Louisiana Injury Lawyers Blog

September 25, 2017

Passenger Receives $434K Jury Award for Injuries Suffered in Baton Rouge Two-Car Accident

Auto accidents case may have many nuances, details, and points for which you need to make important tactical and strategic decisions. For example, you are a passenger in a vehicle that’s involved in a two-vehicle crash. You suffer injuries in the crash. Whom do you sue? These and other important choices are places where the advice and representation of an experienced Louisiana car accident attorney may make the difference between success and defeat.

One case in which the injured passenger had to deal with making such choices was one that arose from a collision in Baton Rouge in 2012. Lance was attempting to turn his 2004 BMW left out of a parking lot and onto the main road. Patrick was attempting to merge his SUV into the left turn lane on that same main road. Both men made their moves at around the same time, and Patrick’s SUV struck Lance’s BMW.

September 11, 2017

Managing the Discovery Process to Get the Most from Your Louisiana Injury Case

by Cardone Law Firm

In your personal injury case, the road to success involves many, many steps. Some of them definitely involve the facts of your case, such as the nature of the accident and the nature of your injuries. Others, though, involve things that are more procedural or tactical in nature, including the process of discovery in your case. This is one of many areas in which a Louisiana slip-and-fall attorney is extremely beneficial to you. Whether you are making discovery requests or responding to them, your knowledgeable counsel can make sure that you are complying with the rules and avoiding pitfalls along the way. In one recent slip-and-fall case from Alexandria, the management of the discovery process was integral to the injured man’s success.

The plaintiff was a man walking through an Alexandria, La. hospital in 2006. As he walked across a sloped ramp that was part of a skybridge, he slipped and fell. The man was hurt in the fall, and he eventually sued for damages. Initially, the hospital admitted, within its response to a “Request for Admissions” made by the plaintiff, that the plaintiff fell in water, that the wet spot was a result of mopping performed by the hospital’s custodian, and that the custodian removed warning signs from the area when he finished mopping, which was mere minutes before the plaintiff encountered the area and fell.

August 24, 2017

Can You Recover Money if You are Injured on a Bus? Yes – Louisiana Court Recently Awards $487K to Injured Bus Passenger

by Cardone Law Firm

The Louisiana Court of Appeal recently upheld a jury verdict and nearly $500,000 damages award. The injured plaintiff was able to prevail because he had evidence that established clearly that the defendant driver was negligent. In many Louisiana bus accident cases, it is helpful to have proof that will allow a judge or jury to decide in your favor on multiple bases. In this case, the appeals court made the decision to uphold the lower court because the evidence showed that the defendant driver was either inattentive or following too closely, and, either way, his driving fell below the appropriate standard of care.

The plaintiff was a passenger on a bus that narrowly averted a rear-end collision with a pickup truck in New Orleans. The bus’ sudden braking to avoid hitting the truck threw the plaintiff from his seat in the bus. He landed on his right side on the floor of the bus near the driver’s seat. Shortly after the impact with the floor of the bus, the passenger began experiencing shoulder pain.

August 10, 2017

Louisiana Plaintiff’s Use of Expert Opinion Evidence Was Enough to Avoid Dismissal of Her Auto Accident Case

by Cardone Law Firm

In a Louisiana car accident case, you may have many different types of evidence that you use to achieve success, with each type playing an important role. For many cases, expert witness evidence can be one of those types. For one woman whose case was recently decided by the Louisiana Court of Appeal, her expert evidence was vital, since that evidence alone was enough to raise a triable issue of fact and allow her to avoid summary judgment.

Read more about auto accident law.

August 1, 2017

LOUISIANA DWI and YOUR COMMERCIAL DRIVER’S LICENSE (CDL)

by Cardone Law Firm

When you are arrested for a drinking and driving (DWI), there are two separate tracks – a criminal track and an administrative track. The criminal track concerns fines, penalties, and potential jail time while the administrative track deals with the suspension of your driver’s license. The suspension of a driver’s license always presents a difficult situation, but this is especially true if your job requires you to operate a commercial motor vehicle or you have a Class A, B, or C Commercial Driver’s License (CDL).

Learn more about DWI related cases in Louisiana.

July 25, 2017

Louisiana Stepmom and Stepson Allowed to Pursue Injury Case Because Insurer’s Evidence Didn’t Prove a Valid Cancellation

by Cardone Law Firm

If you suffer an injury in an auto accident, there are many challenges that may lie ahead of you. Unfortunately, battling with an insurance company can sometimes be one of them. That is one of many areas where an experienced Louisiana auto accident attorney can help you – by using the tools available in the legal system to give you every chance to get what’s coming to you. In the case of one woman and her stepson, who were rear-ended at a traffic signal, the Louisiana Court of Appeal revived their lawsuit, concluding that the insurer had not submitted the right type of evidence to prove that a valid cancellation of the at-fault driver’s insurance policy had taken place before the accident occurred.

On June 1, 2015, the woman was driving on Florida Boulevard in Baton Rouge when she was rear-ended while stopped at a traffic light. The driver, along with her stepson (who was a passenger in the vehicle), sued the driver who rear-ended them, as well as that driver’s auto insurance company.

The insurance company, in its defense, argued that it could not be liable for the plaintiffs’ injuries. The policy it had issued to the at-fault driver was financed through a third-party company, and, since the driver had fallen behind on his payments to the finance company, the insurer had canceled the policy a week before the accident took place.

July 12, 2017

Court of Appeal Upholds Bad-Faith Damages Award Against Insurer in Central Louisiana Auto Accident

by Cardone Law Firm

When you’re injured in an auto accident, there are many challenges and difficulties you’ll face. First and foremost, there is simply recovering from your injuries. Hopefully, you won’t face the added stress of an insurance company that owes you payment on a claim but doesn’t pay. However, if that does happen, the law may give you certain options for damages against that insurer for bad faith. In the recent case of one injured woman, the Louisiana Court of Appeal upheld a finding of bad faith and an award of damages in her favor.

June 29, 2017

Will Auto Insurance Cover a Driver with a Suspended License?

by Cardone Law Firm

It is illegal to drive without a valid driver’s license. It is also illegal for you to give permission to a person to drive your vehicle who does not have a valid driver’s license. However, just because it is illegal, does not mean people do not do it all the time.

At our office, we have recently seen an influx of auto accident cases where individuals were hit by a driver who was driving a vehicle with a suspended license. A suspended license is like having no license at all under the law. A person’s license can be suspended for many reasons. Often our clients who were hit by a driver with a suspended license to not even realize it until they see a copy of the police report.

June 28, 2017

The Privileges of Pedestrians & The Duty to Yield to Their Right of Way

by Cardone Law Firm

Everyone has heard the phrase “pedestrians have the right of way.” The purpose of this blog post is to give you more information on the rights and responsibilities of pedestrians under Louisianalaw. Those rights depend on many different factors, for example, is the pedestrian in a crosswalk or not in a crosswalk? How is the visibility for the driver and the pedestrian? What other traffic controls are present in the area? Is it an emergency situation? And many other factors, which are discussed here.

If you have been to New Orleans lately, you know many pedestrians do not obey traffic signals. It is common both for locals and tourists here to disregard a red-light and cross the street. After you read this article, you may understand why pedestrians are so nonchalant about violating this law.

June 21, 2017

Court of Appeal Gives Louisiana Man Renewed Opportunity to Pursue Slip-and-Fall Case

by Cardone Law Firm

If you have ever looked at a map or a set of turn-by-turn directions on an online navigation system, you know that, whatever your destination, there is often more than one way to get there. Each has its own advantages. One may be faster, one may be shorter, and one may be more scenic. The law can work a little like that sometimes. If you’ve been injured because of someone else’s fault, there may be more than one way to pursue damages. The accident case of a man who fell outside a fast-food restaurant offers an example of this in action.
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