If You Hurt My Clients?? Oh, You’ll Pay For It!!

Louisiana car accidents can be very traumatic experiences and may result in serious injuries and damages. Statistically, Louisiana has some of the worst drivers of any state in the country, based upon failure to obey traffic laws, careless and distracted driving, speeding, and drunk driving.

If you have been seriously injured in a Louisiana car accident, you need experienced legal counsel on your side. The knowledgeable car accident attorneys at Egenberg, APLC can provide the high-quality representation you need to recover monetary compensation in your case.

The maximum value of a Louisiana car accident case depends upon a variety of factors. Although there is no “magic formula” that determines the amount of damages to which you may be entitled, your attorney can help to emphasize the strengths of your case and downplay any weaknesses.

Contact a Louisiana Car Accident Lawyer Early
When it comes to making a personal injury claim or filing a personal injury lawsuit, time may be of the essence. The State of Louisiana has one of the shortest statute of limitation deadlines in the country when it comes to filing personal injury claims and lawsuits. Following your involvement in a Louisiana car accident, any claim for personal injuries or damages must ordinarily be filed within one year of the date of your accident, absent some very rare exceptions. If your personal injury claim or lawsuit is not filed within that time, you may be forever barred from seeking monetary compensation or filing suit for your injuries and damages.

The knowledgeable personal injury car accident lawyers at Egenberg, APLC can ensure that your claim or lawsuit is filed on time—and that all potentially responsible parties are named as defendants.

Receiving Medical Treatment for Your Injuries
When it comes to seeking medical treatment after your involvement in a serious car accident, a knowledgeable Louisiana personal injury lawyer can be an invaluable help. Immediately after sustaining your injuries, you should seek follow-up medical care and treatment at a local hospital emergency room or urgent care facility. Once you have been discharged, you should continue treatment, based upon the recommendations of your ER doctor. During the treatment process, a lawyer may be able to help you with the following:

Exploring additional or alternative treatment options
Referring you to a medical specialist, such as a pain management specialist
Gathering and organizing copies of your medical bills and records and forwarding them to the insurance adjuster
Negotiating with the at-fault driver’s insurance company
Filing a timely claim or lawsuit on your behalf
Taking your case to trial or pursuing alternative dispute resolution on your behalf
Proving Fault and Damages in Louisiana Car Accident Cases
To recover monetary compensation in a Louisiana car accident case, you must be able to prove both liability (fault) and damages. If fault is clear, the defendant may simply admit to liability, in which case you only need to prove damages in your case. You must ordinarily be able to satisfy the following four elements in order to recover money damages in your case:

Duty – The at-fault driver owed a duty to drive in a reasonable, careful, and prudent manner under the circumstances.
Breach – The at-fault driver violated this duty of care—usually by speeding, violating a traffic law, or otherwise driving in a careless or reckless manner under the circumstances existing at the time of the accident.
Causation – The accident victim’s injuries and damages were a factual and foreseeable result of the accident.
Damages – The accident victim sustained injuries and damages as a result of the accident.
The lawyers at Egenberg, APLC can help you prove the elements of negligence in your Louisiana car accident case.

 

Determining Damages in a Louisiana Car Accident Case
The amount of an injured plaintiff’s monetary recovery depends largely upon the amount of insurance coverage available. The amount of available insurance coverage depends upon the applicable insurance policy limits. The insurance policies of both the driver and/or the owner of the at-fault motor vehicle may be in play, as well as the car accident victim’s own insurance policy, in the case of an uninsured or underinsured motorist claim. If the at-fault driver’s insurance policy is insufficient to cover the injured accident victim’s medical bills and damages, or if the at-fault driver is uninsured, then the accident victim’s own insurance policy may step into the shoes of the at-fault driver by providing the necessary coverage.

The amount of available insurance coverage, however, is only one piece of the puzzle. Other important factors which can help to determine the value of a Louisiana car accident case include the following:

Liability – specifically, whether or not the at-fault driver’s insurance company is disputing liability by alleging that the defendant driver was not at fault for the accident—or by alleging that the injured accident victim caused or contributed to the accident.

Vehicle property damage – where, generally speaking, the more significant the property damage to the vehicle, the more monetary value the case has.

Nature and extent of personal injuries and damages – where, generally speaking, the more significant the plaintiff’s personal injuries, damages, and permanency, the more the case is worth.

Need for future surgeries, medical care, or nursing home/rehabilitative care – where the estimated cost of future surgeries, medical procedures, medical care, or long-term care and treatment at a nursing home or assisted living facility can be added in to the accident victim’s future damages.

Medicare and health care liens – when Medicare or a private health insurer paid for all or part of an accident victim’s treatment and is entitled to a lien or setoff against a portion of the plaintiff’s monetary recovery in a personal injury case, thereby chipping away at the plaintiff’s net recovery.