Louisiana Personal Injury Overview

Dedicated and Caring Baton Rouge Personal Injury Legal Representation

Most people presume that accidental or intentional personal injury accidents only happen to other people.  However, almost everyone will be involved in some form of accident resulting in injury during their lifetime, which may involve an auto collision, slip and fall accident, medical malpractice error or omission, construction accident or other incident resulting in injury or wrongful death.  These injuries may be caused by the failure of a person to take reasonable care for the safety of others (i.e. negligence) or intentional misconduct.  Almost five million people per year suffer injury caused by unintentional accidents in the U.S. annually according to data from the National Safety Council.  Based on this data, there are approximately 23 people per minute who suffer personal injury in the U.S.

What Is Personal Injury Law?

Louisiana personal injury law refers to the body of law that governs a person’s right to compensation for injuries, property damage or wrongful death caused by the negligent or intentional conduct of another.  Some personal injury law claims involve intentional acts like assault and battery, sexual assault, road rage and other criminal acts, but the more common form of personal injury claim is that caused by carelessness and referred to by the legal term negligence.  Unlike the law in other states, Louisiana has a civil law system based on the Napoleonic Code so Louisiana personal injury law is based on this code and long established custom. 

However, the substance of personal injury law contained in the code and custom in Louisiana has evolved to resemble a fusion with many of the common law personal injury concepts in other states where judges base their decisions on prior judicial decisions.  The difference between Louisiana personal injury law and the law in other states means that a Louisiana personal injury lawyer must consider certain issues like choice of law issues.  For example, appellate courts can only consider legal issues in other states and not reweigh and evaluate the fact finding by the jury.  Because Louisiana appellate judges can consider both the law and facts, this can mean that your Louisiana personal injury attorney must carefully chose the best forum to hear your case.

A personal injury claim or wrongful death claim in Louisiana may be based on negligence, strict liability or intentional conduct.  Under a negligence theory of law in Louisiana, you must prove that another party failed to carry out a duty owed to you or acted in a careless manner that caused personal injury, property damage or wrongful death.  Strict liability may be the basis of a Louisiana personal injury claim if an unsafe or defective product injures you.  While personal injury claims based on intentional conduct may involve assaults or other criminal acts.

Successfully Making a Louisiana Personal Injury Claim

The steps you take immediately following a Louisiana personal injury accident may seriously impact your ability to pursue a successful Louisiana personal injury lawsuit.  The type of accident dictates important steps to take preserve your personal injury claim.

Motor Vehicle Accidents

(Car Crashes, Trucking Accidents, Motorcycle Accidents, Bicycle Accidents,
Bus Collisions, Pedestrian Accidents, Tractor-Trailer Crashes)

Medical Treatment: If you are involved in any motor vehicle accident, it is important to seek medical attention including accepting a ride in an ambulance if the paramedics recommend you do so.  It is important to cooperate with all medical treatment and obtain a full diagnostic exam.  If you follow through on your full course of treatment and do not miss medical appointments, this can help you maximize the value of your claim.

Do Not Admit Fault: Many people make statements at the scene of an accident that seem innocent at the time but later have a negative impact on your Louisiana personal injury claim.  Sometimes after a collision a person will say something like “sorry that you were hurt” or just “I am sorry this happened”.  While these may be simple statements expressing empathy, they may be later taken as admissions of guilt.

Call the Police: It is important that a police report be prepared documenting the accident scene including position of the vehicles, any damage to the vehicles, visible injuries, witness statements and other evidence.  If you believe that the other driver is at-fault, you should carefully detail facts supporting your belief to the police officer so that he can investigate and note physical evidence that supports your theory of fault such as skid marks, angle of the vehicles, the surrounding environment and other factors that may substantiate your personal injury claim.

Preserve and Gather Evidence: You need to get contact and insurance information for the other driver.  If it is safe to do so, you should take pictures of the condition of the vehicles, surrounding scene and any injuries.  A personal injury claim will also be stronger if you do not allow the condition of the vehicles to be changed until pictures have been taken documenting the injuries and gathering names and contact information for witnesses.

Carefully Select a Louisiana Personal Injury Attorney: The television, phone book and Internet are filled with ads for personal injury attorneys but that does not mean that all Louisiana personal injury lawyers are the same.  It is important to carefully investigate before retaining an attorney.  If you have significant injuries, you may have a right to substantial damages to compensate your for skyrocketing medical bills, permanent disability and lifelong loss of ability to engage in ordinary life activities.

It is a good idea to take advantage of your free consultation and ask questions including:

  • How long has the attorney been practicing personal injury law?
  • Has the attorney handled similar types of cases?
  • Does the attorney focus his practice entirely on plaintiff personal injury law?
  • What types of judgments or settlements has the Baton Rouge personal injury attorney obtained in similar cases?
  • What is the law firm’s policy regarding updating clients on case progress and returning telephone calls or emails?
  • Are case inquiries routinely handled by way of email or telephone call?
  • Will you be dealing primarily with a single attorney or will you typically be passed off to staff?

The first meeting with your Baton Rouge personal injury attorney should be treated like you are interviewing someone for a job.  The free initial consultation is designed to give you a chance to evaluate and interview prospective Louisiana personal injury lawyers.

Slip and Fall -- Trip and Fall Accidents

Many of the suggestions above also apply if you are involved in a slip and fall accident or trip and fall.  If your fall occurred on business premises like a store or restaurant or government property, it is important to report the accident.  The best practice is to take pictures of the slip and fall accident scene before any foreign substance or spill is cleaned up.  You should also make sure to get the names of any witnesses or employees that observed the fall or to whom you reported the incident.  If you are asked to fill out an accident report, do not let the employee complete the incident report for you.  The report should be prepared in your own words and include specific reference to factors that you believe contributed to the slip and fall including foreign substances on the floor, poor lighting and failure of the business to put up barriers or warning signs.

Construction Accidents

While many of the tips above apply equally in construction accidents in Baton Rouge or throughout Louisiana, these cases have special complications.  Whether your construction accident is the result of defective machinery, construction worker negligence, failure to obey OSHA safety regulations, a successful construction accident claim requires immediate action to preserve the accident scene.  Construction sites change rapidly meaning evidence and witnesses may rapidly disappear.  While you may be limited to workers’ compensation claim against your employer, you may have right to recover more extensive damages in a personal injury lawsuit against third parties that are responsible for your injuries.

Medical Malpractice

These claims can be among the most difficult to make so it is important to work with a law firm that is very comfortable handling cases involving medical errors or omissions.  An experienced Louisiana medical malpractice attorney will have a medical expert review medical records to evaluate whether you have a viable Louisiana medical malpractice claim.  Questions of causation and the appropriate standard of care exercised by the medical professionals can complicate these cases.  It is never a good idea to rely on an attorney that does not have extensive experienced handling medical malpractice cases when bringing this type of claim.

Our Baton Rouge law firm limits our practice exclusively to personal injury law.  We devote all of our experience, resources and expertise to protecting the best interest of Louisiana personal injury victims.  When your ability to financially recover for your injuries and protect your quality of life hangs in the balance, you cannot afford to rely on a general practice law firm that also handles personal injury claims.  Our law firm devotes 100 percent of our practice to representing Louisiana personal injury claims.  Time is of the essence because there are legal deadlines for initiating Louisiana personal injury claims.

The Baton Rouge personal injury law firm of Koederitz Law Firm, LLC has developed a reputation throughout Louisiana for providing aggressive and compassionate legal representation to personal injury victims.  Call our offices today at (225) 295-9494 to arrange a free initial consultation with a Baton Rouge personal injury attorney.  No Recovery No Fee!