Because personal injury attorneys deal with the results of so many automobile accidents, we tend to see New Orleans as a very dangerous place to drive.  A recent national study on the implementation of highway safety laws, however, reveals that Louisiana has actually done well when it comes to implementing new laws aimed at reducing injury and death arising from motor vehicle accidents.

The publisher of this report, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (A.H.A.S.), is an alliance of consumer, health and safety groups and insurance companies that seeks to improve highway and vehicle safety through the improvement of state and federal laws, programs and policies.  This is the ninth year it has published its Roadmap to State Highway Safety Laws, which ranks the states based on their implementation of various traffic safety laws and their efforts to improve traffic safety.

Each state is rated based on the color signals used in traffic lights, with a “green” rating indicating a positive score and “red” indicating that a state has fallen behind when it comes to traffic safety laws.  Louisiana is one of only seventeen states to receive a green rating from A.H.A.S. this year.

In preparing this report, A.H.A.S. looked at fifteen basic traffic safety laws regarding issues such as operating a vehicle while intoxicated, use of seat belts, booster seats requirements for children, motorcycle helmet laws, and regulation of teen drivers.

Overall, Louisiana faired very well in this study, with A.H.A.S.’s primary recommendations for further improvement in Louisiana being limited to increasing the minimum age for obtaining a learner’s permit from 15 to 16 and imposing additional restrictions on driving at night for individuals with intermediary licenses.  It is A.H.A.S.’s position that such changes would further reduce the risk of auto accidents.

If you have been injured in an automobile accident, please feel free to call us at 504-355-0057 or 855-GERTLER with your questions.  We would be pleased to speak with you.

It is difficult for any New Orleans resident to suffer a loss of income.  When this loss of income arises from a personal injury accident, the injured party may seek compensation for lost wages as part of a lawsuit.  When doing so, however, he or she must be able to establish the value of these lost wages.

Lost wages fall under a category of damages referred to as “special damages”.  Special damages consist of costs arising from the injury that can be established with a reasonable degree of mathematical certainty.  In addition to lost wages, special damages include items such as medical bills and replacement of property.  All of these items may be numerically calculated based on established prior losses and anticipated future losses.

Because lost earnings can be mathematically determined, the Louisiana courts have tended to limit the discretion of the jury when setting an amount to award in lost earnings.  At trial, the burden is on the injured party to prove the amount of lost wages, and he or she must present some evidence to support the amount rewarded. In many cases, this is simply a matter of presenting documentation of income, such as payroll information or tax returns, and proof of the amount of time missed from work.  If a person remains out of work and future lost wages are being pursued, medical evidence will also be necessary to support how long it is anticipated it will be before the injured party may resume working.  

In situations where a precise mathematical calculation cannot be made — such as may occur when someone operates a cash business or is a contract employee with widely variable income — a trial court is allowed to award a “reasonable” amount of lost earnings.  This amount, however, cannot be based upon pure speculation regarding what the injured person may have earned.  Instead, there must be some independent basis for the amount awarded such as proof of lost contracts.

If you have missed time from work as a result of a personal injury and have any questions, please feel free to call us at 504-355-0057 or 855-GERTLER.

It is not that unusual for a New Orleans personal injury lawsuit to involve more than one defendant.  Whether it is a motor vehicle collision caused by the negligence of multiple drivers or an injury caused by another person misusing an already dangerous product, there are several situations in which the actions of multiple parties may have substantially contributed to an injury.

In most cases, there is no bar to all of the responsible parties being sued for damages.  If the lawsuit ends in a trial, the jury must decide to what degree each of the parties is liable for causing the injury.  This task will be accomplished by assigning each defendant a percentage of the overall responsibility.  Unlike some other states, under Louisiana Law each defendant is only responsible for providing an amount of compensation to the injured person directly proportional to the percentage of fault assigned to them by the jury.  So, for example, if a jury determines that an injured person has suffered a total of $100,000 in damages and that one defendant was 10% liable while the other was 90% liable, the first defendant would be responsible for paying $10,000 of the damages while the second would be responsible for paying $90,000.

In addition to allocating damages among the defendants, a jury may also find that some act on the part of the plaintiff contributed to his or her own injury and assign the plaintiff a percentage of responsibility.  In this situation, the overall monetary damages awarded to the plaintiff are reduced by the percentage of the plaintiff’s responsibility.

If you have been injured due to the negligence of others, we would be happy to help you.  Please feel free to call us at 504-355-0057 or 855-GERTLER.

While not every minor mistake made by a New Orleans dentist in the course of treatment constitutes dental malpractice, individuals injured by the negligent conduct of – or substandard care provided by – a dentist, dental assistant or oral surgeon may be entitled to compensation. 

Generally, what is required to prove dental malpractice is governed by the same rules surrounding other types of medical malpractice.  These include a requirement that the dental practitioner provide a patient with an acceptable level of care.  Dentists are not required to be perfect, but they are required to provide at least the same level of care that a practical and prudent dentist would provide.  If a dentist fails to provide this level of care and it leads to the patient suffering a significant injury, the dentist may be required to pay for the damages.

The variety of specific actions that may be classified as dental malpractice under these criteria is very broad.  A non-exhaustive list of the more common forms of dental malpractice would include the following:

• Performing surgery or treatment on the wrong site;
• Making mistakes during surgery leading to the requirement for additional surgery;
• Causing oral infections through unsanitary conditions;
• Errors when performing root canals or installing crowns that lead to patient injury;
• Misdiagnosis of an oral disease, such as cancer, or the failure to diagnosis an obvious oral disease; and
• Mistakes in treatment leading to nerve injury and facial paralysis.

This list is only a sample of the acts that may constitute dental malpractice.  If you have suffered a noteworthy injury during dental treatment, you may wish to consult with an experienced dental malpractice attorney to determine if you are entitled to compensation.  If you have any questions we can help you with, please feel free to call us at 504-355-0057 or 855-GERTLER.

As experienced New Orleans personal injury attorneys, we have seen the damage caused when tractor-trailers and other commercial vehicles are involved in motor vehicle collisions.  Because of the strong potential for catastrophic personal injury or death in these types of accidents, the drivers of these types of large vehicles have been subject to additional regulation for years.  Recently, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) released new regulations further limiting the number of hours commercial truck drivers may work based on growing concerns of driver fatigue.

Given the distances many commercial truck drivers are expected to cover and the pressure to make timely deliveries, truck drivers’ work hours have been strictly regulated.  Based on recent studies regarding the effects of driver fatigue and how long an individual may drive before fatigue sets in, the FMCSA determined that reduced weekly work hours and mandated additional rest time was necessary for safety.

Significant changes include a reduction in the maximum number of hours a commercial truck driver may work in a seven-day period from 82 hours to 70 hours, and a requirement barring truck drivers from driving after working more than eight continuous hours unless they take at least a 30 minute break.

It was anticipated that the FMCSA also would be reducing the maximum number of driving hours per day from 11 to 10.  While the organization has declined to do so, it has stated an intent to continue analyzing data and researching this issue to determine if a reduction is warranted.  Commercial truck drivers and trucking companies must comply with these new regulations by July 1, 2013.

When releasing these new regulations, the Department of Transportation confirmed that the primary focus was on reducing driver fatigue and preventing truck accidents caused by fatigue.  In an effort to give the regulations additional force and reduce personal injuries and deaths caused by truck accidents, the fines for violating the provisions have also been significantly increased.

If you have been injured in a collision with a truck, please feel free to call us with your questions.  We can be reached at 504-355-0057 or 855-GERTLER.

For most New Orleans personal injury lawsuits, the damages associated with past medical expenses and lost wages are easily calculated and presented to a jury.  Determining past economic losses is simply a matter of obtaining all of the relevant numbers and adding them up.  But what about individuals who still require medical treatment or have not been able to fully return to work at the time of trial?  In most cases, these individuals are entitled to pursue compensation for their future economic losses.  This value, however, is much more difficult to accurately determine.

If you suffer an injury that results in long term or permanent disability, your future economic losses can be extremely high.  As a result, the value of the loss in such cases usually will be hotly contested by the parties.  While past economic losses are simply a matter of math, setting a value for future economic losses requires a jury to reach conclusions regarding issues such as whether you will ever be able to return to the workforce, and what future medical treatment will be necessary.

To provide a jury with a full understanding of your future economic losses, your personal injury attorney is likely to require the services of one or more experts who can present the relevant information to a jury.  These experts may include medical providers who can verify the need for – and extent of – future treatment.  They may also include accountants who can provide guidance regarding issues such as lost income and the effect of inflation on future expenses.  Your personal injury attorney may also wish to employ a life care planner who has been professionally trained to determine your future needs and project the expenses involved. 

An experienced personal injury attorney will seek full compensation for all of your damages, both past and future.  If you have suffered a personal injury and have any questions, please feel free to call us.  We can be reached at 504-355-0057 or 855-GERTLER.

New Orleans personal injury lawsuits involving the negligent actions of an employee frequently result in the employer bearing legal responsibility for the damages.  For individuals who have suffered severe injury, the ability to pursue damages against the employer – who will usually have greater financial resources – can be extremely important.  Not all plaintiffs, however, are automatically entitled to proceed against the employer.

Generally, a party has no legal duty to protect someone against the negligence of a third party unless there is either a special relationship with the injured person or some independent responsibility for the third party.  Under Louisiana law, an employer is responsible for the negligent actions of an employee if the negligent act occurred in the course and scope of employment.  In legal terms, this is referred to as “vicarious liability.”

Even when a person appears to be performing actions related to employment, however, the relationship between the parties must still be examined to determine if an employer-employee relationship actually exists.  If it does not exist, vicarious liability does not attach to the “employer.”  This most frequently becomes an issue in cases involving independent contractors.  

When a question exists as to whether there is an employer-employee relationship, the extent to which the “employer” controls – or has the right to control – the negligent party must be explored.  This includes an examination of the economic relationship between the parties, and the extent to which the “employer” has the right to control the time and physical activities of the negligent party.  When a contractor is hired to perform a specific job, but is given broad discretion regarding issues such as hiring additional workers and exactly how the work will be finished, vicarious liability usually does not apply.

We have represented many people injured through the negligent actions of a business’s employees, and we would be glad to help you.  If you have suffered a personal injury, please feel free to call us at 504-355-0057 or 855-GERTLER.

Most of the people who use football helmets in the New Orleans area do not play for the New Orleans Saints.  Instead, they are elementary, high school and college students. While football is a violent sport, every effort should be made to keep these young people safe.  Unfortunately, a recent study by the Cleveland Clinic indicates that modern style football helmets may not be the ideal way to protect youth from head injuries.

The study tested both modern football helmets and the old, leather helmets – used decades ago – to judge their ability to protect the head from low and medium level impacts at a variety of angles.  These are the type of hits that commonly occur among young players.  The extremely hard hits that may occur at the professional level of play were not tested.

Surprisingly, the study found very little difference between the two styles of helmets.  In some cases involving these lower level impacts, the leather helmet actually proved to be more effective at protecting the head.

The researchers at the Cleveland Clinic have indicated that they hope these findings will lead manufacturers to re-examine helmet design for youths.  The helmets currently used are essentially scaled-down versions of professional style helmets.  They are optimized to protect the head against the extremely hard hits seen at the professional level of play, but do not appear to be as effective at preventing head trauma from the lesser hits experienced by most youth when playing football.

If your child has suffered a head injury and you have any questions, we would be happy to help you.  Please feel free to call us at 504-355-0057 or 855-GERTLER.

Many New Orleans residents have employment connected to shipping and other ocean-based activities.  When a seaman suffers a personal injury while working aboard a vessel, that seaman’s ability to recover damages is governed under the Jones Act – a federal law enacted to regulate such cases.  Not everyone whose employment is connected to the sea, however, is entitled to recovery under the Jones Act.

To determine whether an individual qualifies as a seaman for purposes of the Jones Act, the U.S. Supreme Court has set forth a two-part test.  The first part of this test requires a determination as to “whether the employee’s duties contributed to the function of the vessel or accomplishment of its mission.”  Answering this first question is usually a fairly straightforward matter.  If the employee worked on the vessel in some necessary capacity, he or she would pass this first branch of the test.  If not, the employee does not qualify under the Jones Act, and no further inquiry is necessary. 

When the answer to this first question is “yes,” it then must be determined “whether that employee had a connection to a vessel in navigation which was substantial both in terms of duration and nature.”  This second part of the test can be more difficult to answer because opinions often differ regarding what constitutes a connection that is “substantial.”

The United States Supreme Court for the Fifth Circuit held that, to qualify as a seaman under the Jones Act, at least 30% of an individual’s time must be spent serving a vessel in navigation.  While a lesser percentage of time may be justified under certain circumstances, this requirement bars employees who do not regularly serve upon ships from qualifying to recover damages under the Jones Act.  As a result, individuals who are not regular crew members – even if they were aboard to perform work important to the functioning of the vessel – also do not qualify to recover damages under the Jones Act if injured.

If you have suffered an injury while working aboard a ship, we would be happy to speak with you.  Please call us at 504-355-0057 or 855-GERTLER with any questions regarding your legal rights.

Some of the most vulnerable New Orleans citizens reside in nursing homes.  Placing a parent or grandparent in a nursing home is a very difficult decision, and we all want to make sure they are well cared for.  While it is difficult to obtain hard data on the frequency of abuse or neglect of nursing home residents, the numbers that are available are sobering.

Studies have shown that some form of resident abuse occurs in more than 30% of all nursing homes in the United States.  It is difficult, however, to come up with an exact figure for two reasons.  First, nursing home abuse and neglect can cover a wide variety of issues – including failure to properly supervise medication, allowing bed sores to fester and actual physical or sexual abuse of a resident by staff or other residents.  Because of the variety of behaviors that can be categorized as abusive, it can be difficult to measure the true extent of the problem.

Second, it is difficult to come up with an exact figure because most cases of nursing home abuse or neglect simply go unreported.  Experts estimate that for every one case reported, five are not.  Of the cases that are reported, many are never actually brought to the attention of public authorities.   

Approximately five percent of senior citizens in the United States reside in nursing homes, half of whom are over the age of 85.  Many of these residents are extremely vulnerable to being abused or otherwise exploited.  If you suspect a nursing home resident has suffered abuse or neglect, do not be afraid to report it.

If your loved one has been the victim of nursing home abuse, please call us at 504-355-0057 or 855-GERTLER.  We would be happy to help you.