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Michael Cowen

Founding partner of Cowen Rodriguez & Peacock in San Antonio, Texas, and host of the Trial Lawyer Nation podcast.

Sep 22, 2026

24:59
But tell us about that and how, you know, these trucking crashes result in terrible, terrible injuries and outcomes for the people you're trying to help.
25:08
Yeah, I was at a client's house in Belleville, Texas.
25:11
It was, you know, three hours from San Antonio yesterday on a Sunday because, you know, a tractor trailer crosses the center line and kills a father and a son.
25:21
And so we have two widows, two sets of children, you know, just all left.
25:26
And it's tough.
25:28
I mean, it's a lot of emotion.
25:29
It's a lot of...

6 MINS LATER

31:46
I'm curious what you tell those folks.
4:12
Who can be held responsible after a truck accident besides the truck driver? Of course, I'm thinking they're working for a company typically, right? Yeah.
4:23
In most cases, it's the truck driver and the trucking company.
4:27
But there are also cases where, frankly, the trucking company doesn't have enough insurance and there's someone else who legitimately has fault or legitimately can provide additional insurance coverage.
4:37
And I'll just give you a few examples.
4:40
One, just to make it simple, sometimes the owner of the trailer is a different company than the trucking company.
4:46
And while they don't have responsibility, the trailer might have its own separate insurance policy that provides additional coverage.
4:54
Another thing that happens a lot is one of the big trucking companies will get a load.

10 MINS LATER

15:19
What should someone do? You know, like what's your advice for someone who's in one of these accidents as a consumer, you know, in a passenger car? What should they do differently after a truck accident that, you know, they wouldn't necessarily do after a regular car accident?
3:43
So what separates lawyers who consistently succeed in trucking cases versus those who don't? Time and effort.
3:49
So are you going to put in the time it takes to learn? So you have to learn the rules, where the rules come from, and the why of the rules.
3:57
Because sometimes the rules sound ridiculous until you understand why they are.
4:00
And a good example is following distance.
4:02
You know, following distance in our passenger cars is usually two to no more than four seconds.
4:07
And a tractor trailer at the highway speeds is seven or eight seconds.
4:10
Why is it so much more? That sounds ridiculous at first until you realize a truck is a lot bigger.
7:35
Can you tell me a little bit about that and what the experience is and who should apply?

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