If you have suffered a serious burn injury, you know how devastating it can be. Healing and recovery can take months, and you may have to deal with the scars for the rest of your life. It is hard to take when the accident that caused your injuries wasn’t even your fault.
If your burn injury is severe, you may not be able to work or care for the people who depend on you. You have the right to hold the liable party accountable for their actions. A Baton Rouge burn injury lawyer can help you get compensation for your losses.
At Laborde Earles, our Baton Rouge catastrophic injury lawyers have recovered over $1 billion for injured accident victims in Louisiana. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation and tell us what happened.
How a Lawyer Can Help
Don’t try to take on insurance companies alone. It’s smart to contact a personal injury lawyer whenever you are hurt in an accident. In almost every case, hiring an attorney means a higher settlement amount and a smoother process.
Our Baton Rouge personal injury lawyers will listen to your story and offer the best advice we can on how to proceed with your case. We can alleviate the burden of filing insurance claims, handling paperwork, and meeting deadlines, allowing you to focus on your recovery.
We’ll also prevent you from making many of the common mistakes that can harm your claim, such as taking a low initial settlement offer from an insurance company. We’ll determine the value of your case and fight for full compensation.
Laborde Earles injury was great for me they took care of me very fast and professional. If for any reason I need legal help they will be who I use.
ClientIdentifying Liable Parties
Our burn injury lawyers in Baton Rouge will investigate the accident that caused your injuries to determine what happened and who is responsible. We may refer to police reports, witness testimony, surveillance videos, or any other evidence that can help us obtain a complete picture of the events.
We aim to identify all liable parties so we can develop a strategy and file claims with the relevant insurance providers. In some cases, this is straightforward, such as when a reckless driver collides with your vehicle and causes an accident.
In other cases, such as when you are injured at work or in an accident involving multiple parties, we may need to unravel the events and relationships between parties to determine liability.
Comparative Fault in Louisiana
What if you were partly responsible for your accident? Louisiana liability laws operate under the doctrine of comparative fault. This means each party can recover costs based on their percentage of responsibility for the accident.
If you are 30% responsible, you can only recover 70% of the damage you would have been entitled to had you had no level of blame in the accident.
This helps in some cases because it means victims can get compensation, even if they were partially at fault for their accident. However, it also means that insurance companies may try to avoid paying you full compensation by claiming you were partially at fault when, in fact, you were not.
I thank God for Digger & David. I don’t know what we would have done if it hadn’t have been for them.
Rick Smith | ClientDetermining the Value of Your Damages
It is impossible to know the total compensation you could recover from your accident and injuries without a thorough review of your case. While every situation is different, your settlement or award will be based on the value of your economic and non-economic damages.
Economic Damages
The expenses you’ve incurred because of your accident are included in your economic damages. In cases such as burn injuries, they can be extensive. They may include:
- Your emergency care costs, such as for the ambulance and an ER visit after the accident
- Hospital stays
- Surgeries and procedures
- Doctor and specialist appointments
- Prescription medications
- Physical therapy and occupational therapy
- Lost wages for earnings and benefits you missed while away from work
- Future medical issues
- Property damages
It can help your burn injury attorney in Baton Rouge if you keep records of all your expenses by retaining receipts and invoices. This can ensure a complete account of your damages is included with your claim.
Non-economic Damages
Non-economic damages don’t directly relate to your expenses, but they are no less real. These are the hardships you’ve endured mentally and emotionally because of the accident. While they aren’t always recoverable, you can sometimes get compensation for:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Mental anguish
- Scarring and disfigurement
Your burn injury lawyer in Baton Rouge can review your case and determine if non-economic damages apply.
The reassurance from Digger and his staff gave me that renewed hope that it’s going to be okay down the road.
ClientDealing With Insurance Companies
When you are recovering from a burn injury, you have enough to worry about. You don’t need the added stress of dealing with insurance companies. We’ll handle all communication and interactions, and you can rest easy knowing your claim is in good hands.
When the time comes, we will negotiate on your behalf and strive to achieve a fair settlement that meets your needs and makes a meaningful difference in your life. Hopefully, that will be all it takes to close your case with a positive result.
Unfortunately, sometimes insurance companies refuse to settle at the negotiating table. When that happens, we aren’t going to back away from a fight. While we would prefer to avoid it, we will help you file a civil suit and fight for your award in court if necessary.
They treated us like no other people would. Whenever we needed something they were there for us. I put my trust in them and I don’t regret it.
ClientGet Help from a Baton Rouge Burn Injury Attorney
If you have been in an accident and suffered a burn injury, you may be unsure what the future holds. The last thing you want to worry about is money while you’re trying to heal. Unfortunately, extensive medical care leads to bills that you may not be able to afford.
It would be great to be able to rely on insurance companies. However, when they deny your claim or try to convince you to accept less than you’re owed, it seems like they aren’t on your side. Our Baton Rouge burn injury attorneys can serve as your advocates during this challenging time.
The team at Laborde Earles has over 350 years of combined experience helping injured victims get the assistance they need to begin to reclaim their lives. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.
