It’s always advisable to talk to an impartial legal expert when you’ve suffered injuries in a motorcycle accident in New Orleans, even if you carry motorcycle insurance. Obviously, insurance companies make their money from your premium payments, and lose money when they have to make a payout. They have huge incentives to minimize any offer they make you, and in a lot of cases, this can leave you without the resources you need to get back on track. An attorney can help you establish effective baselines for things like your out-of-pocket costs, medical bills, future medical expenses related to the accident, lost or damaged property, lost wages, and other elements you may be entitled to collect for. Your insurance company wants you think it’s on your side, but it has extremely divided loyalties when it comes to giving you money. If another driver’s insurance company is in the mix, you can bet…Read More
Louisiana, like all states, has a statutory time limit for personal injury claims resulting from a motorcycle accident. In New Orleans, you have one year in which to file a claim to recover damages or you’ll lose your right to sue. You can bet that insurance companies involved in the case will work hard to run out the clock on you, and it’s difficult or impossible to convince a judge to extend the statute of limitations in a personal injury case. In personal injury law, the statute of limitations is often the biggest hurdle in getting a person the compensation they deserve. Individuals may be hesitant to visit with an attorney about their issue, and insurance companies are good at trying to hurry you into signing off on an agreement that won’t match the bills you’ll face down the road. It’s extremely important that you don’t sign on to any insurance company…Read More
In a motorcycle accident situation, the at-fault driver’s insurance company will probably want to talk to you as quickly as possible, even if you’ve been badly hurt. They may even want to record an interview with you as soon as they can, because the more on-the-record statements they have from you while you’re still unclear about the accident and while all the facts may not be known, the better the chance they can defend against claims you make against their driver. Don’t be victimized twice when you’ve been hurt in a motorcycle accident in New Orleans. Before you talk to insurance company representatives, get experienced legal help to make sure that any statements you make support recovery of your losses. These may include loss of property, lost wages, medical bills from the motorcyle accident, anticipated future medical bills, compensation for pain and suffering, and in egregious cases, punitive damages against the at-fault driver.…Read More
While Louisiana law mandates that drivers carry insurance in the event that they are in an accident that causes property damage or injury to themselves or someone else, not everyone follows the law. If you’ve been struck by an uninsured motorist while riding your motorcycle, your own insurance carrier will play a huge role in how much you can collect. As you can imagine, they’re not eager to authorize big payouts even when the situation warrants it, and you can rest assured that they understand your policy – and its loopholes – much better than you do. This is why it’s so important to work with an experienced New Orleans motorcycle accident attorney in cases where you’ve suffered injuries or property damage from an uninsured or underinsured driver. At The Gertler Law Firm, our team of experienced accident attorneys can make sure that your insurer fulfills all the terms of your…Read More
Driving a motorcycle can be loads of fun, but it can also be extremely dangerous. Anytime you get on the road, you have to be attentive because you never know what can happen. Having auto insurance is sure to help ease any on-road anxiety since you know you’re covered, but knowing what to do after an accident can be another problem. How do you know whom to call, how long you have to file a report, or if your insurance can help you sue if hit by an uninsured driver? These are only a few of the specific questions that can arise when looking to become a motorist, shopping for new auto insurance, or just preparing to be a more educated driver. Learning what to do in the event of an accident can help you determine how to best document what happened so that you get fairly compensated or not taken…Read More
In most cases, a driver making a left turn is considered to have caused a resulting accident. When a motorcycle collides with a car in that situation, the rider is usually able to pursue damage claims for a variety of losses. These can include damages to the motorcycle, hospital and medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and anticipated future medical costs related to the accident. There are exceptions though, which can have a significant impact on your ability to collect. If the police believe that you were operating your motorcycle at a high rate of speed going into the accident, or if there’s evidence that you ran a red light or a stop sign, you really need an attorney to carefully evaluate your case. However, there are circumstances where you can file a lawsuit after your motorcycle accident even if both drivers were ticketed. Many cases that involve an injured party…Read More
Yes, in the tragic situation where a person loses their life in a motorcycle accident in New Orleans, their spouse has standing to file a wrongful death suit to recover damages due to a motorcycle accident from an at-fault party, and more importantly, to hold that party accountable. Some cases are clear cut, such as when the at-fault driver was drunk when the accident occurred. Others may require further investigation and evidence gathering to build a compelling case that another party was engaged in reckless or negligent behavior that caused the fatal crash. Anytime a person dies in a traffic accident, a family is left devastated and wondering how to put the pieces back together. An experienced motorcycle accident attorney is a key player in these circumstances, who can provide objective, clear cut assistance and help you protect your family. Under Louisiana law, families are entitled to recover damages categorized as “economic”…Read More
If you have been injured in a motorcycle accident, you need the expert guidance of an experienced personal injury lawyer. If safety equipment like a helmet fails in a motorcycle accident, you can sustain much more serious injuries than you otherwise would. It can also complicate your effort to recover damages from an at-fault driver, because the other side can argue that the equipment manufacturer bears at least some of the liability for your injuries. In some cases, the situation is egregious enough that you may need to pursue a product liability claim against the manufacturer of the faulty equipment. In general, product liability actions aren’t considered ideal for clients, as they tend to take long periods to work through and can end up folded into class actions, which can deprive individual plaintiffs of control over their own case. That said, it’s still important to evaluate all aspects of your accident…Read More
No, juries don’t automatically side against motorcycle riders who’ve been hurt in an accident in New Orleans, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t need to present the strongest possible arguments if your case goes to trial. Here’s some good news for you: most accident and injury cases don’t end up in a courtroom. They are typically settled out of court in a relatively short time frame. The best way to achieve an optimal outcome is to develop a strong case that presents the facts of the incident clearly. Witness statements, police reports, photographs of the scene, and other evidence must be compiled and put together in a way that tells the real story of what happened that caused you to become injured in the first place. When this is done right, insurance companies usually choose to settle motorcycle injury cases and you’ll never have to go to court. At The Gertler…Read More
Louisiana law requires the use of helmets for motorcycle riders in the state, but what happens when a rider isn’t wearing a helmet and is injured by another in an accident? It’s a great question, and the answer is more complicated than you may expect. First, if you’re hurt in a motorcycle accident without a helmet on, it doesn’t mean you can’t collect damages for your injuries. It will mean that head injuries you sustain likely will not be compensated. But loss of property, other injuries, pain and suffering, lost wages, and the other damages that tend to occur in motorcycle accidents are generally still recoverable through the legal process. A New Orleans motorcycle accident attorney can evaluate your accident and estimate your potential claim based on the specific circumstances. Many people have a tendency to believe that if there’s any element of an injury case that they think of as their own…Read More
