If another driver caused your collision, Louisiana law will hold them legally responsible for your medical bills, car repairs, and more. You can get justice by filing a claim or suit against the drunk, distracted, or careless driver who hurt you and cost you thousands. A Louisiana car accident attorney from the Morris Bart law firm will be glad to speak with you and review your options for free today. We represent victims in traffic accident claims.
Having a car accident attorney on your side may allow you to focus fully on healing from your injuries and returning to work or activities you enjoy. It may also help you understand the value of your case, so you do not accept a settlement offer that is less than you deserve.
Recovering Damages in Your Louisiana Car Accident Case
Car accidents occur in so many ways, for many reasons, and result in a wide range of injuries. From relatively minor to catastrophic, our team has seen—and represented—them all. We may be able to help you build a case based on:
- Head-on collisions
- Side-impact crashes
- Read-end accidents
- Drunk driving collisions
- Distracted driver crashes
- Reckless driving accidents
- Other careless driving incidents
We can also seek damages for injuries that include:
- Traumatic brain injuries, called TBIs
- Concussions and other head injuries
- Spinal cord injuries with or without paralysis
- Other neck and back injuries
- Internal injuries
- Fractures
- Limb injuries, including amputations
- Soft tissue injuries
- Burns and scarring
- Bruises, cuts, and scrapes
We know how to identify, document, and value the damages you suffered and those you will likely face in the future based on your medical needs and prognosis. We also seek compensation for intangible, non-economic losses for our clients.
Some of the most common types of recoverable damages include:
- Medical care and treatment expenses
- Future and ongoing care costs
- Lost income from missing work
- Reduced earning capacity if you cannot return to work
- Additional expenses
- Property damages
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Other intangible losses
We also help surviving family members pursue justice for their lost loved ones through wrongful death actions. A wrongful death occurs when the victim of a personal injury, such as a car crash, dies from their injuries.
Louisiana’s wrongful death law is found at La. Civ. Code Art. 2315.2. This law outlines who can file this type of action and their options for doing so. We can help you identify the best party to file based on your loved one’s death. Recoverable damages could include:
- Medical bills
- Funeral and burial costs
- Loss of income provided by the decedent
- Loss of services performed by the decedent
- Intangible losses suffered by surviving family members
For a free legal consultation with a Car Accident lawyer serving Louisiana, call 800-537-8185
Morris Bart, LLC Represents Victims of Louisiana Collisions
Although we are a regionally recognized firm, our origins are in Louisiana. Our personal injury lawyers have served Louisiana for more than four decades. We know Louisiana law, how it applies in car accident cases, and how to navigate the claims process and courts system. Our attorneys are even familiar with many judges and other court personnel in parishes across the state.
We take action to help our clients get the justice they need and deserve, seeking compensation for them based on the damages they endured because of their car accidents. This includes:
- Protecting their right to fair compensation
- Handling all communication about the case
- Keeping them up to date about the progress of their claim
- Investigating and gathering evidence to prove their case
- Filing a claim or lawsuit
- Representing them in negotiations or at trial
- Fighting for their best interests and fair compensation
While our firm originally served the New Orleans area, we have expanded to cover four states across the Gulf South over the last 40+ years. The areas we serve include all parts of:
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
Among our 15 locations are eight in Louisiana:
- New Orleans
- Shreveport
- Baton Rouge
- Houma
- Alexandria
- Monroe
- Lafayette
- Lake Charles
Some recent case results in Louisiana car accident cases include:
- $852,845 for the victim of a New Orleans car accident based on injuries that included facial fractures and neck and back pain
- $650,000 for a client hit by a drunk driver in Monroe and who suffered numerous broken bones, including their back, hip, and pelvis, and punctured lungs
- $550,000 for a Shreveport hit-and-run that left our client with a protruding and herniated disc that required surgical repair
- $450,000 for a lower back injury that necessitated surgery for our client who was a victim of an Alexandria car crash
Our attorneys represent clients based on a contingency fee. We use our firm’s resources to pay for the investigation into your crash and the development of the case. We even pay any necessary filing fees or other court expenses. We never ask for money upfront from our clients, and we never charge for attorney’s fees unless we recover compensation in the case. If you do not get a settlement or court award, our lawyers will not get paid attorney’s fees.
Proving Fault in Your Louisiana Accident Case
Some states operate a no-fault car accident system where you need to rely on your own insurance coverage to pay for your bills, at least until they exceed a set limit. In Louisiana, though, you can hold the at-fault driver responsible from the first dollar spent. To do this and recover money for your damages, you will need to prove:
- Negligence occurred
- The accused party is liable
- The value of your claim
Our attorneys handle these cases every day. We know what it takes to prove fault and liability, as well as documenting the value of your claim and negotiating a fair settlement or winning a jury award. This begins with an investigation to prove the other driver acted carelessly or recklessly. In personal injury cases, we call this negligence.
There are four elements to negligence, and we must have evidence to show each one was met in your accident case before we can file an insurance claim or sue the at-fault driver. Having evidence to prove negligence is the most essential part of winning compensation after a Louisiana traffic crash of any kind.
The four elements of negligence include:
- The driver had a responsibility to do something, generally following a specific traffic law.
- They failed to follow the law.
- Their failure caused a collision or another accident.
- You suffered harm, including physical and emotional injuries and financial losses.
For example, drivers have a legal duty to follow all traffic signs and signals. Running a red light would be a violation of these laws. Running a traffic light can certainly lead to an intersection collision. This is often a side-impact crash, and the occupants of the other vehicle may suffer significant injuries. We would need to gather the evidence to prove this is what happened and document each of these elements to support this client’s claim.
The evidence available in each case depends greatly on the details of what happened and the circumstances surrounding the crash. However, our team knows how to uncover, identify, gather, and analyze the proof available to build a strong argument for financial recovery. This could include:
- Obtaining the report filed by law enforcement at the accident site
- Surveying the crash scene
- Identifying and interviewing eyewitnesses
- Gathering physical evidence
- Looking at photos and video
- Working with accident reconstruction professionals
- Enlisting the help of experts as needed
- Collecting documentation of damages
With the right evidence, our attorneys are ready to organize it into an argument to support your claim and pursue compensation. We can file a claim with the liable motorist’s insurance provider and demand an appropriate payout. Negotiating a settlement with the insurer is the most common way we win money damages for our clients.
Alternatively, sometimes it makes more sense for us to sue the at-fault driver and take the case to trial. We will not hesitate to do so if it is the best decision for your case. When this occurs, we present strong evidence to the judge and jury and ask them to award a verdict and compensation to our client.
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Louisiana Law May Affect Your Car Accident Case
There are numerous laws that could affect your car accident case. Our attorneys will explain what you may be able to expect if any of these apply based on the circumstances of your crash and claim.
No Pay No Play Law
Louisiana law requires all drivers to have auto liability insurance. If you did not have the required minimum liability coverage when your crash occurred, the “no pay no play” law may come into effect. Under La. Rev. Stat. 32:866, the amount of compensation you can recover will be extremely limited.
We can also help you pursue compensation if the other driver who caused your crash was uninsured. There may be options to get money damages despite their lack of required coverage or having less coverage than required. This could include filing a claim based on your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.
Comparative Fault
Comparative fault is the legal term for shared negligence. If you share the fault in causing the accident, even with a small contribution to what occurred, it could affect your case. Unlike some states, La. Civ. Code Art. 2323 allows victims of Louisiana crashes to move forward with their claim or lawsuit regardless of the amount of fault assigned to them.
However, the recoverable compensation in the case goes down by the percentage of fault assigned to the claimant. For example, imagine you were speeding when a collision occurred, but the other driver failed to yield when turning. The jury ruled you were 20 percent at fault while the other driver was 80 percent liable. You might be able to recover up to $8,000 of your losses worth $10,000.
Vicarious Liability
Vicarious liability occurs when we are able to hold one party legally responsible for the negligence of another. This usually occurs in car accidents because of respondeat superior, which is the name of the common law doctrine that holds employers responsible for their workers’ actions. In Louisiana, it is officially recognized under La. Civ. Code Art. 2320.
When it comes to vicarious liability in car accidents, this applies most commonly when the at-fault driver is behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle. As long as the driver is acting within the scope of their job while driving, their employer is likely vicariously liable for their negligence. This occurs in accidents involving:
- Big rigs and other 18-wheelers
- Tanker trucks
- Garbage and recycling trucks
- Dump trucks
- Delivery trucks and vans
- Work trucks
- Buses
- Taxicabs
Statute of Limitations
There is a statute of limitations that creates a deadline for suing in most personal injury cases, including car accidents. In Louisiana, this deadline is one of the shortest in the nation, at only one year. Under La. Civ. Code Art. 3492, most car accident victims only have 365 days to begin their lawsuit or lose the right to do so.
Losing the right to sue could substantially affect your case. You will not only lose the opportunity to ask a jury to award damages, but you will also lose the key leverage necessary to negotiate a fair and appropriate settlement with the insurance company.
Because of these short deadlines and additional deadlines that could apply, you need to act quickly after your injuries stabilize to begin working on your case, including meeting with our team for a free case review. There may also be additional evidence available in the first days and weeks following a crash that will not be around later.
Discuss Your Case With a Car Crash Lawyer from Morris Bart, LLC
The Morris Bart law firm provides free consultations. If you have questions or believe you may have a Louisiana car accident case, reach out to our team today. We will assess your case and offer information about our services and your rights. You can reach a member of our team of Louisiana attorneys 24/7 to learn more about your legal options.
Call to speak with a lawyer for your complimentary case review.
Questions?Call 800-537-8185
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