Shreveport Car Accident Lawyers

What Makes a Shreveport Car Accident Claim Different

Louisiana is one of the few states that does not follow common law legal traditions. Its civil law system, rooted in the Napoleonic Code, governs how fault is allocated between parties, how damages are measured, what evidence is admissible, and what procedural rules control the lawsuit from filing through trial. An accident attorney in Shreveport, LA who does not operate within this framework daily will miss issues that directly affect what a case is worth.

Caddo Parish layers its own patterns on top of the state system. The First Judicial District Court handles civil cases filed in Shreveport, and each division maintains distinct scheduling practices, pretrial procedures, and approaches to discovery disputes and motions. Insurance companies track this information systematically. Their settlement algorithms account for which judge will likely preside, what comparable claims have resolved for in this courthouse, and how Caddo Parish juries have valued similar injuries in recent trials. A claimant who does not understand these local dynamics negotiates at a structural disadvantage before any legal argument begins.

Louisiana's minimum insurance requirements make the problem worse. The state mandates only $15,000 per person in bodily injury liability coverage, one of the lowest floors in the country. A crash that produces a herniated disc requiring surgery and six months of missed work can generate $150,000 or more in documented losses. When the at-fault driver carries minimum coverage, the central question shifts from what the claim is worth to where adequate compensation will come from. Uninsured motorist coverage, underinsured motorist stacking, and the interplay between overlapping policies from multiple carriers become the decisive issues. Mishandling these coverage questions early in the case leaves money permanently on the table that no amount of trial skill can recover later.

What Should I Do If I Have Been Injured in a Car Accident in Shreveport, LA?

The steps you take in the hours and days after a car accident in Shreveport directly affect the strength of any legal claim that follows. Some actions protect your health. Others protect your right to recover compensation. Doing both simultaneously requires knowing what matters and in what order.

If you are physically able, stay at the scene and call 911. Louisiana law requires drivers involved in an injury accident to remain at the location until law enforcement arrives. The responding officer will generate a crash report documenting the vehicles, drivers, road conditions, witness contact information, and a preliminary assessment of contributing factors. In Caddo Parish, the Shreveport Police Department handles reports for crashes within city limits, while the Louisiana State Police covers crashes on state highways and interstates including I-20 and I-49. That report becomes the factual foundation of your claim. If details in it are wrong, correcting them later is possible but more difficult the longer you wait.

Seek medical attention immediately, even if you feel only minor discomfort at the scene. Adrenaline masks pain. Traumatic brain injuries, internal bleeding, and disc herniations frequently produce minimal symptoms in the first hours, then worsen over the following days and weeks. Ochsner LSU Health Hospital is the Level I trauma center serving Shreveport and accepts emergency patients from crashes throughout the region. If your injuries do not require emergency transport, see your primary care physician or an urgent care provider within 24 hours. The single most damaging gap in any car accident claim is a delay between the crash and the first medical visit. Insurance adjusters use that gap to argue the injuries were not caused by the wreck or were not serious enough to require prompt treatment.

Document everything you can at the scene: photographs of all vehicles from multiple angles showing damage patterns, the roadway, traffic signals, skid marks, debris, and weather conditions. Exchange insurance and contact information with every driver involved. Get names and phone numbers from any witnesses. Do not discuss fault with anyone at the scene, and do not apologize or speculate about what happened. Anything you say can be quoted in an adjuster's file or a deposition transcript.

Do not provide a recorded statement to the other driver's insurance company without legal counsel. Adjusters request these statements early, often within hours of the crash, and frame them as routine. They are not routine. The questions are designed to elicit admissions, inconsistencies, and minimizations that the insurer will use to reduce or deny the claim. You are not legally required to give a recorded statement to the at-fault driver's insurer.

Notify your own insurance company that the accident occurred, but limit the conversation to basic facts: date, time, location, and the other driver's information. Do not speculate about your injuries or accept any fault. Preserve all physical evidence: do not repair your vehicle before it has been inspected and photographed, save all clothing worn during the crash, and keep every medical bill, receipt, and document related to the accident in a single organized file.

Contact a car accident attorney before making decisions about settlement offers, medical treatment providers, or recorded statements. The earlier legal counsel is involved, the more effectively the evidence can be preserved and the claim structured from the start rather than reconstructed after critical opportunities have passed.

Types of Car Accident Cases We Handle in Shreveport, LA

Car accidents in Shreveport take many forms, and each type raises distinct legal and factual questions that affect how liability is established, what evidence matters most, and what compensation is realistically available. Morris & Dewett handles the full range of motor vehicle collision cases that occur on Shreveport roads and the surrounding Caddo Parish highway network.

Rear-end collisions are the most common type of car accident in Shreveport. While Louisiana law generally presumes the trailing driver is at fault, that presumption is rebuttable. Adjusters routinely argue that the lead vehicle stopped suddenly without justification, changed lanes abruptly, or had non-functioning brake lights. On high-speed stretches of I-20 and I-49, rear-end crashes produce more severe injuries than their surface-street counterparts because of the speed differential at impact.

Intersection and T-bone collisions occur frequently along Youree Drive, Mansfield Road, and the signalized crossings throughout Shreveport's commercial corridors. These crashes produce some of the most serious injuries because the side of a vehicle offers far less structural protection than the front or rear. Fault disputes in intersection crashes almost always center on traffic signal timing, and witness testimony, traffic camera footage, and signal phase records become critical evidence.

Head-on collisions, though less frequent, carry the highest fatality and catastrophic injury rates. Wrong-way driving on divided highways, lane departures caused by distraction or impairment, and crossover crashes on undivided roads like sections of Mansfield Road account for most head-on impacts in the Shreveport area.

Sideswipe and lane-change crashes on I-49 and the I-20/I-49 interchange involve blind-spot disputes where each driver contests who occupied the lane. Hit-and-run accidents require pursuing the claim through the injured person's own uninsured motorist coverage, with separate procedural requirements and coverage limits. Multi-vehicle pileups, particularly on interstate corridors during fog or rain, create complex liability scenarios involving multiple insurers and multiple fault allocations. Rideshare accidents involving Uber and Lyft drivers add layers of insurance coverage analysis because the applicable policy depends on whether the driver was logged into the app, en route to a passenger, or actively transporting a fare at the moment of the crash.

Common Injuries After a Car Wreck

The injuries that Shreveport car accident victims bring to our office span a wide spectrum, from conditions that resolve in weeks to damage that permanently changes how a person lives, works, and functions. What matters for the legal claim is not just the diagnosis itself but how thoroughly it is documented, how clearly the medical evidence ties the condition to the crash rather than a preexisting problem, and how convincingly the record demonstrates the injury's actual impact on daily life.

Traumatic brain injuries are among the most consequential and most frequently underdiagnosed results of car wrecks. A closed-head TBI can produce a normal CT scan in the emergency department while the injured person develops worsening cognitive symptoms over the following days and weeks: difficulty concentrating, short-term memory problems, personality changes, persistent headaches, sensitivity to light and noise. The gap between clean initial imaging and later functional deficits is precisely where insurance adjusters attack the claim. Neuropsychological testing, ordered by a treating neurologist and administered by a qualified specialist, documents cognitive impairment in a format that adjusters and juries can evaluate objectively. Without it, the insurer characterizes the injury as subjective and unverifiable.

Spinal cord injuries and disc herniations frequently require surgical intervention, months of physical therapy, or permanent activity restrictions that reshape a person's career and daily routine. Fractures in the pelvis, wrists, ankles, and ribs may involve hardware placement, revision surgeries, and recovery timelines measured in months. Internal organ damage from seatbelt loading forces or steering column impact sometimes requires emergency surgery at Ochsner LSU Health Hospital, the Level I trauma center serving Shreveport and the surrounding region.

Soft tissue injuries, including whiplash, ligament sprains, and muscle tears, are the category insurers work hardest to minimize. These injuries produce real and sometimes chronic pain, reduced range of motion, and inability to perform job duties. The defense against an insurer's skepticism is objective documentation: MRI findings confirming structural damage, functional capacity evaluations measuring what the injured person can and cannot physically do, and a treatment record showing consistent medical care from the date of the crash through completion of the prescribed protocol. Any gap in treatment, even a few weeks, gives the adjuster an argument that the injuries resolved on their own. An injury lawyer in Shreveport who has handled hundreds of these disputes knows exactly which documentation gaps adjusters target and how to prevent them.

Where Serious Crashes Happen in Shreveport

Shreveport's road network funnels traffic through corridors and intersections that produce serious and fatal collisions at rates consistently above the citywide average. The patterns repeat year after year, and Shreveport Police Department crash bulletins confirm which roads carry the highest risk.

Interstate 20 and Interstate 49 move heavy volumes of commercial truck traffic alongside commuter vehicles, creating mixing zones where speed differentials between an 80,000-pound semi and a sedan generate rear-end crashes, sideswipes, and high-speed lane-change collisions. The I-20/I-49 interchange concentrates this risk at a single point: traffic merging from multiple directions, limited sight lines during peak commute hours, and frequent speed mismatches between decelerating trucks and passenger vehicles entering the interchange produce recurring serious wrecks.

Youree Drive ranks among the highest-traffic surface streets in the city and generates a steady volume of intersection collisions, T-bone crashes at signalized crossings, and pedestrian strikes in commercial areas where foot traffic mixes with turning vehicles. Mansfield Road carries a blend of commuter and commercial traffic through Shreveport's southern corridor, where industrial loading zones create unexpected stopping hazards that catch following drivers off guard.

Bert Kouns Industrial Loop was the site of a fatal collision in January 2026 when a Ford pickup struck a Nissan Sentra, killing one driver at the scene. That same month, a driver on Midway Avenue rear-ended a parked 18-wheeler trailer and was transported to Ochsner LSU Health Hospital, where the victim later died from injuries sustained in the impact. These incidents are not anomalies. Across 2025, Caddo Parish recorded 51 traffic fatalities, including 16 pedestrians and 2 bicyclists. More than 680 crashes during that year involved distracted driving on Shreveport streets and parish highways.

Statewide, Louisiana records over 3,300 large truck crashes per year, with more than 90 involving fatalities, according to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration crash data. Shreveport sits at the junction of two major interstate highways and absorbs a disproportionate share of that commercial vehicle risk. If a big truck accident caused your injuries, the legal issues differ substantially from a standard passenger vehicle crash. Federal motor carrier safety regulations, multiple potentially liable parties including the trucking company and its insurer, and commercial insurance policies with higher coverage limits all change the analysis.

Who Is Liable for Your Shreveport Car Accident?

Identifying who is legally responsible for a car accident in Shreveport is not always as straightforward as determining who ran the red light. Louisiana law allows claims against multiple parties based on different theories of liability, and the full range of potentially responsible parties extends well beyond the other driver. Determining who may be held liable for a car accident in Louisiana requires examining every person and entity whose conduct or legal obligations contributed to the crash or the severity of the injuries.

The at-fault driver is the most obvious defendant, but the analysis does not stop there. If the driver was operating a vehicle owned by someone else, the vehicle owner may bear liability under Louisiana's vicarious liability rules. If the driver was working at the time of the crash, whether making deliveries, driving to a job site, or transporting goods, the employer may be liable under respondeat superior for actions taken within the scope of employment. Commercial trucking companies face additional exposure because federal motor carrier safety regulations impose independent duties on the carrier to hire qualified drivers, maintain vehicles, and enforce hours-of-service rules. A violation of those federal obligations creates liability for the company separate from the driver's negligence.

Government entities responsible for road design, construction, maintenance, and signage can bear liability when a dangerous road condition contributes to a crash. A missing guardrail on a curve, a pothole that causes a driver to lose control, a malfunctioning traffic signal, or inadequate sight lines at an intersection all create potential claims against the responsible municipal, parish, or state agency. These claims carry specific procedural requirements and shortened notice deadlines that differ from standard negligence suits.

Vehicle and component manufacturers may be liable when a mechanical defect causes or worsens a crash. Tire blowouts, brake system failures, airbag malfunctions, and defective seatbelt latches are product liability claims that do not require proving negligence. Louisiana's product liability framework under the Louisiana Products Liability Act imposes liability on manufacturers for unreasonably dangerous products regardless of whether the manufacturer knew about the defect.

Rideshare companies such as Uber and Lyft occupy a distinct category. The insurance coverage available depends on the driver's status at the moment of the crash: whether the app was off, whether the driver was waiting for a ride request, or whether a passenger was in the vehicle. Each status triggers a different policy with different coverage limits, and the rideshare company's own commercial policy may or may not apply.

In every case, the evidence that establishes liability is built from the same raw materials: the police crash report, witness accounts, physical damage patterns, accident reconstruction analysis, event data recorder downloads, cell phone records, and surveillance or dashcam footage. Under the 51 percent fault bar now governing crashes on or after January 1, 2026, identifying every liable party and accurately allocating fault among them is not a secondary concern. It directly determines whether the injured person recovers anything at all.

Comparative Fault in Louisiana Car Accident Claims

Louisiana applies a comparative fault system to car accident claims. Every party involved in the crash, including the injured person, is assigned a percentage of responsibility based on the evidence. The plaintiff's recovery is then reduced by whatever share of fault is attributed to them. A person found 30 percent at fault recovers 70 percent of the total damages.

That framework changed in a fundamental way on January 1, 2026. Under the revised La. C.C. Art. 2323, enacted through Act 15 of the 2025 legislative session, any person assigned 51 percent or more of the fault for an accident is now completely barred from recovering damages. This is a hard cutoff. Before this amendment took effect, a person found 99 percent at fault could still recover 1 percent of total damages. For any crash occurring on or after January 1, 2026, that rule no longer applies.

The change is prospective only. The date of the accident, not the date the lawsuit is filed, determines which version of the comparative fault rule governs. If you were injured before January 1, 2026, the prior rule with no recovery bar below 100 percent fault still controls your claim.

The practical consequence is that fault allocation now carries stakes that did not previously exist. Insurance companies understand the math. For any wreck where the claimant might plausibly bear close to half the responsibility, the defense strategy is to push the fault percentage past the 51 percent threshold and eliminate the claim entirely rather than negotiate over dollars. Intersection collisions where both drivers claim the green light, lane-change disputes on I-49 where each side contests who occupied the blind spot, rear-end crashes where the lead vehicle stopped without warning: these are the fact patterns where the 51 percent bar transforms the outcome from a reduced recovery to no recovery at all.

A Shreveport automobile accident lawyer who tries these cases in Caddo Parish courtrooms knows how to build the evidentiary foundation that protects the fault allocation. Accident reconstruction analysis, witness sequencing, cell phone forensics establishing distraction at the moment of impact, and surveillance footage fixing vehicle positions before the collision all serve the same purpose: anchoring the fault percentage to provable facts before the insurer can manufacture a narrative that crosses the bar.

Dealing with Insurance Companies After a Shreveport Car Accident

Insurance companies are not neutral parties evaluating your claim. They are businesses with a financial incentive to pay as little as possible on every file, and their adjusters are trained professionals whose performance is measured in part by how effectively they control claim costs. Understanding how insurers operate after a Shreveport car accident is essential to avoiding the mistakes that reduce or eliminate what you recover.

The process typically begins with a phone call from the at-fault driver's adjuster within days of the crash, sometimes within hours. The adjuster sounds sympathetic and helpful. They ask you to describe what happened, how you are feeling, and what treatment you have received. They may request a recorded statement, framing it as a standard step needed to process the claim. Every word of that conversation becomes part of the insurer's file and can be used against you later. A statement like "I'm feeling a little better today" becomes evidence that the injuries are minor. A casual remark about the other driver's speed becomes a concession about comparative fault. You are not legally required to provide a recorded statement to the at-fault driver's insurance company, and doing so before consulting an attorney rarely benefits the claimant.

Early settlement offers are another common tactic. An adjuster may present a check within the first few weeks, often before the full scope of treatment is known. The offer sounds reasonable against the bills received so far, but it almost never accounts for future medical costs, ongoing pain management, reduced earning capacity, or non-economic damages. Accepting it requires signing a release that extinguishes the claim permanently. If the condition worsens, if surgery becomes necessary, or if you later discover that you cannot return to your previous work, no legal remedy exists to reopen the settlement.

Delay is the other side of the same strategy. When an insurer cannot resolve a claim cheaply and quickly, it may slow the process: requesting duplicate records, raising procedural objections, disputing the necessity of treatment, or simply failing to respond to communications for weeks at a time. Delay works in the insurer's favor because it pushes the claim closer to the prescriptive period deadline, increases the claimant's financial pressure, and creates frustration that makes a lower settlement more attractive.

Bad faith insurance practices, including unreasonable delays, refusals to investigate, and offers that bear no reasonable relationship to the documented damages, may create independent legal claims under Louisiana law. Uninsured motorist and underinsured motorist claims add a further layer of complexity because they are filed against your own insurer, creating a situation where the company that sold you coverage is now motivated to minimize what it pays on that same policy. These claims involve separate procedural requirements, distinct coverage limits, and sometimes mandatory arbitration provisions specified in the policy language.

Having legal representation changes the dynamic. Adjusters handle claims from unrepresented claimants differently than claims where an attorney is involved, tracking files, managing medical documentation, and preparing the case for litigation if the offer does not reflect the evidence. The insurer knows that an attorney who regularly tries cases in Caddo Parish will file suit and take the case to trial when the settlement offer is inadequate. That knowledge changes the calculus in every negotiation.

What Documents Are Essential for Filing a Car Accident Claim

The gap between a car accident claim that recovers full value and one that settles for a fraction almost always comes down to what can be documented and proved. Knowing which documents matter, and preserving them before they disappear, is one of the most consequential steps in the early weeks after a crash.

The police crash report establishes the factual baseline. It records who was involved, where the collision occurred, what road and weather conditions existed, and typically includes the responding officer's preliminary assessment of contributing factors. In Caddo Parish, crash reports are available through the Shreveport Police Department or the Louisiana State Police depending on the jurisdiction where the wreck occurred. Errors in the report, such as wrong vehicle positioning, missing witness contact information, or incorrect speed estimates, need to be identified and formally corrected early in the case before they harden into assumptions that shape settlement negotiations.

Medical records form the structural backbone of any injury claim. The documentation chain should begin with the initial emergency department visit and continue without interruption through every follow-up appointment, specialist referral, imaging study, surgical procedure, and rehabilitation session. Gaps in treatment are the single most common vulnerability that insurance adjusters exploit to argue injuries are not as serious as claimed. A two-month break between the emergency room and the next doctor visit gives the insurer a ready-made argument that the injured person recovered on their own and only resumed treatment to inflate the claim.

Insurance policy documents are essential and frequently overlooked. The at-fault driver's liability policy sets the primary coverage limit. Your own policy may provide uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, medical payments coverage, or other benefits that supplement or replace what the at-fault driver's insurer will pay. Identifying every applicable policy early prevents the common problem of discovering additional coverage only after a settlement has already been signed.

Employment records and wage documentation establish lost income claims. Pay stubs, tax returns, employer verification letters, and if applicable, expert economic projections of diminished earning capacity provide the evidentiary foundation for this category of damages.

Scene photographs, dashcam recordings, traffic camera footage, and surveillance video from nearby businesses establish what happened with a clarity that testimony alone cannot achieve. Cell phone records proving calls or texts at the moment of impact demonstrate distracted driving. Event data recorders in modern vehicles capture pre-crash data including speed, throttle position, brake application timing, and steering input in the seconds before the collision, providing an objective mechanical record of driver behavior.

Witness statements from other motorists, passengers, and bystanders add context that physical evidence alone may not convey. In disputed liability cases, particularly those where the 51 percent fault bar is in play, accident reconstruction experts and biomechanical engineers may be necessary to demonstrate how the collision occurred and how the forces involved produced the specific injuries claimed.

Evidence deteriorates quickly. Vehicles get repaired or scrapped, surveillance systems overwrite footage on cycles as short as 48 hours, and witness memories become unreliable within weeks. A thorough investigation launched within days of the crash, not months afterward, protects the documents and evidence that ultimately protect the claim.

Compensation Available for Car Accident Victims

Louisiana law allows car accident victims to recover compensation for both the calculable financial losses and the less tangible harms a wreck produces. The categories of compensation available depend on the severity of the injuries, the strength of the evidence, and the insurance coverage in play. Understanding what damages are recoverable is essential to evaluating whether a settlement offer reflects the actual value of the claim or whether it leaves significant categories of loss unaddressed.

Economic damages are the documented, quantifiable losses. Medical expenses, including both past treatment costs and projected future care needs such as additional surgeries, physical therapy, prescription medications, and assistive devices, typically form the largest component in serious injury cases. Lost wages from time away from work during recovery represent income the injured person would have earned but for the crash. When injuries prevent returning to the same occupation or performing at the same capacity, diminished earning capacity captures the long-term income reduction over the remainder of the person's working life. Property damage to the vehicle and personal belongings, out-of-pocket transportation costs during recovery, and household services the injured person can no longer perform round out the economic picture. These figures are established through billing records, employment documentation, tax returns, and expert economic projections when long-term impairment is involved.

Non-economic damages compensate for harms that do not arrive as invoices: physical pain and suffering, mental anguish and emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of activities and daily life, permanent scarring or disfigurement, and loss of consortium for spouses. Louisiana does not impose a statutory cap on non-economic damages in most car accident cases, but the amounts must be supported by credible testimony and corroborating evidence. A car accident lawyer who has presented these damages to Caddo Parish juries knows what evidence resonates with local jurors and what arguments fall flat.

A significant change to how medical damages are calculated took effect on January 1, 2026. Under La. R.S. 9:2800.27, enacted through Act 15 of the 2025 legislative session, the prior restriction on introducing evidence of collateral source payments, including health insurance write-offs and negotiated billing reductions, has been eliminated for accidents occurring on or after that date. Defendants may now present evidence showing that a plaintiff's billed medical charges were reduced by insurance, which can lower the jury's damages award. For crashes before January 1, 2026, the prior collateral source protections still apply. The distinction based on accident date is critical and affects both the valuation of the claim and the trial strategy.

When a car accident causes death, Louisiana law provides a wrongful death claim for qualifying surviving family members. These cases carry separate rules governing who may file suit, what categories of damages are recoverable, and what procedural deadlines apply.

Statute of Limitations for Car Accident Claims in Louisiana

The statute of limitations for car accident claims in Louisiana is two years from the date of the crash. This prescriptive period was shortened from three years under La. C.C. Art. 3493.11, enacted through Act 423 of the 2024 legislative session, for accidents occurring on or after July 1, 2024. If your wreck happened before that date, the three-year deadline still governs. Missing the applicable prescriptive period means the court will dismiss the case on procedural grounds regardless of how strong the underlying evidence may be.

Two years sounds like adequate time, but the practical reality is tighter than the calendar suggests. Completing medical treatment to reach maximum medical improvement, gathering records from every provider, conducting the liability investigation, retaining necessary experts, and engaging in meaningful settlement negotiations all consume months. Filing close to the deadline also signals to the insurance company that preparation may have been rushed, which weakens the negotiating posture at precisely the moment leverage matters most.

Louisiana's No Pay, No Play statute creates an additional consequence for drivers who were uninsured at the time of the crash. Under La. R.S. 32:866, with revised thresholds effective August 1, 2025, an uninsured driver cannot recover the first $100,000 in bodily injury damages and the first $100,000 in property damages, even if the other driver was entirely at fault. The reduction is automatic and applies regardless of the severity of the injuries. If you carried at least the state minimum liability coverage at the time of the wreck, No Pay, No Play has no effect on your claim. If your policy had lapsed, the financial penalty is substantial and cannot be remedied after the fact.

Insurance coverage disputes complicate many Shreveport car accident cases. Adjusters argue that injuries predate the crash, that treatment was excessive or unnecessary, or that the claimant bears a larger share of fault than the evidence supports. Uninsured motorist and underinsured motorist claims, which are filed against the injured person's own insurance policy, involve separate procedural requirements, distinct coverage limits, and sometimes mandatory arbitration provisions. When multiple policies from multiple carriers apply to the same accident, coordinating the claims and maximizing the total available coverage requires careful policy-by-policy analysis that accounts for stacking rules, excess provisions, and the order in which policies respond.

How Long Does It Take to Resolve a Car Accident Case?

There is no standard timeline for resolving a car accident case, and any firm that quotes a specific number of months before reviewing the facts is guessing. The duration depends on variables that differ in every claim: the severity and treatment course of the injuries, whether liability is disputed, how many insurers are involved, and whether the case can be resolved through negotiation or requires litigation in Caddo Parish courts.

Straightforward cases with clear liability, a single insurer, and injuries that reach maximum medical improvement within a few months can sometimes resolve through pre-suit negotiation in six to nine months. Cases involving disputed fault, multiple defendants, injuries requiring surgery or extended rehabilitation, or an uncooperative insurance carrier frequently take a year or longer. When a lawsuit is filed in the First Judicial District Court, the case enters the court's scheduling order, which adds time for written discovery, depositions, expert disclosures, mediation, and pretrial motions before a trial date is set.

The single most important timing variable in most cases is whether the injured person has reached maximum medical improvement. This is the point at which treating physicians determine that the condition has stabilized and further significant recovery is not expected. Settling before that point risks permanently undervaluing future medical costs, ongoing pain management, and any chronic functional limitations. A signed release cannot be reopened if the condition worsens after settlement.

Morris & Dewett manages case timelines deliberately. We do not rush settlements to close files, and we do not let cases drift without forward progress. Each case follows a structured sequence: complete the medical treatment, compile the documentation, build the demand, negotiate with the insurer, and prepare for trial if the offer does not reflect the evidence. That sequence takes as long as the facts require.

Experienced Legal Representation for Car Accident Victims

The difference between experienced legal representation and general legal help in a car accident case shows up in specific, measurable ways. An attorney who regularly handles these claims in Caddo Parish knows which medical providers document injuries in the format that adjusters and juries find most credible. They know when an accident reconstruction expert is necessary and when the physical evidence speaks for itself. They know which insurance companies negotiate in good faith and which ones routinely lowball until a trial date forces a realistic evaluation.

Experience also means understanding the full timeline of a claim. Settling too early, before maximum medical improvement, locks in a number that cannot account for complications, additional surgeries, or chronic conditions that emerge months after the crash. Settling too late burns through the prescriptive period and weakens leverage. The timing of each step, from the initial demand through mediation and into trial preparation, follows a sequence that experienced practitioners manage deliberately rather than reactively.

Morris & Dewett works on a contingency fee basis. You pay no attorney fees unless we recover compensation for you. That structure aligns our financial incentive with yours: we collect a fee only when you receive money for your injuries. The free consultation carries no obligation. We review the facts, identify the legal issues, and tell you honestly whether the case has value and what pursuing it would involve. If we are not the right fit, we will tell you that directly rather than take a case we cannot handle well.

Why Choose Morris & Dewett

Morris & Dewett is a Shreveport personal injury firm that handles car accident cases from the first crash investigation through jury trial in Caddo Parish courtrooms when the insurance company will not offer what the evidence shows the case is worth. Our attorneys have tried these cases locally and have managed the full range of car accident claims, from contested soft tissue disputes to catastrophic injury and wrongful death litigation.

Our approach begins with preparation. Every case receives a thorough factual investigation, organized medical documentation, and an honest valuation based on the evidence rather than inflated projections designed to sign a client. We tell you what we believe the case is worth, explain the basis for that assessment, and describe what it will take to get there.

If you were hurt in a car wreck in Shreveport or anywhere in northwest Louisiana, contact Morris & Dewett to schedule a free consultation. If you are still evaluating your options, our guide on how to find a good injury attorney explains what to look for and what questions to ask before hiring representation.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to file a Shreveport car accident lawsuit?

Two years from the date of the accident for crashes occurring on or after July 1, 2024. Louisiana shortened its prescriptive period from three years under La. C.C. Art. 3493.11, enacted through Act 423 of the 2024 legislative session. If your wreck happened before July 1, 2024, the prior three-year deadline still applies. The applicable deadline is jurisdictional. Once it passes, the court will dismiss the case regardless of the strength of your evidence. Determining which prescriptive period governs your accident date is one of the first questions any evaluation of the claim should answer.

What if I was partly at fault for the crash?

Louisiana's comparative fault system reduces your recovery by whatever percentage of responsibility is attributed to you. If a jury finds you 25 percent at fault, you recover 75 percent of the total damages. A critical change applies to crashes occurring on or after January 1, 2026. Under the revised La. C.C. Art. 2323, amended by Act 15 of the 2025 legislative session, a person assigned 51 percent or more of the fault is completely barred from recovering any damages. This is an absolute cutoff. Under the prior rule, which still governs accidents before the effective date, even a person found 99 percent at fault could recover 1 percent of damages. Because the new threshold eliminates rather than merely reduces recovery, insurance companies now invest heavily in pushing claimants past the 51 percent line. The evidence supporting fault allocation, and the ability to counter the insurer's version of events, is more consequential than it has ever been.

What does No Pay, No Play mean in Louisiana?

No Pay, No Play is the common name for La. R.S. 32:866, which imposes a financial penalty on drivers who were not carrying liability insurance at the time of a crash. Under the current thresholds, effective August 1, 2025, an uninsured driver cannot recover the first $100,000 in bodily injury damages and the first $100,000 in property damages. This applies regardless of the other driver's fault. The reduction applies automatically upon proof that the claimant lacked coverage. If you maintained at least the state minimum liability insurance at the time of the accident, this statute does not affect your claim. If your coverage had lapsed or was never obtained, the financial impact is substantial and cannot be corrected retroactively.

What compensation is available after a Shreveport car accident?

Louisiana law allows car accident victims to recover both economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages include medical expenses for past and future treatment, lost wages during recovery, diminished earning capacity when injuries prevent returning to the same occupation, property damage, and out-of-pocket costs. Non-economic damages cover physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, permanent scarring or disfigurement, and loss of consortium. There is no statutory cap on non-economic damages in most car accident cases. The total compensation available depends on the severity of the injuries, the quality of the supporting evidence, and the insurance coverage accessible through the at-fault driver's policy, your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, and any additional applicable policies.

How long does it take to resolve a car accident case?

There is no standard timeline, and any estimate offered before reviewing the specific facts of a case is speculative. A claim involving clear liability, a single insurer, and injuries that resolve within a few months might settle through negotiation in well under a year. A case with disputed fault, multiple at-fault parties, injuries requiring extended treatment or surgery, or an uncooperative insurance carrier may take a year or longer. Cases that proceed to trial in Caddo Parish courts add further time for discovery, depositions, expert disclosures, and pretrial scheduling. The single most important timing variable in most cases is whether the injured person has reached maximum medical improvement. Settling before treatment is complete risks permanently undervaluing future medical costs, and a signed release cannot be reopened if the condition worsens after settlement.

What documents do I need for a car accident claim?

The essential documents include the police crash report, all medical records from the date of the crash through the completion of treatment, insurance policy documents for both the at-fault driver and your own coverage, employment records and pay stubs documenting lost wages, photographs of the accident scene and vehicle damage, and any correspondence with insurance companies. Dashcam footage, traffic camera recordings, and surveillance video from nearby businesses should be preserved immediately because these sources are frequently overwritten within days. Cell phone records establishing distracted driving and event data recorder downloads from the vehicles involved provide objective evidence that can resolve disputed liability. The sooner these documents are identified and preserved, the stronger the evidentiary foundation for the claim.

Do I need a lawyer if the insurance company already made an offer?

An early offer from the insurance company is not evidence that the amount is fair. Insurers frequently extend initial settlement proposals before the full scope of treatment is known, specifically because resolving a claim early almost always costs the company less than paying the actual completed value. You are not required to hire an attorney. However, having one evaluate the offer before you sign a release can reveal whether the amount accounts for all documented and projected medical expenses, lost income, reduced earning capacity, and non-economic damages. Signing a release extinguishes the claim permanently. If your condition deteriorates, if additional surgery becomes necessary, or if you later discover you cannot return to your prior occupation, no legal remedy exists to reopen the settlement. The cost of a professional evaluation before accepting is negligible compared to the cost of a premature resolution that cannot be undone. Morris & Dewett offers a free consultation to review any pending settlement offer and explain what the case may actually be worth.

What should I do immediately after a car accident in Shreveport?

Call 911 and stay at the scene until law enforcement arrives. Seek medical attention immediately, even if you feel only minor discomfort, because adrenaline masks pain and conditions like traumatic brain injuries and internal bleeding may not produce obvious symptoms for hours or days. Document the scene with photographs of all vehicles, the roadway, traffic signals, and weather conditions. Exchange insurance and contact information with every driver involved and get contact details from witnesses. Do not discuss fault with anyone at the scene, and do not provide a recorded statement to the other driver's insurance company without consulting an attorney. Notify your own insurer that the accident occurred, but limit the conversation to basic facts. Preserve all physical evidence including your vehicle, clothing, and every medical bill and receipt. The earlier you consult with a Shreveport car accident attorney, the more effectively the evidence can be preserved and the claim structured from the beginning.

These answers reflect Louisiana law as of January 2026. For case specific advice, consult with a Louisiana personal injury attorney who can evaluate your particular circumstances.