Car Accidents

July 12, 2019

I Filed My Louisiana Lawsuit and Got it Served on the Other Side, But They Did Nothing in Response. Now What Do I Do?

The above question is not an unreasonable one. It’s one among many circumstances that illustrate how many different challenges or unique things can happen in your Louisiana injury case. Many of these may be things for which you are unprepared or, at least, are not equipped (in terms of legal knowledge) to utilize to your maximum advantage. So, if you have sued and the party who injured you filed his pleadings too late, or did not file anything at all, there may be ways to obtain a judgment in your favor without the other side’s participation and without requiring a full trial. For the advice and representation you need when unusual things like this happen, be sure you’re equipped with a skilled Louisiana injury attorney on your side.

When the other side does not respond in a timely manner or doesn’t respond at all to your lawsuit filing, you can choose from several different options. One of these is called a default judgment. A default judgment is a judgment ordered by the court in which the judge says that you filed your lawsuit properly, that you laid out all of the required elements of the claims you asserted, that the other side did not respond, and that you are entitled to a judgment in your favor on all claims as a result. This kind of judgment is just as binding as if you went through a full trial and received a jury verdict in your favor.

July 11, 2019

Managing Your Louisiana Auto Accident Case When You Want to Settle With Some Defendants and Litigate Against Others

by Cardone Law Firm

I’ve been injured in an auto accident by a delivery driver driving a car belonging to another person. What is the best way to proceed with my case?

In modern slang or metaphorical language, the phrase “lots of moving parts” or “a lot of moving parts” is considered to be an alternate way of saying that something is complex or has numerous working pieces to manage. Many times, your Louisiana auto accident case can be something that has lots of moving parts. There is the identification of the proper defendants, including possibly the driver, the driver’s employer, the vehicle’s owner and one or more insurance companies. There’s the pre-trial discovery process and the collection of evidence. There’s decision-making like whether to settle or to take the case to a jury verdict. These, of course, are just to name a few.

July 10, 2019

How a Wise Procedural Move Allowed One Louisiana Pedestrian to Maintain Her Pursuit of an Award of Injury Damages

by Cardone Law Firm

When you’ve been injured in a vehicle accident, whether you’re a pedestrian, driver, passenger or cyclist, you may have certain legal options available to you. You may know that you can go to court and sue the driver who crashed into you. But, you may not know that there’s often more to a completely successful result than that. There may be procedural maneuvers that an experienced attorney will know to make to protect your interests that you, as a non-lawyer, would not reasonably be expected to know about. In other words, your auto accident injury case is too important to leave anything to risk, so be sure you have a skilled Louisiana injury attorney advocating for you.

A case highlighting this truth was the negligence action pursued by W.B., who was a pedestrian injured in Jefferson Parish. According to her lawsuit, she was standing behind her vehicle when A.G. crashed into W.B.’s vehicle with her vehicle, causing W.B. to suffer substantial injuries.

July 10, 2019

Someone Pulled Out in Front of Me and Caused My Louisiana Injury Accident. How Do I Make Sure He is Held 100% Responsible for My Damages?

by Cardone Law Firm

Sometimes you are injured in a crash through absolutely no fault of your own. Another driver does something ill-advised and negligent, and there is nothing you can do to avoid the collision. When that happens, you’ll probably want to seek compensation in court and you’ll likely argue that the other driver was 100% at fault and 100% liable for your damages.

In a case like that, the defendant driver and/or their auto insurance company may argue that you, the injured plaintiff, were actually to blame for the accident, at least in part. All drivers in Louisiana are required to drive at a safe speed, keep a proper lookout and keep their vehicles under control at all times. A defendant driver may try to claim, in an effort to reduce their damages (or avoid them entirely,) that you failed to do one or more of those required things. When that happens, you need an experienced Louisiana injury attorney to help you defeat those arguments.

July 9, 2019

Fatal Head-On Crash in Ascension Parish Leaves One Man Dead

by Cardone Law Firm

Roughly half-way between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, a mid-March accident claimed the life of one Louisiana man. That man, a 54-year-old from Holden, left behind a fiancée, a mother, two siblings and many nieces and nephews. He was killed by a driver whom police believed to be driving while intoxicated. Certainly, a DWI that causes injury or death usually will be a criminal matter. However, if you were injured (or a loved one killed) by an intoxicated driver, what you and your family may need is often much more than just the closure that comes from an intoxicated driver’s criminal punishment.

The law gives people injured (and the loved ones of people killed) by intoxicated drivers the ability to seek compensation in criminal court. To get the answers you need and to find how best to go about pursuing your legal options, be sure to reach out promptly to a skilled Louisiana injury attorney.

July 9, 2019

The Terrible Toll ‘Road Rage’ Driving Has Taken Here in Louisiana

by Cardone Law Firm

Road rage and aggressive driving are problems everywhere. When drivers give in to this urge, terribly bad things can (and often do) happen. The Pelican State has seen many road rage tragedies, including the deaths of two NFL players with New Orleans-area ties (Will Smith and Joe McKnight.)

This spring, the Louisiana Supreme Court will hear arguments in one of the more horrifying road-rage accidents of recent years. In the case, two drivers were allegedly engaged in a game of road-rage-motivated “cat and mouse” along westbound Interstate 10 near Baton Rouge. The encounter ended with the vehicles bumping into each other. One vehicle, a pickup truck, spun out of control, crossed a median and slammed into a sedan in the eastbound lanes. The sedan caught fire, killing a mother, her three young sons and the woman’s teenage co-worker, The Advocate reported.

July 8, 2019

Pursuing a Louisiana Negligence Case Where the Victims Include Both a Mother and Her Unborn Child

by Cardone Law Firm

One of the most horrific news headlines is one regarding the loss of a child in an accident. Whether it is a fall, a drowning, a gun accident, an auto accident or some other reason, the result is always tragic.

This is true whether the child is 17 years old, 7 years old or 7 months old. However, the pain and suffering can be especially grueling for a family that loses, due to an auto accident, a child that never even made it to birth. While no court judgment can ever repair that wound, a damages award may provide needed aid in helping a family facing the financial crush of medical and/or funeral expenses, among other harms caused by the accident. To be sure you are getting from the legal system what the law says you should, be sure to reach out to a skilled Louisiana injury attorney.

An unfortunate example of that type of loss occurred recently in rural south central Louisiana and was covered by KATC. At an intersection of two highways in Jefferson Davis Parish, a driver drove his Ford F650 truck into a pickup truck driven by 21-year-old S.B.H., who was seven months pregnant at the time. The work truck struck the pickup on the driver’s side and caused the woman’s pickup to go off the road and roll over onto its roof in a grassy area. (The force of the impact was so great that the work truck also went off the road and into a ditch.)

July 5, 2019

The Judge Assigned to My Louisiana Injury Case Appears to Be Biased Against Me and/or My Attorney. What Can I Do?

by Cardone Law Firm

When you go to court seeking compensation for the injuries you suffered in an auto accident, there are a few things you should expect. You should expect a reasonable opportunity to present admissible evidence and make relevant arguments. You should also expect a fair trial decided by an impartial judge. Sometimes, though, what should happen isn’t necessarily what does happen. When it comes to your right to a fair trial in your injury lawsuit, it is best to be sure you have a skilled Louisiana injury attorney on your side protecting you and will know how to act if bias becomes an issue.

Bias by a judge can take many different forms. It can be subtle or obvious. It may involve bias against you or bias against your legal counsel. Whatever it is, if it gives the appearance that it deprived you of a fair trial, it may be enough to get you a new trial.

June 27, 2019

The Importance of Getting All the Details in Your Louisiana Injury Accident Caused by a Drunk Driver

by Cardone Law Firm

In some states, a serious and/or fatal drunk-driving accident might allow you to go after the person or entity that served alcohol to the person who eventually drove drunk. In Louisiana, though, the law makes it relatively difficult to win a case where you sue the provider of alcohol in a situation like that.

So, you might suspect that, if you’re hurt (or a loved one killed) by a drunk driver, your options are very limited, probably allowing you only to pursue the driver and her insurer? Not necessarily! Each case has its own unique and sometimes peculiar facts. Having the Louisiana personal injury attorney you need to do the proper in-depth discovery required can be essential to a full recovery. Sometimes those unique and/or peculiar facts may shed extra light on the events leading to the crash and may open the door to other avenues of recovery.

June 24, 2019

How the Use of Effective Trial Strategy Techniques Can Make a Big Difference in Your Louisiana Auto Injury Case

by Cardone Law Firm

You’ve probably heard the phrase “trial strategy.” Trial strategy involves making certain legal or procedural decisions in order to take maximum advantage of the facts or the law surrounding your case. But how much does trial strategy really matter – aren’t most all trials generally the same? The answer is a resounding “no.” Each trial has its own unique twists and turns. Even if most were similar, would you want to gamble the compensation you need on your case not being one of the unusual ones? Protect yourself by making sure you have a knowledgeable Louisiana injury attorney on your side to protect your rights no matter how ordinary or extraordinary your case is.

R.N. and T.H. were two people who were also personal injury plaintiffs in a case that demonstrates how important trial strategy can be. R.N. and T.H. were injured in a two-vehicle auto accident.