The monetary award received by the injured party in a New Orleans personal injury lawsuit is referred to as compensatory damages. These damages are often divided into two broad categories: special damages and general damages. Special damages are those damages for which – at least to some degree – an objective value can be determined. Items such as medical expenses and loss of earnings are included under this category. Special damages have a fixed value based on actual monetary losses that arose or will arise from the injuries. In contrast, general damages are more speculative and cannot be fixed with mathematical certainty. General damages consist of categories such as pain and suffering and mental anguish. They also may include an award for scarring or disfigurement. While special damages tend to have a fixed value, people’s opinions may vary widely regarding the value of general damages. As a result, awards for…Read More
When a personal injury occurs in New Orleans, the injured person has a duty to take reasonable steps to minimize the consequences of that injury. Mitigation of damages is the legal term used to describe this obligation. If an injured person does not take appropriate steps to mitigate damages, the amount he or she is awarded in a personal injury lawsuit may be reduced. If a defendant argues that the injured person has failed to mitigate damages, the burden is on that defendant to prove it. Whether the plaintiff has used reasonable care is analyzed by the judge or jury based on the specific circumstances surrounding the case. Factors that may be considered include the length of time the plaintiff waited to seek treatment, action, knowledge, opportunity, potential exposure to further loss and the expense required to avoid a reasonably foreseeable loss. If you have suffered a personal injury, you…Read More
In most New Orleans personal injury cases, the injured person does not rely solely on a case’s outcome to pay for expenses from the injuries. It is common for other individuals or organizations to pay some of the expenses for the injuries claimed in a personal injury lawsuit. These other parties are called collateral sources. Examples of collateral sources include health insurers, an employer who continues to pay lost wages, or even a family member who pays medical bills. The general rule under Louisiana law is that payments made by collateral sources do not reduce the victim’s recovery in a personal injury lawsuit. For example, if the victim’s employer pays for some medical expenses, the victim may still pursue medical expenses in the lawsuit. There are, however, exceptions to this rule based on the specific facts surrounding a payment. These exceptions include whether the plaintiff provided some consideration, such as…Read More
Any New Orleans resident who is receiving Medicare and pursuing a personal injury claim should inform his or her attorney. Under federal law, Medicare has a right to recover any payments it made for medical treatment that arose from the personal injury accident. This includes the right to take a portion of the damages awarded in a personal injury lawsuit. The rules surrounding the reporting requirements for a Medicare recipient who pursues a personal injury claim are very strict. Failure to notify Medicare and make sure it is reimbursed out of the personal injury award or settlement for any expenses it paid can have serious financial repercussions for both you and your attorney. Medicare is required to be reimbursed for its expenses within sixty days of receipt of any compensation in a personal injury case. Neither you nor your attorney wants to pursue financial compensation only to see Medicare take…Read More
When someone in New Orleans suffers a personal injury from a product used nationwide, they may not have to proceed alone. When enough people have been injured by the actions of a company, they may be able to make a claim for damages as a group. This is referred to as a class action lawsuit. In the area of personal injury or wrongful death, examples of class action lawsuits include cases against pharmaceutical companies for drugs with dangerous side effects and cases against tobacco companies for cessation assistance. These lawsuits involve people from different parts of the country who have suffered injury as a result of the same action by the company or companies. Their lawsuits are joined together to avoid courts around the country having to hear hundreds or even thousands of cases involving largely the same issues. It is important to consult an experienced personal injury attorney if…Read More
When a New Orleans resident suffers a serious personal injury, his or her spouse also suffers. Under Louisiana law, a spouse may make a claim for monetary damages based on what is termed a “loss of consortium”. There are seven categories under which a spouse may make this claim: (1) loss of love and affection, (2) loss of society and companionship, (3) impairment of sexual relations, (4) loss of performance of material services, (5) loss of financial support, (6) loss of aid and assistance, and (7) loss of fidelity. These categories can cover a variety of circumstances. For example, a man who performs most of the yard work at his home seriously injures his back in an automobile accident. He is no longer able to perform these duties, and his wife must now do them. When his personal injury lawsuit is filed, his attorney also may seek financial compensation for…Read More
While dogs are a common pet in New Orleans, not all dogs are completely docile or safe to be around. Unfortunately, that means that dog bite injuries are not an unusual occurrence. If your child has been injured by a dog, there are a number of steps you may consider taking. Obviously, the most important thing to do is to tend to the injury. If the injury has been severe, it is important to not only seek medical attention, but also to follow through on all recommendations made by the medical providers. After attending to the initial medical care of the injuries, try to find out if the dog has had its rabies shots. Once these important health concerns have been addressed, you can then look to protect your child’s rights should you need to pursue damages in a personal injury lawsuit. As soon as it is practical, you should…Read More
Most New Orleans residents are familiar with the legal term “beyond a reasonable doubt” and know that when someone is accused of a crime, this is the level of proof required to prove them guilty. Our courts have set this very high standard of proof because being convicted of a crime can have severe repercussions. While some personal injury lawsuits may involve serious injuries and large amounts of monetary compensation, the defendant is not in danger of losing his freedom or life if he is found liable for having caused the injury. As a result, the high standard of “beyond a reasonable doubt” used in criminal cases does not apply in civil cases. In most non-criminal (civil) cases involving personal injury, the legal standard of proof the injured person must establish before being compensated is termed “a preponderance of the evidence.” A preponderance of the evidence can be defined as…Read More
If you are injured and unable to work, supporting yourself can become an overwhelming problem. While many New Orleans residents have been faced with difficulty supporting themselves and their families under difficult economic circumstances, being placed in this position because of another’s negligence is especially unfair. Fortunately, under such circumstances the injured party often has the right to pursue compensation for lost wages. While a short-term inability to work can be difficult enough for an injured person, some cases involve injuries that lead to long-term or permanent inability to work. When this occurs, an experienced personal injury attorney will pursue not only past lost wages, but also future lost wages based on a projection of what the injured person’s earnings would have been if the injury had not occurred. Given the financial difficulty a permanently disabled individual may face in the future, this can be a very significant monetary aspect…Read More
Determining who was responsible for causing an injury in a New Orleans personal injury lawsuit is not always a clear cut matter. While someone else may have created a dangerous condition that resulted in injury, there are situations where the injured party may have put themselves in a position to be injured. Fortunately for those injured, this does not mean they are completely barred from recovering compensation for the injuries suffered. Louisiana law allows for the recovery of damages in a personal injury lawsuit 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 example, if an injured person is awarded $100,000 in damages, but is also found to be 50 percent at…Read More
