Shreveport Injury Lawyer > Shreveport Personal Injury

Shreveport Injury Lawyer

Helping Injury Victims Throughout North Louisiana Recover Compensation for Damages Caused by the Negligence of Another

Accidents aren’t always somebody’s fault, but a lot of the time, they are. For instance, just about every car accident that occurs could have been avoided had one of the drivers taken better care to pay attention to the road, drive sober, obey traffic laws, or make sure their vehicle was safely maintained. Car and truck drivers owe a duty of care to other car and truck drivers, property owners a duty to their customers and guests, oilfield operators owe a duty to their workers, and nursing home administrators owe a duty to their residents. When the holders of these duties breach them by a failure to act with due care, serious injuries can result, and the injury victims have a right to bring negligence claims for compensation against the responsible parties. Rice & Kendig injury lawyers are here to help with those negligence claims in Shreveport-Bossier City and North Louisiana.

Negligent parties often carry insurance to cover any damages they owe to people they harm, so you might think the process for pursuing a claim for damages is simple and straightforward. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. The law places the burden on you, the injured party, to prove your claim. That means you have to prove:

The other party owed a duty to act toward you with care
The other party breached that duty
Their negligence caused your injury
You suffered an injury and loss (damages)

All the while you are working to prove these elements of your negligence claim, the other party, their insurance company, and their lawyers, are actively working to disprove them. They argue they weren’t responsible for your injuries, they say your own negligence caused the accident, and they claim you weren’t injured as badly as you say you were. They might also try to settle your claim within days of the accident before you know what your true damages are. Once you find out you were shortchanged, it’s too late to do anything about it.

Being successful on your claim and getting the full amount of compensation owed to you isn’t easy, but it’s well within reach of an experienced personal injury law firm. At Rice & Kendig in Shreveport-Bossier City, this is what we do, and it’s all we do. Our Shreveport injury lawyers have resolved thousands of cases over decades of practice. We know how to be successful in your case because we’ve done it before. We also know how important your case is, and our attorneys and staff dedicate themselves to seeing you get the care and compensation you need.

Rice & Kendig is here for you after any personal injury or wrongful death in Shreveport-Bossier City or North Louisiana, including:

Motor Vehicle Accidents

Getting your needs met after a car accident can be difficult, given Louisiana’s low auto insurance requirements, high rate of uninsured drivers, pure comparative fault laws, short statute of limitations, high jury trial threshold, no-pay no play law, and other unique features. Our lawyers have worked countless auto accidents and know how to build and present a strong case for full compensation. Our comprehensive motor vehicle accident practice includes 18-wheeler truck accidents, bicycle accidents, and pedestrian accidents. We represent people hit by drunk, uninsured or distracted drivers or injured in rideshare accidents with Uber or Lyft. From rear-end collisions to rollover accidents, T-bone crashes and tractor-trailer jackknife accidents, our lawyers possess the skills and experience needed to achieve successful results on your claim. Our firm takes on boating accidents and aviation accident claims as well.

Premises Liability

Property owners have a duty to keep their premises in a reasonable condition for the safety of their customers and guests. When there is a dangerous condition the owner or manager knew about or should have known about, but they failed to fix it, the premises owner can and should be held liable for the damages. These cases are often difficult to prove, but our attorneys have had enough experience to know the proper steps to take. We additionally help dog bite victims recover compensation for the severe physical and psychological consequences of a vicious animal attack, and we likewise hold property owners liable for assaults that occur due to their negligent security on the premises.

Nursing Home Negligence

When we can no longer care for our parents, grandparents or others with special needs, we entrust their care to nursing homes and assisted living facilities. We expect these facilities to have qualified staff in sufficient numbers to attend to the physical and emotional needs of their residents. If abuse or neglect occurs, we step in swiftly to stop the misconduct, ensure your loved one is properly cared for, and work to hold nursing homes accountable for their errors while obtaining compensation for their victims.

Oilfield Injuries

Oilfield fires, explosions, blowouts and on-the-job injuries can be catastrophic. Accidents happen when oil companies don’t properly train or supervise workers, maintain their machinery, or give workers the proper equipment they need for their safety. We hold oil companies accountable to the people they harm when they fail to provide a safe environment.

Mass Torts

Our firm has the knowledge, skills, resources and determination to take on the largest corporations and the biggest cases when a company’s negligent behavior is responsible for injuries to thousands. We take on corporate giants like Monsanto or 3M when they put unsafe products on the market, and injuries follow.

Wrongful Death

In the most tragic cases, injury victims don’t survive the accident. Spouses, children, parents and grandparents are robbed of their loved ones through an untimely death that could have been prevented. The pain of these emotional scars is made even worse by the financial loss of the family breadwinner, household manager or invaluable caregiver. We put together a strong case, so surviving family members receive the compensation and financial help they need to cope with the hole in their lives left behind by another’s negligent behavior.

Important Facts About Louisiana Negligence Claims

Pure Comparative Negligence

Louisiana is one of 12 states that follow a “pure comparative fault” rule. If you are hurt by another’s negligence, but your own negligence also contributed to the accident, then you can still recover compensation from the other party, but your award is reduced in proportion to your negligence. For instance, if you suffer $10,000 in damages in a Shreveport-Bossier City car accident but are considered 30% at fault, you will only receive $7,000 of the $10,000. Even if you were 70% at fault, you could still receive $3,000 for your injuries.

Who decides who is to blame? This is a question that might be disputed between the parties. Just because the insurance company says you are partially to blame, you don’t have to take their word for it. Ultimately, a judge or jury would decide comparative fault if the case went to trial. Rice & Kendig takes up the matter of comparative negligence in settlement talks with the insurance company or in court to ensure you recover the full amount of compensation due.

Statute of Limitations

The statute of limitations is the timeframe you have to file a lawsuit. For personal injury or wrongful death matters in Louisiana, you only have one year from the date of the accident or death to file a suit. If you try to file after that date, your case will likely be dismissed. Act swiftly by calling Rice & Kendig so that critical deadlines like the statute of limitations don’t get missed. You need to be ready to file a timely lawsuit if necessary to get your claim paid.

Jury Trial Threshold

Louisiana has a $50,000 threshold that your claim must meet before you can request a jury trial. This threshold is the highest amount of any state by far, and most states don’t have a threshold at all. Most cases settle without going to trial whether they meet this threshold or not; a jury trial is only likely for a high-dollar case with complex issues that can’t get settled out of court. If a jury trial is necessary in your case, Rice & Kendig injury lawyers have abundant jury trial experience and are always prepared to take your case as far as it needs to go to get you the best result.

Your Shreveport-Bossier City Personal Injury Lawyers

If you have suffered a personal injury in Shreveport-Bossier City or North Louisiana because of another’s negligence or misconduct, call Rice & Kendig injury lawyers for a free consultation at 318-222-2772. There’s no fee until after we recover for you.

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