An Arkansas car accident attorney from the Morris Bart law firm may be able to help you get the money you need to pay for your medical care, repair your car, and cover other expenses if a careless driver caused your crash. We have personal injury attorneys ready to review your case for free today from our offices in Little Rock or Texarkana.
Arkansas law allows victims of collisions to hold those who caused them legally responsible for their actions, recovering compensation through an insurance claim or civil lawsuit. Our team of lawyers manages these cases, developing an approach and argument that is as unique as the accident that led to it. We believe accident victims deserve justice, and we go after it for them.
Recovering Compensation Based on Arkansas Car Accident Damages
For most victims hurt in a car crash, the only way to get justice is through an insurance claim or legal action in the civil court system. With a few notable exceptions, most people who cause traffic accidents never face significant criminal penalties. Even when they do, as may be the case with a drunk driver, these consequences do not make life any easier for their victims.
Justice for a car accident victim generally comes in the form of “being made whole” by recovering compensation for their physical, emotional, and financial injuries. With a fair and appropriate payout, they may still face significant challenges related to their injuries, but struggling to pay for their care should not be an issue.
When we represent a car accident victim, we identify the expenses and losses they endured because of the accident and their injuries, documenting as many as possible using evidence, expert testimony, and other resources. While each case differs, many have some or all of the recoverable damages included on this list:
- Medical expenses
- Ongoing care costs
- Future treatment needs
- Lost wages and other income
- Diminished earning capacity
- Miscellaneous expenses
- Future losses and costs
- Property damages
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Other intangible losses
Many accident victims want to know right away how much their case is worth, but this is not something we can know during your initial consultation. If an attorney offers an estimate of your case without major caveats during your first meeting, you may want to consider another law firm.
There is simply no way to know the value of your claim before we have a better understanding of your unique losses, your prognosis, how your injury affects your mental health, and more. In fact, one of the services we pride ourselves on the most is putting a fair, appropriate, and just value on our clients’ cases. This may require taking steps such as:
- Collecting bills, receipts, estimates, and other documents
- Analyzing your medical records
- Working with experts to understand your prognosis and future needs
- Calculating how many days of pain and suffering you experienced
- Looking at similar cases in the same court
Every car accident is different. It occurs in a different way, with unique aspects of the crash, the injuries suffered, the damages incurred, and other details. Our attorneys understand that this means there is no one-size-fits-all approach or value. Instead, we treat each client and case like they are the only one that matters. We investigate what happened, identify and value the damages, and put a plan in place to secure compensation.
Arkansas Car Accidents and Wrongful Death
Collisions are a top cause of wrongful death in Arkansas. If another person’s careless or reckless driving caused your loved one to suffer fatal injuries, AR Code § 16-62-102 will allow you to build a case against them.
This statute permits the personal representative of the deceased to take legal action on behalf of family members that include:
- Spouse
- Children
- Parents
- Brothers and sisters
If there is no personal representative, the heirs can sue on their own. Our attorneys can represent you and your family in a wrongful death case. These claims may allow you and other surviving family members to recover compensation for the losses you and your loved ones endured and will endure because of the accident. This includes compensatory damages such as funeral costs, lost income, loss of services, and more.
In addition, each family member may be able to recover fair compensation for their own grief, known as mental anguish. They can also get compensation for loss of companionship, loss of parental guidance, or other damages relating to their relationship with the decedent.
For a free legal consultation with a Car Accident lawyer serving Arkansas, call 800-537-8185
Getting Help With Your Case from Morris Bart, LLC
The Morris Bart law firm is a personal injury firm headquartered in New Orleans, LA. We have more than 40 years of experience representing injured victims of traffic accidents and others hurt because of someone else’s negligence. We know how to develop claims and recover compensation for those injured in:
- Hit-and-run collisions
- Drunk driving accidents
- Distracted driving crashes
- Truck accidents
- Motorcycle wrecks
- Reckless or aggressive driving crashes
- Commercial vehicle collisions
- Bus accidents
- Uber, Lyft, and other rideshare crashes
- Taxicab collisions
We Have Two Offices in Arkansas
The areas we serve now include all parts of four states, including Arkansas. We also have offices in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Our Arkansas locations include:
- Little Rock
- Texarkana
We can also help if you are in other parts of the state. You do not need to travel to one of our offices for your initial case review or to meet with any of our attorneys when we represent you. We will communicate via the telephone, email, texting, and other means and will come to you when necessary.
Our Attorneys Know What It Takes
Working to help clients hurt in car accidents for more than four decades, our team has learned a few things. We have the knowledge, resources, and experience to investigate, analyze, and develop your claim. You can count on our team of attorneys to fight for the best possible outcome in your case. We also manage your claim or lawsuit and all aspects of your legal case. This includes:
- Protecting your rights
- Handling all communication with the at-fault driver and their insurer
- Gathering and analyzing evidence
- Working with experts as necessary
- Providing the answers and support you need
- Developing a plan and building a case
- Filing an insurance claim or lawsuit depending on what is best for the case
- Working to negotiate a settlement or present evidence to prove the value of your damages
- Representing your best interests
We Recover Significant Compensation for Qualified Clients
Getting an appropriate settlement or award for our clients is our primary focus. We know that you need enough money to pay your bills, cover your losses, and take care of related expenses in the future. This is why we put a value range on each case and fight to get our clients compensated accordingly.
We had 6,500+ wins in 2019. This includes payouts from settlement negotiations, mediation, arbitration, and jury trials. One example from our case results shows how our client recovered $650,000.
The client was hurt in a Monroe, Louisiana, crash caused by a drunk driver. We were able to prove this, recovering money damages for the client based on injuries that included:
- A broken arm
- A broken leg
- Fractured ribs
- A broken hip and pelvis
- A broken back
- Punctured lungs
You can learn more about how our law firm works and the services we provide by reading our testimonials and reviews. We are proud that our clients recommend us to loved ones and are willing to speak so highly of our team.
We Are a Contingency Fee Law Firm
The Morris Bart law firm is a contingency fee firm. We provide services to personal injury victims with no upfront expenses. We know you do not have the money to spend on legal representation right now, and even if you do, we do not think you should have to do so. We never ask for upfront fees or other payments.
We are not paid by the hour we work. Instead, we get a percentage of the payout we recover for you. If we do not get compensation for you in your case, you will not be charged attorney’s fees.
Building an Arkansas Car Accident Case
Arkansas handles car accidents based on fault. When one driver acts carelessly or recklessly behind the wheel, those who suffer damages can hold them responsible. The state also requires auto liability insurance for all drivers, so the driver who hit you should have coverage that will pay for your medical care and property damage up to policy limits.
Of course, most drivers do not want to accept responsibility after a collision. For this reason, we have to prove what happened to cause the crash. We often refer to this as negligence in personal injury cases. There are four elements to negligence:
- Duty of care
- Breach of duty
- Causation
- Harm
Drivers generally have a duty of care to follow traffic laws and drive in a safe manner any time they are behind the wheel. Almost any breach of this duty—violating a traffic law—could cause a collision, and others could suffer injuries.
Violations of traffic laws and other careless driving actions are behind almost every traffic accident, including:
- Head-on collisions
- Side-impact crashes
- Rear-end impacts
- Rollovers
It is also true in drunk driving, distracted driving, and drowsy driving collisions. We can also handle cases involving trucks, buses, rideshare vehicles, taxicabs, commercial vehicles, and more.
What If I Share Fault in the Crash?
Arkansas law allows drivers to file insurance claims and lawsuits as long as they are 49 percent at fault or under. Per AR Code § 16-64-122, you can still initiate a claim when you also acted negligently. However, this could significantly affect your payout.
If you are found to be 30 percent at fault in the crash, you will only receive 70 percent of the value of your payout. Our team may be able to help you reduce this percentage or mitigate the effects of allegations that you acted negligently.
Click to contact our Arkansas Personal Injury Attorney today
How Are Commercial Vehicle Accidents Different?
With nine primary or auxiliary interstates running through Arkansas, there are a lot of commercial vehicles on the road. When a trucker or other commercial driver causes an accident, their employer is vicariously liable under Arkansas case law. This is the main difference between truck crashes and other traffic accidents.
By the 1962 opinion in Davis v. Kukar, the Supreme Court of Arkansas referred to the liability of employers for their workers’ negligence as “well-settled.”
Our attorneys know how to file a claim based on a company’s corporate policy and pursue damages for our client based on this vicarious liability. If you were hurt in a truck crash or injured by another commercial vehicle operator, we may be able to help.
Arkansas Limits Personal Injury Lawsuits to Three Years
You usually only have up to three years from the accident date to sue in Arkansas under AR Code § 16-56-105. In some cases, you could have less time. If you miss this deadline, the effect on your legal claim could be devastating. It will be difficult to get a fair settlement from the insurance company, and the court will likely bar your lawsuit.
In addition, evidence often disappears quickly. Act as soon as possible for the strongest case. We can discuss your case with you as soon as your injuries are stable and file your lawsuit when you reach maximum medical recovery, or we understand your prognosis.
Talk to a Lawyer from Morris Bart, LLC for Free Today
The Morris Bart law offices in Arkansas help car accident victims recover compensation for the injuries they suffered and the losses they endured. We also provide free case consultations for crash victims who are considering if they can take legal action based on the facts of their crash. Let’s discuss your legal options. You can talk to a lawyer from our Little Rock or Texarkana office for free today.
Call (800) 537-8185 now to speak with an Arkansas car accident attorney.
Questions?Call 800-537-8185
to find a Morris Bart office near you.
