Lafayette Personal Injury Lawyer

Lafayette Personal Injury Attorney

Most people don’t expect a substantial injury to ruin their day or future, but it happens all the time. It can be even more frustrating to know that another party caused your injuries. If you have been injured by someone else’s actions, you might be able to recover compensation for the costly experience of an injury. To learn more about what you might be entitled to in a personal injury case, contact a Lafayette personal injury lawyer.

Dedicated to Our Clients

At the Cox Law Firm, we take pride in standing up for the everyday person. Many personal injury cases must go up against large corporations or powerful individuals, but the attorneys at the Cox Law Firm are up for the challenge. Our firm has helped victims of personal injuries receive the compensation they deserve for 55 years and loves to fight for a worthy cause. Schedule a consultation to learn more about how the Cox Law Firm can help with your case.

What Qualifies as a Personal Injury?

Not every injury legally qualifies as a personal injury. To file a claim for personal injury, you have to prove that the person or party that injured you had a duty of care to you. This applies when someone has a responsibility to care for another person, like driving on public roads, providing medical care, or operating a public-facing business. These parties all have a responsibility to keep others around them safe.

If someone breaches this duty, for any resulting injuries to qualify as personal injuries, their actions must have directly caused your injuries. For example, an individual who gets into a car and injures someone as a result of distracted driving might be held liable in a personal injury case. This can also apply to a doctor failing to diagnose a severe illness or injury, leading to additional complications.

Other situations include a property owner failing to properly maintain their property and someone getting hurt because of it.

These stipulations apply regardless of the motive behind the actions. Even if someone did not mean to hurt you, they can still be held liable by proving that they were negligent. Conversely, if someone intentionally acted in a reckless manner, the case is often considered more severe. In some situations, an individual might be entitled to more damages or sue for punitive damages to make sure that the reckless behavior does not happen again.

What Might I Be Entitled To?

An individual who is a victim of a personal injury in Lafayette might be entitled to compensation in the form of damages. These damages are for different aspects of the injury that affect your life in some way, including:

• Treatment: Many serious injuries require some form of medical treatment, and hospital bills can be expensive. These types of damages can also cover expenses that are indirectly related to your medical treatment, including ambulance rides, medical equipment (like crutches or wheelchairs), new drugs that must be taken to combat an injury or illness, and even physical therapy to make a full or maximal recovery.
• Wages: While some individuals benefit from paid time off that they can use after an injury, others are not as lucky. Some people miss out on pay if they are unable to show up for work due to their injuries. Damages can cover the wages you would have earned if you had not been injured and could have worked.
• Future Earning Capacity: Some severe injuries can result in permanent disability that affects your ability to work in the long term. If this occurs, you could receive damages that compensate for losing your ability to earn money over the course of your life.
• Temporary or Permanent Disability: If an injury is severe enough, it could lead to either temporary or permanent disability. You might be eligible to file for disability through Social Security, but a personal injury claim can help recover damages that cannot be tangibly compensated for, including losing the ability to do the things that you once enjoyed.
• Serious Medical Issues: Some accidents result in injuries so serious that amputations or permanent mutilation might be required. This often causes stress, anxiety, and grief among the victim and their family. The emotions that develop as a result of a serious injury after an accident can often be eligible for monetary compensation in a personal injury claim.
• Pain and Suffering: Other forms of pain and suffering can also be recovered through a personal injury claim. Even if your injuries did not lead to disability or disfigurement, it can still cause trauma and anguish. These types of damages are often called non-economic damages.
• Wrongful Death: If a loved one unfortunately passed away as a result of their injuries, it might be possible to receive compensation for their unexpected funeral. The family could also seek compensation to remunerate the family for the late victim’s permanent absence from their lives. If the victim was an income earner for the household, a claim can also recover some of the wages they would have received if not for their death.

There are many different aspects of a personal injury case, so some people might be eligible for different damages in different amounts than others. This is one reason why speaking with an attorney about your injuries is so important. They can review your case to determine what damages you might actually be entitled to. They also have the knowledge and experience to calculate an estimated amount that you could receive.

What Are Some Common Types of Personal Injuries?

In Louisiana and elsewhere, there are many types of incidents and accidents that can lead to personal injuries. Some of these include the following:

Car Accidents

Sometimes, car accidents end up as a simple fender bender. Other times, the victims of a car accident aren’t so lucky. This is especially the case if individuals are speeding, driving while distracted, or driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Every driver on the road has a duty to keep other drivers and passengers safe by engaging in safe driving practices. If they do not do this and injure others as a result, they might be liable for a personal injury claim.

Louisiana follows comparative negligence in car accidents and other personal injury cases. This means that, even if multiple people were to blame in an accident, it is still possible for the one who was least at fault to recover damages. Even if you were somewhat to blame, it might still be helpful to contact a personal injury attorney to check if you are entitled to any damages.

Filing a personal injury claim might be necessary if the other driver did not have car insurance or was underinsured. Most car insurance policies have coverage limits that restrict the amount of money you can recover from an insurance policy after an accident. If your injuries deserve a higher damage amount than what an insurance company is willing to pay out, it might be prudent to file a civil claim.

Rideshare Accidents

There are often complications in accidents with rideshare vehicles. If an accident occurs with a rideshare vehicle, there might be different coverage and policy limits, depending on the driver’s auto insurance and the rideshare app’s policies. Determining fault in these situations can be difficult, so it is usually most helpful to hire an attorney to negotiate with insurance companies and rideshare staff to seek a fair settlement.

Truck Accidents

Another form of personal injury that can be more difficult to resolve is a vehicle accident with a large truck or 18-wheeler. Due to the size and force that a large truck can have on other vehicles, these types of accidents usually result in more severe injuries than your typical car accident. This means that personal injury claims can be incredibly helpful in recovering damages for these types of situations.

Commercial vehicles, like large trucks, have multiple forms of ownership and multiple parties that might be liable, depending on the type of accident. If the truck failed due to neglecting to maintain it, that could be the fault of the mechanic, the trucking company, or the driver, depending on the type of failure and whose responsibility it was to check it.

The company that the driver is employed under can also have a large role in a trucking accident. Even though there are strict laws that denote how long truck drivers must take breaks and rest, some companies try to pressure drivers to take reduced breaks to get cargo to its destination on time. If the accident was caused by driver fatigue, it might be the fault of the parent company that prevented them from taking adequate breaks.

Another common issue seen in large trucking accidents involves the drivers themselves. There are many instances in which a driver is intoxicated on the clock and driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. They might have also loaded their truck improperly, leading to imbalanced freight that gives the entire vehicle a greater risk of falling over. There are often many parties involved in a trucking accident, so determining fault can be difficult without legal assistance.

Motorcycle and Pedestrian Accidents

Accidents involving motorcycles or pedestrians can also be devastating because these individuals have less protection on the road. They are also smaller than the average vehicle, which can lead to more accidents if drivers are not careful and do not survey their entire surroundings.

In the event of a collision with a motorcyclist or a pedestrian that leads to death, the family of the victim could still file a wrongful death claim. This can compensate for funeral expenses and medical expenses that were incurred before the victim died. It can also help compensate for the victim’s lost earnings as well as the emotional effects of their death and how it impacts their family.

Animal Attacks

There are also many personal injury claims filed for attacks from an animal. These are most commonly seen with dog bites, but they can also occur with cats and other domesticated animals. Just because you were bitten by another individual’s dog does not necessarily mean that you are entitled to damages. In most cases, the owner must have known that their dog was dangerous and neglected to properly restrain them before the bite occurred.

Dog bites occur in a wide variety of circumstances and can be difficult to prove in the context of a personal injury claim. An attorney can review the situation in which the dog bite occurred, determine who was at fault, and develop a personalized plan to recover damages if you are eligible for them.

Work Injuries

Most employees can file for workers’ compensation if they are injured at their place of work. To file for workers’ compensation, the victim must follow strict deadlines; otherwise, they might miss out on their benefits. An attorney can help gather medical records and employment documents to send to a workers’ compensation insurance company. They can prove that your injuries occurred at work so that you can receive compensation.

In some rare instances, a personal injury claim could be involved in addition to a workers’ compensation claim, especially if there was a third party involved in your injuries. For example, a third party was responsible for the maintenance of your workplace, but they failed to properly perform their duties in a way that led to injury. In that situation, you might be able to recover damages from that third party.

Maritime Accidents

Individuals employed in the maritime industry are usually subject to different rules regarding compensation for workplace injuries. Instead of workers’ compensation, they might qualify under the Jones Act or the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, depending on the type of employee they are classified as. These laws have different requirements and deadlines than traditional workers’ compensation.

An attorney who is experienced in maritime law can provide detailed guidance for individuals filing these types of claims. These claims often have different rules and require different types of evidence to prove an injury, which makes having a maritime injury attorney important when navigating the aftermath of a maritime accident.

Construction Accidents

Finally, construction accidents can also lead to complicated personal injury claims for multiple reasons. The injuries sustained in a construction accident might not be evident until years after the injuries occur, especially when they involve exposure to hazardous materials like lead or asbestos. This can make receiving compensation more difficult, as these illnesses can be harder to prove the longer they go untreated.

The construction industry also features a lot of different companies working on the same project, so one injury could have multiple liable parties. Even bystanders might be involved in the accident. Consulting an attorney after a construction accident can clear up the complicated nature of a construction personal injury claim.

FAQs for Personal Injury Attorneys

How Long Does a Personal Injury Claim Take in Louisiana?

A personal injury claim can take anywhere from a few months to a few years. The exact timeline varies based on many factors, including the severity of the accident and injuries, who is determined to be at fault, and how many parties are involved. Certain claims might take longer than others if it is necessary for them to go to court, but most claims are resolved before going to trial. For more information on how long a case might take, speak with a personal injury lawyer.

What Counts as a Personal Injury?

For an event to count as a personal injury, another party must have had what is called a duty of care. This means that they must have been responsible for protecting you. Then, they must have breached this duty due to either negligence or recklessness in a way that directly caused your injury. These concepts can be difficult for an individual without legal experience to prove, so it is a good idea to seek legal representation for assistance in a personal injury claim.

What Are Personal Injury Damages in Louisiana?

There are many different types of personal injury damages in Louisiana. Many are considered to be economic damages and are meant to help the victim financially recover from the costs of an injury. These include medical expenses and wages to replace the time that an individual had to take off work due to their injuries. There are also non-economic damages that are meant to compensate for the emotional distress and trauma associated with the accident.

Is There a Limit to the Amount of Damages I Can Receive?

The limit to the amount of damages you can receive in a personal injury claim depends on the type of injury. There are some that have caps on certain types of damages. Some types of claims, however, do not have caps. For more information on damage caps and how they might apply to your personal injury claim, speak with a personal injury attorney. They can calculate your damages and give you a detailed estimate of how much you might be eligible to receive.

Rely on the Professionals

At the Cox Law Firm, we understand how scary it can be to try to heal after an injury while worrying about how you will financially recover. We aim to provide peace and security to our clients so that they can heal with as little stress as possible. To learn more about how the Cox Law Firm can help you find relief after a personal injury claim, schedule a consultation with us today.