Lafayette Personal Injury Lawyers

Lafayette Louisiana Personal Injury Lawyers

You were hurt. Now an adjuster is calling, an offer is on the table, and it is nowhere close to covering your medical bills. That is the moment most people call us.

Brandt & Sherman is a Lafayette personal injury law firm with more than 50 years of combined experience. Our Louisiana personal injury attorneys handle claims across Lafayette Parish and Acadiana. No attorney fee unless we win your case. The first case review is a free consultation.

Cases we handle

• Car accidents. Rear-end collisions, intersection wrecks, uninsured and underinsured motorist claims.
• Truck accidents. Commercial trucking cases carry more insurance and more lawyers. Driver logs and telematics data disappear fast, so they need to be preserved early.
• Motorcycle accidents. Riders get blamed for wrecks they did not cause. We push back on that.
• Workers' compensation. Denied claims, cut-off benefits, and disputes over which doctor you are allowed to see.
• Premises liability. Property owners have to keep their premises reasonably safe.
• Wrongful death. Compensation for families who lost a spouse, child, parent or sibling to someone else's negligence.

You can seek compensation for medical bills, lost wages and reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering, property damage, and long-term care in catastrophic injury cases involving spinal cord or traumatic brain injuries.

Louisiana injury law changed in 2024, 2025 and 2026

Three legislative sessions rewrote the rules that decide what your claim is worth. Three changes matter most.

You have two years to file, not one. Louisiana calls its filing deadline prescription, the state's term for a statute of limitations. Civil Code article 3493.1 moved personal injury claims from one year to two for injuries on or after July 1, 2024. Earlier injuries keep the old one-year deadline.

A 51% comparative fault bar took effect January 1, 2026. If you are found 51% or more at fault you recover nothing. Below that, your award is reduced by your share. Louisiana used to let you recover something no matter how much blame you carried. That is why insurance companies now argue fault harder than they used to.

Your medical bills are valued at what was paid, not what was billed. For suits filed on or after January 1, 2026, past medical expenses are limited to what your insurer actually paid plus your deductibles and co-pays. A $60,000 hospital bill settled by your insurer for $18,000 is now an $18,000 claim item.

Most people have no idea about these changes. It is the difference between a fair settlement and a bad one.

Frequently asked questions

How long do I have to file a personal injury claim in Louisiana? Two years from the date of injury for accidents on or after July 1, 2024. Injuries before that date fall under the old one-year prescriptive period, and medical malpractice and wrongful death claims follow separate timelines. Call us with your date of injury and we will tell you your actual deadline.

How much does a personal injury lawyer cost? Nothing upfront. We work on contingency, so our attorney fee comes out of what we recover and there is no attorney fee if we do not win. Clients may be responsible for costs and expenses in addition to the fee.

Can I still recover if the accident was partly my fault? Yes, as long as you are 50% or less at fault. At 51% or more, for accidents on or after January 1, 2026, recovery is barred completely.

Talk to a Lafayette personal injury attorney today. Free case review. N