Personal Injury Lawyer in Gonzalez, Louisiana

A personal injury lawyer at Simien & Simien, LLC can discuss your claim and help you understand what your options are to cover your medical bills and lost wages after an accident. With our help, you can also pursue compensation for non-economic damages, such as PTSD or emotional distress. Our firm has nearly 40 years of experience protecting injured victims with our knowledge of personal injury laws across multiple states. You can hold the person who caused your injuries “liable,” ensuring justice. Aside from covering your losses, a personal injury lawsuit may also provide you with a sense of closure, making it easier to move on with the rest of your life. To learn more about personal injury lawsuits and how we can help, book a consultation with Simien & Simien, LLC today.

What Can a Gonzalez Personal Injury Lawyer from Simien & Simien, LLC Do for Me?

At Simien & Simien, LLC, we serve communities across Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and other states with the help of local counsel. Our team understands the unique challenges faced by accident victims in various locations, from busy urban centers to smaller communities. If you’re wondering how our Gonzalez personal injury lawyers can help, it is best to discuss those services during an initial consultation. Each case is unique, and we approach each one with personalized attention. That said, all our lawyers offer the same core services:

• Advice: Our personal injury lawyers in Gonzalez can offer you advice, and they can provide this guidance even before you file your lawsuit. Based on this advice, you can decide for yourself whether and how you would like to proceed.
• Investigations: If you choose to move ahead with a lawsuit, your lawyer can investigate your case in more detail. They may discover evidence of negligence. They might also discover at-fault parties that you had not previously considered. These investigations can help lay the groundwork for what we need to prove.
• Communication: During this legal process, your lawyer will remain in communication with you. We will provide you with regular updates about your case. You can also ask questions and raise concerns at any time.
• Negotiations: Our personal injury lawyers are experienced negotiators. This experience often proves useful during settlement negotiations. Most personal injury cases end with a settlement outside of court.
• Representation: But when negotiations rarely fail, we will prepare and be ready to proceed to trial you’re your personal case.

The most important service provided by our Gonzalez personal injury lawyers is simple: They fight for your rights. With almost four decades of experience, our lawyers help injured plaintiffs recover the compensation they need to cover medical expenses, missed wages, emotional distress, and any other damages they might have incurred.

How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer in Gonzalez, Louisiana?

Many injured plaintiffs are hesitant about hiring lawyers for various reasons. A common cause of concern is the cost of legal fees. However, these fears are often misplaced — especially when you consider contingency fees we use at Simien & Simien, LLC. in most or our personal injury cases.

Under our contingency fee system, you do not need to pay your Gonzalez personal injury lawyer until you recover in your case. If you never win compensation, you do not have to pay. When you receive a settlement or a verdict, you can use a portion of these funds to pay your lawyer. You will agree on a set percentage for your contingency fee with your lawyer ahead of time.

This payment system ensures that even the most financially vulnerable people can file personal injury lawsuits. It also holds corporations and wealthy individuals accountable for the injuries they cause. Without this contingency fee system, often those responsible might avoid all consequences for causing accidents and injuries.

What Should I Do After an Accident?

After an accident, it is important to take a few basic steps. Some of these steps are optional, while others are necessary — especially if you want to pursue positive results in a later personal injury lawsuit.

• Seek Medical Attention: The first step is very simple: Seek immediate medical treatment. Without medical treatment, it may be impossible to prove your injuries. This may prevent you from filing a lawsuit.
• Gather Information: Next, you should attempt to gather as much information as possible. Often, evidence is most reliable immediately after your accident. Try to gather contact information from eyewitnesses. Take photographs or video footage with your phone. Record any other information you think is important.
• Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer: Once your medical condition stabilizes, it is time to contact a personal injury lawyer. Contact Simien & Simien, LLC. Our legal professionals can help you plan out your next moves.
• Follow Up: Over the next few days and weeks, follow up with your healthcare providers and see specialists if necessary. You should do so until you reach your pre-accident condition. You should also follow up with your lawyer about the progress of your treatment.
• Get Everything in Writing: As a rule, it is best to get everything in writing during this process. This includes medical records and any communications with insurers. If a doctor provides you with a diagnosis, ask them to write out their notes. If an insurer tries to discuss your accident over the phone, inform them that you would rather communicate in writing. You can use written documents as evidence, while verbal conversations are nowhere near as reliable.
• Avoid Hasty Decisions: At some point, an insurer might offer you a settlement. Always consult with a lawyer before making major decisions. This initial offer is usually too low, and you may be eligible for a higher sum.
• Wait Till You Reach MMI: As a rule, it is best to wait until your maximum medical improvement (MMI) before pursuing compensation. Until you reach this point in your healing process, it’s impossible to predict the long-term consequences of your injuries and the value of your case.

Suing for Spinal Injuries

If you were involved in a serious accident, you may have suffered a spinal injury. Sometimes, these injuries are permanently disabling. Examples include quadriplegia and paraplegia, but other less obvious serious injuries exist. It may be difficult to earn an income and live a normal life after these injuries. You may also struggle with depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. A serious spinal injury may also lead to ongoing medical expenses, and patients may lose the ability to live independently.

It is imperative to file a personal injury lawsuit if you are facing these issues. You can sue a negligent party that caused your spinal cord injury to recover the compensation you may be entitled to for financial security. There are various negligent parties that might have caused your spinal cord injury, including reckless truckers, property owners, and motorists.

For example, you might have suffered a spinal cord injury after being struck by a semi-truck. Your lawyer’s investigation might reveal that the trucking company failed to properly maintain the vehicle, leading to critical brake failure. In this situation, you may be eligible to sue both the trucker and the trucking company even if the trucker was not a employee.

Suing for a Bicycle Accident

If you were injured while riding your bicycle, you can file a personal injury lawsuit. If you can prove that someone else caused your bicycle accident, you may be able to recover the compensation you need to cover your damages. This might have been a drunk driver, a truck driver, a delivery driver, or a rideshare driver.

For example, you might have been riding down a designated bike lane when someone opened their car door into your path. With no time to react, you may have struck the door at high speed. This impact might have thrown you onto the cement, causing serious head injuries and wrist fractures. Perhaps your legs were then run over by a passing vehicle. This type of “dooring” accident has become quite common.

Alternatively, you might have been struck by a vehicle making a left-hand turn at an intersection. The driver may have failed to notice you, striking you and causing multiple injuries. Cyclists have the same basic rights as motorists on the road. Drivers are required to yield to oncoming traffic when turning left — and this includes oncoming cyclists.

Suing for Injuries at Malls

People suffer injuries at malls on a regular basis. Property owners and business owners are responsible to act reasonably to protect your safety the moment you set foot on the premises. If you become injured by some kind of foreseeable hazard, you can file a premises liability lawsuit to recover compensation.

For example, you might have slipped on a wet floor while walking through a mall or other business facility. Staff may have failed to put up a “wet floor” sign to warn you of the slippery surface. Alternatively, they may have failed to clean up a spilled drink in a reasonable amount of time. In both cases, the operator of the business may be liable for your injuries. Common fall injuries include traumatic brain injuries, wrist sprains, and hip fractures.

Suing for a Pedestrian Accident

If you were injured as a pedestrian, you might be eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit. You can sue whether you were struck by a motorcyclist, a truck, a delivery van, or a rideshare vehicle or by someone else who was negligently driving.

Pedestrian accidents can lead to particularly serious injuries. While the average motorist enjoys protection on all sides from roll cages and airbags, a pedestrian is completely exposed to the forces of the impact. Lower extremity injuries are particularly common, including broken legs and shattered kneecaps. After the initial impact, a pedestrian may then strike their head on the windshield or even thrown into the air. This combination of injuries often proves fatal or permanently disabling.

Motorists are responsible for pedestrian injuries but only if you can prove that they were negligent. This is not always easy, and you must establish that the driver did something wrong prior to the accident. This might include running a red light or failing to yield.

The motorist may attempt to argue that you were jaywalking or otherwise was at fault for the accident. This could affect your level of compensation in the many states allow what is called comparative fault, which means that you may receive less if you were partially responsible for your own accident. This system even allows you to sue and at least particularly recover if you were only partially at fault for your injuries. Your lawyer can push back against these claims, helping you establish that you were not at fault or by reducing your level of fault when the accident occurred.

Find a Personal Injury Lawyer at Simien & Simien, LLC

If you have been searching for an experienced personal injury lawyer in Gonzalez, Louisiana look no further than Simien & Simien, LLC. With nearly 40 years of experience and a track record of successful settlements and verdicts, we likely have the experience to evaluate and try to help with your personal injury case. Over the years, we have assisted plaintiffs with car accident claims, slips and falls, other injury cases, and much more. Our team is committed to providing both legal advice and counseling throughout your case.

Although it might seem difficult to take your first step toward legal action, things become less uncertain once you speak with a lawyer. Compensation may be easier to achieve than you realize — so book a consultation today to learn more. Call us at 225-224-2222 for a free initial consultation and let us help you understand your legal options.