A Louisiana personal injury attorney is needed for a serious personal injury or death claim. Properly valuing such a claim for settlement purposes or presenting the case at trial requires a full understanding of liability, all elements of damages, insurance coverage issues, coordination of health care insurance coverage with medical cost recovery and the hiring of experts in the fields of medicine, vocational rehabilitation, lost future wages and earning capacity just to name a few. Effectively presenting claims for settlement or trial of serious or fatal injuries requires a personal injury lawyer with years of experience. A personal injury claim is born when a person is injured due to the fault of another person or commercial business establishment. Personal injury claims can arise in a wide variety of settings, including automobile, truck, motorcycle, boat, bicycle or pedestrian accidents. They can arise from slip, or trip and fall accidents in parking lots, or inside of commercial business establishments, apartment complexes or private homes. They can arise in industrial, construction or office work settings. They can arise in offshore or maritime industry work settings, such as on a crew boat, supply vessel or offshore drilling rig or platform. They can arise during the loading, unloading or servicing of a vessel. They can arise due to a defective product. They can arise in many other ways as well. Injuries can range from minor injuries to soft tissue of the body, such as the common "whiplash," to more serious injuries, such as bulging or herniated discs in the lumbar or thoracic (back) spine or cervical (neck) spine, closed-head injury, concussion, brain damage, burns, broken bones, amputated limbs, loss of vision or sexual dysfunction, just to name a few. If the accidental injury results in death, the case is considered a "wrongful death" claim. The law of each state differs significantly regarding both who can recover, and what can be recovered in such a case. For fatal injuries sustained in certain maritime settings still different laws may apply. The PROPER handling of a serious personal injury or wrongful death claim requires a qualified and experienced personal injury attorney. In Louisiana, the law sets forth who are the appropriate "wrongful death beneficiaries" who can bring such a claim. This will depend upon what relatives survive the wrongful death victim. The existence of certain higher ranked beneficiaries (relatives) excludes claims by certain other ones. Contrary to what many believe, the wrongful death victim's estate does not bring the claim against whoever was at fault if statutory wrongful death beneficiaries exist under Louisiana law. The wrongful death beneficiaries are entitled to recover for their own loss of love and affection, support, guidance and services due to the loss of their loved one (commonly called a "wrongful death" action). They are also entitled to recover for the wrongful death victim's conscious pain and suffering prior to death (commonly called a "survival action").
J. Price McNamara
Attorney
Losing my own brother, then my father and sister after long, disabling illnesses just a few months apart drove a career change for me. Before that experience, I never truly understood the place you’re in. I never understood the dramatic impact that receiving (or not receiving) the disability and life insurance benefits you paid for and counted on can have on your life especially when you need to focus on family and healing. What I experienced with my own family now drives the way I view my clients and my work, and I will never forget it!
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