Wrongful death occurs when someone’s careless, reckless, or intentional actions cause a fatality. Aside from any potential criminal proceedings, the decedent’s surviving family members can file a civil case for compensation after the loss. Louisiana law allows a victim’s family to seek financial recovery for various damages, including funeral and burial services and pain and suffering.
If you lost a loved one and someone else caused their death in New Iberia, our personal injury lawyer at Laborde Earles Injury Lawyers would be honored to represent you. After reviewing your case for free, we could assign a New Iberia wrongful death lawyer to evaluate your case, develop a solid claim or lawsuit, and advocate for your family throughout the proceedings. You can reach out to us today for a free consultation.
What does a New Iberia Wrongful Death Lawyer do?
Wrongful death cases can be complicated. They require you to prove that another party’s actions led to the untimely passing of your loved one, which takes significant evidence. Depending on the type of incident and the amount of damages you are seeking, the liable party may fight back and try to place blame on your loved one.
You and your family deserve time to heal and grieve without shouldering the stress of a legal case. When you hire our team to represent you, we’ll take care of your whole case so that you don’t have to worry about fighting with insurance companies and lawyers.
The services our wrongful death lawyers can provide in your Iberia Parish case include:
Compiling Evidence to Build a Compelling Case
After a free consultation with our team, an injury attorney can begin collecting evidence to support your damage claim. Examples of possible evidence include:
- Your loved one’s medical records related to their injuries
- Photographs or video of the accident scene, if applicable
- Witness testimony
- Financial documents showing the expenses and losses your family has incurred
Based on the evidence available, we will develop a strategy for proving your right to financial recovery.
Establishing Liability
Liability refers to who is legally responsible for your damages. This process can be difficult if you weren’t present when the injuries occurred, and it becomes complicated further if multiple parties were involved—all of whom might be trying to avoid the case.
Our wrongful death lawyer in New Iberia, LA, will analyze the available evidence to identify the liable party. If multiple parties were present at the scene, we will determine if there is more than one liable party to hold accountable and construct your case appropriately.
Proving Negligence
Our wrongful death lawyers in New Iberia, La., also must show how the at-fault or liable party’s negligence caused the decedent’s death. This is the basis of a wrongful death action.
We must prove the at-fault or liable party owed your loved one a duty of care to protect them from harm and that their actions or inactions violated this duty. We must also show how the violation caused or led to your loved one’s fatal injuries and how their death affected them before they passed as well as their surviving relatives.
Assessing the Damages
The damages your family experienced play a massive role in determining the amount of compensation you could receive in a wrongful death case. Our wrongful death law firm will give our time and attention to identifying all your recoverable damages before estimating case value. Leaving anything out of your case could lead to out-of-pocket costs for your family, and we aim to avoid this.
Wrongful death damages can be economic and non-economic. Assessing economic damages involves adding up your expenses from receipts, invoices, and other financial documents. On the other hand, non-economic damages require more care and consideration since they don’t have monetary value on their own. Our wrongful death attorney in New Iberia, LA, can take care of evaluating both for you.
Representing You in Negotiations and in Court
The defendant and their representatives may try to manipulate you into accepting a lower settlement than appropriate or place blame on the deceased. You should not have to deal with this in the wake of your loved one’s passing, which is why our team will handle all case-related communications.
Once we know your case’s worth, we will fight hard for a settlement or court award that addresses your damages and holds the liable party accountable. If necessary, our attorneys will take the case to trial and represent you to the end.
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Who Can File Legal Action for a New Iberia Wrongful Death?
Louisiana law designates which surviving family members can seek damages under a wrongful death lawsuit. Generally, the following are eligible to take action:
- The decedent’s spouse or children
- Parents, if the decedent wasn’t married or didn’t have children
- Siblings, if not surviving parents, spouse, or children are available
- Grandparents, if the decedent didn’t have a spouse, children, siblings, or parents.
Wrongful death actions can be challenging to understand, so our wrongful death attorney in New Iberia, La., can take time to explain the process and how it works during your free initial consultation.
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Determining How Much a New Iberia Wrongful Death Case Is Worth
There is no straightforward answer to this because no two wrongful death cases in Iberia Parish are exactly alike. However, by assessing your damages, we can estimate a fair amount of compensation to seek from the liable party.
In Iberia Parish, wrongful death damages often include:
- The pain and suffering the deceased went through before passing away
- Funeral and burial costs
- Reduced household income
- The cost to replace services your loved one provided
- Outstanding medical bills from treating your loved one’s injuries, if applicable
- Loss of care, guidance, and nurturing because of the death
- Loss of love and companionship
- Loss of consortium
Additional damages may be recoverable depending on the details of your case.
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Types of New Iberia Cases Our Wrongful Death Team Handles
Wrongful death cases can involve many different types of accidents. Examples of fatal accidents our attorneys have sought compensation for include:
- Oil field accidents
- Truck crashes
- Motorcycle accidents
- Head-on collisions
- School bus accidents
- Rear-end collisions
- Construction accidents
- Mechanical malfunctions
- Maritime injuries
- Slip and fall injuries
- Defective product accidents
- Medical and pharmaceutical malpractice
For example, we frequently hold negligent parties responsible for car accidents in New Iberia. Our wrongful death attorney in Iberia Parish can hold drivers responsible for:
- Using a cell phone while driving or operating heavy machinery
- Grooming while driving
- Eating or drinking in inappropriate situations
- Using a GPS navigation system or reading a map
- Talking to passengers
- Looking at signs or other visuals that can cause distractions
- Changing music preferences
These actions can distract the driver from the road, creating the conditions for a fatal accident.
Get The HelpYou Need(337)-547-2777To Schedule a FREE CONSULTATION
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Hire a Wrongful Death Attorney in New Iberia, La.
Our wrongful death lawyers in Iberia Parish are compassionate and ready fight for your family’s financial recovery. Laborde Earles Injury Lawyers has won wrongful death cases for clients before, and we will put our knowledge of Louisiana law to work for you.
You likely have only a year from your loved one’s passing to file a lawsuit in a fatal New Iberia or Iberia Parish accident, per CC Art. 2315.2, so don’t wait to take action. Contact us for a free case evaluation to get started today: (337) 340-8068.
Get The HelpYou Need(337)-547-2777To Schedule a FREE CONSULTATION
24 hours a day • 7 days a week
