When someone suffers physical injuries due to another party’s negligence, this is a “personal injury.” It will likely support an insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit. Injury lawyers generally file personal injury claims and can seek to settle these cases out of court. Sometimes a civil court trial is necessary.
The negligent party in these cases could be another person, a business or corporation, or a government entity. If you can prove the other party was at fault, you may be able to receive compensation for the damages suffered.
What Types of Injuries and Accidents Support Personal Injury Claims?
There is a wide range of categories of personal injury lawsuits, including:
- Car accidents
- Truck crashes
- Other vehicle accidents
- Medical malpractice
- Defective products and products liability
- Slip and fall
- Wrongful death
The injuries suffered in an incident can vary widely. Some people suffer relatively minor injuries. Others have life-altering, catastrophic injuries. In general, the more serious the injuries are, the larger the financial recovery will be. This is because devastating accidents often require months of treatment, inpatient rehabilitation, and ongoing therapy and care.
A personal injury attorney will handle cases based on injuries that include:
- Spinal cord injuries (SCIs)
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
- Burns and scarring
- Amputations and limb injuries
- Fractures
- Internal organs
- Soft tissue injuries
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Working with a Personal Injury Attorney to Pursue Compensation in Louisiana
If an injury harmed you or caused a loved one’s death, our injury lawyer can help you seek compensation. Working with our attorney can help you avoid costly mistakes. Attorneys know how to build cases and negotiate with insurance companies and their lawyers, whose goal is to pay out as little as possible.
If the insurer refuses to pay a fair settlement, our attorney can file a lawsuit and take your case to trial. Insurance companies are aware of this and will tend to take your claim more seriously if they know you have a trial attorney on your side who regularly works in the courtroom. Our injury attorney works on contingency, which means you will not pay attorney’s fees unless we win a settlement for you.
Recovering Money Damages Based on Your Louisiana Personal Injuries
Louisiana allows victims of personal injury to recover compensation from a negligent party. This includes both monetary losses (special damages) and intangible losses (general damages).
Special damages are for economic losses and expenses that you can quantify. These may include:
- Medical bills, medical equipment, and prescriptions
- Lost wages and future earnings
- Property damage
- Funeral and burial costs if your family member died from their injuries
General damages may include:
- Physical and emotional pain and suffering
- Physical disfigurement
- Permanent disability
- Loss of quality of life
- Loss of companionship if your loved one passed away
In some extreme negligence cases, judges award punitive damages to discourage careless or reckless behavior from happening again. The amount of damages you may receive varies depending on the details and circumstances of your case.
Factors considered include:
- The extent and permanence of your injury
- Whether you will need continuing care
- Your age and earning capacity
- The insurance coverage available
- The area of the state and jurisdiction
- The reputation and skill of your attorney
Louisiana has no cap or limit on the amount of compensation you may receive, except in medical malpractice cases. These claims have a maximum award of $500,000 plus the cost of future medical care, per RS 40:1231.2.
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Proving a Louisiana Personal Injury Case
To win your personal injury case, you and your attorney will need to prove:
- The at-fault party acted negligently
- You suffered injuries as a result
When you build a case to prove negligence, it must include evidence to show the following elements occurred:
- Duty of care: The defendant had a duty of care to take reasonable steps that would have prevented the harm you suffered.
- Breach of care: They breached that duty by acting improperly or failing to act.
- Causation: Their breach is the primary cause of your injury.
- Damages: Your injury resulted in compensatory physical, emotional, and financial damages.
Your attorney will need to investigate what happened and gather evidence to prove your case. This could require:
- Locating and interviewing witnesses
- Examining police and first responder reports
- Analyzing relevant medical records
- Locating traffic or security camera video footage
- Reconstructing how the accident happened
- Enlisting experts’ help as needed
- Surveying the scene where the incident occurred
- Collecting evidence of your losses, such as medical bills and lost wages
Your attorney will also be able to determine your case’s fair value and calculate the range for a just settlement. This makes it possible to negotiate with the insurance companies and possibly recover a payment to cover your expenses and losses.
Louisiana Laws Could Affect Your Personal Injury Compensation
Several Louisiana laws may influence the outcome of personal injury cases. These include:
- Time limit: Louisiana has a strict statute of limitations, which is a deadline to file a personal injury lawsuit. Per CC Art. 3492, you must file within one year from the day the injury occurred. Otherwise, the court could bar you from recovery.
- Comparative fault: Under CC Art. 2323, the court will reduce your damage award if you contributed to your accident. This reduction depends on your percentage of fault. However, you can still recover compensation in your case.
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Connect with the Laborde Earles Injury Lawyers Team Today
If you or a loved one suffered personal injuries in Louisiana, or if you are still unsure if your situation qualifies, the personal injury lawyers at Laborde Earles Injury Lawyers are here to help. We provide a free consultation where we will evaluate your situation and determine if we can pursue recovery for you. Our team may be able to help you negotiate with insurance companies and navigate the legal system to pursue compensation.
Call us today for a free and confidential case evaluation: (337) 777-7777.
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