Call for Consultation (337) 366-8994
Call for Consultation (337) 366-8994
Disclaimer: This content is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different. Contact a licensed Louisiana attorney for guidance specific to your situation.
Your medical bills are easy to document. You have receipts, invoices, and treatment records that add up to a number. Pain is different. Likewise, the fear of not physically recovering, the grief over things you can no longer do, and the toll your injury has taken on your relationships and your sense of self also do not come with an easily determinable compensatory value.
Nevertheless, Louisiana law allows you to seek compensation for all of it. These losses fall under a category called “non-economic damages,” the legal term for harm that does not come with a receipt. Importantly, these damages and losses often represent the largest portion of a personal injury recovery. Understanding how courts value them and what evidence supports a strong claim is essential to protecting what you are owed for what you have lost.
Under Louisiana Civil Code Article 2315, the person whose negligence caused your injury is legally required to repair the harm they caused. That obligation does not stop at your medical expenses. It extends to every real consequence of what happened to you.
Louisiana law recognizes the following categories of non-economic damages:
None of these categories carry a fixed dollar value. That is the central challenge of any pain and suffering claim. How you present your case matters as much as the facts themselves.
Courts and juries do not follow a formula. Louisiana law gives the fact-finder wide discretion to set a fair amount based on the evidence presented. In practice, attorneys use three approaches to anchor that discretion.
These approaches are not mutually exclusive. Attorneys often use more than one to frame the full scope of what you have lost.
Note: For most personal injury cases in Louisiana, there is no cap on non-economic damages. The $500,000 cap under Louisiana law applies only to medical malpractice claims and some claims against government defendants. Car accidents, slip and falls, trucking collisions, and other general injury cases are not subject to that limit.
The facts of the accident are only part of your story. Louisiana courts want to understand what your life looked like before the injury and what it looks like now. The gap between those two realities is what non-economic damages are designed to address.
Here is the evidence that carries the most weight.
Courts look at your diagnosis dates, treatment notes, prescriptions, therapy records, and physician statements. These documents establish that your pain is real and consistently documented.
Gaps in treatment create problems. Defense attorneys use them to argue your injuries were not serious. Following through with your healthcare providers is both medically important and legally critical.
A treating physician who can testify about the permanency of your condition, the realistic prognosis for recovery, and the likelihood of ongoing pain gives the jury something concrete to evaluate.
Talk to your attorney first because of discovery rules, but a daily journal started immediately after your accident is one of the most powerful and underused tools in a personal injury case. Write down your pain levels and their location. Note what you tried to do and could not manage. Record how your mood and sleep have been affected, and the specific moments when you felt the loss most clearly.
That kind of firsthand record is difficult to dismiss. It shows a jury not just a diagnosis but a life changed, in your own words, day by day.
A photograph of you before the accident, active and engaged in things you loved, contrasted with your current limitations, communicates something no medical chart can. Defense attorneys know this, which is why strong visual evidence shifts the conversation.
For catastrophic injuries, attorneys sometimes commission a day-in-the-life video. This documentary-style recording shows the jury how you navigate ordinary daily tasks following your injury. In serious cases, it is often one of the most persuasive pieces of evidence at trial.
Family members, friends, coworkers, and neighbors who observed you before and after the accident can testify to specific changes they witnessed. The parent who used to carry their child and now cannot. The person who coached softball every weekend and now cannot lift their arm above their shoulder.
These witnesses give the jury permission to see you as a whole person. Your loss extends far beyond what appears in a medical chart, and their testimony establishes that.
For serious injuries, expert testimony connects your losses to specific dollar amounts. Depending on your case, this may include the following:
The more severe and permanent the injury, the more these experts matter in helping the jury understand what you are truly facing.
The defense will dispute your injuries. Insurance companies routinely hire their own medical experts to challenge your treating physician’s findings. They look for prior injuries, delayed treatment, and inconsistencies in your records. Consistent documentation and regular medical follow-through are your strongest responses.
Your fault percentage affects your recovery. Louisiana uses a modified comparative fault system under La. C.C. Art. 2323. If a jury finds you partially at fault, your recovery is reduced by that percentage. If a jury finds you 51% or more at fault, you recover nothing. This is why fault is disputed and established matters enormously to your outcome.
Non-economic damages are inherently subjective. There is no receipt to submit. A skilled attorney knows how to present your evidence in a way that makes your suffering concrete and real to the jury. The quality of that presentation directly affects what you recover.
Louisiana law gives you two years from the date of your injury to file a personal injury claim. This deadline is called the prescriptive period, Louisiana’s term for what most other states call a statute of limitations.
If your injury happened before July 1, 2024, the prior one-year deadline still applies to your case.
Missing the prescriptive period almost always means losing your right to compensation, regardless of how strong your case is. Do not wait.
The cost of a serious injury is not limited to your medical bills. What you can no longer do, the pain you carry every day, and the impact on the people who love you are all part of what Louisiana law allows you to recover. Those losses deserve to be fully accounted for.
At the Ikerd Law Firm, attorney Chad Ikerd has spent his career representing clients across Louisiana who were told their claims were worth less than they actually were.
If you were injured and want to understand what your claim may be worth, call us at (337) 366-8994 for a free consultation.
For most personal injury cases, no. Car accidents, slip and falls, and trucking collisions carry no cap on non-economic damages. The $500,000 cap under La. R.S. 40:1231.2 applies only to medical malpractice claims against qualified health care providers.
There is no fixed formula. Courts and juries consider comparable awards from similar cases, the severity and permanency of your injuries, and the evidence you present. The quality of your attorney’s presentation shapes the outcome.
Yes, as long as your fault is less than 51%. Under Louisiana’s modified comparative fault system (La. C.C. Art. 2323), your damages are reduced by your percentage of fault. If a jury finds you 51% or more at fault, you are barred from any recovery.
You can still recover. Louisiana law compensates for pain, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life even when an injury leaves no visible mark. Strong documentation (medical records, journal entries, and witness testimony) is especially important for injuries that cannot be seen.
Now. The sooner an attorney is involved, the more evidence can be preserved, and the less opportunity the insurance company has to minimize your claim before you understand what it is worth.
Ikerd Law Firm