According to the American Bar Association (ABA), personal injury (or tort) law allows people who have been injured or had their property damaged to sue at-fault parties for their negligent actions. There are two main methods to potentially receive compensation: filing an insurance claim or a personal injury lawsuit. However, there can be variations in how a person’s legal journey might go.
If you were injured in Chalmette, Louisiana, you might qualify for a personal injury case, especially if your injuries led to other damages. Do not presume that your injury is not “severe enough” for a lawsuit; instead, call Laborde Earles Injury Lawyers for a free case evaluation.
Call our law firm today at (504) 777-7777 to speak with someone from our team about how your injuries caused your financial burdens, mental and physical suffering, and changes in your overall life. We can have a Chalmette personal injury lawyer fight for you and your right to receive compensation.
The First Thing We Need to Find Out Is Who Is Liable for the Accident
In every personal injury case, the plaintiff assigns fault to a negligent party. However, the burden of proof falls on the plaintiff, so they must also be able to prove how the opposing party’s negligence led to the accident that caused their injuries and that the opposing party was, in fact, negligent.
The Legal Information Institute (LII) describes a basic setup of a case argument using the four elements of negligence:
- Duty of care: The opposing party owed the plaintiff a general duty to keep the plaintiff from harm.
- Breach of duty: The opposing party’s negligence—be it in the form of their actions or omissions—violated this duty of care, meaning they failed to fulfill this task.
- Causation: Because the opposing party breached their duty, they caused an accident.
- Damages: The plaintiff suffered injuries—either bodily injuries or harm to their property—in the accident caused by the opposing party.
You May Be Able to Financially Recover from Your Damages
Personal injury cases can involve minor injuries that snowballed into large setbacks and major injuries that immediately impacted a person’s life. If your injuries caused you several kinds of damages, they may be calculated to determine how much compensation you need to recover your losses.
Your legal team might help you calculate your:
- Medical expenses
- Property damage costs
- Loss of income
- Reduced earning potential
- Out-of-pocket expenses, such as for prescription medicines or medical equipment
However, not every type of damage has a financial value. Non-economic damages generally get compared to your monetary damages and assigned a value that reflects their impact on your life. These types of damages might include:
- Pain and suffering
- Permanent disability
- Loss of quality of life
- Loss of consortium
A Chalmette personal injury lawyer from our firm can work with you throughout this process and advise you on when to pursue compensation. If you are still going through extensive medical procedures or other financial damages, your lawyer might also refer to appropriate expert witnesses to determine the trajectory of your recovery or strain. By doing so, they may be able to estimate future damages you might experience and include this value into your compensation demands.
Our team wants to be as accurate as possible when calculating your damages because you will not be able to pursue additional compensation once you accept a settlement offer or receive a verdict in a court trial. While your case is on a strict deadline, we also do not want to rush this stage of preparing your case, lest we risk underestimating your future needs.
To start this process, call Laborde Earles Injury Lawyers at (504) 777-7777. A representative of our law firm can review your case for free and take notes on the damages you have already experienced.
Do Not Forget to File Your Case by Its Deadline
Personal injury tort cases must be filed by the deadline set by the statute of limitations. In Louisiana, CC Art. 3492 dictates that plaintiffs have two years from the date of their injury to file their civil action lawsuit against the party who caused them harm.
However, this is a general deadline and does not necessarily apply to all personal injury cases. Other factors like whether your case involves a minor, a municipality, or medical malpractice might change the statutory deadline. You can consult your lawyer about the statute of limitations applicable to your case.
Laborde Earles Injury Lawyers Handles Many Types of Personal Injury Cases
Our law firm has practiced in several areas of personal injury tort law. Because personal injury law covers many situations in which a person might get seriously hurt or have their property damaged, cases may be categorized in the following ways:
- Premises liability cases, which apply to injuries that happen on someone else’s property
- Product liability cases, which apply to injuries caused by defects in products sold in the public market
- Automobile accident cases, which apply to injuries caused by motor vehicles or hazards on the road
- Medical malpractice cases, which apply to injuries caused by medical errors
- Maritime accident cases, which involve injuries caused by water vessels or hazards in open water
A Chalmette Personal Injury Lawyer from Our Firm Wants to Help You
If a personal injury uprooted your life, whether your injuries drastically changed your physical capabilities or caused you major financial setbacks (or both), call Laborde Earles Injury Lawyers to represent you in your case. Our personal injury team wants to help you prepare your claim or lawsuit and fight for the compensation you deserve.
Still need more information? Call our office today at (504) 777-7777 for a free consultation with a team member here at Laborde Earles Injury Lawyers. They can explain your potential legal options, including the next steps on what to submit to your lawyer, so they can begin working on your case right away.