Lafayette Personal Injury Attorneys

Fighting to Secure Fair Compensation for Injury Victims

Suffering emotional trauma or physical injuries can be a life-changing event. Of course, even minor harm can seriously disrupt a person’s life — with something as simple as an injured hand sometimes resulting in months of missed work. Whether your life has been somewhat disrupted due to minimal injuries, changed forever due to a catastrophic accident, or you’ve lost a loved one in a wrongful death case — you deserve to hold the responsible party accountable for their actions. Personal injury attorneys in Lafayette may be able to assist in this endeavor.

At The Law Office of Tony Morrow, our dedicated team of legal professionals is here to help. We’ve seen how a personal injury accident can derail a person’s life — oftentimes leaving them unable to work as medical expenses and other bills continue to pile up. Unfortunately, the legal process is not an easy thing to navigate for the average person. Far too many people have received unfair settlements or been unable to recover compensation at all due to aggressive insurance company tactics and dynamic personal injury rules under Louisiana law. Fortunately, you don’t have to go through this alone.

Contact a personal injury lawyer at our law firm today to discuss your options.

Do You Have a Valid Personal Injury Claim?

Before you start focusing on securing maximum compensation, it’s first important to recognize whether you have a valid personal injury or wrongful death claim. Without proving liability in your case, your ability to seek compensation will be greatly hindered. This is why it’s typically advisable to seek legal guidance before speaking to an insurance company. An experienced attorney can help you understand whether you have a valid claim, the strength of your claim, and the best way to move forward with legal action. It all comes down to proving liability.

There are several elements that must be established to accomplish this:

• Duty of care: It’s necessary to show that the liable party had a duty to avoid actions — or inaction — that could endanger others. For instance, tractor-trailer drivers have a duty to safely operate their vehicles to avoid truck accidents.
• Violation of Duty: It’s also necessary to show that a party violated their duty of care. For instance, dog bites are often suffered when pet owners don’t leash their animals — or the risk of car accidents increases when motorists drive recklessly.
• Damages incurred: It’s not enough to show that a violation of duty occurred. Your legal options are greatly reduced if you can’t show that actual damages were suffered. Fortunately, such damages can be economic or non-economic in nature.
• Causation: Causing severe injuries can leave a person financially liable for another individual’s losses. However, it’s necessary to show that the damages suffered were directly caused by the defendant’s actions.

When filing suit in a court of law is necessary, the task at hand involves proving each of these elements. This is the only way that a court will award you for losses ranging from lost wages and medical bills to emotional trauma and pain and suffering. However, it’s important that you’re able to prove these elements even when you’re not in court. After all, an insurance company is less likely to offer a fair settlement if they don’t think you’d be successful in a lawsuit.

That’s why you should have a personal injury attorney in Lafayette on your side. Contact us at The Law Office of Tony Morrow today. We’ll help you understand the way forward.

What Compensation Are You Entitled To?

Personal injuries come in many forms, but when they occur, there are certain issues that remain consistent between cases. For instance, personal injury claims are resolved either through settlement negotiations or lawsuits. In a perfect world, insurance companies would offer a fair settlement from the start — but instead, they’ll often try to lowball injury victims who don’t have legal representation. In fact, they’ll sometimes refuse to do what’s right even when a person does have an attorney.

When this happens, Lafayette personal injury attorneys can file a lawsuit on your behalf. Once your case goes to court, there are several types of financial compensation you may be entitled to:

• Special damages: Financial losses are common in personal injury claims. Economic damages are awarded to provide compensation for these losses. Recoverable losses include lost income, medical expenses, property damage, burial expenses, and other financial losses.
• General damages: Negligent parties can be held liable for non-economic damages as well. These include emotional distress, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment in life, loss of companionship, and other damages that are not easily measured in dollars.
• Punitive damages: Damages incurred during a personal injury incident typically focus on compensation for the losses suffered by accident victims. However, additional damages may be awarded as a form of punishment when the defendant’s actions are particularly egregious.

Your personal injury case deserves a dedicated team of legal professionals. You should be able to recover every dime you’re entitled to — regardless of whether this occurs through a settlement or personal injury lawsuit. However, accident victims need to understand that securing financial recovery will not be a simple endeavor. Defendants and insurance companies will make this process as difficult as possible. No one should have to go through these difficulties alone, and thanks to the Lafayette personal injury attorneys at The Law Office of Tony Morrow, you won’t have to.

How Important Are Lafayette Personal Injury Lawyers?

If you or a loved one suffered harm due to another party’s negligence, you may wonder whether you actually need legal help. Many people assume that they can’t afford an attorney, and others believe that liability is so clear that they’ll have no problem securing fair compensation. Unfortunately, both of these assumptions are very often incorrect. Various factors can affect whether you receive financial recovery, but the important thing to remember is that the defense will always try to pay as little as possible.

For instance, an insurance company may drive your discussion in such a way that they solicit an admission of partial fault from you. This can be devastating for your case — potentially reducing or eliminating the financial compensation available to you. It’s also important to understand that there are an abundance of legal technicalities that could have an effect on your ability to seek compensation. Anything from improper filing to missed deadlines can derail your case.

Insurance companies never have your best interests in mind, and the law isn’t structured in a way to make securing compensation a simple task. This is why it’s so important to work with Lafayette personal injury lawyers if you or a loved one have been harmed due to another party’s negligence. From minor to serious injuries — and even wrongful death claims — The Law Office of Tony Morrow is here to help you navigate a complicated legal process.

What Legal Issues Could Threaten Your Personal Injury Case?

Unfortunately, the legal landscape is littered with nuances that could interfere with your ability to secure fair compensation. This is why having legal support is so important. For instance, did you know that there’s a deadline to file a personal injury claim in Louisiana? Until very recently, injury victims only had one year to file a claim. This has been updated to two years, but unfortunately, this amount of time can still fly by when you’re recovering from injuries or dealing with insurance adjusters.

It’s also worth noting that Louisiana’s comparative negligence law could reduce the amount of compensation you’re entitled to. Put simply, the law says that every person involved in a personal injury incident is financially responsible for their own level of liability. This includes the injury victim. For instance, there may be a situation where the jury believes that the victim is 20% at fault for their own injury. In this situation, a court award of $1 million would be reduced by 20%.

Clearly, this can still result in a substantial amount of compensation. And while comparative negligence may seem like a bad thing in some cases, it’s actually a blessing in others. Even if an accident victim significantly contributed to their own injuries, they may still be able to secure some level of financial recovery. If you’ve been hurt due to another party’s negligence, your first step should be to seek medical attention. However, a call to our law office should be next on your list.

Contact a Personal Injury Attorney in Lafayette Today

If you’ve suffered a personal injury accident in Lafayette, there’s no time to waste. While recent changes to the law have made it easier for injury victims to recover compensation, this doesn’t mean they’re not still facing an uphill battle. Securing financial compensation is a difficult endeavor, as the insurance company or responsible parties will want to pay out as little as possible. However, having the right legal professional on your side can change everything. From settlement negotiations to a personal injury lawsuit, a lawyer can help you navigate the complex legal process.

At The Law Office of Tony Morrow, you’ll work with a dedicated Lafayette personal injury lawyer who is committed to securing a fair settlement or court award on your behalf. We know that you’re going through a harrowing ordeal, and when you’re trying to recover from a major injury or loss of a loved one, worrying about filing requirements, a surprisingly short time limit to file, and other legal technicalities is likely the last thing you want to do. Fortunately, an experienced personal injury attorney at our law firm can take on these burdens for you.

Contact us at (337) 201-9222 to schedule your confidential consultation. With over 30 years representing our local area, you’ll know you’re working with a law firm you can trust.