When you have been injured due to another party’s negligence or wrongdoing, you may be entitled to recover compensation for your damages. However, defense attorneys and insurance companies work diligently to deny or devalue your claim. They will often deny liability and attempt to shift the fault to you or another party.
You must be able to prove fault before you can recover compensation in a personal injury claim. At Anderson Blanda & Saltzman, our skilled Lafayette injury lawyers have the experience and resources to prove each element of your fault to help you recover maximum compensation for your damages.
Call (337) 233-3366 or complete the short form on our contact page and schedule a free consultation to discuss your personal injury claim.
Types of Personal Injury Claims
Personal injury claims are based on tort law. There are three basic types of torts: torts based on negligence, torts based on intentional acts, and torts based on strict liability. The vast majority of personal injury claims are based on negligence.
Proving Negligence in a Personal Injury Claim
To be successful in a personal injury claim based on negligence, you must establish the existence of four elements:
- The defendant owed you a duty of care.
- The defendant breached their duty of care by their negligent action or inaction.
- The defendant’s breach of duty was the cause of your accident and injury.
- You suffered actual damages due to the defendant’s breach of duty.
These elements are usually hotly contested and can be challenging to prove. You need the assistance of an experienced Louisiana personal injury attorney to help you establish each element with substantial evidence.
Evidence Used to Prove Fault in a Personal Injury Claim
To prove fault in personal injury claims, we use evidence. At Anderson Blanda & Saltzman, our skilled personal injury lawyers carefully investigate your accident or incident to help identify all possible causes and potentially liable parties.
We take fast action to help preserve essential evidence before it can be lost or destroyed, and we work diligently to uncover strong evidence to build your best case.
The type of evidence we use to prove your claim depends on the facts of your case. If your case is based on a car accident, the evidence we use will be much different than if your case is based on a slip and fall accident.
Some types of evidence we may use to prove fault in a personal injury claim include:
- Photographs and video footage of the accident scene and injuries.
- Accident or police reports.
- Eyewitness accounts.
- Accident reconstructionist testimony or other industry expert testimony and reports.
- Physical evidence from the accident scene.
- Medical records.
- Vehicle event data recorder information.
- Employment records.
- Proof of lost income.
- Medical and economic expert testimony and reports.
Our accident attorneys in Lafayette carefully select the most substantial evidence to prove each element of fault to help you recover maximum compensation.
Comparative Fault in Louisiana Personal Injury Claims
Louisiana is shifting from a pure comparative fault model to a modified comparative fault rule. Fault can be apportioned to multiple parties in a personal injury accident or incident. Under Louisiana’s pure comparative fault model, which is in place until January 1, 2026, you can still recover damages from other at-fault parties, regardless of your percentage of fault. This means that even if you are 99% at fault, you could theoretically still recover 1% of your damages.
As outlined in Louisiana Civil Code Article 2323, effective January 1, 2026, you will not be able to recover compensation for damages if you are found to be 51% or more at fault. If you are found to be less than 51% at fault, you can recover compensation, but it will be reduced according to your percentage of fault. For example, if you are found to be 40% at fault and your damages total $100,000, you could still recover $60,000 after deducting your percentage of fault.
This change is significant. Insurance companies and defense attorneys will work hard to shift 51% or more of the fault to you so they can avoid paying any compensation. Even if they can’t move 51% to you, every percentage point of fault that they can attribute to you will lower the amount they have to pay. You need a skilled personal injury lawyer to protect your rights, avoid or minimize any fault assignment to you, and help you recover the full value of your damages.
How an Experienced Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help You Prove Fault
An experienced Louisiana personal injury lawyer can stand up to the big insurance companies, help build your strongest case, and protect your right to recover the compensation you deserve.
They can investigate your accident to identify causation and liability, uncover evidence to prove each element of fault, and work to reach a fair settlement of your claim as quickly as possible. When a fair settlement cannot be reached, they can take your case to trial to demand the compensation you are entitled to.
Your chances of recovering maximum compensation are much greater if an experienced personal injury lawyer represents you.
Contact Anderson Blanda & Saltzman Today
The personal injury attorneys at Anderson Blanda & Saltzman have the experience, skills, and resources to prove fault in your personal injury claim and help you recover the full value of your damages.
Call (337) 233-3366 or visit our contact page to schedule a free consultation to discuss your personal injury claim.