Personal Injury: Making the Most of a Painful Situation
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) estimate that accidental injuries are the leading cause of death for people under the age of 45 in the United States. By extension, personal injury claims make up the bulk of American lawsuits. With a multitude of federal and state laws governing injury and an infinite range of circumstances and scenarios, the legal team of Wolf Law aggressively seeks to establish fault and obtain just compensation for your injuries.
Personal Injury Basics
Automobile accidents are the most common source of personal injury cases. Workplace injuries, faulty appliances, and poorly maintained buildings, grounds and sidewalks also rank high on the list. Louisiana law varies widely regarding fault and the available window of time for a plaintiff to bring a personal injury claim depending on the circumstances. For example:
- In cases involving auto accidents, you have one year from the date of the accident to bring a PI claim, and if you don’t have the statutorily mandated minimum auto insurance coverage you can still receive compensation for medical expenses in excess of $10,000. If your injury was caused by an uninsured driver, you will need uninsured motorist coverage to avoid having to sue the driver personally.
- If you are claiming medical malpractice, you typically have one year from the date on which you discovered, or should have discovered, that your personal injury may have been caused by malpractice.
- For injuries sustained on someone else’s property, Louisiana law enables you to recover damages if you can prove that the owner exhibited negligence leading to an unreasonably dangerous condition.
Exceptions to these rules occur frequently based on the facts surrounding each case.
Smiley Law: Fighting for You to Recover From Your Personal Injury
Most personal injury cases are settled pretrial, with very few going to trial and even less resulting in a clean winning verdict for plaintiffs. Since there is no guarantee that you will win a personal injury case, having insurance coverage can help you in the event that you encounter medical bills, legal fees or lost work time.
Suffering an injury is bad enough without having to worry about the long-term effects on your finances and your life. Whether you have been injured or are facing a PI claim from another party, the combined decades of experience of our team makes Smiley Law your best choice for legal representation and advice when accidents happen.
