McNAMARA LAW OFFICES HANDLES A BROAD RANGE OF PERSONAL INJURY CLAIMS

Accidental personal injuries can arise in a number of settings, from car accidents and truck accidents to industrial workplace accidents. They may involve children, adults or the elderly.

Injuries can range from minor soft-tissue injuries to severe and catastrophic injuries such as neck or back injuries, spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, burn injuries, paraplegia, quadriplegia, amputation or death.

At McNamara Law Offices, we understand the family devastation and damages caused by serious accidental injury, whether the result of a car accident, trucking accident, industrial accident, offshore injury or maritime accident. We are experienced in helping accident victims recover what they are entitled to receive by law.

If you or a family member or friend has suffered personal injury, or a family member or friend has been killed as a result of another’s fault, we can help.

RECOVERABLE DAMAGES FOR PERSONAL INJURY NOT INVOLVING DEATH

In general, recoverable damages under Louisiana law include:

• Past and future mental and physical pain and suffering
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Disfigurement
• The cost of past and future medical care and special needs
• Past and future lost wages and earning capacity

The recoverable monetary figure for each component of damages is fact-specific and depends largely on the degree or severity of a particular injury. Adequately proving each component of damages will often require expert testimony from physicians, vocational rehabilitation experts and economic experts.

Ultimately, what a case is “worth” involves an educated estimate or prediction of what a judge or jury would award if the case were presented to them.

Through our past experience in representing insurance companies, our much longer experience in representing injured accident victims, our first-hand experience of trying injury cases to juries and judges and through extensive research, we can educate our clients on an expected judgment-value range for their particular case.

When it comes time to attempt a negotiated settlement, it is always the client’s ultimate decision whether or not to settle a case at a given dollar figure, or alternatively, go to trial. If the insurance company is offering less than we expect to get at trial, we typically advise a client to go to trial. If the insurance company is offering what we would expect to get at trial or more, we typically advise a client to accept such an offer. However, again, while we fully advise and discuss our recommendations during the settlement process, the decision whether to settle or go to trial is ultimately that of the client alone.

Although we are able to successfully settle the majority of our cases, we find that insurance companies and other corporations are often unwilling to settle fairly until we have invested the substantial time, money, resources and effort required to demonstrate readiness for trial. For that reason, we prepare all of our cases as if they are going to trial. This will usually promote settlement, but if it does not, we are fully prepared as is needed to win.

RECOVERABLE DAMAGES FOR INJURIES RESULTING IN DEATH

Generally, under Louisiana law, accidental injury resulting in death gives rise to two types of claims. One is called a “wrongful death claim,” the other is called a “survival claim.” In the wrongful death claim, the “death beneficiary” (who this is is explained below) is entitled to recovery for his or her own loss of love and affection, monetary support and services resulting from the loss of their loved one. The same “death beneficiary” has the right to recover for the “survival action claim.” This claim is to recover for the conscious pain and suffering, lost earnings and medical expenses sustained by the actual accident victim before his or her death.

Who is the “death beneficiary”?

The “death beneficiary” will be the surviving spouse and children of the deceased, or the surviving father and mother of the deceased if the deceased had no spouse or children. In the absence of a spouse, children or parents, the surviving brothers and sisters or, if none, grandparents of the victim are entitled to bring the claim. In the absence of any of the above relatives, the victims succession representative can bring the claim.

DEALING WITH INSURANCE COMPANIES
AFTER AN ACCIDENTAL INJURY WHILE UNREPRESENTED

Insurance companies are corporations. Their goal is profit. Plain and simple. Their profit comes from taking in premium payments from those they insure, and minimizing what they pay in claims. The more they pay in claims, the less they profit. Their interests are not aligned with yours as an injured claimant; their interests are completely contrary to yours.

Insurance companies have very highly-trained adjusters. Their job is to minimize what their company pays to you to settle a claim.

This is often obvious, although surprising, when the insurance company’s adjuster is openly hostile to the claimant. Sometimes they are. However, highly-trained and more effective adjusters may do everything possible to convince an accident victim that they are truly concerned with the victim’s well being and wish to do everything possible to assure that the victim is compensated fairly. However, the goal of the adjuster will always be to minimize what is paid, not to look out for the claimant.

An accident victim should never give a recorded statement to any insurance adjuster without an attorney present. We often advise our clients not to give a recorded statement to the insurance adjuster even with an attorney because they can, and often are, used against claimants in damaging and misleading ways.

An accident victim should never sign any form or document at the request of an insurance adjuster without first seeking the advice of an attorney. Insurance adjusters will often have accident victims voluntarily sign forms permitting them to request and receive medical records, employment records and an accident victim’s personal background information from a variety of sources far beyond what an accident victim is required to provide.

OUR FEES

We answer any questions you have FREE OF CHARGE. We welcome telephone calls or the opportunity to visit you in person to answer any questions you may have about your case without charge and without any obligation on your part whatsoever to hire us as your attorney.

We also provide, FREE OF CHARGE, comprehensive case reviews. Just contact us and we are happy to speak with you by telephone or in person to speak with you about your case in detail without charge, no matter how long it takes. There is no obligation whatsoever to hire us as your attorney.

If you ultimately decide to hire us to represent you in a personal injury, wrongful death or disability insurance claim, we handle them on a contingent fee basis. Our fee is earned and our advanced litigation costs are recovered only when we recover for you by settlement or trial judgment. Our clients owe us nothing, no fee and no reimbursement of our advanced litigation costs, no matter how large, unless we recover.

Mr. McNamara holds the highest possible peer review rating of “AV” (“Very High to Pre-Eminent”) for professional excellence and ethical standards.

WITH OFFICES IN BATON ROUGE (HEADQUARTERS) AND METAIRIE, MR. MCNAMARA ACCEPTS SELECT LOUISIANA CASES STATEWIDE.