BEST New Orleans Construction Accident Lawyer Near You

Why You Want To File a Personal Injury Claim After a Construction Accident in New Orleans

If you’ve been injured in a construction accident in New Orleans, the best-case scenario is being able to file a lawsuit against the responsible party as opposed to having to file a workers’ compensation claim. A civil lawsuit will lead to the highest possible compensation for your construction accident injuries. You cannot recover for non-economic damages such as pain and suffering in a workers’ compensation claim.

The good news is that there are multiple ways to receive compensation for construction accident injuries. Of course, there is always the option of filing a workers’ compensation claim in New Orleans for your accident injury. In New Orleans, the current maximum weekly rate of reimbursement for a workers’ compensation claim is $705. At the Lavis Law Firm, our construction accidents lawyers near you can help you with either a workers’ compensation claim or a personal injury lawsuit.

Damages In a New Orleans Construction Accident Case

In a personal injury lawsuit from a construction accident, your damages can be much greater than what workers’ compensation will pay you. As a plaintiff in a construction injury lawsuit, you could receive both economic and non-economic damages to pay you for your actual losses and your experience. These could include the following:

• Reimbursement for past and future medical expenses
• Payment for past and future lost wages
• Payment for pain and suffering
• Emotional distress damages
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Compensation for disfigurement

Suing Third Parties for New Orleans Construction Accidents

There are still other circumstances that would allow you to file a construction accident lawsuit. On the average large construction site in New Orleans, there are many parties present. This means that there could be a general contractor and numerous subcontractors who are all working on the site at the same time.

Many times, subcontractor employees are injured on a construction site due to the negligence of the another contractor or their employees. When this happens, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit against the responsible contractor/subcontractor.

Moreover, there are other possible defendants in a construction accident lawsuit. For instance, defective construction equipment could be the cause of your injury. You could have been working on an excavator that rolled over or been injured after a fall from defective scaffolding. In these cases, you can sue the manufacturer of the construction equipment that failed in a product liability lawsuit.

Proving Negligence in a Construction Accident in New Orleans

You may be wondering how your construction accident lawyer in New Orleans would prove your case. Essentially, they would need to show that the defendant was negligent. There is a four-part test that New Orleans courts use for negligence. This test is as follows:

• The defendant owed you a duty of care
• You suffered an injury
• The defendant’s actions were the proximate cause of your injury
• The defendant breached that duty by acting in a way that no reasonable defendant would have acted

Your construction accident court case will require that you prove each of these elements in court. Your New Orleans construction accident lawyer will need to present witnesses and evidence to meet the standard of showing that a “preponderance of evidence” supports your claim. This could require a long litigation process. At some point during your lawsuit, the defendant may try to settle the claim to avoid a trial.

If you were involved in a construction accident, it’s important that you seek help from a professional as soon as possible. For your New Orleans construction accident case, contact the Lavis Law Firm today for your free initial consultation.

Additional Resources:

• Louisiana Workplace Fatalities
• Louisiana Survey of Occupational Illnesses
• Absolute Liability For Pile Driving and Blasting