Avondale Personal Injury Lawyer

Top Rated Avondale Personal Injury Attorney

Being injured is never fun, but when you suffer an injury as a result of another person’s intentional act or negligence, there may be a silver lining. You could be eligible to recover compensation with the help of a skilled Avondale personal injury lawyer.

Work With Ron Austin Law

Our lead attorney, Ron Austin, started the firm in 1995. Our team has over 88 years of combined experience, much of it focused on large and complex cases. We are committed to acting as partners in your journey toward justice and advocating staunchly for your rights throughout the legal process. Contact us to discuss the specifics of your case.

Reasons to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer

Personal injury claims in Louisiana are common. Though the state holds only 1.4% of the US population, it accounts for 3.65% of the nation’s personal injury claims. 

This high rate of claims is driven in part by frequent auto accidents. However, recent changes to how Louisiana handles comparative fault may reduce the number of claims filed thanks to the state’s switch to a modified comparative negligence system.

Whether your injury occurred during an auto accident or as a result of a slip-and-fall on a commercial property, you can hire a personal injury lawyer to help you recover your losses. Your attorney can assist you with all the details of your case, handling everything from: 

• Filing paperwork
• Interviewing witnesses
• Gathering evidence
• Negotiating a fair settlement with the liable party’s insurance company 

All of these actions can help you focus on healing from your injuries.

Common Examples of Personal Injury Claims

Personal injury claims arise for all kinds of reasons. Most claims are based on negligence, although intentional acts of violence can also lead to personal injury cases. Common sources of claims include:

• Slip-and-fall injuries and other forms of premises liability
• Car, truck, motorcycle, bicycle, or pedestrian accidents
• Dog bites and attacks
• Defective consumer products
• Medical malpractice
• Workplace injuries due to third-party negligence
• Wrongful death

No matter how you were hurt, if another person’s negligence contributed significantly to causing your injuries, you may have cause to file a personal injury claim.

Common Types of Injuries in Personal Injury Claims

The types of injuries addressed via personal injury claims range significantly in type and severity. They can include:

• Soft tissue injuries. Whiplash is one of the most common types of soft tissue injury. It occurs frequently in car accidents when people’s necks are moved rapidly back and forth. Other soft tissue injuries include sprains, strains, and ligament damage.
• Traumatic brain injuries. TBIs can be very serious, causing life-altering cognitive impairments and behavioral changes in victims. They often occur due to car accidents or blows to the head.
• Back injuries. Back injuries can lead to chronic pain or even lifelong disability, especially if the spinal cord was damaged. You could face full or partial paralysis, leading to the need for ongoing care.
• Bone fractures. Bone fractures range in severity from simple breaks that need only a brief period in a cast to heal to more complex crushing injuries that require surgery and ongoing rehabilitation.
• Burns. Fires, chemical exposure, or electrical shock can cause burns. They can cause intense pain and severe, permanent disfigurement.
• Internal organ damage. Car accidents and other sudden impacts can cause internal organ damage, which requires emergency medical intervention and can be life-threatening.
• Amputations. Traumatic amputations occur during an accident itself, while surgical amputations happen when doctors have no choice but to remove a limb that cannot be fixed via surgery or other means.
• Psychological injuries. Accidents and exposure to violence can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and other psychological injuries. These can be difficult to prove.

Many accident victims suffer multiple injuries in single incidents. It’s the combined effect of all the injuries on their lives that determines a personal injury case’s overall value.

How the Value of Personal Injury Claims Is Calculated

There are several types of damages you can claim in personal injury cases. They include:

• Economic damages. Economic damages lead to bills and other tangible financial losses. They include things like medical expenses, lost wages, and out-of-pocket costs for transportation to doctors’ appointments.
• Non-economic damages. Non-economic damages are intangible losses. As such, they are more subjective. They include pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, disfigurement, and loss of consortium.

Whether you were injured in an accident on the Westbank Expressway or in a slip-and-fall in a nearby grocery store, we can help you identify 100% of the damages to which you are entitled so that you can get full compensation for your claim.

Evidence Required to Prove Damages

Proving damages requires collecting a variety of evidence, including:

• Objective medical tests
• Personal testimony
• Bills and receipts
• Witness testimony
• Medical testimony
• Analysis from financial professionals

We can also help you gather evidence to prove liability for your damages. The type of evidence required could depend on how your injuries occurred. 

For a car accident, it might include an accident reconstruction, a police report, and surveillance video from a nearby business. For a workplace injury, it could include witness statements pertaining to what happened.

Intentional Acts and Personal Injury Claims

While most personal injury claims are based on the theory of negligence, some arise from intentional acts of violence. Depending on the circumstances surrounding your attack, you may be able to hold both the attacker and the owner of the property where the incident occurred responsible.

You should know that the standard of proof for personal injury claims is different than that associated with criminal proceedings. Even if your attacker was found not guilty in criminal court, you may still be able to pursue a civil claim against them to cover the damages you incurred as a result of the incident.

You may be able to recover further compensation if you can prove that the attack occurred due to a property owner’s negligent security. Negligent security can involve things like broken security cameras or lights, a lack of access control to a property, or a failure to hire security guards in a crime-ridden neighborhood. To prove this type of claim, we’ll need to provide evidence that the threat of the attack was foreseeable in addition to showing how and why it happened.

Louisiana’s Statute of Limitations

In Louisiana, the statute of limitations is known as the prescriptive period, which is set at two years for most personal injuries. There is an exception for medical malpractice claims, which have a prescriptive period of just one year, or up to three years if you don’t discover the injury until after the incident that caused it. If you were a minor at the time of your injury, you have until two years after your 18th birthday to file a claim.

FAQs

What Should You Not Tell a Personal Injury Lawyer?

You should not tell a personal injury lawyer lies. Your Avondale personal injury attorney needs a clear idea of what happened to build a strong case in defense of your claim. 

If there are any weaknesses in your case, your lawyer needs to know about them before it goes to negotiations or to court. You should also avoid downplaying or exaggerating the severity of your injuries.

How Much Do Most Personal Injury Lawyers Charge?

How much most personal injury lawyers charge varies. Most personal injury attorneys charge contingency fees, which means that they are only compensated if they successfully recover compensation for you, and the money comes out of the recovery directly. Lawyers may charge more if they have more experience, and cases that go to trial tend to have more extensive legal fees.

Is It Worth Filing a Personal Injury Claim?

It is worth filing a personal injury claim if you suffered compensable damages as a result of the incident that caused your injuries. This is true even if you were partially to blame for the accident. Under Louisiana personal injury laws, you may be eligible to receive compensation even if you were up to 50% to blame for the accident that caused your injuries.

What Are the Odds of Filing a Successful Personal Injury Claim?

The odds of filing a successful personal injury claim vary depending on the strength of the evidence in your case. If you have strong proof that another party was liable for your injuries and compelling evidence of their severity, you have a better chance of success in your claim than someone whose injuries are difficult to prove or with liability questions surrounding their case.

Your Avondale Personal Injury Lawyer

If you’ve suffered an accidental or intentional injury in the West Bank or in Jefferson Parish, you need a talented Avondale personal injury lawyer on your side. 

You can trust the team here at Ron Austin Law to help. We have been serving as a voice for the injured for over 20 years. In that time, we have developed a reputation for providing the personalized attention of a local lawyer to clients in Avondale, combined with the resources of a nationally recognized firm. Contact us to schedule a consultation regarding your personal injury case today.