Louisiana Back & Spine Injury Lawyer
A sudden trauma injury could cause a spine injury. Falls and motor vehicle wrecks are the most common causes in this area. An occupational disease, such as work-related toxic exposure, could cause such an injury as well. The current medical bills in a spine injury case, which are usually above $100,000, pale in comparison to the future medical bills, which often exceed $5 million. The medical bills are just the beginning. Most spine injury victims find it difficult or impossible to work again. The combination of unemployment and illness often leads to depression and other severe mental illnesses.
The experienced Louisiana back & spine injury lawyer at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe routinely handle spine injury matters throughout the Bayou State. Negligence often causes car crash-related back & spine injuries. Workers’ compensation usually covers job-related back & spine injuries. Our legal team thoroughly evaluates your case to determine your legal options. Then quite simply, we plan our work and work our plan. This simple and straightforward approach usually produces results that exceed our clients’ expectations.
Future Lost Wages
Particularly when spine injury victims are very young, it’s very difficult to determine the amount of lost future wages in a workers’ compensation case. Louisiana’s complex laws in this area make this determination even harder.
SEB (Supplemental Earnings Benefits) are usually available in these cases. These no-fault benefits, which are two-thirds of the victim’s average weekly wage, last for up to 520 weeks (five years). Additional benefits may be available if, as is usually the case, a spine injury, back injury, or other disability lasts beyond that point.
Back to the calculation issue. AWW determination is almost as complex as Louisiana law. The bottom line figure on a paystub is usually very deceptive. The AWW isn’t limited to regular, take-home pay. The AWW also includes irregular compensation, like overtime and performance bonuses, non cash compensation, like a vehicle allowance, and expense reimbursement, like per diem money.
Furthermore, the AWW is forward looking. Generally, income increases until the late 50s, then it starts tailing off. Permanent disability payments must reflect this income curve.
Future Medical Bills
By law, a Louisiana back & spine injury lawyer can obtain compensation for all reasonably necessary medical bills.
Sometimes, compensation is truly compensation. If insurance companies drag their feet, injured victims without attorneys may have to front these expenses. This problem normally isn’t an issue for our clients. Our attorneys usually connect victims with doctors who charge nothing upfront. Technically, however, the insurance company is supposed to pay these bills directly.
In either case, the “reasonably necessary” provision is often quite controversial. Most people, even insurance adjusters, normally agree that hospital bills and directly related expenses, like prescription drugs, are reasonably necessary. The further the expense strays from this category, the more likely it is the insurance company will play the “unreasonable” card. That’s especially true for items like physical alterations to living spaces. If a doctor prescribes such alterations, an insurance adjuster or an Administrative Law Judge is more likely to approve them.
Connect With a Thorough Lafayette Parish Attorney
Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced Louisiana back & spine injury lawyer, contact Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe, LLC. We do not charge upfront legal fees in these matters.
