Were you injured in an accident in New Orleans, Louisiana? You might be facing a long road to recovery and an uncertain future. Contact an experienced New Orleans personal injury lawyer from Mansfield Melancon Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers by calling (504) 294-3804 today.
WW have decades of experience handling personal injury claims. We’ve secured tens of millions of dollars for injured clients throughout Louisiana.
Contact our legal team today for a free consultation to learn more about your options for recovering compensation. We’ll help you understand your rights and options for recovering compensation after your accident.
Why Should I Hire Mansfield Melancon Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers To Handle My New Orleans Personal Injury Case?
You don’t have to navigate the injury claims process alone. In fact, there are many pitfalls in handling a claim by yourself. The insurance company will use its vast resources to challenge your claim every step of the way.
You deserve an experienced legal team on your side that can help protect your rights. Mansfield, Melancon, Cranmer & Dick is the premier personal injury law firm in New Orleans. We’ve secured tens of millions of dollars and settlements and verdicts. We’ve earned recognition from top legal organizations and rating services. You can trust us to put award-winning skills and experience behind your claim.
When you hire our New Orleans personal injury attorneys, you can expect us to:
- Thoroughly investigate your case and identify all parties who are responsible for your damages
- Gather compelling evidence to build a solid case on your behalf
- Account for all of your short-term and long-term losses caused by the accident
- Prepare a tailored demand letter
- Handle communications with the insurance company
- Negotiate for maximum compensation for your claim
- Fight for you in court if necessary
If you were injured in an accident caused by someone else’s negligence, we highly recommend you reach out for a free initial consultation. We can explain more about how we can help and
Do I Have a Personal Injury Case?
Most personal injury cases are based on negligence. Negligence occurs when a person acts unreasonably in the lead-up to an accident and injures another party. Negligence cases often involve car accidents, truck accidents, slip and falls, workplace accidents, and other incidents.
Other personal injury cases are based on intentional misconduct, such as assault. And others arise after strict liability incidents where a party has violated a safety law and injured another person. Product defects and dog bites offer two examples.
The best way to know if you have a personal injury case is to take advantage of a free consultation with an experienced injury lawyer. Mansfield, Melancon, Cranmer & Dick can help you understand your rights under Louisiana personal injury law.
Why Should I Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer?
Many victims mistakenly think that they don’t need a lawyer after an accident. However, injured clients who hire a personal injury lawyer can recover up to 3.5x more compensation than individuals who handle their claims by themselves.
Here’s why:
- Your lawyer will level the playing field. The insurance company on the other side of your claim will have teams of attorneys, investigators, and staff to serve its interests. It will use these resources to challenge liability and devalue your damages. By hiring an attorney, you even the playing field. You get access to your own resources, including a legal advocate who will protect you from aggressive and overzealous insurers.
- Your attorney will help you avoid mistakes. Mistakes can hurt your claim and cost you much-needed compensation. Your lawyer will help you avoid such costly mistakes by handling all aspects of your claim.
- Your lawyer will protect you from blame. Insurance companies and other defendants often like to blame injury victims for their accidents. This tactic gives them grounds to reduce your compensation. However, not all allegations of blame are legitimate. Your attorney can protect you from blame and help you recover full compensation.
- Your attorney will give you time to focus on your recovery. By hiring a lawyer, you pass off a burdensome legal process to a professional qualified to handle that process. In so doing, you can focus on your health and recovery — and not an injury claim.
Our attorneys at Mansfield, Melancon, Cranmer & Dick would be happy to discuss the benefits of hiring a personal injury lawyer during a free case review. Contact us today or submit an online contact form to schedule yours.
We Handle All Personal Injury Cases in New Orleans
Mansfield, Melancon, Cranmer & Dick handles all types of injury cases. We frequently recover top monetary awards in the following legal matters.
Car Accidents
Many motor vehicle accidents occur each year in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and surrounding areas across Louisiana. Most of these crashes are due to avoidable errors. If you were hurt in a car accident, our New Orleans car accident lawyers can help you seek the compensation you deserve.
Truck Accidents
Truck accidents often result in serious and catastrophic injuries to victims. If you were harmed because of the negligent truck driver, trucking company, or other party, you may be entitled to compensation. Our New Orleans truck accident lawyers can help hold them accountable.
Motorcycle Accidents
Motorcycle accident victims often encounter difficulties securing fair compensation after a crash. They are often blamed for these collisions even when they are not at fault for the crash. Our New Orleans motorcycle accident attorneys can ensure that you are treated fairly and receive the compensation you deserve.
Bicycle Accidents
Many people fail to treat bicyclists with the same regard as they treat other motorists. When drivers make unsafe passes, open doors into their pathway, or fail to yield the right-of-way, they should be held accountable for their negligence. Our New Orleans bicycle accident lawyers can help you seek justice after a bicycle crash.
Pedestrian Accidents
When a car collides with a pedestrian, the pedestrian often suffers serious injuries, including brain and spinal cord injuries. If you were struck by a negligent driver, they should be on the hook for your damages. Our experienced New Orleans pedestrian accident lawyers can handle your legal claim while you focus on your recovery.
Premises Liability
Property owners have a duty to keep their properties safe for visitors and to avoid harming guests. When they fail to uphold this duty, they can be held responsible for injuries to guests. Our New Orleans premises liability lawyers can help if you suffered an injury on another party’s property.
Wrongful Death
If you lost a loved one in an accident caused by someone’s carelessness, you may have grounds to file a wrongful death claim. This type of legal claim helps you seek justice and accountability on behalf of your loved one. Our New Orleans wrongful death lawyers can handle all aspects of your claim.
Other Cases
We also have experience handling cases involving:
- Bus accidents
- Uber & Lyft accidents
- Product defect cases
- Medical malpractice
- Sexual Abuse
- Clergy sex abuse
- Offshore accidents
- Boating accidents
- And more
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation to learn more about our legal services.
How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer in New Orleans?
Most personal injury lawyers work on a contingency fee basis. Under this fee arrangement, attorney’s fees come from an agreed-upon percentage of your compensation award. However, if the attorney doesn’t recover a settlement or verdict for you, you won’t owe any attorney fees.
Contingency fees keep representation affordable at a time when injured victims may be experiencing financial stress due to their accident. Most injury law firms also offer free consultations to help you understand your options after a personal injury.
Call Mansfield, Melancon, Cranmer & Dick today to schedule a case consultation and learn more about our fee arrangements.
What Damages Are Available to New Orleans Accident Victims?
Louisiana divides damages that accident victims can receive into two main categories:
Economic Damages
Economic damages are the losses you experience that can be tied directly to a dollar figure.
Common examples of economic damages include:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Reduced earning capacity
- Property damage
- Out-of-pocket expenses
These damages include your current losses, as well as those you can reasonably anticipate in the future, such as future medical expenses.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages compensate accident victims for intangible losses, such as:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Damage to their reputation
- Inconvenience
- Impairment
- Disfigurement and scarring
- Loss of consortium
The best way to learn what damages you may be able to recover and the potential value of your claim is to contact an experienced New Orleans personal injury lawyer today.
How Much Is My Personal Injury Case Worth?
Several factors can potentially affect how much money you might be able to recover after an accident or act of violence in New Orleans, LA:
- The specific physical injuries you’ve suffered and their severity
- Changes in your ability to work and/or generate an income
- Changes in your overall quality of life
- Available insurance benefits and policy limits
- Comparative negligence or claims of shared fault
- Steps taken to mitigate your damages
- Your age and life expectancy
- Out-of-pocket expenses
The more severe your injuries and resulting trauma, the more you can typically expect your personal injury case to be worth. You can learn more about your case and potential recovery by reaching out to Mansfield, Melancon, Cranmer & Dick today.
What If I’m Partially At Fault For the Accident?
Often, you can still recover compensation even if you’re being blamed for your accident, though it will impact your financial recovery. Louisiana has a pure comparative negligence law, which means each party will be apportioned a percentage of fault for the accident (even if it is 0%).
You can recover damages against an at-fault party even if you were partially to blame. However, your compensation will be reduced in proportion to your percentage of fault.
For example, imagine that you were injured in an accident when a negligent driver ran a red light and rear-ended your car. Suppose your brake lights weren’t working properly, and the driver couldn’t see that you were stopped. Suppose the jury decides that you are 30% at fault and the Uber driver is 70% at fault. You suffered $100,000 in damages. In this case, you could recover up to $70,000 (70%).
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How Long Do I Have To File a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Louisiana?
Each state establishes its own time limit for filing personal injury cases, known as the statute of limitations. The deadline for most personal injury claims in Louisiana is one year.
This is one of the shortest statutes of limitations in the country. It is not a lot of time to investigate the accident, gather evidence, and try to negotiate a settlement. It’s important to reach out to an experienced personal injury lawyer who can protect your rights by taking timely legal action.
What is Negligence and How Do I Prove It?
Most, but not all, personal injury cases are based on the tort of negligence. In simple terms, negligence means that someone’s unreasonable actions created a dangerous situation in which another person was injured or killed.
In order to win a negligence-based personal injury case, you will have the burden of proving several distinct elements:
- Duty: The defendant owed you a duty of care (e.g., to drive carefully and follow posted traffic laws)
- Breach: The defendant breached the duty of care owed to you because their actions were unreasonable under the circumstances (e.g., they chose to text while driving)
- Causation: The defendant’s actions or inaction were the direct and proximate cause of your accident (e.g., they rear-ended you at a red light because they weren’t paying attention)
- Damages: You’ve suffered damages (e.g., medical bills and lost wages related to your crash-related injuries)
Essentially, you have to prove that you wouldn’t have been injured if the defendant had acted more cautiously.
To win your case, you must prove that the other party was negligent by a preponderance of the evidence. This burden of proof involves establishing that your claim, as supported by facts and evidence, is more likely true than not.
Will My Personal Injury Case Go to Trial?
Only a handful of personal injury cases go to trial – around 5%. The chances are good that your case will end in settlement. Insurance companies and other defendants prefer to settle to avoid the costs and uncertainty of litigation.
However, there are cases where you may need to go to trial to recover full compensation for your injuries, including:
- If the insurance company denies your claim
- The insurer undervalues your damages and refuses to settle for a fair amount
- You are being blamed for the accident
- There are multiple defendants
In these instances, trial may be necessary to prove liability and damages. Your personal injury attorney in New Orleans can help you understand whether your case will proceed to trial or whether it will likely result in a settlement.
How Long Will My Injury Case Take?
The timeline of your personal injury case will depend on many factors. Cases with minor to moderate injuries and simple damages will be the quickest to resolve. These claims can typically be completed within a matter of months.
Cases involving serious injuries may take longer to finish. You may need to reach maximum medical improvement before you have an adequate sense of your damages. These cases can take anywhere from a few months up to a year or more to resolve.
Claims that turn into lawsuits will take the longest to resolve. Lawsuits require lengthy processes for discovery, court hearings, jury selection, and trial. Such matters can take up to a year or more to finish.
An experienced personal injury lawyer will know how to keep your case moving along an efficient timeline without sacrificing compensation.
What Should I Do After an Accident?
Knowing what to do after a personal injury accident can help protect your health and legal claim. We highly recommend you take the following steps after an accident:
Call For Help
Check yourself and others for any injuries. If anyone was hurt, call 911 and request an ambulance. If you were involved in a motor vehicle collision, calling 911 will also ensure that a local law enforcement officer comes to the scene and makes a police report, which you will need for your insurance claim.
Gather Information
Gather as much information as you can about the person you think is responsible for your accident. This may include:
- Their name and contact information
- Insurance information
- Driver’s license number
Ask for the names and contact information of any witnesses, too.may have seen what
Document the Scene
The accident scene will quickly be cleaned up so that it will not be a hazard to others.
Document the scene with your cell phone by taking pictures and videos of:
- The accident scene
- Any relevant signs
- Skid marks and debris
- Conditions that could have contributed to the accident
- Property damage
- Your injuries
Give this information to your lawyer.
Seek Medical Attention
If you didn’t receive emergency care at the scene of the accident, seek medical attention immediately after it. Not all injuries are obvious immediately, but getting a prompt and accurate diagnosis can prevent complications or further injuries. It also shows the insurance company that you are taking your health seriously.
Contact an Experienced Personal Injury Lawyer
Protect your rights and learn about the next steps of your claim by contacting a personal injury lawyer in New Orleans.
Contact Our Experienced New Orleans Personal Injury Lawyers For Legal Help
You’re not alone. If you were injured in an accident caused by someone else’s negligence, Mansfield Melancon Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers can help. We’ll handle your legal claim while you focus on your recovery.
Contact our New Orleans personal injury lawyers today for a free case consultation. We’re ready to put decades of experience behind your claim.
