or a state-owned vehicle) trigger the Illinois Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act — shorter notice and filing windows that can bar an otherwise strong claim.
2yrs
Personal injury (private carrier)1yr
Municipal-truck tort-immunity notice window2yrs
Wrongful death from date of death
- The driver, for negligence behind the wheel — speeding, distracted driving, DUI, or hours-of-service violations.
- The trucking company, for unsafe hiring, skipped maintenance, inadequate training, or pushing drivers past federal safety limits.
- Cargo loaders and shippers, when improperly secured or overweight cargo causes the crash.
- Truck and parts manufacturers, when a defective component — brakes, steering, tires — contributed to the failure.
- Third-party maintenance providers, when documented service failures or falsified inspections played a role.
- Government entities, when a municipal garbage truck or state-owned vehicle was involved — subject to short tort-immunity notice windows.
Timeline
How long does a Chicago truck-accident claim take?
It varies. Factors include the severity of injuries, how quickly we can lock down evidence, the number of liable parties, and the posture of the motor carrier’s insurer.
Some cases settle early when liability and damages are both clear. Others run to trial. Our posture stays the same either way — we prepare every case as if it’s going to trial, because that’s what forces insurers to bring real offers.
How It Works
Your case, step by step
From the first call to settlement or trial, here's exactly how we move your case forward — and what to expect at every stage.
01
Free Consultation
You share what happened. We review the facts, the trucking company involved, the evidence window, and deadline posture — no cost, no obligation.
02
Evidence Lock-Down
We move fast to subpoena ECM data, ELD hours-of-service logs, dashcam footage, and maintenance records — before the carrier can rotate or lose them.
03
Negotiation
We pursue the full value of your claim directly with insurers and defense counsel — leveraging federal-regulations violations, expert reconstruction, and trial credibility.
04
Trial or Resolution
Most cases settle. If the offer doesn’t reflect your losses, we take it to a Cook County courtroom — and we know how to win there.
How We Help
How our Chicago truck accident lawyers help you recover
Your team of Chicago truck accident attorneys plays a critical role in helping you recover from the harm caused by a negligent driver or motor carrier.
We act fast to preserve ECM/black-box data, ELD hours-of-service logs, and dashcam footage — evidence that disappears within days if nobody fights for it. We work with accident-reconstruction experts, commercial-trucking safety specialists, and medical experts to build an evidence-based case on your behalf.
Once the foundation is in place, we guide you through Illinois’ legal process, managing deadlines, procedural steps, and tort-immunity requirements when a municipal or state-owned vehicle was involved.
We also recognize the deep emotional, physical, and financial burdens a trucking collision creates — which is why we offer compassionate support and clear communication while we fight for the compensation you deserve.
Client Voices
Their dedication and hard work really show. I highly recommend this firm to anyone looking for trustworthy and reliable legal help.
Angela LoydZayed Law Offices Client · 5-Star Review
Watch a client share her experience with Zayed Law Offices
$150M+
Recovered for Illinois truck-accident victims.
Across thousands of truck-accident and catastrophic-injury cases — and counting.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Our team of Chicago truck accident lawyers often gets questions about claims involving semi-trucks, commercial vehicles, and delivery trucks. Here are some of the most common ones.
Nothing up front. We work on a contingency fee basis — you pay no fees, and we only get paid if we recover compensation for you.
Illinois generally gives you two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit, or two years from the date of death for a wrongful death case. Claims against a government entity (e.g., a municipal truck) have a much shorter notice window — often one year — so early legal counsel is important.
Medical expenses (past and future), lost wages and lost earning capacity, property damage, pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, and — when appropriate — loss of consortium or wrongful death damages.
The driver, the trucking company, the cargo loader, a maintenance contractor, the truck or parts manufacturer, and in some cases municipal or state entities. Often more than one party is responsible — which is why investigating early matters.
Call 911, get medical attention even if you feel uninjured, document the scene with photos, collect contact and insurance info from everyone involved and any witnesses, report the crash to your insurer, and talk to a truck accident lawyer before giving a recorded statement to the trucking company’s insurance adjuster.
Most truck accident cases resolve through settlement, but we prepare every case as if it will go to trial. That posture is what forces insurers to bring their best offer to the table.
Not before a lawyer reviews it. Initial offers are almost always low, especially in cases with serious injuries or long-term medical needs that aren’t yet fully known.
Illinois follows modified comparative fault. You can still recover as long as you were less than 51% at fault, though your award is reduced by your share of responsibility.
Yes. Surviving spouses, children, and certain family members can pursue a wrongful death action in Illinois for losses including loss of support, companionship, and services of the deceased.
Commercial trucks are governed by federal regulations (FMCSA hours-of-service, maintenance, driver qualification, cargo securement) that car drivers aren’t. Trucking companies also have larger insurance policies and teams of defense lawyers that start working the moment a crash is reported — which is why you need an attorney on your side just as fast.
It depends on the severity of your injuries, projected future medical care, lost income and earning capacity, available insurance coverage, and the strength of liability. Call us for a free case evaluation — we’ll give you an honest assessment.
Yes — we represent clients across Cook, DuPage, Will, Lake, Kane, McHenry and Kendall counties, and statewide. Our office is in downtown Chicago at 1132 S Wabash Ave, Suite 303.
Location
1132 S Wabash Ave, Suite 303
Chicago, IL 60605-2305
Find Us
Chicago Truck Accident Lawyers1132 S Wabash Ave, Suite 303
Chicago, IL 60605-2305
Call 24/7312.728.2989
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Contact a Chicago truck accident lawyer.
If you or a loved one were in an accident involving a commercial truck, semi-truck, or big rig, you may be owed compensation. Start on the road to recovery by contacting an attorney who specializes in Chicago trucking cases.