Louisiana Injury Lawyers

The reason why our injury lawyers have been recognized by leading legal peer review organizations, such as Best Lawyers®, Best Law Firms®, and Super Lawyers, is clear – extensive experience handling referrals of complex and difficult personal injury and wrongful death cases from lawyers around the world. Our law firm’s success is rooted in academia, with three attorneys having graduated #1 in their law school class. We also boast an Adjunct Professor of Law, a past President of the Louisiana Association for Justice emeritus, and a former 19th Judicial District Court and First Circuit Court of Appeal judge of counsel. The experienced Louisiana injury attorneys at Dué Guidry Piedrahita Andrews Courrege L.C. combine their academic backgrounds, practical trial experience, and financial “staying power” to add up to success for injured clients and the lawyers trusting the firm with referrals.

Personal Injury

Personal injury lawsuits may be brought in the aftermath of car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, slip and falls, and medical malpractice, among other accidents. Many personal injury lawsuits in Louisiana are pursued under a theory of negligence. This means that you will need to show that you were owed a duty of care, a breach of the duty occurred, and the breach caused your injuries and damages. Louisiana follows the doctrine of pure comparative negligence. Thus, a victim still will be able to recover some damages if they were partly at fault for an accident.

Car Accidents

Car accidents can result in serious injuries, including fractures, back injuries, spinal cord damage, amputations, and traumatic brain injuries. If you were injured in a car accident caused by someone else, you may be able to recover compensatory damages. Most likely, you will need to establish that the other driver acted carelessly, such as by driving drunk, driving while distracted, failing to yield, or speeding. Our injury attorneys can help Louisiana residents pursue a wide range of damages in car accident cases, such as medical costs, lost income, property damage, pain and suffering, and the costs of future treatment.

Motorcycle Accidents

It is rare for a motorcyclist to escape a collision with a larger vehicle unharmed. A motorcyclist has little to protect him or her from the force of a collision. Often, motorcycle accidents happen when drivers of larger vehicles claim that they did not see a motorcycle when going into an intersection or making a left turn. However, drivers have a duty to look out for motorcyclists, and being distracted or forgetting to check a blind spot is not an excuse for causing a crash. One of our partners, Scott Andrews, is a Harley-Davidson enthusiast, and he welcomes the opportunity to advocate for fellow riders.

Truck Accidents

Commercial trucks can cause serious injuries or even death to multiple people when they are involved in an accident. Common reasons for truck accidents include fatigue, drunk driving, improperly loaded vehicles, taking turns too fast, and improper wide turns. Interstate truck drivers must abide by regulations promulgated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and a failure to do so may be evidence of negligence. However, others may also be at fault for a truck accident, and it is critical to look at all the parties that may have contributed. These can include the trucking company, a third-party loader, a repair person, or another driver on the road. Often, commercial trucks are equipped with a black box that records accident data. It is critical to retain our Louisiana injury lawyers immediately after a truck accident so that we can put the trucking company on notice to preserve this evidence.

Medical Malpractice

Errors by doctors, nurses, and other health care providers can inflict substantial harm. To establish medical malpractice, you will need to show that you were owed a professional standard of care, and your health care provider deviated from the professional standard of care, causing your injuries. Under Louisiana’s Medical Malpractice Act, the greatest amount that can be recovered in any case is $500,000 plus medical expenses. Our firm handles medical malpractice lawsuits that involve catastrophic and permanent or debilitating injuries resulting from surgical errors, lack of informed consent, failures to diagnose, failures to monitor, and abuse.

Defective Products

The Louisiana Product Liability Act governs product liability lawsuits. You can hold a manufacturer liable for injuries caused by a defective product if the composition or construction of the product created an unreasonable danger, the product’s design created an unreasonable danger, the manufacturer failed to provide an adequate warning of the product’s risks, or the product did not conform to the manufacturer’s express warranty covering the product. Many product manufacturers take steps to protect their products and conceal any internal documents that might trigger liability, so it is crucial to retain an injury attorney in Louisiana who is knowledgeable and experienced in getting the necessary evidence. We may hire experts for crash testing and failure analysis, as well as expert witnesses in accident reconstruction, warnings, design, fire cause and origin, and biomechanics.

Admiralty and Maritime Injury

We handle injury cases arising out of serious accidents that occur on or near a body of navigable water, including cases arising out of offshore accidents. Accidents that occur on any type of vessel often fall within admiralty jurisdiction and require the application of federal maritime law. Laws that may apply include the Jones Act, the Death on the High Seas Act, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, the Shipowners’ Limited Liability Act, and common law. The Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico are navigable waters, and if you were injured on a vessel on these bodies of water, you may be able to bring a lawsuit to recover damages. It is important to conduct a prompt investigation to determine which law would best apply to your claim.

Boat Accidents

Recreational boating is popular in Louisiana. Our firm handles claims arising out of accidents on non-navigable waters, which are not covered by maritime law. Boat accidents that happen on non-navigable waters are covered by state law. Too often, boat operators are careless or reckless in how they operate their watercraft. If you were injured as a result of a boat operator’s conduct, you should consult an experienced injury lawyer in Louisiana about whether you have a basis to sue for damages. For example, an accident may be caused by an intoxicated operator of a boat. In Louisiana, you may be able to recover punitive damages in this situation.

Premises Liability

If you are injured or a loved one is killed on someone else’s property due to a dangerous property condition, you may be able to bring a premises liability lawsuit. These lawsuits may be brought in connection with slip and falls, falling merchandise, trip and falls, or negligent security. Under Louisiana law, merchants need to use reasonable care to keep the floors, passageways, and aisles of a property where goods are sold in a reasonably safe condition. A victim needs to show that the merchant failed to use reasonable care, and the condition that caused the fall presented an unreasonable and foreseeable risk of harm of which the merchant knew or should have known. It is important to investigate as soon as possible after an accident.

Consult an Experienced Injury Attorney in Louisiana

Whether you were injured in a car crash, at a hospital, or while visiting someone else’s property, you should consult a seasoned attorney who can advise you on your options and assert your rights. Dué Guidry Piedrahita Andrews Courrege L.C. represents people in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lake Charles, Lafayette, Monroe, and Alexandria, among other communities. Call us toll-free at (225) 929-7481 or at (225) 929-7481, or contact us via our online form for a free consultation.