Explosion Accident & Injury Lawyer Lake Charles, Marksville and New Orleans, LA
Explosions can cause serious burns and other injuries, and many explosion accidents result in deaths. These accidents can happen in the workplace at refineries and plants. They can also happen when workers strike pipelines or in accidents involving trucks that are hauling hazardous materials.
People who have lost loved ones or who have been seriously injured in explosions should consult with an experienced explosion accident lawyer at Broussard Knoll Law Firm.
We have decades of experience helping our clients to recover compensation and will work to ensure that you recover the compensation to which you should be entitled.
Proving Negligence in an Explosion Accident
In claims involving explosions at the workplace in Louisiana, the victims can file workers’ compensation claims with their employers’ workers’ compensation insurance carriers. Workers’ compensation claims do not require the victims to prove negligence.
However, if the accident happened while the victim was working at sea, different rules apply. Under the Jones Act, workers who are injured while working on ships must prove negligence to recover compensation. People who are injured in explosions that were caused by someone else when they were not working will also be required to prove the negligence of the defendants to recover damages.
Proving negligence involves presenting evidence to prove that the defendant’s conduct fell below the standard of care that would have been exercised by a reasonable person in a similar situation. A plaintiff would also need to prove that the defendant’s conduct directly or proximately caused the explosion, injuries, and damages that resulted.
An attorney at Broussard Knoll Law Firm will investigate what happened to build a strong case of liability against the defendants in an explosion accident claim.
Parties Entitled to File Claims
The parties who might be entitled to file claims against the defendants in an explosion accident will depend on who was injured or killed in an explosion accident and the relationships of other parties to the victim.
In an injury claim, the injured victim may file a lawsuit against the parties that contributed to the explosion accident. If the victim is a child, the child’s parents may file a lawsuit for him or her.
Explosion claims that involved workplace accidents can be filed by the injured worker or the families of workers who were killed. In wrongful death explosion accident lawsuits, people with the following relationships to the deceased person can file claims:
- Spouses or children
- Parents if there wasn’t a spouse or child
- Siblings if the parents do not survive
- Grandparents if none of the other parties survive
Filing a lawsuit might allow victims or their families to recover damages for their losses.
How Much is an Explosion Accident Claim Worth?
Every accident is different, and the value of a claim will depend on what happened. This means that an attorney can’t provide a quote of how much a claim is worth over the phone. An attorney will need to value a claim to determine its worth.
The damages that might be available in an explosion accident claim will also depend on whether the claim is filed through workers’ compensation, under the Jones Act, or in a negligence lawsuit.
In workers’ compensation claims, the victims or their families are entitled to recover the following types of compensation:
- Medical expenses
- Rehabilitation expenses
- Partial or total temporary or permanent disability if the victim cannot return to work
- Cost of prosthetic devices and medications
- Death benefits for families of people who are killed
- Funeral and burial costs for workers who are killed
In injury or wrongful death civil lawsuits, the following types of damages might be recoverable:
- Past medical expenses
- Future anticipated medical costs
- Past and future losses of income
- Property losses
- Lost inheritance rights
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Disability
- Scarring
- Loss of consortium
- Funeral and burial expenses in wrongful death claims
Your explosion injury lawyer can explain the types of damages that might be available in your claim and their potential values.
Why You Should Hire an Explosion Accident Lawyer
Explosion accidents are complex and require substantial investigation. An experienced accident lawyer might understand how these claims should be investigated and how to uncover important evidence to prove the liability of the defendants.
Insurance companies often try to minimize how much they might be forced to pay or avoid paying claims altogether. An attorney can anticipate the tactics that an insurance company might use and build a strong case for his or her client.
The attorneys at Broussard Knoll Law Firm understand how devastating explosion accidents can be for the victims and their families. We are dedicated to helping our clients recover the maximum compensation. Contact us today for a free claim evaluation or call us at (337) 439-2450.
Charges
Dropped
Cases
Won
Cases
Dismissed
Countersuits
Filed
Broussard Knoll Law Firm client
AARON BROUSSARD
Partner, Trial Lawyer | Industrial Explosions and Injury Law
Aaron Broussard is a top-rated trial attorney practicing in the Lake Charles, Louisiana area. Providing legal representation in Louisiana for a variety of different issues, Aaron helps victims of industrial explosions and injuries fight for the compensation they deserve.
A big part of being a good lawyer for people is maintaining focus on representing your client’s interests. Aaron believes that loyalty to the client comes before everything, including your own pocketbook and especially your own ego. Their interests come first, and that’s why he sees every case through to the end, exhausting every path available.
Settlement
$6,300,000
Explosion
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Yes, there is a statute of limitations for explosion accident cases in Louisiana. The law states that an injured party has one year from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit. If the lawsuit is not filed within that year, the injured party may be prevented from recovering damages.
Most industrial explosion cases settle before they wind up in court. However, it’s important to select an explosion lawyer that is ready and willing to fight in court. Most of the time, insurance companies know which lawyers are trial lawyers, and which lawyers would rather not go to court. For that reason, it’s better to work with a trial lawyer with extensive experience in bringing explosion cases to trial.