Frequently Asked Questions
When an accident occurs in New Orleans and you’re left with injuries as a result, suing the party responsible for the accident may be the only way to avoid financial distress and recover quickly. If you aren’t familiar with the legal process, however, moving forward with a lawsuit can feel daunting.You may deserve a settlement for what you’ve been through, and with a strong team of attorneys by your side, you’ll feel more at ease as you move forward with your case. We’ve answered some of the most frequently asked questions below regarding personal injury lawsuits, but if you have further questions, you can reach out to a New Orleans personal injury lawyer from Smiley Injury Law.
The statute of limitations for personal injury claims in Louisiana is two years. You must contact a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible to ensure you file on time and protect your rights. If you miss the deadline, you may have no recourse to obtain the damages you deserve.
Louisiana’s comparative negligence law determines how fault affects your compensation after an accident.
Current Rule (through December 31, 2025): Louisiana follows pure comparative fault. You can recover damages even if you’re mostly at fault—your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault. For example, if you’re 70% at fault, you can still recover 30% of your damages.
New Rule (effective January 1, 2026): Louisiana shifts to modified comparative fault under Act 15 of 2025:
- If you’re 51% or more at fault, you cannot recover any damages
- If you’re 50% or less at fault, you can recover damages reduced by your percentage of fault
Louisiana doesn’t regulate the amount you can receive in an injury claim unless the claim is for medical malpractice. Your attorney must account for all your economic and non-economic damages so you can recover the full amount you’re owed.
It depends. Although we try to settle most cases before trial, we may have to take your case to court if the defendant refuses to offer you the settlement you deserve.
A contingency fee is a method of payment that doesn’t require you to pay upfront for legal services. Our attorney fees are contingent upon us recovering compensation for you. We’ll discuss the contingency fee before moving forward with your case. This fee is usually a percentage of the settlement or court award we obtain on your behalf. Once we successfully resolve your case, you’ll pay us the agreed-upon percentage.
Louisiana has a pure comparative negligence law that allows all victims in accidents to file claims for damages they’ve suffered, regardless of whether they’ve shared fault in the accident. You can obtain a settlement for your damages; however, the court will deduct your percentage of fault from your settlement.
For example, if you were texting while driving when another driver ran into you, you will likely share a portion of fault for your car accident, even if you weren’t the primary cause of the collison.
We try to settle all cases in the pretrial phase, but depending on whether the defendant cooperates and agrees to settle for the amount you deserve, a case can go to trial. If we believe trial is necessary to win you the settlement you deserve, we’ll negotiate on your behalf in court.
You can recover both economic damages and non-economic damages. Economic damages are your financial losses, and non-economic damages are your nonfinancial losses.
Our firm works on a contingency fee basis, meaning we don’t charge for our services upfront. Our fee will be agreed upon ahead of time, and it will be a percentage of the settlement we win for you.
While not legally required, hiring an experienced car accident attorney significantly increases your compensation. Studies show represented claimants receive substantially higher settlements than those who negotiate alone, even after attorney fees—plus you avoid insurance company tactics and legal mistakes.
Insurance companies have teams of adjusters, lawyers, and investigators working to minimize what they pay you. They use this experience and resources against unrepresented claimants. Attorneys understand Louisiana law, insurance policy interpretation, evidence gathering, medical documentation requirements, and negotiation strategies. We handle all communication with insurers, meet critical deadlines, accurately value your claim including future damages, and aren’t afraid to take cases to trial when necessary. Most car accident attorneys work on contingency fees, meaning you pay nothing unless you win.'
Louisiana requires uninsured motorist (UM) coverage as part of auto insurance policies. This coverage compensates you when hit by uninsured drivers. Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage applies when the at-fault driver’s insurance is insufficient to cover your damages.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, approximately 12% of Louisiana drivers are uninsured despite legal requirements. Your UM/UIM coverage steps in as if it were the at-fault driver’s insurance. If you rejected this coverage in writing, you may still have options including pursuing the at-fault driver personally, though collecting can be difficult if they lack assets. This is one reason why carrying adequate UM/UIM coverage is crucial.
Most car accident cases settle within three to eighteen months, but timelines vary significantly based on injury severity, treatment duration, liability disputes, insurance company cooperation, and whether litigation becomes necessary. Complex cases involving catastrophic injuries may take longer.
Simple cases with clear liability, minor injuries, and cooperative insurance companies may settle in a few months. However, you shouldn’t settle until you’ve completed treatment or reached maximum medical improvement, so your attorney can accurately value all damages including future medical needs. Cases requiring litigation generally take longer, as the court system has its own timeline for discovery, motions, and trial scheduling. Your attorney balances the need for fair compensation against the desire for quick resolution.
No. Initial settlement offers are typically far below your claim’s true value, made before you know the full extent of your injuries and future medical needs. Never accept an offer without consulting an experienced car accident attorney first.
Insurance adjusters contact victims quickly, often within days of accidents, with settlement offers that seem substantial. These quick offers serve the insurance company’s interests, not yours. They’re designed to close your claim before you understand your injuries’ full impact, need for future treatment, or total financial losses. Once you accept and sign a release, you cannot pursue additional compensation even if your injuries worsen or require more treatment than anticipated.
Louisiana’s pure comparative fault system allows you to recover damages even if you’re partially at fault, but your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault. If you’re 30% at fault, you recover 70% of total damages.
For example, if your total damages are $100,000 and you’re found 20% at fault, you would recover $80,000. This differs from some states that bar recovery if you’re more than 50% at fault. Louisiana’s system means almost every injured person has a potential claim worth pursuing. Insurance companies often try to shift more blame to victims to reduce payouts. An experienced attorney protects you from unfair fault allocation by gathering evidence proving the other driver’s negligence.
Louisiana’s statute of limitations gives you one year from the accident date to file a personal injury lawsuit under Louisiana Civil Code Article 3492. This is one of the shortest deadlines in the United States, making immediate legal consultation critical to protecting your rights.
This one-year deadline is strictly enforced. If you miss it, you’ll typically lose your right to pursue compensation through the courts forever, regardless of how strong your case might be. Limited exceptions exist for cases involving minors, mental incapacity, or when the at-fault party leaves Louisiana. Additionally, property damage claims have a different deadline. Don’t risk your rights—contact an attorney as soon as possible after your accident.
Case value depends on injury severity, medical treatment costs, lost income, pain and suffering, permanent impairment, liability clarity, available insurance coverage, and your attorney’s negotiation skills. Each case is unique—contact Smiley Injury Law for a free evaluation of your specific situation and potential compensation.
Average settlements vary widely from a few thousand dollars for minor soft tissue injuries to millions for catastrophic injuries involving permanent disability. Factors affecting your case value include the extent and permanence of your injuries, total medical expenses (past and future), amount of lost wages and diminished earning capacity, degree of pain and suffering, impact on daily life and relationships, strength of liability evidence, and insurance policy limits available.
Lane splitting is illegal in Louisiana. If you were riding between lanes of traffic when the accident occurred, insurance companies will argue comparative fault that reduces your compensation. However, you can still recover damages reduced by your fault percentage under Louisiana’s comparative fault system.
Even if you were lane splitting, the other driver may still bear primary responsibility for the accident. For example, if a driver changed lanes without checking mirrors and struck you, their negligence was the primary cause regardless of your lane position. Your attorney must demonstrate how the other driver’s actions caused the accident and minimize arguments about your comparative fault. The key is proving that the other driver’s negligence was more significant than any riding behavior on your part. Honest discussion with your attorney about the circumstances allows proper case evaluation and strategy.';
Yes. You can recover the full value of your motorcycle including custom parts, modifications, and aftermarket accessories, plus damaged riding gear like helmet, jacket, gloves, boots, and other equipment destroyed in the accident.
Insurance companies often try to pay only base model values for custom bikes, ignoring thousands of dollars in modifications and accessories. Proper documentation is crucial: keep receipts for parts and labor, photographs of your bike before the accident, expert appraisals of your motorcycle’s value, and documentation of all damaged gear. Your attorney ensures insurance companies pay full replacement value for everything destroyed. For vintage or rare motorcycles, expert appraisers may be necessary to establish true value. Don’t accept lowball property damage offers—your bike’s value is an important part of your total compensation.
Louisiana’s statute of limitations gives you one year from the accident date to file a personal injury lawsuit under Louisiana Civil Code Article 3492. This is one of the shortest deadlines in the United States, making immediate legal consultation critical.
This one-year deadline is strictly enforced with few exceptions. Missing it typically means losing your right to pursue compensation through the courts forever, regardless of how severe your injuries or how clear the other driver’s fault. Property damage claims may have different deadlines. While most cases settle without filing lawsuits, having an attorney early ensures preservation of your litigation rights if negotiations fail. Don’t wait months to seek legal advice—evidence disappears, witnesses’ memories fade, and approaching the deadline weakens your negotiating position. Contact an attorney immediately after your accident.
Drunk driving strengthens your case significantly. Intoxicated drivers who cause accidents face criminal prosecution and civil liability. You can recover compensatory damages for all injuries and losses, and Louisiana courts may award punitive damages to punish the drunk driver and deter similar conduct.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drunk driving kills thousands annually. Louisiana prohibits driving with blood alcohol content of 0.08% or higher under Louisiana DUI laws. Criminal conviction for DUI provides strong evidence of negligence in civil cases. Drunk driving cases often involve higher insurance policy limits, and if the driver was visibly intoxicated when served alcohol, you might have claims against the establishment that served them under Louisiana’s dram shop laws. Punitive damages in drunk driving cases can substantially increase your total compensation beyond compensatory damages.
Proving fault requires evidence including police reports documenting violations and fault determinations, witness statements corroborating your version of events, traffic camera or surveillance footage showing the collision, accident reconstruction analysis, vehicle damage patterns consistent with your account, and violations of traffic laws like failure to yield or distracted driving.
Louisiana law requires drivers to exercise reasonable care toward motorcyclists and yield right-of-way appropriately. Common evidence of driver fault includes failure to check blind spots before lane changes, turning left in front of oncoming motorcycles without yielding, following too closely and rear-ending stopped motorcycles, distracted driving proven by phone records, and violating traffic control devices. Your attorney investigates thoroughly to gather all available evidence, consult experts when necessary, and present compelling proof of the other driver’s negligence while refuting any suggestions that you were at fault.
Louisiana requires all motorcycle riders to wear helmets under Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:190. Not wearing a helmet doesn’t automatically bar compensation but may reduce your recovery through comparative fault if injuries would have been less severe with proper helmet use.
Insurance companies will argue that failure to wear a helmet contributed to your injuries, particularly head and brain injuries. However, helmets don’t prevent all injuries—many motorcycle accident injuries affect the body, limbs, and internal organs unprotected by helmets. Your attorney must demonstrate which injuries the helmet wouldn’t have prevented and prove the other driver’s negligence was the primary cause. Even if you face some comparative fault for helmet non-use, Louisiana’s pure comparative fault system under Louisiana Civil Code Article 2323 allows you to recover damages reduced by your fault percentage.
Motorcycle accident case value depends on injury severity, medical treatment costs, permanent disability, lost income, pain and suffering, property damage, liability strength, and insurance coverage available. Severe injuries common in motorcycle crashes often result in higher compensation than typical car accidents due to greater damages.
Values range from tens of thousands for moderate injuries to millions for catastrophic injuries with permanent disability. Factors affecting your case include the extent and permanence of injuries, total medical expenses including future care needs, lost earning capacity if you cannot return to your profession, degree of pain and disfigurement, impact on your quality of life and ability to ride, clarity of the other driver’s liability, available insurance policy limits, and whether punitive damages apply. Multiple severe injuries common in motorcycle accidents typically warrant higher compensation than single injuries.
Delayed reporting makes cases more difficult but doesn’t prevent recovery when you have other evidence proving your fall and the hazardous condition. Photograph the dangerous condition as soon as possible, seek immediate medical care documenting injuries, and report the incident as quickly as you can.
Explain any reason for delayed reporting—shock, pain, or immediate medical transport can justify why you didn’t report instantly. Witnesses, medical records, and scene evidence can overcome reporting delays, though prompt reporting always strengthens claims.
Yes, slip-and-fall cases involve complex premises liability law, difficult proof requirements, and sophisticated insurance company defenses. Property owners and insurance carriers have experienced attorneys working to minimize your compensation.
Without legal representation, you’ll likely receive inadequate settlement offers or claim denials. Smiley Injury Law handles slip-and-fall cases on contingency—you pay no attorney fees unless we recover compensation—so there’s no financial risk in getting experienced legal representation that maximizes your recovery.
You can recover past and future medical expenses, lost wages, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and potentially punitive damages when property owners demonstrated reckless disregard for safety.
Economic damages include all financial losses from injury date through your lifetime. Non-economic damages compensate intangible harms like chronic pain, disability, and life disruption. Louisiana doesn’t cap damages in slip-and-fall cases, allowing full compensation for serious injuries.
Yes, landlords have duties to maintain common areas like stairways, hallways, parking lots, and building entrances in safe condition. They must repair known hazards, conduct reasonable inspections to discover developing dangers, and provide adequate lighting and security.
Lease agreements cannot waive these safety duties. You can sue landlords for slip-and-falls in common areas, though accidents inside your individual apartment unit face higher proof requirements unless you reported hazards and landlords failed to repair them.
Property owners commonly argue victims should have seen and avoided hazards, but this defense rarely eliminates recovery completely. You can recover even if somewhat inattentive when hazards weren’t obvious, lighting was inadequate, or dangerous conditions existed in areas where visitors reasonably expect safe walking surfaces.
We prove hazards were concealed, camouflaged by surroundings, or located where visitors shouldn’t need to constantly watch for dangers. Comparative fault may reduce recovery but doesn’t prevent compensation when owner negligence substantially caused your accident.
Slip-and-fall cases typically resolve in 12-24 months depending on injury severity, liability disputes, and whether trial becomes necessary. Simple cases with clear liability and moderate injuries may settle within 8-12 months.
Complex cases involving serious injuries, disputed liability, or multiple defendants often take 18-30 months. We work efficiently while ensuring thoroughness that maximizes compensation—rushing settlements often means leaving money on the table when future medical needs and long-term impacts aren’t fully understood.
Report your fall to property management immediately and request written incident documentation. Photograph the hazardous condition, surrounding area, lighting, and any warning signs from multiple angles.
Collect witness contact information. Seek medical evaluation even if injuries seem minor—some serious conditions have delayed symptoms. Preserve shoes and clothing worn during your fall. Don’t sign any documents or provide recorded statements to insurance adjusters without attorney consultation. Contact Smiley Injury Law as soon as possible to protect your rights.
Yes, Louisiana’s comparative fault law allows recovery even when you share some blame, as long as your fault doesn’t exceed the property owner’s negligence.
Your compensation gets reduced by your percentage of fault. For example, if you’re found 20% at fault and damages total $100,000, you recover $80,000. Property owners often argue victim inattention or inappropriate footwear contributed to falls, but you can still win substantial compensation when property hazards were the primary cause.
Louisiana’s 2-year prescription period requires filing slip-and-fall lawsuits within one year from your accident date.
This deadline is strictly enforced—missing it typically eliminates your right to compensation regardless of injury severity or clear owner negligence. Some circumstances may slightly extend this deadline, but you should consult an attorney immediately after any slip-and-fall accident to protect your rights and preserve evidence before it disappears.
Trucking companies often claim drivers violated company policies to shift liability away from the company. However, companies may still be liable for negligent hiring, supervision, or retention if they knew or should have known the driver was dangerous, or for creating a corporate culture that pressures drivers to violate safety rules.
This defense strategy attempts to portray rogue drivers acting against company interests. However, investigation often reveals companies knew about driver violations, failed to properly discipline drivers, created unrealistic delivery schedules that forced safety violations, or had systemic safety problems. Even with written policies prohibiting violations, companies may be liable for negligently hiring drivers with poor records, failing to monitor driver compliance, tolerating ongoing violations, or creating economic pressure that makes violation necessary. Evidence of widespread safety violations across the fleet demonstrates inadequate training and supervision.
Immediately. Trucking companies may destroy or recycle critical electronic data within days or weeks after accidents unless legally required to preserve it. Our attorneys send spoliation letters within hours of accidents demanding preservation of electronic logging devices, black box data, dash cam footage, maintenance records, and other crucial evidence.
Federal regulations require most electronic data to be retained for only six months, and some data is automatically overwritten in shorter periods. Driver logs, dispatch communications, GPS tracking, and maintenance records may be destroyed during routine business operations. Additionally, trucks are often quickly repaired or returned to service, eliminating physical evidence. Immediate attorney involvement preserves evidence through legal demand letters, obtains court orders if necessary, and ensures crucial proof of liability isn’t lost. Waiting even days can result in permanent loss of critical evidence that would prove the trucking company’s negligence.
You can sue both the truck driver and the trucking company. Louisiana law holds employers vicariously liable for employee negligence, and trucking companies may be directly liable for negligent hiring, inadequate training, pushing drivers to violate safety regulations, failing to maintain vehicles, or other corporate negligence.
Suing both the driver and company is crucial because individual drivers rarely have sufficient assets or insurance to cover catastrophic injuries, while trucking companies carry substantial commercial insurance policies. Additionally, companies may be liable for their own corporate negligence beyond the driver’s actions, including hiring drivers with poor safety records, failing to properly train drivers, pressuring drivers to violate hours of service regulations to meet deadlines, neglecting vehicle maintenance to cut costs, and falsifying safety records. Corporate liability often provides access to larger insurance policies and punitive damages.
Truck accident cases involve federal regulations governing the trucking industry, multiple potentially liable parties beyond just the driver, substantially higher insurance policy limits requiring more aggressive litigation, catastrophic injuries warranting larger compensation, corporate defendants with experienced legal teams and extensive resources, and technical evidence requiring expert analysis.
Unlike typical car accidents handled with simple police reports and insurance negotiations, truck accidents require analysis of electronic logging device data, black box downloads, maintenance records, driver qualification files, hours of service compliance, cargo securement, and compliance with dozens of federal safety regulations. Multiple parties including trucking companies, owners, leasing companies, maintenance providers, cargo loaders, and manufacturers may share liability. Commercial truck insurance policies are 10-100 times larger than standard auto policies, meaning insurers fight much harder to minimize payouts. Trucking companies deploy experienced defense attorneys immediately after serious accidents to minimize liability and preserve their corporate interests.
Louisiana’s statute of limitations gives you one year from the accident date to file personal injury lawsuits under Louisiana Civil Code Article 3492. This is one of the shortest deadlines in the United States, making immediate legal consultation absolutely critical.
This one-year deadline is strictly enforced with very limited exceptions. Missing it typically means permanently losing your right to pursue compensation through the courts, regardless of how catastrophic your injuries or clear the trucking company’s liability. Given the complexity of truck accident cases requiring extensive investigation, document review, expert analysis, and often lengthy negotiations before litigation, starting early is essential. Don’t wait months to seek legal counsel—evidence disappears, witnesses become unavailable, and approaching the deadline severely weakens your negotiating position.
Truck accident case value depends on injury severity, permanent disability extent, medical treatment costs, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, number of liable parties, available insurance coverage, and strength of liability evidence. Catastrophic injuries common in truck accidents typically warrant compensation ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.
Factors affecting case value include the extent and permanence of injuries (brain injuries, paralysis, and amputations warrant highest compensation), total medical expenses including projected lifetime care costs, lost income and reduced earning capacity if unable to return to work, degree of pain, disfigurement, and disability, impact on quality of life and daily activities, number of dependents affected by injuries, available insurance coverage (commercial truck policies typically range from $750,000 to $5 million or more), clarity of trucking company negligence, and whether punitive damages apply for gross negligence.
A catastrophic injury is one that causes permanent disability, disfigurement, or impairment significantly altering your life, typically preventing you from working or living independently.
Examples include spinal cord injuries causing paralysis, traumatic brain injuries with lasting cognitive impairments, severe burns covering large body areas, amputations, multiple severe fractures causing permanent mobility loss, and organ damage requiring transplants or lifelong treatment. These injuries differ from typical personal injuries because they never fully heal, require extensive ongoing medical care, prevent returning to previous employment, and fundamentally change every aspect of daily living. Louisiana courts recognize catastrophic injuries as deserving substantially higher compensation than minor injuries due to their permanent, life-altering nature and the extraordinary lifetime costs they create for victims and families.
Catastrophic injury cases often settle or result in verdicts ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, depending on injury severity, age, earning capacity, and life care costs.
Your specific case value depends on multiple factors including the extent of your permanent disabilities, your age when injured (younger victims have longer periods needing care), your previous income and career prospects, your complete lifetime medical needs documented in life care plans, the degree of pain and suffering you endure, how dramatically your quality of life declined, and the strength of evidence proving defendant liability. Spinal cord injury cases regularly exceed $5-10 million due to lifetime care costs. Severe traumatic brain injuries in young professionals often produce multi-million dollar verdicts. Even lower catastrophic injury settlements typically reach six figures. We provide honest case value assessments after reviewing your specific circumstances, injuries, and damages.
Louisiana requires filing personal injury lawsuits within one year from the injury date, though some exceptions may extend this deadline in specific circumstances.
This one-year prescription period is strictly enforced, and missing it typically means losing your right to compensation entirely regardless of how severe your catastrophic injuries are. Some circumstances that may extend the deadline include injuries to minors (prescription may not begin until age 18), defendants fraudulently concealing their role in causing injuries, or delayed discovery of the full injury extent in some medical malpractice cases. However, you should never rely on exceptions—consult a catastrophic injury attorney immediately to protect your rights. For wrongful death cases when catastrophic injuries prove fatal, family members generally have one year from the death date. You can learn more about Louisiana prescription periods from the Louisiana State Legislature at legis.la.gov.
Catastrophic injury cases typically take 18 months to four years to resolve due to their complexity, though some settle faster while others require more time.
Simple cases with clear liability and cooperative insurance companies may settle within 12-18 months. Complex cases involving disputed liability, multiple defendants, extensive medical treatment still ongoing, or insurance companies refusing fair offers often take two to four years or longer. Catastrophic injury cases take longer than typical injury claims because we must wait until your medical condition stabilizes to accurately assess lifetime needs, life care plans require months to prepare properly, extensive expert evaluations and reports take time, and insurance companies defend these high-value cases aggressively. We work efficiently while ensuring thoroughness that maximizes your compensation—rushing your catastrophic injury case could mean leaving millions of dollars on the table by underestimating your future needs.
Yes, Louisiana law allows spouses to pursue loss of consortium claims for compensation addressing how your catastrophic injury damaged your marital relationship.
Loss of consortium damages compensate your spouse for loss of companionship, affection, sexual relations, emotional support, and the partnership you previously shared before your catastrophic injury. When you become paralyzed, brain injured, or otherwise catastrophically injured, your spouse often becomes a caregiver rather than a partner, watches you suffer daily, and must adjust to a completely different marital relationship than expected. These losses warrant substantial compensation separate from your own damages. In some cases involving severe injuries to children, parents may also pursue claims for loss of their child’s companionship and society. Family members cannot typically recover for their own emotional distress unless they witnessed the accident causing your catastrophic injury or they suffered independent physical injuries, but loss of consortium provides important recognition that catastrophic injuries devastate entire families, not just injured victims.
Workers’ compensation provides some benefits but doesn’t prevent you from also pursuing personal injury claims against third parties whose negligence caused your workplace catastrophic injury.
Workers’ compensation covers medical expenses and partial wage replacement but provides no compensation for pain and suffering and typically pays much less than personal injury lawsuits recover. You cannot sue your employer due to workers’ compensation’s exclusive remedy rule, but you can sue third parties like equipment manufacturers, subcontractors, property owners, or other negligent parties who contributed to your injuries. For example, if a defective machine caused your catastrophic injury, you receive workers’ compensation from your employer and separately sue the equipment manufacturer for product liability. If a negligent driver hit you while working, you receive workers’ comp and sue the driver. Third-party catastrophic injury lawsuits often recover millions of dollars beyond workers’ compensation benefits. We coordinate both claims to maximize your total recovery and ensure workers’ compensation liens don’t unfairly reduce your personal injury settlement. Learn more about Louisiana workers’ compensation from the Louisiana Workforce Commission at laworks.net.
We retain certified life care planners and medical experts who comprehensively evaluate your injuries, consult with your physicians, research medical literature, and create detailed reports documenting every future medical expense you’ll incur over your lifetime.
Life care planners meet with you to understand your daily care needs, review all medical records and imaging studies, interview your treating physicians about prognosis and future treatment needs, assess your home environment and necessary modifications, research costs for medical equipment and prosthetics, calculate replacement schedules for assistive devices, and project inflation-adjusted lifetime costs for all care and services. Medical experts in your specific injury type (spinal cord injury specialists, brain injury neurologists, burn surgeons, etc.) provide opinions about your medical prognosis, likely complications, and necessary future treatments. We also consult with economists who calculate present value of future medical expenses—the lump sum needed today to cover decades of future care. This comprehensive approach ensures juries and insurance companies cannot minimize your future needs or claim we’re exaggerating your lifetime costs.
We explore all available compensation sources including your own underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage, umbrella policies, business liability policies, homeowner’s insurance, and assets of all potentially liable parties.
Many catastrophic injury cases involve multiple liable parties—vehicle accidents may involve negligent drivers, vehicle manufacturers, and government entities responsible for road maintenance; workplace accidents may involve employers’ workers’ compensation, equipment manufacturers, and property owners; premises liability cases may involve property owners, management companies, and contractors. We identify every potentially liable party and their insurance coverage. When at-fault parties lack adequate insurance, your own uninsured/uninsured motorist coverage provides crucial additional compensation—Louisiana law requires this coverage, and it often provides hundreds of thousands in additional recovery. In cases involving businesses or wealthy individuals, we pursue personal assets beyond insurance policies when insurance proves insufficient. We maximize compensation from every available source to ensure you receive fair compensation despite insurance limitations.
Possibly, depending on how long ago the injury occurred and specific circumstances of your case, though Louisiana’s one-year prescription period makes immediate action crucial.
If your injury occurred less than one year ago, you likely still have time to file a lawsuit, though you should consult an attorney immediately to preserve evidence and protect your rights before the deadline expires. If more than one year passed since your injury, you may have lost your right to sue unless specific exceptions apply—some exceptions include injuries to minors (prescription may not begin until age 18), fraudulent concealment by defendants, or continuing medical malpractice situations. Delayed symptom discovery in some brain injury or toxic exposure cases may extend deadlines under limited circumstances. Even if you suspect the prescription period expired, consult a catastrophic injury attorney immediately—you may have viable claims you’re unaware of, and only an attorney reviewing your specific situation can determine whether exceptions apply. Never assume your case is time-barred without professional legal review.
Catastrophic injury cases involve permanently life-altering injuries requiring lifetime medical care, result in much higher compensation awards, require extensive expert testimony including life care planners and economists, and demand attorneys with specialized experience in complex medical and economic testimony.
While typical personal injury cases might settle for $20,000-$100,000 for injuries that heal, catastrophic injury cases regularly reach millions due to permanent disabilities and lifetime costs. The stakes are dramatically higher—settlement mistakes in catastrophic cases mean insufficient funds for decades of medical care you’ll need. These cases require sophisticated life care planning that typical injury attorneys don’t provide, economic analysis of lifetime wage losses rather than just lost wages during recovery, and extensive medical expert testimony about permanent impairments and future complications. Insurance companies defend catastrophic injury claims much more aggressively than minor cases, requiring attorneys with resources and trial experience to overcome their sophisticated defense tactics. Catastrophic injury victims need specialized attorneys who regularly handle these complex, high-value cases—general personal injury attorneys often lack the experience and resources to maximize catastrophic injury compensation.
Case value depends on injury severity, medical expenses, lost income, permanent impairment, pain and suffering, and available insurance coverage. Bicycle accident settlements range from thousands of dollars for minor injuries to millions for catastrophic injuries involving permanent disability. Factors affecting value include the extent and permanence of injuries, total medical costs including future care needs, lost earning capacity, degree of pain and suffering, impact on quality of life, and strength of liability evidence. Contact Smiley Injury Law for a free evaluation of your specific situation.
Your own uninsured motorist (UM) coverage can compensate you when the at-fault driver lacks insurance. Louisiana requires UM coverage as part of auto insurance policies, and this coverage steps in as if it were the at-fault driver’s insurance. If you rejected UM coverage in writing, you may still pursue the driver personally, though collecting can be difficult. This is why carrying adequate UM/UIM coverage is essential.
Yes, Louisiana’s pure comparative fault system allows recovery even when you share some responsibility for the accident. Your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault but not eliminated. For example, if your total damages are $100,000 and you’re found 20% at fault, you would recover $80,000. Our attorneys work to minimize fault allocation to cyclists and maximize your recovery.
Louisiana only requires helmets for cyclists under age 12, so not wearing a helmet as an adult does not bar your claim. However, insurance companies may argue that failure to wear a helmet contributed to your head injuries, potentially reducing compensation through comparative fault. Your attorney can demonstrate which injuries the helmet wouldn’t have prevented and prove the driver’s negligence was the primary cause of your accident. Under RS 32:199, citation for helmet violations cannot be used as prima facie evidence of negligence.
Yes, bicycle accident cases involve complex liability issues, insurance company tactics designed to minimize payouts, and detailed damage calculations that require experienced legal representation. Without an attorney, you’ll likely receive inadequate settlement offers that fail to cover your full losses. Smiley Injury Law handles bicycle accident cases on contingency—you pay no attorney fees unless we recover compensation—so there’s no financial risk in getting experienced representation that maximizes your recovery.
A recall after your injury strengthens your case by demonstrating the manufacturer acknowledged the defect, making liability easier to prove. Recalls often follow multiple injury reports and provide evidence the manufacturer knew or should have known about the danger. You can check for recalls through the CPSC recall database, FDA recall listings, or NHTSA vehicle recalls. However, you can still win product liability cases even without recalls, and recalls don’t automatically guarantee compensation—you must still prove the defect caused your specific injuries and damages.
No, Louisiana’s strict product liability law allows recovery without proving negligence—you only need to show the product was defective and caused your injuries. This means manufacturers can be liable even if they exercised reasonable care in designing and making the product. You must prove the product was unreasonably dangerous in construction, design, or warning, but you don’t need to establish that the manufacturer breached a duty of care like in traditional negligence claims.
You may still recover compensation by pursuing the defendant’s personal assets, seeking coverage from other liable parties, claiming under your own insurance policies, or pursuing employer liability in some circumstances. Louisiana requires minimum liability insurance, but some negligent parties violate this law or lack sufficient coverage for serious wrongful death damages. We investigate all potential defendants and insurance sources including umbrella policies, business liability coverage, and homeowner’s insurance that may apply. Asset searches identify personal property that can satisfy judgments when insurance is insufficient.
Yes—while workers’ compensation provides death benefits, families can also file wrongful death lawsuits against third parties whose negligence caused workplace deaths, allowing significantly greater recovery than workers’ compensation alone. Workers’ compensation covers limited damages without including pain and suffering or full lost wages. Third-party claims against equipment manufacturers, property owners, subcontractors, or other negligent parties provide additional compensation. Maritime and offshore workers have special federal wrongful death rights under the Jones Act and general maritime law with different procedures and damages than state claims.
Yes—wrongful death cases involve complex legal procedures, strict deadlines, aggressive insurance companies, and substantial damages requiring experienced legal representation to maximize your family’s compensation. Insurance companies employ teams of attorneys and adjusters working to minimize payouts. Families without attorneys typically recover far less than those with experienced wrongful death representation, even after paying attorney fees. Louisiana’s unique survival and wrongful death statutes, damage calculation methods, and procedural requirements make professional legal help essential. We handle all legal complexities while you focus on grieving and healing.
Wrongful death case values vary dramatically from tens of thousands to millions of dollars depending on the deceased’s age, income, life expectancy, number of dependents, circumstances of death, and strength of negligence evidence. Young parents with high earning potential and dependent children typically warrant the highest compensation. Cases involving elderly retirees with no dependents generally result in lower awards. Non-economic damages for grief and loss of companionship also significantly impact case value. Each case requires individual evaluation based on specific circumstances and Louisiana wrongful death law.
Yes—wrongful death civil lawsuits are completely separate from criminal prosecutions, use different legal standards, and allow families to pursue compensation regardless of criminal case outcomes. Criminal cases require proof beyond reasonable doubt and result in punishment, while civil wrongful death cases require proof by preponderance of evidence (more likely than not) and result in monetary compensation. You can file wrongful death claims even if prosecutors declined criminal charges or defendants were acquitted at criminal trial. Civil and criminal cases proceed independently on different timelines.
Louisiana wrongful death damages include funeral and burial expenses, medical bills before death, lost financial support the deceased would have provided, loss of love and companionship, mental anguish from the loss, and loss of guidance for surviving children. Economic damages compensate measurable financial losses with specific dollar amounts. Non-economic damages address intangible harms like grief, loss of companionship, and emotional suffering—juries determine appropriate compensation based on your relationship with the deceased and the impact on your life. Louisiana doesn’t cap most wrongful death damages, allowing full compensation for your family’s losses.
Louisiana’s wrongful death statute of limitations requires filing lawsuits within two years from the date of death, with very limited exceptions—missing this strict deadline typically means losing all rights to compensation. This one-year period applies regardless of when you discovered the negligence caused death or how long it took to investigate the claim. Some exceptional circumstances may extend this deadline, such as when defendants fraudulently concealed their negligence, but relying on exceptions is risky. Contact an attorney immediately after a wrongful death to protect your family’s legal rights and preserve evidence.
Louisiana law grants surviving spouses and children the primary right to file wrongful death lawsuits, followed by parents if no spouse or children survive, and siblings only when no spouse, children, or parents survive. These designated family members must file within one year from the death date. Louisiana’s wrongful death statute specifically defines who has standing to sue—unmarried partners, stepchildren without formal adoption, and extended family generally cannot file wrongful death claims. Consult an attorney immediately to determine your eligibility and protect your rights under Louisiana Civil Code Article 2315.2.
A recall after your injury strengthens your case by demonstrating the manufacturer acknowledged the defect, making liability easier to prove. Recalls often follow multiple injury reports and provide evidence the manufacturer knew or should have known about the danger. You can check for recalls through the CPSC recall database, FDA recall listings, or NHTSA vehicle recalls. However, you can still win product liability cases even without recalls, and recalls don’t automatically guarantee compensation—you must still prove the defect caused your specific injuries and damages.
You can recover medical expenses, lost wages, future medical costs, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and potentially punitive damages if the manufacturer acted recklessly. Economic damages include all past and future financial losses caused by the defective product. Non-economic damages compensate for physical pain, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and other intangible harms. Punitive damages may apply when manufacturers knowingly sold dangerous products or concealed known risks from consumers.
Product liability cases typically take 18 months to three years to resolve, depending on case complexity, the number of defendants, and whether trial becomes necessary. Simple cases with clear liability and moderate damages may settle within a year. Complex cases involving multiple expert witnesses, extensive discovery, and large corporations defending aggressively often take longer. We work efficiently while ensuring thoroughness that maximizes your compensation—rushing your case could mean leaving money on the table
Yes, you don’t need to be the original purchaser to file a product liability claim against the manufacturer—anyone injured by a defective product has standing to sue. Your relationship to the original buyer doesn’t affect the manufacturer’s liability. However, you generally cannot sue the person who gave you the product or the seller in a used sale, though the original manufacturer and other supply chain entities remain liable for defects.
Louisiana’s two-year prescription period requires filing product liability lawsuits within one year from the date you discovered or should have discovered your injury. This deadline is strictly enforced, and missing it typically means losing your right to compensation entirely. Some circumstances may extend this deadline, but you should consult an attorney immediately to protect your rights. For wrongful death cases involving defective products, family members generally have one year from the death date. You can learn more about Louisiana’s prescription periods from the Louisiana State Legislature.
You may have a product liability case if a product injured you when used as intended or in a reasonably foreseeable way, and the product had a defect making it unreasonably dangerous. The defect must have directly caused your injuries, and you must have suffered actual damages like medical expenses, lost wages, or pain and suffering. Even if you were partly at fault, Louisiana’s comparative fault law may still allow recovery.
