As a United States Marine Corps veteran with more than 22 years of service, Morgan Adams’ military experience prepared him for the “battle” of truck wreck litigation. He now represents the injured victims of crashes that involve large trucks or buses, fighting for those who have been harmed by the negligence and recklessness of others.
The founding trucking attorney behind Seattle Truck Law, Truck Wreck Justice, and Dakota Accident Law, Morgan is board certified in both Truck Accident Law and Civil Trial Advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He has successfully taken on cases against some of the nation’s largest trucking, bus, and insurance companies.
Additionally, Morgan is a six-time Tennessee Super Lawyer and has been selected in the past as a member of The National Trial Lawyers, an honor available only to the top 100 trial lawyers in each state. He is also the first and only recipient to date of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Trucking Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice (AAJ).
Morgan oversees commercial motor vehicle cases both within Washington and nationally, either as trial counsel or as a litigation or trial consultant. He has been involved in cases in 47 states to date.
A Leader in Truck Accident Litigation
Morgan is a longstanding member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, open only to attorneys with a history of multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements.
In 2012, Morgan received the largest punitive damages verdict against a drunk driver in the history of Tennessee, with a total verdict of $9.25 million. Recent record recoveries include:
- A $50 million dollar trucking wrongful death judgment in 2024
- A $15 million dollar brain injury settlement in 2025
- A $31 million dollar tractor-trailer v. pedestrian wrongful death settlement in 2025
Morgan’s work in Washington state has resulted in his being selected as one of the few lawyers with multiple SuperLawyers state certifications. He has been honored as a Washington SuperLawyer since 2023. He has also been included in “Best Lawyers.” Morgan is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell with their highest rating: “preeminent”.
Additionally, Morgan has repeatedly been selected as a MidSouth SuperLawyer (limited to the top 5% of lawyers in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee), a “Top 100 Lawyers in Tennessee” by Thomson Reuters, and as one of the top one hundred plaintiffs’ lawyers in Tennessee by The National Trial Lawyers Association.
Education
- Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, 1982-1985.
- Georgia State College of Law, Atlanta, Georgia, 1986-1989; Bosch-Duisberg Scholar, Germany, July 1988; Faculty Research Assistant, Business Law, 1988-1989; College of Law Senator, University Senate, 1988-1989.
- American Association for Justice’s Ultimate Trial Advocacy Course, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 2011
- Master of Trial Law Champion, American Association for Justice, 2019. Champions have reached the highest level of honor at AAJ for completing a rigorous curriculum of seminars, colleges, conventions, and webinars.
- Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College, Graduate
Military Education
- The Basic School, Quantico, Virginia, May 1990. Six months of infantry officer training developing leadership, strategy, communication, and the ability to manage under stress.
- Naval Justice School, Newport, Rhode Island, September 1990. A two month course developing trial skills.
- Tactical Air Control Party Course, Okinawa, Japan, 1991. Twelve plus controls, certified as a forward air controller.
- Naval Justice School, Newport, Rhode Island, Reserve Lawyer’s Course, September 2001.
Recent Publications and Presentations
2025
Why Trucking Lawyers Love Federal Court (and you should too), National Trial Lawyers Annual Convention, Miami, FL, January 2025; Author, “Negligence Per Se in Trucking Litigation,” Truck Accident Litigation (4th Ed.), American Bar Association, (Forthcoming); Author, The Plodder’s Guide to Easy and Elegant Legal Writing, Trial News, p.22, (February 2025), Washington Association of Justice; Fighting Orders of Protection, Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys, Austin, TX, September 2025; Updated Chapter on: Tractor-Trailer, Bus, and Other Commercial Motor Vehicle Wrecks, Washington State Association of Justice’s Motor Vehicle Litigation Desk Book 2025.
2026
Essential Trucking Documents and How to Use Them, Florida Association for Justice Workhorse Seminar, March 2026; Co-Creator, American Association for Justice’s 1st Traumatic Brain Injury College, Sonoma, CA, April 2026; State v Federal Court in TBI Cases, American Association for Justice’s 1st Traumatic Brain Injury College, Sonoma, CA, April 2026; Co-Chair, Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association’s Truck Accident Seminar, Nashville, TN, April 2026; FedEx and Amazon Cases – How to Deliver Success for Your Clients, TTLA Truck Accident Seminar, Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association, Nashville, TN, April 2026; Co-Presentation: Shell Games in Trucking Company Insurance, Florida Association of Justice, Daytona, FL, May 2026; Daubert Proofing Your Experts in Federal Court, Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys Annual Conference, Denver, CO, September 2026;
Background
- Founder, California Truck Law, P.C. 2021-23
- Founder, Truck Wreck Justice, PLLC, 2017
- Founder, Seattle Truck Law, PLLC, 2016
- Founder, Dakota Accident Law, 2024
- Founder, The Law offices of Morgan Adams, 1997-2017
- Battalion Staff Judge Advocate, 4th Anti-Terrorism Battalion, 14th Marines, United States Marine Corps Reserve, Bessemer, Alabama 2005 – Aug 2006. Retired Aug 1, 2006.
- Battalion Staff Judge Advocate, 4th Battalion, 14th Marines, Bessemer, Alabama 2001-5.
- Officer in Charge – Peacetime Wartime Support Team, “M” Battery, 4th Battalion, 14th Marines 1999- February 2001.
- Commanding Officer, Headquarters Battery, 4th Battalion, 14th Marines, September 1997 to 1999.
- Litigation Partner, Hatfield, VanCleave, Akers & Adams, L.L.C., Chattanooga, Tennessee, June 1995 to August 1997. Responsible for the firm’s plaintiff and insurance defense civil litigation and arbitration in Tennessee, Georgia, and Federal Courts.
- Forward Observer, “M” Battery, 4th Battalion, 14th Marines.
- Litigation Associate, Luther, Anderson, Cleary & Ruth, Chattanooga, Tennessee, August 1993 to June 1995. Insurance defense litigation.
- Chief Defense Counsel, Marine Corps Air Station, Beaufort, South Carolina, February 1992 to April 1993. Responsible for all criminal defense litigation at MCAS Beaufort. Defended
- cases involving narcotics, sexual abuse, conspiracy, larceny, assault, battery, sexual harassment, and fraud.
- Legal Assistance Attorney, Marine Corps Air Station, Beaufort, South Carolina, October 1991 to February 1992. Provided legal counsel, representation and instruction to Marine and Naval Personnel in such areas as: wills and estates, consumer affairs, fair debt collection practices, landlord/tenant, tax, and family law.
- Foreign Claims Commission, Marine Forces Southwest Asia, Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, 1991. Granted authority to adjudicate claims against the United States Government in cases involving property, personal injury, and death.
- Saudi/Kuwaiti Military Liaison Officer, Marine Forces Southwest Asia, Desert Storm/Shield, 1991.
- Legal Assistance Attorney, Okinawa, Japan, 1990-1991.
- Marine Corps Military Pentathlon Team, Quantico, Virginia and Fort Sam Houston, Texas, May – September 1990. Selected for inter-service trials, Confederation Interalliee Des Officiers de Reserve International Championships.
Bar Memberships and Courts
- Georgia Bar, 1989
- Tennessee Bar, 1989
- Washington Bar 2016
- South Dakota Bar, 2025
- All Tennessee Federal District Courts
- All Washington Federal Courts
- Federal District Court, Northern District of Georgia
- United States Court of Appeals: 6th, 9th, and 11th Circuits
- Supreme Court of the United States of America
- Court of Military Appeals
- United States Court of Veterans Appeals
Admitted in multiple other states and courts Pro Hac Vice.
Civic and Memberships
- President, Advantage Hunter, Hunter Museum of American Art, 1995-1996
- President, Chattanooga Pachyderm Club, 1998
- Vice-Chairman, Hamilton County Republican Party, 1997-1999
- Board Member, Memorial Business Development Council, Memorial Hospital, 1997- 2001
- Graduate of Leadership Chattanooga, Class of 1999;
- Board of Directors, North Shore Chamber of Commerce, 1999-2001
- Treasurer, The Retired Officers’ Association of Chattanooga, 2001-2
- President, Chattanooga Trial Lawyers Association 2002-3
- Member, Board of Governors, Tennessee Association for Justice, 2002 to 2014
- Tennessee Representative to the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Republican Trial Lawyer’s Caucus, 2004 to 2007
- Chair, American Association for Justice, Republican Trial Lawyer’s Caucus, 2008-9
- Member, Southern Trial Lawyers Association, 2004 to present
- Member, The Taos Group
- Life Member, Association of Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America, 2007 to present
- Member, National Advisory Board, Association of Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America, 2007 to present
- Secretary, Breast Cancer Litigation Group, American Association for Justice, 2008-9
- Chair, Sole Practitioner and Small Firms Section, American Association for Justice, 2009-10
- Chair, Interstate Trucking Litigation Group, American Association for Justice, 2009-10
- The Justices Ray L. Brock, Jr.-Robert E. Cooper American Inn of Court, 2008 to 2013; Southern Trial Lawyers Association, Board of Governors, 2007 to date;
- American Association for Justice, Board of Governors, 2009-11
- Chair, American Association for Justice, Sole Practitioner and Small Firms Section, 2011-2012
- Treasurer, American Association for Justice, Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, 2015-6
- Member, Section and Litigation Group Coordination Committee (SLGCC), American Association for Justice, 2012 to present
- Chair, Section Leaders Council (SLC), American Association for Justice, 2014 to 2017
- Chair, American Association for Justice, Bus Litigation Group, 2015-6
- President, Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys, 2017-2018
- Chair, American Association for Justice, Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, 2019-20
- Washington Association for Justice, Continuing Legal Education, Committee Member, 2024-26
Honors
- First and only lawyer in the United States to receive the American Association for Justice’s Trucking Litigation Group “Lifetime Achievement Award,” July 2012
- Member, The Melvin Belli Society, 2006 to present
- Repeatedly selected as MidSouth SuperLawyers for Plaintiff’s Personal Injury (Trucking) Practice
- Selected as a Washington SuperLawyer 2023 to date
- Repeatedly selected as a Top 100 Tennessee SuperLawyers
- Awarded the American Association for Justice’s Wiedemann Wysocki Award, July 2010. The award is given to lawyers “for commitment to their profession and support for improving the civil justice system.”
- Diplomate, American Association for Justice, 2011
- Champion, American Association of Justice Master of Trial Law, National College of Advocacy (fewer than 30 lawyers in the United States had this distinction at the time of recognition)
- Board Certified as both a Truck Accident Lawyer and as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board to Trial Advocacy
- AAJ Trucking Litigation Group, Education Excellence and Mentor Award, “For outstanding and tireless public service educating and assisting lawyers who represent victims of unsafe truck operators,” 2014
- Selected as a “Top 10 Truck Accident Attorney” by the National Trial Lawyers, multiple years
- Selected to “Best Lawyers,” multiple years
Your Needs Come First at Seattle Truck Law
While we may be experts in truck crash litigation, you’re the authority when it comes to what’s best for you and your loved ones. We put our clients’ needs before any other concern, and that commitment shapes every decision we make when handling your truck accident claim. We’ll always work toward the legal solution that serves you best, whether that means negotiating a settlement offer or fighting aggressively in court to protect your rights.