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A car wreck can change your life in seconds. One moment you're driving down Johnston Street or merging onto I-10, and the next you're dealing with pain, a totaled vehicle, missed work, and an insurance adjuster who wants to settle before you even know how badly you're hurt.
The Lafayette car accident lawyers at Brandt & Sherman have spent more than 50 years combined fighting legal Goliaths — the insurance companies and their defense teams — on behalf of injured people across Acadiana. We've recovered millions for Louisiana families, and we work directly with you from day one. You'll never pay a fee unless we win.
If you or someone you love was hurt in a crash in Lafayette or anywhere in Louisiana, call (337) 800-4000 for a free consultation.
For crashes that happened on or after July 1, 2024, you generally have two years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit (La. Civ. Code art. 3493.1). Older crashes are governed by the previous one-year deadline.
Two years sounds like plenty of time, but evidence disappears fast — vehicles get repaired, camera footage gets erased, and witnesses' memories fade. The sooner we start, the stronger your case. And if a crash proves fatal, wrongful death claims follow their own timing rules — since August 2025, generally one year from the death or two years from the injury, whichever is longer (La. Civ. Code art. 2315.2). Don't guess at deadlines; let us calculate yours.
Louisiana rewrote major parts of its injury laws in 2024 and 2025. If you're relying on advice from a few years ago (or an old blog post), it may now be wrong. Three changes matter most:
What you do in the first hours and days protects both your health and your claim:
For a deeper walkthrough, see our guide on what to do after a car accident in Louisiana.
Louisiana drivers are only required to carry 15/30/25 liability coverage — $15,000 per injured person, $30,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage. Serious injuries blow past those limits quickly, and roughly one in ten Louisiana drivers carries no insurance at all.
That's why we look at every available source of recovery: the at-fault driver's policy, your own uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM) coverage, umbrella policies, and — when a commercial vehicle or rideshare is involved — the much larger commercial policies behind them. If you're wondering who covers your treatment in the meantime, we've explained it here: who pays medical bills after a car accident in Louisiana.
We're not a billboard firm that signs you up and hands your file to a case manager. When you hire Brandt & Sherman, you work with our attorneys — Charles Brandt, Kyle Sherman, and Bobby Brandt — who have recovered results including $3,500,000 for a couple hit by a company pickup and $1,550,000 for a client struck by a big rig.
We know Lafayette's roads, courts, and juries, and we prepare every case as if it's going to trial. That preparation is exactly what gets insurance companies to pay full value.
Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.
Call 911 to report the accident immediately. Before moving the vehicles take photographs. As many as you can. Don’t be shy about photographing the other person’s vehicle. If you are on an interstate, or other restrictive highway, you may have to move your vehicle out of the travel lane, if possible. Get your driver’s license, car registration, insurance card, and any other document you may need ready to give to the police. Do not apologize or accept any responsibility for the accident. Just the tell the officer the truth about how the accident happened. Don’t apologize to the other driver that you were in the accident with. Exchange insurance information with the other driver. If possible, ask the other driver if you may photograph their insurance information and driver’s license.
Yes. It is always a good idea to get legal advice from a trained, professional car accident lawyer. At Brandt & Sherman, we have years of experience handling car wrecks.
There’s no requirement that you file a lawsuit. You can, hopefully, settle you claim with the insurance company for the party at fault without having to file a lawsuit. However, in Louisiana, you only have one (2) years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit if your case has not settled. If you fail to file, the lawsuit within the one-year period then you lose all your rights against the party at fault. There are a few exceptions to this rule and if you have hired a competent auto accident attorney, they can give you advise on this. At Brandt & Sherman, we can guide you regarding filing a lawsuit.
This depends upon the facts of your case and can change from case to case. In some instances, it is better to settle your case and, in some instances, it is better to file a lawsuit. Sometimes the insurance company for the party at fault does not give you that option and because they are being unfair you may have no other choice than to file a lawsuit. At Brandt & Sherman, we can help you decide what is best for you.
Louisiana is a comparative negligence state. The courts will compare the fault of the parties involved and make a determination of how much fault is yours and how much fault is on the other party or parties. If for instance, your injuries are worth $10,000.00 and you are determined to be 50% at fault you will recover $5,000.00 or 50% of your monetary injuries. At Brandt & Sherman we can present your case to the insurance company or court to maximize your recovery.
Assuming you are not totally at fault in causing the accident you can recover for the damage done to your vehicle, the cost of repairing or replacing your vehicle, the rental expense incurred while your car is not drivable, and your medical bills. In addition, there is a type of damage called General Damage which consists of your pain and suffering, your mental anguish, your disability, and loss of enjoyment of life. You may also recover the money you lost from not being able to work during the period of your recovery from the accident. On occasion, your vehicle, after it has been repaired, is now worth less than it was before due to it having been wrecked. A diminution of value claim is possible. At Brandt & Sherman we can present these damages to the insurance company in the best light for you.
This is an extremely difficult question to answer at the beginning of an injury case. Some people recover from their injuries within a few weeks and some people suffer for years, and some people never recover at all. Until you have an adequate amount of medical care it is hard to place a value on any personal injury case. A competent personal injury attorney will be able to give you advice on the value of your case and your injuries. At Brandt & Sherman we will constantly monitor your case in order to maximize your recovery.
Louisiana is one of the states that requires you to have liability insurance on the vehicle you were driving at the time of the accident. If you are uninsured at the time of your accident, then you will be penalized by a law that is referred to as “no pay/no play.” This law requires you to give up or forfeit the first $15,000.00 of your damages for bodily injuries, and $25,000.00 in damages to your vehicle. Doing the math on this if your bodily injury or personal injury case is worth $30,000.00, you can collect $15,000.00 from the other insurance policy because you forfeit the first $15,000.00.
The same applies to the damage to your vehicle. If you have $30,000.00 in damage to your vehicle, you are penalized $25,000.00 and can only collect $5,000.00 from the party at fault. There are some exceptions to this rule such as if you are hit by a driver who was intoxicated. They do not get the benefit of the “no pay/no play” law. There are other exceptions. You would need to speak with an experienced personal injury lawyer to determine those exceptions. At Brandt & Sherman we have the expertise to tell you how “no pay/no play” will affect your case.
Absolutely not!!! From the moment you start speaking with them they will be keeping a record of what you say. If at all possible, they will use your conversation against you later. Many people do not realize that they are injured until the day after an accident or sometimes even days after the accident. One of the first questions they will ask you is “how are you doing” and a polite human being you are going say “fine.” This will eventually be used against you. You may also not feel any pain in first few days after the accident and when you report that to the insurance company, they will use that against you as well. At Brandt & Sherman we will be your voice, so you do not have to worry about making a mistake speaking to the insurance company.
You should have your driver’s license, proof of auto insurance, medical insurance card(s), any medical records or bills that hospital may have provided you with and, if you already have one, the accident report. Sometimes the accident report may not be ready for 7 to 10 days after an accident. It is good to consult with an attorney despite the fact you do not have an accident report and the attorney can get one for you. The sooner you get to a competent car accident lawyer the sooner you will start protecting your rights. At Brandt & Sherman we start protecting your rights from the first day we are hired.
An experienced car accident attorney can be your voice for all questions that need to be answered. Often the insurance company for the at fault driver will give you misleading information on what your case is worth and make an offer to settle your case immediately. It is much better to have an attorney you can consult with to determine what your case is worth and whether you should settle the case or not. At Brandt & Sherman we have years and years of experience handling motor vehicle accidents. We can guide you and be your voice.
The answer that question is no! Insurance companies are in business to make a profit. The more they take in from premiums and the less they pay out to injured persons the more money they have to keep in their own pocket. They have no motivation to treat you fairly. There are enough stories of insurance companies taking advantage of people that you could fill a whole library.
Most personal injury cases are handled on the basis of a contingency. What contingency means is if you do not get a recovery, you do not owe a fee to the attorney. The standard fee in Louisiana and many other states is 1/3 of the total recovery goes to the lawyer. That’s 33%. If the lawyer collects nothing for you then he gets nothing. Some law firms will charge 35%, some charge 40%, some charge 42%. This is something you should have explained to you by the lawyer on the first day you speak with him or her. Get this agreement in writing. A professional personal injury lawyer will give you a copy of the contract that you sign on the day you leave his/her office after meeting with him/or her.
Most of the time a professional personal injury law firm, like Brandt & Sherman, will pay up front your expenses so that you will not have money come out of you own pocket. The Louisiana Supreme Court has given lawyers rules to follow in regard to advances and loans to clients and we closely follow those rules.
There are many ways that your medical expenses can be covered. Some injured persons have medical payments coverage on their own auto insurance policy. Others have health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, or some other form of medical reimbursement. A competent personal injury firm will help you explore those options and, under certain circumstances, will front you the money to pay for medical expenses not otherwise covered. At Brandt & Sherman we will discuss your options with you to determine what is best for your particular case.
You can use any doctor that you want! The choice is yours. If you don’t know what doctor to see we will give you the option of a number of different doctors who treat your particular issue and injury. We will describe to you the expertise of the doctors that are willing to treat a motor vehicle accident (some doctors do not) and allow you to choose which doctor you would like to see. The choice is always yours.
You may visit the Brandt & Sherman website and send us a message requesting an appointment. Someone will call you back with that appointment. You may also call 337-800-4000 and one of our intake specialists will take down all the information about your accident and schedule an appointment to see a car accident attorney.
Unlike most of those billboard lawyers you usually see, the ones every 100 yards along the highway, if you hire Brandt & Sherman you will meet with one of our lawyers who will personally interview you and follow your case from beginning to end. We will be with you every step of the way. That is not to say we do not use paralegals and assistants to move your case along, but you will always have contact with your lawyer. We work as a team and sometimes you will have 2 or 3 car accident lawyers working on your case to make sure that you get the settlement or recovery you deserve.
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