New Orleans personal injury lawsuits involving the negligent actions of an employee frequently result in the employer bearing legal responsibility for the damages. For individuals who have suffered severe injury, the ability to pursue damages against the employer – who will usually have greater financial resources – can be extremely important. Not all plaintiffs, however, are automatically entitled to proceed against the employer. Generally, a party has no legal duty to protect someone against the negligence of a third party unless there is either a special relationship with the injured person or some independent responsibility for the third party. Under Louisiana law, an employer is responsible for the negligent actions of an employee if the negligent act occurred in the course and scope of employment. In legal terms, this is referred to as “vicarious liability.” Even when a person appears to be performing actions related to employment, however, the relationship…Read More
When a personal injury occurs in New Orleans, who caused the accident is not always clear. Often, while someone else may have created a dangerous condition, the injured party also may have put themselves in a position to be injured. Fortunately for the injured person, this does not mean they are completely barred from recovering compensation for their injuries. Under Louisiana law, damages may be recovered even when the conduct of the injured person contributed to his or her injury. The injured person, however, would not recover full damages. Instead the amount awarded is reduced in proportion to the amount of any responsibility that the judge or jury attributes to that individual. For an example, an injured person is awarded $100,000 in damages, but is also found by the jury to be 25 percent at fault for an accident. As a result, the total award is reduced by 25 percent,…Read More
When a New Orleans resident suffers a life-changing personal injury, it may seem impossible to place a dollar value on it. In the case of serious injuries, no amount of financial compensation can return that person’s life to normal. Nonetheless, in personal injury cases, both insurance providers and lawyers must attempt to determine a fair value for the injury suffered. Some damages, such as the costs associated with prior medical treatment and loss of income, are easy to calculate. Others, such as the value of pain and suffering, can be extremely difficult to place a dollar amount on. In addition, factors such as potential future medical costs, if extensive treatment is still required, may also influence the determination of the total amount awarded in a personal injury case. Properly determining these latter, more subjective damages requires a personal injury attorney with the experience to understand all the factors in a…Read More
In most New Orleans personal injury lawsuits, the majority of the work involved in defending the case will be conducted by the defendant’s insurer and its attorneys. While both injured clients and the general public are sometimes concerned about causing extreme financial hardship to a defendant who – while negligent – did not intentionally cause injury, insurance coverage frequently protects defendants from such hardship. Both the defendant and the injured party have an interest in having the defendant’s insurance company involved. For the defendant, insurance coverage provides protection to his or her personal assets when being sued. For the injured person, the presence of insurance often means that more money is available to compensate him or her for injuries and other damages. Based on this strong public interest, Louisiana law generally favors keeping the insurance company involved in personal injury lawsuits. For example, insurance companies are required to defend personal…Read More
Many New Orleans personal injury lawsuits involve a defendant who was violating a legal statute, such as a driver who runs a red light or fails to yield the right of way. While a clear violation of such laws may establish the defendant’s guilt in criminal court, they do not necessarily establish his or her liability for civil damages. In all personal injuries cases, it must be proven that the defendant owed the injured party a duty of care. When an injured person relies upon a defendant breaking a law to establish the defendant’s responsibility toward the injured person, Louisiana courts tend to analyze the law broken by the defendant using a two prong approach. First, the court will determine whether the law violated by the defendant was designed to protect a category of people that would include the injured party. If the court finds that the violated law was…Read More
The vast majority of New Orleans personal injury lawsuits involve the pursuit of damages through a defendant’s insurer. While the defendant named in the lawsuit may be the individual or entity that caused the injury, in most cases the defendant’s insurer has the greatest involvement, both financially and legally, in actually defending the case. The responsibility of the insurance company to provide financial coverage for the conduct that led to an injury usually is clear and is usually not at issue in a personal injury lawsuit. Occasionally, however, an insurance company may claim that an injury resulted from actions by the defendant that were outside the scope of the insurance policy and, therefore, there is no coverage. While there is no bar to an injured party proceeding directly against the defendant regardless of insurance coverage, it is usually in the best interest of the injured person for the insurance company…Read More
If you have suffered a serious personal injury in New Orleans and need a personal injury attorney, you do not pay your lawyer in the same manner as you would when hiring a lawyer for other purposes. Most people are used to hiring a lawyer to help in a real estate transaction or prepare a will. In those situations, you will usually pay the attorney an agreed upon fee for this work, and the lawyer may want at least part of this fee before beginning work. Personal injury attorneys, however, usually do not receive any money up front from the injured party before beginning to work on the case. Instead, once the case is finished, the personal injury attorney receives a previously agreed upon percentage of the damages awarded to the injured person. The idea behind this payment method is that, because the attorney does not get paid if he…Read More
If you suffer a personal injury in New Orleans, the time limit within which you may file a personal injury lawsuit is governed by Louisiana law. Often, when a person is injured as a result of someone else’s negligent conduct — such as a car accident or tripping over a hazard on someone’s property — the extent of the injuries may not be immediately apparent. While there is some time in which to make a decision about whether or not to sue, you cannot delay forever. If it does turn out that an accident has resulted in a personal injury serious enough that you need to sue, you have one year from the date of the accident to bring a lawsuit in Louisiana for your personal injuries. If you think you may need to bring a lawsuit but are not sure, you should consult with an experienced personal injury attorney…Read More
Occasionally, the defense in a New Orleans personal injury lawsuit will conduct surveillance of the plaintiff. The purpose of this surveillance is to gather information to demonstrate that the plaintiff is not as injured as he or she claims. Although the defense may have a videotape of your activities that they wish to show a jury, there is no requirement that the court allow them to do so. In Louisiana, whether motion pictures or video tapes are admissible at trial is largely within the discretion of the trial court. Such surveillance videotapes are also subject to discovery prior to trial, which means the defense must turn over any videotapes to the plaintiff’s personal injury attorney prior to trial if they have been requested. After reviewing the videotape, your personal injury attorney may request that the court bar the defense from using it at trial. When this request is made, the…Read More
When filing a personal injury lawsuit in New Orleans, it is important to have a competent and experienced personal injury attorney who understands the procedural requirements in bringing a lawsuit. This fact was recently reinforced in the case of George Igbinoghene and Sebastian Busari v. St. Paul Travelers Ins. Co., where the Louisiana Supreme Court dismissed the plaintiffs’ lawsuit on procedural grounds. Personal injury plaintiffs are required to notify defendants of an impending suit so that they may respond to the claim against them. The time limit within which to notify a defendant that a lawsuit has been filed – known in Louisiana as “citation and service” – is ninety days from the date the lawsuit is filed in court. The lawsuit does not legally begin until the defendant receives notice because the court does not have jurisdiction over all the parties until this occurs. If citation and service does…Read More
