New Orleans Personal Injury Lawyer
Types of Personal Injury Cases We Handle in Louisiana
At Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe, we focus on certain types of personal injury cases for our Louisiana clients. Below is a list of the types of injury cases we handle. You’re welcome to contact us for more information about whether we can take your case.
Our New Orleans personal injury lawyers have years of experience helping Louisiana clients with all their injury needs. We are committed to protecting your rights and helping you fight for the compensation you deserve.
- Amputation
- Asbestos Exposure
- Back & Spine Injury
- Burn Injury
- Car Accident
- Carpal Tunnel & Repetitive Stress
- Construction Accident
- Electric Shock/Electrocution
- Eye Injury & Loss of Vision
- FELA
- Fire, Paramedic & EMT Injury
- Forklift & Crane Accident
- Head & Brain Injury
- Healthcare Worker Injury
- Hearing Loss
- Highway, Roadway & Bridge Worker
- Jones Act
- Longshoreman Injury
- Medical Malpractice
- Motorcycle Accident
- Railroad Employee Injury
- Scaffold & Ladder Accident
- Slip & Fall
- Truck Accident
- Truck Driver Injury
- Workplace Slip & Fall
- Wrongful Death
What Is a Personal Injury?
Personal injury accidents are much more common than you might think. Every year in the U.S. there are more than 55 million injuries and more than 200,000 preventable deaths.
Louisiana holds an unfortunate place in the nation’s top 10 states for preventable personal injuries. Louisiana’s top causes of preventable injury-related deaths are poisoning, motor vehicle accidents, falls, and choking.
Believe it or not, your lifetime odds of dying in a car accident are about 1 in 101 and your odds of dying in a fall are 1 in 102. You have a 1 in 541 chance of losing your life in a pedestrian accident and a 1 in 1,024 chance of drowning.
The constant risk of being injured is present everywhere you go. The top two locations of personal injuries are at home and in public spaces, but you could also be injured while driving, while working, when you’re inside the home of a friend or family member, during a shopping trip, or virtually anywhere else.
A personal injury shakes up your life and puts your well-being in jeopardy. Suddenly you have expensive medical bills, weeks or months of rehabilitation, missed days of work, and a family that fears for the future if you don’t make a full recovery.
When you’re in this stressful situation, a personal injury lawyer is an enormous help. At Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe, we have decades of combined experience representing clients in Louisiana personal injury claims. Start your free personal injury consultation now by calling 504-788-2994.
A personal injury is harm that occurs physically, financially, emotionally, or to your property due to someone else’s actions. Ideally, the responsible party compensates the victim for the full and fair value of their losses.
However, many people don’t realize that personal injury compensation isn’t automatic. After a personal injury, the victim must pursue the liable party and prove related damages. The victim often faces strong resistance from the guilty party and their insurance company. It’s a challenging process that can take a heavy toll on the already injured victim.
By contacting a personal injury lawyer, a victim takes an important step toward protecting their rights and preserving their future. A personal injury lawyer uses legal experience and knowledge to support an injured person, helping them understand their legal options, evaluate the most lucrative routes to compensation, manage paperwork, and navigate the complex legal system.
What You Should Do After a Personal Injury
After a personal injury, what you do next impacts your ability to successfully pursue a personal injury claim. Here are some tips for preserving your rights and making smart choices as you move forward from your accident.
Step 1: Take Emergency Action
Immediately after the injury, move to a safe spot and call 911 for assistance if you’re injured and/or someone else is injured. Accept medical treatment from emergency healthcare professionals. If it’s an auto accident, exchange contact information and interact with the police using a calm demeanor.
Step 2: Seek a Full Medical Evaluation
Whether you’re transported to the emergency room by ambulance or not, you need a medical evaluation as soon as possible. Some injuries are more obvious than others, and you don’t want to miss a prompt diagnosis for a concussion, traumatic brain injury, or emotional damage.
Step 3: Request the Police Report
Contact the police department to ask for a copy of the police report. The report may or may not capture the full scope of what happened in your personal injury situation. Your lawyer can help you round out the details and build a stronger case, beyond using the police report alone.
Step 4: Gather Evidence
Evidence from the scene of your personal injury accident could strengthen your case considerably. Take photos and videos of where it happened and how you were injured, plus write down any witness contact information.
Step 5: Contact a Louisiana Personal Injury Lawyer
You need a personal injury lawyer who can handle a case in the state of Louisiana. Until you speak to a personal injury lawyer, don’t give any statements or sign documentation. Avoid speaking to anyone about your accident except your doctor, your lawyer, and the police with your lawyer’s guidance.
Step 6: Follow Your Medical and Legal Plans
It’s important to follow your doctor’s orders for your medical treatment. Talk to your personal injury lawyer about your legal options and concerns. Document your medical recovery journey by writing it down in a journal or making a video that shows your daily experience since the accident.
Step 7: Pursue a Successful Personal Injury Claim
Most personal injury cases can be handled out of court through personal injury settlements. Your lawyer can help you conduct negotiations and arrange a settlement or go to court if necessary.
How Louisiana Is Different From Other States
Every state has its own variations on personal injury laws. Here in Louisiana, we have some specific rules that differ from other states so make sure you’re working with accurate information that’s directly from a Louisiana personal injury attorney.
One of the main differences between Louisiana and other states is the length of our statute of limitations on personal injury cases. This is a time limit to start your claim, and it’s just one year from the date of your personal injury in Louisiana. Other states may allow two years or more, so please don’t get confused and assume you have that much time.
Another difference is Louisiana’s status as a “fault” state for insurance claims. Some states, like Texas and Michigan, are “no-fault” states, which means it doesn’t matter who’s at fault and car insurance covers only each of its own drivers. By contrast, it’s very important to establish fault in Louisiana because insurance coverage and liability follow from fault.
Louisiana also differs from other states in that it has maximum award caps for some types of personal injury claims. For example, medical malpractice claims are usually capped at $500,000, which is a limit set by the state legislature to avoid astronomical medical malpractice claims. In some cases that involve the Louisiana Patient Compensation Fund, providers are only required to pay $100,000.
Also, Louisiana uses the pure comparative negligence rule, which is also known as the pure comparative fault rule. This means fault among the parties will be compared and considered, and someone isn’t barred from pursuing compensation simply because they may hold a level of liability. This is good news if you’re concerned that you might share some amount of the blame for the accident. You can likely still pursue compensation.
What Damages Can I Recover?
After a personal injury, you could be facing months of recovery time, plus expensive medical bills, lost paychecks, and deep emotional trauma from the stress of the accident. You deserve to be fully compensated for your damages.
Louisiana personal injury compensation may include:
- Existing medical bills from the personal injury
- Upcoming medical bills for your ongoing treatment and physical therapy
- Past and future lost wages from your time off work to recover
- Your diminished earning capacity due to injuries from the accident
- Costs of treatments like medications, wraps, and crutches
- Household accommodations for disabilities
- Vehicle and property repairs/replacement
- Emotional injuries including mental anguish
- Pain and suffering
- Wrongful death damages
- Funeral/burial expenses
Put a proper and full value on your damages and don’t underestimate the wide-ranging impact on your life. Pain and suffering damages often comprise a significant part of high-value claims, yet most people can’t calculate this aspect without the help of an experienced personal injury lawyer.
How a New Orleans Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help You
Having your personal injury lawyer by your side comes as a relief during the stressful period after your accident. Your lawyer can assess your situation, help you understand the laws that may or may not apply to your case, and guide you through the legal process until you have a full resolution.
A dedicated New Orleans personal injury lawyer looks out for your best interests and best options according to the specifics of your case. This prevents you from accidentally making mistakes and wasting your time on routes to compensation that are unlikely to be successful.
Plus, your lawyer gives you the best possible chance of a full recovery from the trauma of your accident. This minimizes the suffering for you and your family, helping you recover emotionally, physically, and financially.
At Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe, we offer personal injury services like:
- Calculating your personal injury claim’s total value
- Explaining your legal options and finding the best routes to compensation
- Establishing who was at fault in your accident
- Reviewing the existing evidence related to your accident
- Locating additional powerful evidence to strengthen your case
- Documenting your accident and meeting legal deadlines
- Negotiating with difficult people, including insurance representatives
- Looking out for your legal rights after a personal injury
- Keeping your case directed toward a successful resolution
We have a strong track history of securing high-value compensation for our injured and struggling personal injury clients. Let’s get your case moving forward as soon as possible. To discuss your Louisiana personal injury claim, contact Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe, PLLC online for a free consultation or call 504-788-2994.
