Frequently Asked Questions

Vehicle collisions don’t just take place between motorists on their way to work or a weekend shopping trip. Unfortunately, crashes still take place even when vehicles are driven by people whose job is to maintain safety or keep local services running smoothly. Ambulance crews, garbage collectors, police officers, and even mail carriers have all been involved in wrecks while on the job in Louisiana. If you or someone you love was seriously injured by a negligent postal truck driver, you need to speak with an experienced truck accident attorney.

Pursuing Compensation for Postal Service Truck Accidents

Personal injury claims against postal carriers are governed by federal law. That means you’ll be bringing a lawsuit against the federal government instead of pursuing compensation through an insurer like normal. The good news is that you can sue the U.S. Postal Service for your lost wages, medical costs, and non-economic damages like pain and suffering.

There are drastic changes when filing against the government rather than bringing a suit against a negligent civilian driver, or even a non-government commercial delivery company. You will need to go through different avenues, with different limitations on time frames, and there can be caps on the maximum recoverable damages.

Additionally, there are times when the liable party and how to pursue the compensation you deserve may not be immediately clear without an attorney’s help. For instance, in some areas the postal service hires sub-contractors to drive vehicles. If that were the case, and if you can show the contractor isn’t considered a government employee, you may be dealing with a more standard insurance negotiation or personal injury lawsuit scenario.

The bottom line is that if you were harmed in a collision with a postal service vehicle, you will need an attorney’s assistance for any chance at a successful outcome. Specifically, your legal representative will need to:

• Acquire the evidence necessary to prove your case, such as accident reconstruction expert testimony, medical documentation, photos from the scene, police reports, and so on.
• File a claim against the USPS under the Federal Tort Claims Act within the law’s strict statute of limitations.
• Help you determine if any settlement offer from the government is fair and actually covers all your expenses.
• Proceed to a court setting if the U.S. Postal Service denies your claim outright or offers significantly less than you deserve for your injury.

Just like with a normal car crash caused by negligence, your actions immediately after the accident are critical to your financial compensation. Seeing a doctor quickly after a collision with a postal truck is crucial to begin the necessary paper trail on your injury. You need to be able to show how badly you are injured and how that injury has impacted your life. The single most important step after a post office vehicle wreck, however, is to contact a trial-ready attorney who has extensive experience in Louisiana truck accident cases.

If you plan on pursuing compensation from the federal government, you will need a skilled lawyer on your side. Your legal counsel can thoroughly investigate the circumstances of the crash and help you determine who is potentially liable and may be the best source for recovering damages. Victims of USPS accidents need to act quickly, however, because you will deal with a compressed timeline and a number of extra hoops before achieving financial recovery.

Talk to a New Orleans Personal Injury Attorney After Any USPS Accident

Having a skilled truck accident attorney at your side is necessary to ensure you have the best shot at recovering everything you deserve. We want to hear about your post office accident. To find out more, schedule a free consultation by calling us directly at 504-500-1111 or by using our online contact form.

Getting paid is often a battle in the construction industry. There are times when a project ends up a confusing, tangled web of contractors hiring a range of sub-contractors. Unexpected problems can arise if a particular company in that web isn’t appropriately licensed for contracting in Louisiana. An attorney may be able to help you recover the payment you are due, however.

Contractor Licensing Requirements in New Orleans

Whether a company intentionally misrepresents itself or just simply fails to renew a license on time, performing contractor work without the appropriate licensing can come with serious consequences. Under Louisiana law, the state licensing board can charge anyone performing contracting work without a proper license up to 10% of the contract amount and various attorney’s fees.

An unlicensed contractor can become a much worse problem for everyone on the project if someone doesn’t get paid and attempts to file a lien to force payment. In order to enforce a construction lien, there must be a valid contract.

If an entity enters into a construction contract without the appropriate license, however, the entire contract may be declared an “absolute nullity,” meaning it violates a rule of public order. That can lead to havoc for everyone involved in the project if there are lien claims or lawsuits over nonpayment.

Licensing through a state-run board is required for each individual type of sub-contractor. It’s crucial to ensure everyone along the chain is actually up to date with their licensing. In addition to a wide range of subclassifications and specialty roles, the major types of licensing classifications through the state board covers:

• Construction involving hazardous materials
• Electrical work
• General building construction
• Highways, streets, and bridges
• Heavy construction
• Mechanical work
• Municipal and public construction projects
• Plumbing
• Residential work

Lack of Licensing Can Void Contracts and Interfere With Your Ability to Recover Payment

As you might expect with anything involving the law, there are long strings of exemptions and qualifications that can complicate the licensing process and lead to confusion when a new project starts.

In some cases, with projects under specific dollar thresholds, a license isn’t technically required. For instance, someone who is licensed with the state Plumbing Board and performing work under a specific dollar amount doesn’t specifically need to also have a license through the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors.

That’s one important reason to work with an attorney before any project starts. Knowing what sort of projects require a licensed contractor and going over all contractual documents is crucial to protecting your legal rights.

Your best shot at getting paid is to act ahead of time and prevent problems before they occur. With a lawyer’s help, you can ensure all your contracts are in order and will stand up to scrutiny in court if you end up needing to file a lien over payment issues.

In the event a lack of proper licensing impacts your ability to file a lien, one of the only options remaining is to attempt to recoup costs via an unjust enrichment claim. This is a different tactic than a lien, but it has the same end goal of recovering owed costs after providing equipment or labor to a project. Your enrichment claim may still be denied or overturned in some cases if a contractor wasn’t licensed however, because the original contract may end up considered completely null and void.

A skilled construction attorney can help by gathering the evidence necessary to argue your case in court while seeking the payment you deserve for your work.

Don’t Lose Out on the Pay You Deserve—Talk to an Experienced Louisiana Construction Contract Attorney Today

If you’ve done the work or supplied the materials, you should receive the agreed-upon payment. That’s not always easy in the construction industry, but the good news is that the Scott Vicknair law firm is here to help. Is a licensing issue causing headaches for your project? Use our online contact form or call our New Orleans office directly at (504) 500-1111 to schedule a consultation.

There are numerous remedies for seaman who are injured on a ship. These remedies can be extremely useful in starting the restorative process for an injured worker. Deciding which remedy is best can be a confusing and stressful task. This is why it is crucial to contact an experienced maritime personal injury attorney if you or your loved one finds themselves in this position. One appropriate option may be a claim for unseaworthiness.

The doctrine of unseaworthiness is one of the remedies available to seamen who are injured while on a boat or “vessel.” The law of unseaworthiness is intended to protect seaman and ensure that the conditions they are working in are safe and adequate. When working conditions fall below a reasonably safe standard and a seaman is injured as the result, they may have a claim for unseaworthiness.

Maritime law classifies a ship as seaworthy when the vessel, equipment, or appurtenances are reasonably fit for their intended use. The standard is reasonableness. Therefore, the vessel or the equipment aboard does not have to be kept in perfect condition for it to maintain its status as seaworthy. If these elements of a ship or the ship itself fall below this reasonableness standard, a claim for unseaworthiness may arise.

Some elements of a ship that must meet seaworthy status are:

• The hull of a ship
• Ropes and tackle aboard a ship
• The ship’s cargo handling machinery
• Ship’s provisions of food, furniture, and apparel
• All equipment belonging to the ship or brought aboard the vessel by stevedores
• Members of the crew including liability for assaults, brutality, or for employing an improperly trained crew.

Notably lacking from this list is the ship’s cargo itself. However, the method of cargo storage must be reasonably fit for the purpose of cargo storage.

The following are typical circumstances in which these elements may be classified as unseaworthy:

• Defective part of the physical ship
• Defective training of the crew
• Insufficient number of workers assigned to perform a shipboard task
• Slippery Deck from a water leak
• Missing safety guards
• Toxic fumes
• Failure to provide a safe means of loading or unloading a vessel
• Inadequate number of supplies or provisions
• Broken or defective tools

To bring a claim of unseaworthiness there are criteria that the vessel and the plaintiff must meet. In order for a ship to be classified as unseaworthy, the vessel must be in navigation. Therefore, ships that are docked for an extensive period may not be the subject of an unseaworthy claim. To be an eligible plaintiff in an unseaworthy claim, the individual must be classified as a seaman. Therefore, a passenger or visitors on a vessel do not have a right to bring this claim. A seaman who qualifies to assert Jones act and Maintenance and Cure claims also qualifies to bring unseaworthy claims. Individuals who qualify as longshoremen do not have the ability to bring this action. However, not every injury sustained by a seaman on a ship in navigation will give rise to a claim of unseaworthiness. The plaintiff must be able to prove that the unseaworthy condition was the proximate cause of his injury.

The responsibility of ensuring the safety of a ship lies with the owner of the vessel. Therefore, the owner of a vessel may be held liable as a proper defendant for the damages the injured seaman sustains as a result of the unsafe conditions upon his boat. This obligation may not be delegated. The duty of the owner to provide a safe vessel is absolute. This means that a claim for unseaworthiness is separate and distinct from a claim of negligence. The absolute duty imposed on the owner of a ship allows a plaintiff to recover damages caused by the unsafe conditions in cases where the vessel’s owner did not have knowledge of the unsafe condition.

An unseaworthy claim is also distinct from a Jones Act claim. A major difference between these two, besides the requirement to prove negligence in a Jones Act claim, is that a plaintiff in an unseaworthy action may recover remedies traditionally available under general maritime law. This allows an injured seaman to recover all damages typical to the Jones Act plus additional damages such as loss of consortium for the spouse and children of the seaman. However, because the two claims are intertwined, they are commonly brought together in the same lawsuit. In fact, if a plaintiff brings an unseaworthy claim without the Jones Act they will potentially lose their right to a jury trial.

Deciding whether an individual meets the requirements to bring an unseaworthy claim presents complex questions of fact and law under maritime law. The knowledgeable and experienced maritime attorneys at Scott Vicknair are here to assist in answering these questions, so please give our maritime lawyers a call at 504-500-111 today for a free consultation on your maritime injury claim.

Many workers face risks in their jobs. Maritime workers including seaman, longshoreman, and boat captains face unique perils in the scope of their employment. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported that maritime workers face fatal injuries at a rate 5 times that of the overall U.S. workforce.  When tragedy strikes and leaves one of these workers injured, their lives are often forever changed. Maritime law offers important remedies to these individuals that make it possible to begin rebuilding their lives.

A common option for an injured seaman is filing a claim under the Jones Act.  The Jones act is a federal law remedy that provides seaman with compensation for injuries they sustained while working on a vessel. The Jones Act is unique from other maritime claims in that it allows a plaintiff to sue their employer individually for negligence. The fact that the worker’s employer is named as the defendant in a Jones Act claim may cause some plaintiffs to worry about the effects filing a claim will have on their job.

Can my employer fire me for filing a Jones Act claim?

The unfortunate truth is that a maritime employer may choose to fire a worker who files a Jones Act claim. However, this does not mean that the employer has the legal right to take this action. Louisiana and many other gulf coast states are classified as “at will” employment states. This means that an employer can fire their employees for any reason or no reason at all.

However, an employer will be held liable if it is discovered that they fired an employee for filing a Jones Act claim. The law protects an employee from being fired for seeking to recover what he is owed under the law or from being threatened to not seek legal remedies for their injuries.

Discharging an employee for bringing a maritime personal injury claim is known as a retaliatory discharge and is prohibited by general maritime law. If an employer does choose to pursue a retaliatory discharge, the employee may sue for additional compensation. To prevail in a maritime retaliatory discharge claim, the plaintiff must prove that the employer’s decision to fire him was substantially influenced by the seaman’s lawsuit or their intent to file a lawsuit.

What damages may I recover in a retaliatory discharge claim?

A plaintiff may bring their maritime retaliatory discharge claim with their Jones Act claim. They may seek damages such as:

• The expense of finding a new job
• Lost earnings while finding a new job
• Lost future earnings if their new job pays less than when employed by the defendant
• Damages for mental anguish

A retaliatory discharge will give the plaintiff a separate claim apart from their Jones Act claim to receive these damages.

Maritime employees play a crucial role in sustaining life along the gulf coast. In doing so, they subject themselves to extreme risk and danger of physical injury. The Jones Act is an important remedy available to assist these employees if they are subjected to an unfortunate accident at sea.

The experienced maritime personal injury attorneys at Scott Vicknair are ready to protect these employees from being punished for exercising their legal rights and to ensure that they are properly compensated by their employer. Contact one of our maritime attorneys at Scott Vicknair at 504-500-1111 for a free consultation on your maritime injury claim today.

As of 2021, there were over 80,000 registered motorcycles on Louisiana roads.  Along with their popularity, motorcycle fatalities have also been on the increase in recent years. Motorcycle riders accounted for 14% of traffic fatalities in 2020, even though they make up only 3% of all registered vehicles.

The numbers do not lie. Motorcycle drivers are at high risk of sustaining serious injuries in the event of an accident. That is why the proper use of safety gear is so important. Even though motorcycle helmets have saved more than 25,000 lives in the last twenty years, their use has severely decreased.  The failure to use a helmet or other motorcycle safety equipment may have a serious impact on the amount of damages an injured rider may recover if they are involved in a crash.

Does the law require me to wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle?

Louisiana has gone back and forth on the question of whether it is mandatory to wear a helmet when driving or riding a motorcycle. However, since 2004 Louisiana has implemented a strict mandatory helmet law. This law requires that all operators or riders of a motorcycle wear a helmet designed for motorcycles. This includes the presence of a chin strap, lining, padding, and visor. Any motorcycle operator who is found violating this law may be subject to a fine.

How Will Not Wearing A Helmet Affect My Personal Injury Claim?

The ability to recover after a motor vehicle accident largely depends on which party is at fault in causing the accident. The party at fault is the one who caused the damage that compensation is being sought for. However, fault is often not fully assigned to one party. Fault can be split among the parties involved in an accident in varying degrees depending on the circumstances. A party is only barred from receiving compensation when they are found to be 100% at fault for causing the damages.

Fault does not totally depend on the injuries caused by one party to another. A party may be found to be at fault for their own injuries if they did not take all reasonably measures to protect themselves from injury as well. This is known as contributory negligence. A court may find that Contributory negligence is present when the injured party contributed to their injuries in some way.

This is where the importance of wearing a motorcycle helmet will come into play. Motorcycle helmets have been proven to prevent traumatic head injuries. Therefore, if an individual is seeking compensation for a head or brain injury they sustained from a crash while not wearing a helmet, a court may find that they did not take all reasonable measures to protect their safety.

Additionally, since Louisiana law requires riders to wear helmets, the defendant may also use the violation of this law to prove the rider’s contributory negligence.

The courts reduce a party’s compensation from an accident based on the percentage they are found to be at fault. Therefore, the failure to wear a motorcycle helmet may severely impact your right to compensation.

However, this does not mean a party who is not wearing a helmet may not receive damages from an accident or even have their damages reduced. It is very difficult for a defendant to blame your injuries on your actions. Many factors go into the court’s assessment of fault in a crash. The presence of a helmet will have varying effect on fault based on the accident itself. It is important that you contact a personal injury attorney if you find yourself in a situation where you believe your actions may reduce your right to compensation after an accident.

The attorneys at Scott Vicknair have years of experience in motor vehicle accidents and will fight to ensure you receive the full compensation you deserve. It is crucial to contact an experienced personal injury lawyer to help navigate these questions. Contact one of our experienced personal injury attorneys at Scott Vicknair at 504-500-1111 for a free consultation on your personal injury claim today.

Streetcars are an iconic characteristic of life in New Orleans. They are one of the many features that make the City unique. However, they can also pose a unique danger to the drivers of New Orleans. In 2018, there were 114 accidents involving streetcars according to the National Transit Database. Many of these accidents can be attributed to the law and practices of the City.

New Orleans City Ordinance Section 154-389 establishes important traffic laws for streetcars. This ordinance gives streetcars the right of way. This means that a driver must move out of the streetcar’s path when their vehicle is on the streetcar’s tracks. This ordnance along with the “New Orleans Left” work together to cause a majority of streetcar accidents.

The “New Orleans Left” refers to the traffic law in New Orleans that prohibits drivers from making a left turn across a neutral ground (or median). More than half of these crossings do not have markings to indicate this law, and often visitors of the city are unaware that it exists. When a driver violates this rule and finds themselves on the street car’s track, where the streetcar has the right of way, accidents can often happen.

However, the streetcar or the operator can often be the cause of the accident as well. Other common causes of streetcar accidents include:

• Derailment of the streetcar
• Negligence on the part of the operator
• Defective Streetcar Equipment

The driver or the pedestrian that is struck by a streetcar may not be the only victim. Often, passengers on the streetcar itself can sustain serious injure. Streetcars are not equipped with seatbelts which can cause riders to be thrown forward in a collision where they face the risk of a serious head, brain, or other physical injury.

The possible unique laws at issue is not the only factor that makes a lawsuit involving a streetcar uncommon. The possible defendant in these cases is also different from most personal injury motor vehicle accident lawsuits.

The New Orleans Streetcars are owned and operated by the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA). The RTA is a public transportation agency that runs all five streetcar lines in New Orleans including:

• The St. Charles Avenue Line
• The Riverfront Line
• The Canal Street Line (including two branches)

Since a public entity owns the Streetcar, an injured plaintiff does not sue the operator themselves but instead names the RTA as the defendant. Lawsuits against a public company are handled differently than a lawsuit against a private individual. The most significant of these differences are the applicable time periods that govern a suit against a political subdivision.

If these strict time periods are not followed, the plaintiff faces the risk of losing their ability to recover the damages they are owed. Therefore, if you believe that you may have a claim from injuries sustained involving a streetcar, it is crucial that you contact a personal injury attorney immediately.

The experienced personal injury attorneys at Scott Vicknair are ready to handle your injury claim and seek compensation for your injuries. Contact one of our personal injury attorneys at Scott Vicknair at 504-500-1111 for a free consultation on your maritime injury claim today.

It only takes a simple spilled drink or carelessly placed vacuum cord for a fun night out to take a terrible and painful turn. Restaurants in New Orleans are required to exercise a basic duty of care to keep customers safe from harm. When an establishment fails in that duty and engages in negligent behavior, the restaurant may become liable for your damages after an accident. Let’s take a look at what you should—and shouldn’t—do after slipping at a restaurant or other place of business.

Always Take These Steps After Any Slip and Fall Accident

Preserving your ability to recover compensation for covering your costs while healing is paramount. That’s why you need to protect yourself financially and legally by:

• Acquiring any evidence at the scene that you can. For instance, take photos of the circumstances that lead to the fall, such as liquid on the floor, debris in walkways, missing warning signs, and so on. Be sure to also ask for contact information for any servers or customers who witnessed the accident. They may need to be questioned later during your attorney’s investigation, or even testify in court to a jury.
• Reporting the accident to the restaurant manager on duty at the time. Do not give any commentary about the circumstances of the fall or provide any statements that may indicate the fall was your fault. If the manager files a report about the incident, make sure to ask for a copy.
• Seeking medical attention quickly after leaving the restaurant. You may need to have paramedics arrive to help you up, or you could be taken immediately to the emergency room. This step is extremely important not just for your physical health, but also to establish a clear record of your injury. A medical paper trail is vital to showing who is responsible for your injury, as well as valuing your medical damages when seeking compensation.

That last point simply can’t be stressed enough. Even if you don’t have a headache or any noticeable pain, do not skip seeing a doctor after a fall. Internal injuries such as bone fractures, organ damage, a concussion, or a major traumatic brain injury do not always exhibit clear symptoms at the time of the accident. Heading to the ER can prevent life-threatening complications before they can occur, and establish what sort of medical care you may require.

Why You Need to See an Attorney After a Restaurant Fall

After seeing a doctor, your next call should be to a Louisiana personal injury attorney. Besides investigating the accident and finding the liable party, an attorney helps by valuing your damages after the slip and fall.

That’s why you need to make contacting a lawyer a top priority after addressing your medical needs. Your attorney also assists by investigating the root cause of the accident, such as leaving cords in areas of high foot traffic, failing to repair railing, refusing to clean up spills in a timely fashion, or other negligent behaviors.

With that information in hand, your legal representative can identify who is liable and will likely offer a good source of compensation. Unfortunately, the liable party and their insurance provider are unlikely to simply offer you the full amount you deserve in a settlement. That’s why an attorney is crucial to recovering damages like:

• Emotional suffering, physical pain, and lost quality of life stemming from the fall injury
• Hospital bills and other medical expenses for treatment after the restaurant slip and fall
• Income you lost while recovering from a slip and fall, as well as lost earning capacity in situations where the injury leads to permanent disability
• Other work benefits you lost because of the injury, such as benefits, raises, etc

Talk to an Experienced Slip and Fall Lawyer About Your Restaurant Accident

Want to contact an experienced and trial-savvy attorney for help after a New Orleans restaurant slip and fall accident? Our passion is helping injury victims recover the full and fair compensation they deserve. Use our online contact here to provide your basic case details, or call directly to schedule a consultation at 504-500-1111.

Broadside impacts are an all-too-frequent occurrence in New Orleans, often occurring at intersections. These accidents happen at a 90-degree angle when one driver is going forward or turning, and another driver collides into the side. That person who hits the other vehicle is usually, but not always, the liable party in the accident. To make that determination, an experienced lawyer is crucial in this type of accident and can help protect your legal right to a financial recovery.

Determining Fault in a Louisiana Broadside Collision

In many cases, fault very clearly lies with the driver who collides with either the passenger or driver side of your vehicle. If that person wasn’t paying attention or otherwise committed a traffic violation that led to a wreck, they are likely liable.

That isn’t always the case, however. For instance, the driver who was hit might have performed an illegal turn and the other driver might not have been able to stop in time.

There are also situations where someone other than either driver may be responsible. Depending on who is involved, the liable party could be someone else, such as a trucking company that failed to train a driver, the manufacturer of a faulty part, a repair shop that failed to fix a problem, etc.

When fault is determined to lie with the other driver who hit your car, the accident is typically caused by negligent behaviors such as:

• Distracted driving (arguing with backseat occupants, fiddling with knobs, texting while driving, and so on)
• Driving under the influence of alcohol, illegal narcotics, or drugs prescribed by a physician with side effects that impact driving ability
• Failing to stop at a red light or stop sign
• Refusing to yield the right of way
• Speeding
• Reckless driving in poor weather conditions

Recovering Damages After a T-Bone Accident

It goes without saying that the force of a vehicle weighing thousands of pounds striking the side of your car is extremely dangerous. Broadside collisions may lead to catastrophic injuries for the driver or passengers.

Victims of a T-bone wreck are often stuck with outrageous medical bills but can’t earn any income because of the injury. The good news is that you can pursue compensation. You should specifically speak with an attorney about the possibility of recovering damages for T-bone injuries such as:

• Back pain
• Bone fractures
• Bruising
• Joint dislocations
• Internal organ damage
• Lacerations
• Soft tissue trauma
• Spinal cord injuries
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Whiplash
• Wrongful death

No matter which specific injury impacts your life after a T-bone crash, you need to contact an experienced Louisiana car accident attorney. A legal professional is necessary to rigorously investigate all aspects of the accident. That investigation is how your attorney gathers evidence to determine who is liable, whether that is actually the driver that hit the side of your vehicle or some other party.

Gathering all the available evidence is crucial for other reasons as well, such as negotiating with an insurance adjuster or presenting your case in court. A skilled attorney can argue who is responsible for your injury and the fair amount you are owed in compensation. Your financial recovery may specifically include:

• Bills for your hospital stay, medications, surgeries, and other treatments
• Pain and suffering caused by the accident
• Out-of-pocket expenses you pay while seeking treatment for the T-bone collision injury
• Property damage covering your vehicle repair costs
• Wages you lost if you couldn’t go back to work while recovering, as well as lost earning potential if you become permanently disabled by the injury

Find out if You Can Pursue Compensation for a T-Bone Accident Injury

Were you hurt in a broadside collision, or did a loved one pass away after a T-bone crash caused by negligence? Contact us to schedule a consultation and talk about your case. The Scott Vicknair Law Firm wants to help you hold the negligent party accountable. You can get in touch with our trial-ready team by calling 504-500-1111 or emailing us here instead.