Injuries, painful as they may be, are a normal part of life. Depending on the severity of the injury, the resulting medical fees may be low or high. People often get injured due to their own carelessness or just bad luck. However, people occasionally get injured due to the actions of others. It could be a result of a direct physical assault, or the product of negligence and it is out of this scenario that personal injury law was born.
In personal injury law, the one who has been wrongfully injured may hire a personal injury lawyer to collect proof of negligence and file a personal injury claim in order to collect appropriate compensation (including medical fees and other damage fees) from the guilty party. Personal injury comes in many forms, such as medical malpractice, premises liability, car/truck injury, dog bites, e.t.c.
In addition, different states exhibit subtle differences in their injury laws, such as the rules guiding the negotiation of compensation, or statute of limitation for filing an injury claim. For instance, the statute of limitation imposed on clients and injury lawyers Lafayette in Louisiana for filing an injury claim is one year, after which the case becomes invalid.
Other things you need to know about personal injury in Lafayette include:
Damage Caps
Damage caps refer to the limit or the maximum amount that can be assigned as compensation for an injured individual’s medical bills and other inconveniences. . Damage caps may vary, depending on the state and the type of personal injury case in question. For instance, Lafayette follows the Louisiana state law which assigns a limit of $500,000 on medical malpractice cases. However, if the guilty party is a part of the Louisiana Patient Compensation Fund, they may only pay a sum of $100,000. The rest of the compensation fees will be paid by the board. It is important to note that this applies to medical malpractice cases only.
Comparative Negligence Rule
The ability to establish negligence usually determines if there’ll be compensation or not. However, in many cases, it also determines how much compensation can be received, depending on who shares the most fault for the injuries and other damages. Louisiana’s comparative negligence rule assigns a compensation that matches the level of fault shared by the defendant and the plaintiff.
For instance, if you file an injury claim, but you happen to share some of the blame for the occurrence of the accident that led to the injury, the percentage of your fault will be deducted from the overall compensation (sum of all damages). If the overall compensation is $100,000, and you share 20% of the blame, 20% of $100,000 ($20,000) will be deducted and you would receive $80,000 instead.
Strict Rule on Dog Bites
In many states, dog owners are not held accountable for their pet’s attack on other people, especially if it’s the first time, or if the dog hasn’t shown any signs of aggressive behavior in the past. However, unlike these regions, dog owners in Lafayette, Louisiana are held accountable for the damages done by their dog regardless of the animal’s peaceful past.
