Prairieville Car Accident Lawyer
If you were injured in a car accident in Prairieville, LA, you may have medical bills, property damage, and lasting physical injuries to contend with. If another driver negligently caused the accident, they could be liable for your injuries and losses.
Pursuing a car accident claim can be complex. A Prairieville car accident lawyer can help you navigate the legal process.
Contact Palmintier Law Group to speak with a Prairieville car accident attorney who can achieve results. Your first consultation after a car accident in Prairieville, Louisiana, is free. Reach us at (225) 344-3735.
How Palmintier Law Group Can Help You After a Car Accident in Prairieville
Our Prairieville personal injury lawyers have achieved Martindale-Hubbell’s AV preeminent rating. We have over 80 years of combined experience and recovered over $1 billion in compensation for our clients.
When you choose to hire one of our Prairieville personal injury attorneys, we’ll fight for you to receive total compensation for your injuries.
Our Prairieville car accident lawyers can take the following steps in your case:
- Discuss what happened
- Investigate the accident
- Identify the at-fault parties
- Gather evidence to support your claims
- Evaluate the extent of your damages
- Create a strategy tailored to your case
- Negotiate for a fair settlement with the insurance company
- Go to court if a settlement can’t be reached
Contact our office in Prairieville, LA, to learn how Palmintier Law Group can help your case.
What Kinds of Damages Are Available to Car Accident Victims in Prairieville?
Damages are legal remedies intended to compensate injured parties for their losses. Prairieville car accident victims typically have two types of damages available: economic and non-economic.
Economic Damages
Economic damages, as the name implies, concern the financial losses caused by the accident or injury.
Economic damages may include the following:
- Medical expenses for past and future treatment
- Property damage
- Lost wages
- Loss of earning potential
- Out-of-pocket expenses
Economic damages are sometimes called tangible or special damages. Most economic damages relate to specific transactions, like medical appointments or auto-body services, and they can be proven with receipts or other documentation. Future expenses, like ongoing medical treatment, may be harder to prove.
Non-Economic Damages
Unlike economic damages, non-economic damages don’t relate to the financial costs of an accident or injury. Instead, they are concerned with the subjective and often psychological costs.
Non-economic damages include:
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Loss of companionship
- Disability
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Diminished quality of life
It can be challenging to calculate non-economic damages as they often don’t relate to specific transactions and documentation. However, your attorney can review the circumstances of your case to evaluate the full extent of all of your damages.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Prairieville Car Accident Lawyer?
Most car accident lawyers—ours included—take auto accident cases on a contingency fee basis. In these arrangements, attorneys only collect a fee if they successfully recover compensation for their clients. If the attorney doesn’t win, then they don’t get paid. This means you don’t have to pay any legal fees upfront, so you can hire an experienced Prairieville car accident lawyer even if you don’t have the financial resources to pay any legal fees initially.
Contingency fees are often calculated as a specified percentage of the client’s settlement or verdict amount. The standard is between 33% and 40%. The percentage may depend on whether your case is particularly complex or goes to trial.
There may be other expenses associated with your case that you’re responsible for. These include filing fees, administrative costs, and expert witness fees. Your attorney may advance these costs on your behalf and then get reimbursed from your financial award. Your lawyer should explain which fees you’ll be responsible for at the outset of your representation.
To learn about our contingency fee policy, schedule a free consultation with one of our team members.
Can I Recover Compensation if I’m Being Blamed for a Car Accident in Prairieville?
Car accidents can involve more than one at-fault party. For example, imagine you’re involved in a car accident when another driver runs a red light, but you don’t see them coming because you are looking at your phone. While the other driver likely bears most of the responsibility, your actions may have also contributed to the accident. Can you still recover compensation in this scenario?
Louisiana is a pure comparative fault state. You can recover compensation if you are partly at fault in the accident, but it could impact your compensation. Each party to the accident will be apportioned a percentage of the fault. An injured, at-fault party can recover compensation against another at-fault party, but their compensation is reduced in proportion to their degree of responsibility.
Let’s return to our example above. If the other driver was 75% at fault, you were 25% at fault, and your total damages were $100,000, you could recover up to $75,000.
Being blamed for an accident can substantially impact your financial recovery. We’ll defend you against undue claims of blame and fight for you to receive maximum compensation.
What Causes Most Car Accidents in Prairieville, LA?
Common causes of car accidents in Prairieville and nationwide relate to driver error, including:
- Distracted driving, most often using a cell phone while driving
- Disobeying traffic signs and signals, such as speeding and running a traffic light
- Aggressive driving, such as tailgating, weaving, and cutting off other drivers
- Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol
Other causes that don’t relate to driver error include dangerous weather or road conditions, faulty vehicle parts, and faulty traffic signs or signals.
If you were injured because of another driver’s negligent actions, contact an experienced Prairieville car accident lawyer today.
How Do I Prove Negligence After a Car Accident in Prairieville, LA?
Most personal injury claims, including car accident claims, are based on negligence. That means you must prove that the at-fault driver’s actions were negligent.
In legal contexts, negligence has four elements. You must prove each of these elements to prove your case:
Duty of Care
You must prove the other driver owed you a duty of care. In most situations, one has a duty to act the way a reasonably prudent person would in a similar situation.
Breach
You must prove that the other driver breached the duty of care. Usually, this means proving that their actions were unreasonable.
Damages
You must prove that you were physically injured or suffered other harm.
Causation
Finally, you must prove that the other driver’s actions caused your harm or injuries. This has two subparts.
First, you must show that they were a direct cause of your injuries, meaning the accident would not have occurred without their actions. Second, you must show that your actions were a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the driver’s actions, such that they should be held legally responsible.
You must prove these four elements by a preponderance of the evidence. This means you must show that your allegations against the defendant are more likely than not true.
How Long Do I Have to File a Lawsuit After a Car Accident in Louisiana?
Every state sets out a limited timeframe for filing personal injury lawsuits. Louisiana has one of the shortest time frames. You must file your lawsuit within one year of your car accident unless a rare exception applies.
If the idea of filing a lawsuit makes you uneasy, remember that most car accident cases settle long before a lawsuit is filed. Even if the lawsuit is filed, many cases are settled before trial.
Nonetheless, filing a lawsuit—or the potential to file a lawsuit—is a powerful strategic skill when negotiating with insurance companies.
You must file your case on time. Our experienced car accident lawyers will calculate the filing deadline in your case and ensure that it’s met.
What Should I Do After a Car Accident?
If you’re injured in a car accident in Prairieville, LA, here are some steps you should take:
- Assess your injuries and those of any other passengers
- Seek medical attention from emergency medical services or your medical provider
- If it is safe to do so, move your car out of the way of traffic
- Exchange contact and insurance information with the other driver
- Take photos or videos of the accident, the surrounding area, and your injuries
- Call the police to report the accident
- Record your memory of the events before your memory fades
As soon as possible, you should contact a seasoned Prairieville car accident lawyer to discuss the next steps in your case.
Contact Our Prairieville Car Accident Lawyers Today to Schedule a Free Case Review
If you were recently injured in a car accident in Prairieville, LA, an experienced Prairieville car accident lawyer can help you pursue compensation for all of your accident-related injuries.
At Palmintier Law Group, we’ll put our expertise to work for you to achieve the results you deserve.
To schedule a free consultation with one of our Prairieville car accident attorneys, contact our office online or call (225) 344-3735.