Dog bites are traumatizing and can cause unbelievable damage to their victims. Unruly dogs have a lot of power, and their bites can result in severe injuries and, in some cases, nerve damage.
An Arnaudville dog bite lawyer can help you seek justice after an incident. They give you legal representation that assists you in filing for compensation from the responsible party.
What to Do After a Dog Bite
Pursuing an insurance claim is one of the legal options available to you after a dog bite. Ensure you keep your cool and trade insurance information with the dog’s owner. You should then visit the nearest hospital to get your injuries checked to ensure everything is okay and get treatment in case something is wrong.
You can also file a lawsuit against the pet owner to recover financial damages. Consult your Arnaudville dog bite lawyer to see what laws apply to owners who have that dogs attack people.
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Proving Liability in Dog Bite Cases
Proving liability in a dog bite case can be complex, depending on your injuries and their severity. Your lawyer can advise you of the laws that apply to your case. For example, some states hold the owner liable if the dog has a previous aggressive history or has bitten someone before.
Dog owners are responsible for their dogs, and they hold a degree of duty of care to the public. Most states require people to ensure their dogs don’t hurt someone if they are on public property. Different laws might apply if the attack was on personal property or if the owner didn’t follow the local leash statutes and laws.
In some cases, multiple parties can be responsible for the attack. For example, the property owner, dog owner, and the business owner of an establishment can share responsibility for an attack. Ask your trusted Arnaudville dog bite lawyer to educate you about all the laws and the course of action you can take to pursue the case.
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Potential Defenses
There are some potential defenses you might face in a dog bite case. The reasons vary depending on the state laws, but an Arnaudville dog bite lawyer may help you navigate some of the defenses. Examples of the defenses are:
- Provocation: The dog bite owner may refuse liability for the bite if you provoked the dog before the attack. You want to ensure you don’t tease, threaten, corner a dog or act aggressively toward the dog to prevent an attack.
- Trespassing: Trespassers have legal protections to some degree. The law might require you to show that you are legally allowed to be where the accident occurred. Avoid going to people’s houses uninvited or trespassing on private property unless the law says you can. Trespassing can stop you from recovering damages for a dog bite.
- Assumption of Risk: The dog owner can show that you share responsibility for the attack. This creates a case of comparative negligence, and you might not get any compensation or get a lower compensation amount. An example is if an owner gives enough warnings about their dog, but the victim chooses to ignore the warnings and agitates the dog in some way.
Your Arnaudville attorney can look at the circumstances surrounding your case and think of the possible defenses that apply. They can use their knowledge of the law to develop convincing arguments refuting the defenses.
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What Compensation Can You Receive?
Our dog bite lawyer starts by calculating your damages’ total value and coming up with a figure that they can present as your compensation amount. The damages involve economic and non-economic losses. This refers to financial and non-financial losses. The economic losses you can incur include:
- Property damage
- Medical expenses
- Loss of income
- Cost of going to doctor’s appointments
- Reduced earning potential
Once the lawyer tallies your economic losses, they move to the non-economic damages. They can then give the damages a monetary value. Some of the non-financial damages include:
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Pain and suffering
- Psychological trauma
- Emotional anguish
- Temporary or permanent disability
Your Arnaudville dog bite lawyer can also help you file for wrongful death damages if you lose a loved one to a dog attack. The damages include:
- Funeral expenses
- Loss of companionship
- The decedents and their surviving family’s pain and suffering
- Loss of financial support
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Do You Need a Lawyer?
While you don’t need a lawyer, having one by your side is a great advantage. Not only can your lawyer help you draft and file claims, but they also explain the nature of your case. This involves the laws that might affect it and the statute of limitations on dog bite injuries.
Your Arnaudville motorcycle accident lawyer can also deal with negotiations with the responsible party. It is likely that the pet’s owner or other responsible parties can also have legal representation. A lawyer can ensure that the other party doesn’t take advantage of you or give you a lower settlement.
A dog bite lawyer can also help you establish liability and calculates the total value of your injuries. We do our best to ensure you get enough compensation to cover your damages and ensure that the responsible party follows the state and local laws on owning pets.
Seek Justice With a Laborde Earles Dog Bite Lawyer
Dog bites are serious, and our attorneys can treat your case with the same gravity. We have more than 250 years of combined legal experience, and our clients’ settlements are proof of this. One of our Arnaudville dog bite lawyers can ensure you get the maximum compensation and make your recovery process easier. Call us and start working with our dog bite lawyer today.
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