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Louisiana car accident lawyer.
Rear-end crashes, intersection collisions and interstate wrecks across Jefferson Parish, New Orleans and the rest of Louisiana. The other driver's insurer starts working the day of the crash. Here is what the law gives you and how to keep it.
How a Louisiana car accident claim works
Louisiana is an at-fault state. The driver who caused the crash is responsible for the harm, and that driver's liability insurer pays the claim. Under Civil Code article 2323 the court assigns a percentage of fault to everyone involved, and since January 1, 2026 a person found fifty-one percent or more at fault recovers nothing. Below that line, the recovery is reduced by the person's own percentage.
Louisiana's minimum liability policy is small: $15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident for bodily injury, and $25,000 for property damage, under Revised Statute 32:900. Serious injuries exceed those limits quickly, which is why every available policy matters, including your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, any umbrella policy, and the policy on a vehicle the at-fault driver was using for work.
The deadline
For crashes on or after July 1, 2024, Civil Code article 3493.1 gives you two years from the day of the crash to file suit. Crashes before that date fell under the old one-year rule. The deadline is not the day to start; evidence such as intersection camera footage, vehicle data and witness memories disappears long before it.
What the claim can include
Medical bills, past and future; lost wages and lost earning capacity; the cost of care at home; property damage and loss of use of the vehicle; and the physical pain, mental anguish and loss of enjoyment of life the injury caused. Each category has to be proved with records, not described.
Do I have to pay anything up front?
No. Injury cases at Bonita Wilson Law are handled on a contingency fee, which means the attorney's fee comes out of the recovery. The client may be responsible for court costs and case expenses regardless of outcome.
The adjuster offered me money. Should I take it?
Not before the full extent of your injuries is known and the offer has been reviewed. Early offers are often made before the medical picture is complete, and a signed release ends the claim.
What if the other driver had no insurance?
Your own uninsured motorist coverage, if you carry it, steps in. If you were the uninsured driver, Revised Statute 32:866 limits what you can recover, with exceptions. Either way the claim should be reviewed before anyone tells you what it is worth.
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