Personal Injury Attorney
Baton Rouge, LA
Baton Rouge & Surrounding Parishes, LA Personal Injury Attorney
Skilled and Experienced Baton Rouge Lawyer
Representing Victims in North and South Louisiana.
If you have been seriously injured in any kind of accident, more than likely, frustrating hurdles will be ahead of you. You may not be able to work. You may have rising medical bills. You may not be able to drive your car or you may just be in a lot of unbearable pain. If this is the case, you should not go down this road alone. Due to the accident, you have already experienced some type of trauma to yourself. You should not have to experience another trauma in trying to rectify your situation.
This is where the May Law Firm comes in. Experience, knowledge and fight is what I will bring to your case in order to protect your rights. You deserve an attorney who cares about you and you loved ones’ well-being. You deserve to be adequately compensated for the wrong that you have experienced and the pain that you have suffered.
TYPES OF CASES
Car, truck, 18-wheeler and motorcycle accidents, including drunk driving and distracted driving accidents.
Pedestrian accidents (victims hit by a car while walking).
Bicycle accidents.
Premises liability accidents, including slip and fall, dog bites, injuries at stores and restaurants and negligent security.
Products liability, including defective products and devices. This could be due to a design defect, a manufacturing defect or marketing defect.
Construction site accidents, including falls and burns.
Wrongful death and survival actions.
QUICK INFORMATION
Not Meant As Legal Advice
What Should You Do After an Accident or Injury?
There are several important steps to take. Above all, you want to make sure that you and others are safe and that injuries are promptly addressed.
Seek medical attention. Even if your injuries seem minor, it’s important to get checked out by a doctor as soon as possible. If your injuries are serious, emergency medical personnel may treat you at the accident scene or take you to the hospital for further evaluation. Do not refuse their help.
Take pictures and video. There is often no better evidence of how your accident happened than pictures and video. Get shots of the entire accident scene, your injuries and any vehicles or equipment involved.
Gather information. Get the names and contact information of any witnesses. If you are in a car accident, get the name and insurance information of the at-fault party. If you have a camera or smartphone, you can also take pictures of their driver’s license and insurance card.
Preserve evidence. Obtain medical records from your treatment immediately after the accident and ongoing care. Keep records of any insurance correspondence you receive as well.
Keep a personal injury journal. Sometimes the best evidence of your injuries and how they affect your life comes from your own words. Every day, write in your journal and describe your pain levels, the activities you could or could not do, and how your injuries affect your mental state.
Fault in Personal Injury Lawsuit Cases
In any personal injury lawsuit, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant is liable for their injuries. This means showing that they were negligent or otherwise at fault for the accident. You can establish liability in several ways, but the most common is by proving negligence.
Negligence is failing to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances. In other words, the defendant failed to act as a reasonable person would have in the same situation. To prove negligence, you must show:
The defendant owed you a duty of care
They breached that duty
Their breach caused your injuries
The key question in any personal injury case is whether the defendant was negligent. This is often a difficult question to answer and depends on the specific facts of the case. For example, if you were injured in a car accident, was the defendant speeding or driving recklessly? If you were injured by a defective product, was the product defectively designed or manufactured? These are just some questions a court will consider when determining liability.
When Two or More People Are at Fault
In some personal injury cases, there is more than one defendant. This can happen when two or more people are negligent and their negligence contributes to the plaintiff’s injuries.
Chain reaction car accidents are a common example of this. If Driver B is going too fast and cannot stop in time, hitting Driver A, they are at fault. But if Driver C is also going to fast and plows into Driver B, causing B’s car to hit car A again, causing further injuries to the driver, both Driver B and Driver C might be at fault. In this situation, a percent of fault is assigned to all the negligent parties.
Respondeat Superior
Under respondeat superior, an employer can be held liable for the negligence of their employees if that negligence occurred while the employee was working within the scope of their employment. For example, if you were injured in a car accident caused by a delivery driver who was making deliveries for their employer at the time of the accident, you could sue both the driver and their employer.
However, there are some exceptions to respondeat superior. An employer will not be held liable if the employee was not acting within the scope of their employment at the time of the accident. For example, if a delivery driver caused a car accident while they were off duty, the employer would not be liable for the accident, even if the driver was in a company vehicle.
When You Are Partly at Fault
There are two approaches to a situation when a plaintiff bears some of the fault for an accident. Each state has its own laws about this.
Contributory negligence is a legal doctrine that says a plaintiff can’t recover damages if they are partially responsible for their own injuries. For example, if you are hit by a car while walking across the street, but you were also crossing the street illegally, the court may find that you are contributorily negligent and completely bar you from any recovery.
Comparative negligence is a legal doctrine that says the financial recovery for an injured person is reduced by their share of fault in the accident. For example, if you are hit by a car while walking across the street, and the court finds that you are 30 percent responsible for the accident, your financial recovery will be reduced by 30 percent. Modified comparative negligence is an approach that says the plaintiff cannot collect unless they are less than 50% responsible for the accident.
What Is a Statute of Limitations?
A statute of limitations (known as prescription in Louisiana) is a law that says how long you have to file a personal injury lawsuit after an accident. The time limit usually starts from the day of the accident. For example, you would have one (1) year to file a personal injury lawsuit if you were injured in a car accident. In other types of injuries, the clock might start running when you realize you were hurt or should have realized you were hurt, such as if you were injured by a drug you were taking.
What Is Pain and Suffering?
Pain and suffering is one of the most common types of noneconomic damages personal injury victims seek. It’s the physical and emotional anguish you experience because of your injuries. This can include physical pain, mental suffering, disability, disfigurement and more.
These damages are difficult to determine because there’s no inherent dollar value associated with them. But they can often provide injured people with substantial financial recovery to help them get through a traumatic injury and recovery process. An attorney can provide an estimate of what you could expect to recover based on similar cases.
Benefits of getting personal injury attorney in Baton Rouge, LA
A personal injury lawyer can help you get compensation for your injuries. If you have been injured and someone else is at fault, then a personal injury lawyer can help you recover money to pay for medical bills, lost wages and other expenses resulting from the accident.
A good personal injury attorney will be familiar with the laws in Baton Rouge, LA regarding liability and compensation for injuries stemming from car accidents, slip-and-fall incidents or any other types of accidents that result in physical harm. They will know how much time they have to file a claim against another party who is responsible for someone’s injuries or death due to negligence on their part (such as if they installed faulty wiring or failed to properly maintain their premises).
They also know how much evidence needs to be gathered before filing any lawsuits so that there are no surprises later down the line when it comes time for trial proceedings — which could prolong your case indefinitely if not handled properly during discovery proceedings by both sides involved.