Do You Need a Car Accident Lawyer in New Orleans?
A car accident can change your life in the blink of an eye.
If you find that your life is irreparably changed because of an inopportune accident that has left you severely injured, the Smiley Law Firm is here to help. With years of experience handling cases just like yours, the Smiley Law Firm is here to take on your car accident case, no matter how minor — or severe — your injuries are.
This post is designed to explain when a car accident lawyer is needed after an accident.
What Are The Most Common Causes of Car Accidents?
Car accidents are one of the most common types of accidents that happen in the United States. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 6 million car accidents happen per year.
This translates to about 17,000 accidents per day. And that’s only based on what accidents are police-reported — there are several thousand accidents per year that don’t have police involvement but can be just as devastating.
Today’s car accidents are caused by a number of factors.
1. Drunk driving. If you get behind the wheel with an elevated BAC (blood alcohol content), you can and most likely will get charged with DWI (driving while intoxicated) or DUI (driving under the influence).
2. Texting while driving. Texting while driving is absolutely illegal, and for good reason: it causes drivers to be distracted while driving. And, if you take your eyes off the road, you may hit another car or, worse, a pedestrian.
3. Reckless driving. Sometimes, when people get behind the wheel, they’re doing an assortment of things that they shouldn’t be doing — including talking on the phone (even if it’s hands-free), eating, or talking to someone — or getting behind the wheel when they’re upset or otherwise distracted. This can cause the driver to be reckless behind the wheel, and that can inevitably cause an accident.
4. Rollover accidents. Sometimes, through no fault of the driver, a rollover accident can happen. In this type of accident, a vehicle “rolls over” onto its side or its roof. Common in jeeps and SUVs, rollover accidents have a higher fatality rate than other types of accidents.
At the Smiley Law Firm, we represent victims of all of these types of accidents and more.
Why Do You Need to Work With A Car Accident Attorney?
When you’ve been injured in a car accident, you may feel lost, overwhelmed, and ultimately forgotten. Insurance companies are, frankly, not on your side. They’re there to get the quickest settlement for the least amount of money and time.
But the insurance companies have lawyers that work hard for their rights. Why shouldn’t you have the same?
There are a number of reasons why it’s a good idea to hire an attorney if you’ve been injured in a car accident.
For example:
- You may not be able to establish negligence without an attorney. Sometimes, establishing “who’s at fault” can be difficult. This is especially true if the person who hit you is contesting his/her role in the accident, or if the police report is unclear about who was at fault. If this is the case, you need to hire an attorney who specializes in representing your best interests.
- You may inadvertently admit fault without an attorney. Insurance adjusters are trained to elicit certain responses out of you, especially if those responses make you inadvertently admit fault. An experienced attorney, like the one you’ll find at the Smiley Law Firm, will be able to represent your best interests before an insurance adjuster and help get you the money you deserve for the injuries you didn’t deserve.
- You may not be able to prove the harm you suffered as a result of the accident without an attorney. An experienced car accident attorney will be able to collect all the necessary medical records, and hire the proper experts to testify on your behalf, and do whatever else needs to be done to prove your case before a judge or a mediator. Not only that, but an experienced car accident attorney will be able to prove that you’ll need more money than what the insurance company is willing to settle for. An experienced attorney can prove that you’ll need compensation for things like lost wages, future medical care, and a life care plan that outlines how you’ll survive after the accident. Will you be able to work again? Will you require more physical therapy than basic rehabilitation? Will you need to be on medication for the rest of your life? These questions and more can be answered by an experienced attorney who has your best interests in mind.
- You may not be able to get everything together in a timely manner. As time goes on, people’s memories fade, wounds heal, and documents get lost. Therefore, when it comes to car accidents, time is always of the essence. And an experienced car accident attorney, like the one you’ll find at the Smiley Law Firm, will be able to get everything together for you in a timely manner.
- You may be underestimating the severity of your injuries. Sometimes, a car accident may leave you with what you think, initially, are minor injuries. And it’s only when a few weeks — or a few months — go by, and you feel a pain in your back, or your knee, or another type of orthopedic injury that you may never have felt before that has come as a result of the car accident, and you realize — too late — that you settled out too soon and for too little money. To prevent yourself from being shortchanged, especially as far as your settlement is concerned, it’s important to hire an experienced car accident attorney to represent your best interests, and can get you the money you deserve for injuries you may not even be aware that you have right now.
Why Should You Hire The Smiley Law Firm to Represent You?
We understand, perhaps better than anyone else, that there are no shortage of personal injury attorneys out there in New Orleans. But there are a number of reasons why hiring us to represent you is the best possible alternative. For example:
- We don’t “ambulance chase.” Barratry — the legal term for so-called “ambulance chasing” — is illegal in Louisiana. And at Smiley Law Firm, we take pride in being ethical in all of our dealings. And you shouldn’t hire an attorney based on coercion or a snappy television ad — you should hire an attorney based on how well they handle matters on your behalf.
- We’re conveniently located. When you’ve been injured in a car accident, perhaps the last thing you need is to have to travel for extensive distances to get to the office. That’s why we’ve placed our offices in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Mandeville, so you can get to us very easily, no matter where you are in Louisiana. And, we can also serve clients in Texas and Southern California!
- We’re a progressive firm. Some law firms get a reputation for being old, tired, and staid, and in many cases, that reputation is well-earned. Today’s world has become increasingly digital, and a law firm that can’t keep up with the times is going to find itself out of the market. But at the Smiley Law Firm, we take pride in being a progressive firm that offers RSS Feeds, electronic news, and documentation, the most resourceful collection of free construction, business and injury law articles on the net, and more.
- We believe in keeping you informed. An informed customer is a happy customer, and that’s why we keep our News & Articles page up-to-date and full of information. And we make sure that the articles are written in “common sense” language (as opposed to ‘legal-ese,’ which can be confusing to a non-lawyer) so that everyone can understand it. Learning about these personal injury law issues can help you and your family, and the articles are a valuable resource. We invest a lot of time and money building this resource for you, and we enjoy sharing it at no charge. It helps our clients, and it helps individuals better prepare for legal scenarios.
- We’re a part of the community. The community is near and dear to Smiley Law Firm, and through our involvement and support with local associations, we’re active in supporting the personal injury victims and the community that’s important to you, your livelihood, our livelihood and the country as a whole. We make it a point to care about the overall community as well, engaging in volunteering trips, living green and more. And best of all, we volunteer and give financially to our favorite organizations such as SBP and Junior Achievement. We don’t just serve the community — we’re a part of it.
We’re pleased to offer all prospective clients a free, no obligation consultation. So if you’ve been injured in a car accident, and you want your rights represented by an experienced, ethical attorney who has served this community for years, contact the Smiley Law Firm today, and let’s see what we can do for you.
