New Iberia Personal Injury Lawyer

New Iberia Personal Injury Attorney

If you have been injured in an accident in New Iberia that was due to the negligence of another party, you may be wondering how you can effectively cover the subsequent damages. The cost of property damage, medical bills, and pain and suffering can be extreme. A New Iberia personal injury lawyer from Sanchez Burke, can help you pursue a personal injury claim in order to win a comprehensive legal settlement.

The damages that occur as a result of a New Iberia accident can be minor or grave, even resulting in disability or death, and include damage to your emotional and physical health, as well as damage to property. The legal team at Sanchez Burke has years of experience helping accident victims work toward obtaining the compensation they are entitled to. Our skilled lawyers are prepared to help you with your personal injury case.

Personal Injury Cases Handled by Our Louisiana Law Firm

Sanchez Burke works with a variety of personal injury cases, which can vary based on severity, location, and the parties involved. Some of the types of personal injury cases we can assist with include:

• Product liability. These cases can occur when individuals suffer injuries due to design or manufacturing defects, as well as failure to give proper instructions or danger warnings.
• Premises liability. Property owners have a responsibility to ensure that their premises are maintained properly and securely. If they fail to do so and it results in an injury, then they are required by law to recover the damages.
• Car accidents. If you have been injured in a car accident, a lawyer from our firm can help you gather evidence to prove the liability of the other driver or drivers.
• Truck accidents. Whether you were driving the truck involved in the accident or you were hit by a truck, our legal team can assist you in recovering damages.
• Motorcycle accidents. Motorcycle accidents can be particularly harmful and can lead to death. Our firm can assist you in a personal injury claim, wrongful death claim, or survival action claim.
• Industrial injuries. If you have been injured by heavy machinery while working on the job, our team can help you get the compensation that you deserve.
• Traumatic brain injuries or catastrophic injuries. Our legal team can assist with personal injury accidents that have resulted in catastrophic injuries or traumatic brain injuries.
• Construction accidents. These workplace accidents are common and can result in severe injuries, especially if proper instructions and guidelines are not being followed.
• Wrongful death accidents. If a loved one lost their life as a result of a personal injury accident, then you may be able to recover compensation for the deceased and your family.

In addition to the types of cases mentioned above, Sanchez Burke can also assist with offshore accidents, train derailment accidents, burn injuries, bus accidents, pedestrian accidents, and workers’ compensation cases. Your case may require the intersection of different kinds of personal injury cases. The New Iberia legal team at Sanchez Burke is equipped to handle complex personal injury cases that span multiple sectors or categories.

How Can I File a New Iberia Personal Injury Claim?

The claims process can vary based on the details of your case, but filing a personal injury claim and working toward compensation generally entails the following steps:

• A First Consultation. It’s important to meet with a New Iberia personal injury attorney before filing the appropriate paperwork. A lawyer can discuss and analyze your case information and help you adequately plan your claims process.
• Sign an Agreement. If you decide to work with a personal injury attorney after your first consultation, it is important to sign a retainer agreement with them. This will specify the proportion of your settlement that they will take as payment if you win your case.
• File the Claim. Next, your lawyer will reach out to relevant insurance companies and involved parties to notify them that the accident has occurred. They will introduce themselves as your representative, officially initiating the filing of your claim.
• Gather Evidence. The personal injury lawyer on your case will start collecting all of the evidence tied to your case, such as photos and videos of the accident and subsequent injuries, medical diagnostics, witness testimonies, expert testimonies, and police reports.
• Create a Demand Letter. After critical evidence has been collected and your lawyer has been able to reconstruct your accident, they will then write the official settlement demand letter to be sent to the liable individual’s insurance company.
• The insurance company of the liable party will need to send back a counteroffer, and the settlement process will begin. The client and lawyer should be well informed about the ongoing negotiations. Once the injured party agrees to a specific settlement amount, they will have to sign off on a release of claims agreements, meaning that the injured party can no longer pursue any compensation related to that case.
• File a Lawsuit. If the injured party cannot agree on a settlement with the liable party’s insurance company representatives, then a lawsuit will have to be filed. A personal injury lawyer can do this by filing a complaint, which will identify the plaintiff, the defendants, and a claim summary.
• Serve the Complaint Copy. The defendant or defendants in the case must be provided with a copy of the official complaint. Upon receiving this, they will need to respond by denying or admitting fault.
• Discovery and Mediation. This phase happens before the trial and requires both sides to investigate all of the personal injury case details. During this phase, a mediator may be hired to help both parties try to agree on a settlement again.
• Go to Trial. After gathering all of the facts and evidence again, you will need to bring your case before a jury or a judge. Finally, the case comes to an end by issuing a verdict that says who was liable and what compensation they must pay.

While the claims process may seem lengthy and overwhelming, it’s important to note that the legal staff at Sanchez Burke has been handling such cases for years. We can help break down and simplify the process so that you can focus on healing. Allow us to take care of the administrative work so you can have peace of mind during this difficult time.

How Can I Prove Negligence?

To win a personal injury claim in New Iberia, it must be proven that the person who caused the accident and injuries was acting negligently. The theory of negligence assumes that Louisianans must act responsibly and carefully with respect to one another. There are four essential parts of negligence that must have been present in order to hold the defendant liable for your injuries, which are:

• Duty of Care. It must be proven that the liable party had a certain duty to hold themselves in a certain way or carry out certain actions, and their actions were linked to your harm.
• Breach of Duty. It must be proven that the liable party did not adhere to their duty of care by acting in a particular way.
• There must be facts and evidence backing up the notion that the actions of the liable party resulted in your harm.
• It must be proven that you ultimately suffered injuries or damages as a direct result of the breach of care or duty.

Proving negligence of an individual can be difficult and requires thoroughly gathering and analyzing evidence. A personal injury lawyer can help you prove that the defendant was negligent in order to help provide the foundation for your case.

What Damages Am I Entitled to After My Accident?

When it comes to recovering damages that were associated with your personal injury case, there are generally three kinds of damages that can be pursued by you and your lawyer, which include economic damages, non-economic damages, and punitive damages.

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages include all of the damages that you suffered which do not have any kind of economic value. These losses have an impact on your overall quality of life and can include disfigurement of the body, disability, or a new lack of enjoyment of life. In wrongful death cases, this can also include the loss of a companion.

Economic Damages

In a personal injury case, economic damages sustained from the accident are those that can amount to a certain value. This can include the wages you did not make or were potentially going to make but could not do so due to injuries associated with the accident. A loss of earning capacity is another economic damage for which you can receive compensation.

Economic damages can also include any medical expenses that were spent as a result of your injury, including expenses related to hospital stays, clinic visits, diagnostics and tests, rehabilitation or physical therapy, prescriptions and medications, surgical fees, and medical devices.

Any property damage that was sustained can be compensated for. This includes damage to the injured party’s property, as well as other damages associated with the accident, which the injured and non-liable person should not have to cover.

Punitive Damages

Punitive damages are a form of compensation that is less common than economic damages or non-economic damages. Punitive damages are typically pursued in cases that are linked to gross levels of negligence or poor conduct carried out with intention.

A personal injury case victim may be entitled to these damages in the case of severe harm. Punitive damages are primarily employed in order to discourage the defendant from committing such an act again and to punish the offender for their particularly egregious actions.

How Long Do I Have to File My Personal Injury Claim?

The amount of time that can pass between the date of the incident or accident and the day that you file your personal injury claim is known as the statute of limitations. In the state of Louisiana, this time limit is one year, which is shorter than for other states. However, depending on the details of your case, you may have longer to file your claim.

It’s important to get in touch with an experienced personal injury lawyer so that they can advise you on the amount of time that you have, not only to file a claim but to meet other pertinent deadlines. It’s also critical to note that many things have to happen before a strong and comprehensive claim can be filed, such as evidence collection.

Workers’ Compensation in New Iberia

If you have been injured on the job in New Iberia, then you may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. There is a critical deadline of 30 days from the date of injury to report the accident to your employer. After that, you have one year from the date of injury to file a claim.

If an individual other than your employer was responsible for the accident, then this is known as a third-party injury case. These cases can be particularly complex since there are multiple at-fault parties involved. A personal injury lawyer from Sanchez Burke can assist you with such cases and help you get the workers’ compensation that you are entitled to.

Government Claims in New Iberia

If you have been injured due to the negligence or the wrongdoing of the government, then it is critical to work with a lawyer who has experience in government claims cases. In Louisiana, it is possible to file a claim against a government entity, such as a county or city. However, certain particular requirements have to be met. The statute of limitations for such a case can range from 60 to 80 days.

Work With a Trustworthy New Iberia Personal Injury Lawyer

If you have been injured in an accident in New Iberia, it is important to ensure that you get the compensation you deserve in a timely manner. A personal injury lawyer from Sanchez Burke can help to analyze all of the details of your case and build the basis of your claim so you can work toward recovering damages. Contact us today to get started with your first consultation.