When someone drives under the influence (DUI) of alcohol or drugs and causes an accident that leaves you injured, you have the right to pursue compensation from the drunk driver. The compensation you receive can cover past and future medical expenses and lost income, as well as pain and suffering and other damages.
The lawyers at Laborde Earles Injury Lawyers represent victims of DUI accidents in Marksville and Alexandria, as well as Lafayette, New Orleans, and surrounding areas. We will fight on your behalf to recover all the damages you are due. Because we work on contingency, you pay no legal fees unless and until you receive compensation for your injuries.
Proving Negligence is the First Step in Establishing Liability
“Personal injury” is the practice of law that pertains to recovering financial compensation for people who have sustained injuries in accidents. In order to succeed in this financial recovery for our clients, tort law requires that the personal injury lawyers at our firm go beyond proving that someone caused an accident. We must also prove negligence and build a case that proves the following:
- Someone had a legal obligation to abide by a standard of reasonable care to keep from harming others.
- This person failed to fulfill this duty of care.
- Because of this breach of duty, this person caused an accident.
- The accident caused our clients to suffer physical, financial, and emotional injuries
Negligent Acts We Can Help You Sue for
Beyond the negligent act of DUI, a drunk driver might act in other negligent ways that caused the accident that caused your injury. If test results show that the driver who caused your accident had a BAC lower than the legal limit, their actions might still constitute negligence, and our lawyers can still fight to hold the driver legally liable for your injuries.
Some common negligent actions that cause motor vehicle accidents include:
- Driving while distracted
- Speeding
- Driving aggressively or recklessly
- Road rage
- Driving at excessive speeds for the driving conditions
Our firm will investigate your accident to uncover any and all forms of negligence that caused you to sustain injury.
We Can Help You Gather Strong Evidence Against the DUI Driver Who Caused Your Accident
When you hire our firm, our lawyers will initiate a thorough investigation into the circumstances of your accident. We will set out to build your case with the elements needed to prove breach, causation, and damages.
Toward this end, we will:
- Travel to the accident scene to collect evidence
- Take photos of the scene
- Review footage from phone cameras, traffic signal cameras, and any nearby surveillance cameras
- Interview witnesses
- Obtain and study the police accident report
- Work with accident reconstruction specialists
- Gather all the medical records connected with your injury
- Get wage statements from your employer
Understanding that many types of injuries generate long-lasting—if not lifelong—consequences, our lawyers serving Marksville will also work with experts in the fields of medicine, economics, and psychology to document the damages you will likely endure in the future because of this DUI accident.
Don’t Take on the Insurance Companies by Yourself
The moment the drunk driver’s insurance company learns of your accident, they will get to work undermining your case. A surprising but common tactic involves reaching out to you, the victim, and expressing concern about your well-being. This trick is an attempt to get you to offer details about—possibly admit partial responsibility for—the accident.
The insurance company might even offer to cut you a check to cover your medical expenses. Please know that any amount the insurer offers you is nothing more than a seriously low-balled settlement. Do not sign anything the insurer gives you. By accepting their offer, you will thwart your chances of obtaining the compensation you need for the ongoing and future damages you will no doubt encounter later.
Instead, let our lawyers deal with the insurance company.
Damages We Can Help You Pursue
The damages you might recover for your accident are highly specific to your case. Insurance settlements are tied to the severity of your injuries, how they affect you, and how long doctors say the injuries and/or the symptoms are likely to last.
To give you an idea of what you might expect, here is a non-comprehensive list of some of the types of damages that lawyers can recover for their DUI accident clients:
- Medical treatment (past and future)
- Prescription medicines
- Ambulance transportation
- Hospitalization
- Physical rehabilitation/therapy
- Mobility devices
- Replacement services
- Lost wages and benefits
- Diminished future potential earnings
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Emotional stress
- Diminished quality of life
If a DUI accident caused the death of a loved one, you might be able to pursue a wrongful death action. Our lawyers can help you with this effort and will handle the matter with utmost compassion and dignity.
Marksville Residents Must File their Accident Claims by the State Deadline
Many people do not realize that Louisiana’s statute of limitations (CC §3492) requires injured parties to take legal action against a drunk driver within one year of the accident. The same deadline applies for wrongful death lawsuits (CC §2315.2).
Consider talking to us soon after your DUI accident in Marksville. Doing so will give our lawyers plenty of time to build your case and negotiate with insurers. It will also allow us to file a lawsuit within the legal time frame if the insurance company refuses to agree to a fair settlement.
Louisiana Law is on Your Side
Louisiana does not take kindly to people who get behind the wheel after they have been drinking. Besides facing severe punishment from the state’s criminal justice system, a driver who is DUI and causes an accident in Marksville is legally liable for any damages they cause (RS §14:98).
Our lawyers know the state’s laws when it comes to proving that a DUI caused an accident. We will refer to analyses that law enforcement officers performed at the scene and after the drunk driver’s arrest to verify the driver’s blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) level exceeded the 0.08% legal limit.
Call the Attorneys on Our Team for Help Today
If you suffered an injury in a DUI accident, we will fight for your compensation.
Our lawyers work on contingency, meaning you pay our legal fees only if we win you an insurance settlement or verdict. The initial consultation is free, so you have nothing to lose—and peace of mind to gain—by calling Laborde Earles Injury Lawyers today.
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