Legal Question in Personal Injury in Louisiana

I was involved in a car accident around April of last year. My two friends and I were hit head on on the interstate by a drunk driver. He was killed and we were all hurt very badly. I received a broken back, a compound fracture in my arm, tons of internal injuries, broken ribs and collar bone. My bills alone were over 100,000 and I now have terrible back pain, have two hernias, have lost motion in my arm, not to mention deal with anxiety and depression due to the trauma. The driver insurance would only pay 10,000 in compensation. Is there anything else that I could go after, his family perhaps. I know that it sounds harsh, but a drunk driver did alot of damage to three drug free kids that were mind our own business and driving home from seeing friends. And we are all living in pain due to someones recklessness


Asked on 2/15/10, 12:29 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Nick Pizzolatto, Jr. Pizzolatto Law Office

I must assume that every unscruptulous lawyer who heard of your accident wanted to sign you up to get big bucks for you. I hope they did not take 1/3 of the $10,000. You need to check the insurance of the vehicle you were in to see if it had med pay coverage and uninsured motorists coverage. You can collect a portion of those coverages. If it was not your vehicle, then check your own insurance and if you have uninsured motorist coverage, then that is probably available to you. Check your home owners insurance as well. As for the Drunk driver, that is one time you can ask for punitive damages in Louisiana. In this case against his estate if he had anything, or if his succession was opened, and his heirs accepted it, you could attempt to have it re-opened and assert your claims. There may be some liability of others but this forum is not the place to discuss that.

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Answered on 2/20/10, 9:58 am
Adam Lambert The Law Office of Adam S. Lambert

By the way, you only have a year to file suit against him and/or his estate, so you should act quickly! You have up to two years to sue your own UM carrier, but only one year to sue the other driver.

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Answered on 2/22/10, 7:59 am


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