$4,000,000
Wrongful Death
Practice Areas
New Orleans Car Accident Lawyers
Hurt in a crash you didn't cause? For two generations, the Forstalls have helped injured drivers and passengers across New Orleans recover what they're owed - with no fee unless we win.
35,000+Cases won
1979Serving NOLA Since
$0Upfront cost
No FeeUnless we win
The Short Version
Car accidents in New Orleans - the quick answers
- You generally have 2 years from the date of a crash to file a car accident lawsuit in Louisiana (for accidents on or after July 1, 2024).
- Louisiana is an at-fault state. Since January 1, 2026, you can recover if you are 50% or less at fault - but at 51% or more, you recover nothing.
- You may recover for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and property damage.
- Talk to a lawyer before giving the insurance company a recorded statement or accepting an offer.
- Your consultation is free, and you pay nothing unless we win.
Injured in a car accident? We're on your side.
A car accident can upend your life in seconds - medical bills pile up, you miss work, your car is wrecked, and an insurance adjuster is already calling. The Law Offices of Chip Forstall have spent two generations standing between injured New Orleanians and the insurance companies that try to underpay them.
Whether you're searching for a car accident lawyer, an auto accident attorney, or a car wreck lawyer near you, our New Orleans team handles the legal fight so you can focus on healing.
- Investigate the crash and preserve key evidence
- Deal with the insurance companies for you
- Order and review police reports and medical records
- Bring in accident-reconstruction and medical experts
- Calculate the full, long-term value of your claim
- Negotiate aggressively - and file suit if they won't be fair
What to do after a car accident
The steps you take in the first hours and days can make or break your claim. Here's a quick checklist.
1
Call 911
Report the crash and get police and paramedics on scene. A police report creates an official record of what happened.
2
Get medical care
See a doctor even if you feel fine. Some injuries surface days later, and prompt records protect your health and your claim.
3
Document everything
Photograph the vehicles, the scene, road conditions, and your injuries. Get names and numbers of any witnesses.
4
Exchange information
Trade names, license, and insurance details with the other driver - but don't discuss or admit fault.
5
Notify your insurer
Report the accident, but be careful about recorded statements until you've spoken with a lawyer.
6
Call the Forstalls
The sooner we're involved, the more evidence we can preserve and the better we can protect your claim.
Time Matters
The insurance company opened a file on you within hours of the crash.
An adjuster was assigned. Evidence is being gathered. Somebody is already building the case for paying you as little as possible - and right now, nobody is building yours.
Louisiana car accident laws you should know
Louisiana's rules are unusual - and a few of them can quietly cost you your case if you wait too long or say the wrong thing.
2 Years to File
For crashes on or after July 1, 2024, you generally have two years from the accident to file suit in Louisiana. Miss the deadline and you can lose your right to recover entirely.
Comparative Fault
Louisiana changed this rule on January 1, 2026. For accidents on or after that date, you can still recover if you are 50% or less at fault - your award is reduced by your share. But at 51% or more, you recover nothing. (Accidents before that date fall under the old pure comparative fault rule.) This is exactly why insurers now fight so hard to pin blame on you - and why getting a lawyer involved early matters more than it ever has.
At-Fault State
The driver who caused the crash and their insurer are responsible for your damages. Louisiana's minimum liability coverage is just 15/30/25, which is often not enough - so uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage matters more here than in most states.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Deadlines and rules can change and depend on the facts of your case - talk to an attorney about your specific situation.
Louisiana car accident statistics
Louisiana has some of the most dangerous roads in the country. The state averages about 160,000 crashes a year - injuring tens of thousands of people and, in 2023, taking nearly 800 lives. And nowhere in Louisiana sees more crashes and injuries than right here in New Orleans.
~160,000Crashes reported in Louisiana every year
Nearly 800Lives lost on Louisiana roads in 2023
17.7Traffic deaths per 100,000 people - vs. 12.2 nationwide
30%Of traffic deaths involve speeding
31%Of fatal crashes involve alcohol
#1New Orleans leads the state in crashes & injuries
Sources: LSU Center for Analytics & Research in Transportation Safety (CARTS), the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Figures reflect 2023 data, the most recent complete year available.
Types of car accident cases we handle
No two wrecks are alike, and the kind of collision you were in shapes everything that follows - who is presumed at fault, which evidence actually matters, and how hard the insurer is willing to fight. A rear-end on Carrollton Avenue is a very different case from a T-bone at an uncontrolled intersection, or a sideswipe on the I-10 merge where three drivers each blame the other two.
We have handled all of them, for long enough to know where each type tends to break down - and what it takes to keep yours from breaking down with it.
Rear-End CollisionsT-Bone & Intersection CrashesHead-On CollisionsHit-and-Run AccidentsDrunk & Impaired DrivingDistracted DrivingRideshare (Uber & Lyft)Multi-Vehicle PileupsSideswipe AccidentsRollover AccidentsUninsured / Underinsured MotoristInterstate & I-10 CrashesHurricane & Storm-RelatedPedestrian & Bicycle
Common car accident injuries
Some injuries announce themselves immediately. Others do not. Adrenaline masks pain for hours - sometimes days - and the injuries that surface later are often the ones that change a life the most: a herniated disc, a concussion that turns into months of headaches, a shoulder tear that ends a career in the trades.
That is why we tell every client the same thing on the first call: get checked out, even if you feel fine. The medical record you create in the first week becomes the backbone of your entire case.
Whiplash & Neck InjuriesBack & Spinal Cord InjuriesTraumatic Brain Injury (TBI)Broken BonesHerniated DiscsInternal InjuriesSoft-Tissue InjuriesScarring & DisfigurementChronic PainCatastrophic & Fatal Injuries
"If you weren't hurt, why didn't you go to the ER?"
It is the first thing an adjuster will ask, and it is one of the most effective arguments they have - not because it is true, but because it is hard to answer without a paper trail.
Gaps in treatment get read as gaps in injury. A three-week delay between the crash and your first doctor visit will be presented as proof that the crash did not hurt you, and the two weeks you spent hoping it would go away on its own will cost you real money.
See a doctor. Describe every symptom, even the ones that sound minor. Go back when something new appears. Consistent, documented care is not just good for your body - it is the single most valuable thing you can do for your claim.
Compensation you may be able to recover
Louisiana law sorts what you can recover into two buckets: the losses you can add up on paper, and the ones you cannot. Both are real. But only one of them arrives with a receipt attached - which is exactly why an insurance company would rather talk about the first and quietly ignore the second.
The bills are the easy part. The hard part - and the part that is usually worth the most - is proving what the injury took from your life.
Economic damages
- Emergency room, hospital & surgery bills
- Future medical care & rehabilitation
- Lost wages and income
- Loss of future earning capacity
- Vehicle repair or replacement
- Out-of-pocket costs
Non-economic damages
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress & anxiety
- Permanent disability or impairment
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Wrongful death & loss of a loved one
What actually changes when a lawyer steps in
Hiring a lawyer is not about paperwork. It is about changing who the insurance company has to deal with - and what happens to them if they refuse to deal fairly. The day we send our letter of representation, the calls to you stop and the calls to us begin.
We preserve evidence before it disappears - 911 audio, traffic and business security footage that gets overwritten in days, black-box data, the photographs nobody thought to take. We order the crash report and every medical record. When the case calls for it, we bring in an accident reconstructionist and get your treating physician on record about what your future actually looks like.
Then we build a demand package that reads like the opening statement it may one day become. Insurers keep track of which firms file suit and which ones fold at the first lowball offer. That reputation is priced into every number they put in front of you.
Mistakes that can hurt your claim
Adjusters are trained to look for reasons to pay you less, and most of the ammunition they end up using is handed to them by well-meaning people in the first two weeks - people who were being polite, or honest, or simply trying to get it over with.
None of the mistakes below are fatal on their own. We have salvaged cases that started with every one of them. But each is leverage you did not have to give away.
- Admitting fault or apologizing at the scene
- Skipping or delaying medical treatment
- Giving the insurer a recorded statement too soon
- Accepting the first settlement offer
- Posting about the crash on social media
- Waiting too long and missing the filing deadline
Recent results for injured clients
A few examples of what we've recovered for people hurt in serious crashes.
$2,200,000
Auto Accident
$1,500,000
Catastrophic Injury
$975,000
Serious Injury
$750,000
Head Injury
$485,000
Pedestrian Accident
Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome. Every case is different and must be evaluated on its own facts. Amounts shown reflect gross recovery before fees and costs.
The Full Picture
Understanding your car accident claim in Louisiana
Most people only do this once. The insurance company does it ten thousand times a year. Here is what is actually happening on the other side of your claim - and what it takes to even the odds.
The case against you starts before you file one
Within hours of a crash, the other driver's insurer opens a file and assigns an adjuster. That adjuster has a caseload, a supervisor, and a target. Their job - and they are very good at it - is to close your file for as little as the law will let them.
So they call. They sound genuinely kind, because most of them are. They ask how you are feeling. They ask if you would mind giving a quick recorded statement, just to get your side of things down. And everything you say becomes evidence. "I'm okay" becomes proof you were not injured. "I never even saw him" becomes proof you were not paying attention. "It all happened so fast" becomes proof your memory is unreliable.
You are being interviewed by a trained professional while you are sore, medicated, worried about your car, and trying to figure out how you will get to work on Monday. That is not a fair fight. It was never designed to be one.
How an insurance company decides what you are "worth"
Adjusters do not sit quietly and contemplate your suffering. They run your file through a valuation process that rewards some things and punishes others, and almost none of it has to do with how much pain you are actually in.
Consistent treatment raises the number. Objective findings - an MRI, a positive orthopedic test, a surgeon's opinion - raise it. A chart that says "soft tissue" and nothing more lowers it. A prior claim, an old injury to the same body part, or a pre-existing condition hands them a story to tell: you were already hurt, and this crash is just an excuse.
None of that means your case is weak. It means your case has to be built, documented, and presented by someone who knows exactly what the other side is scoring - before the scoring starts.
"The first offer is not an evaluation of your case. It is a test of whether you know what your case is worth."
The number they offer, and the number you are owed
The first offer is almost never the real number. It rarely accounts for the surgery your doctor says is coming next year. Or the physical therapy you will still be doing two years from now. Or the promotion you will not get because you can no longer do the job it requires. Or the simple, daily fact that you cannot pick up your child the way you used to.
Under Louisiana law, all of those are real, recoverable losses - future medical care, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, disability, loss of enjoyment of life. But none of them arrive with an invoice attached. Somebody has to prove they exist, with medical opinion and economic analysis, or in the negotiation they simply do not.
What we need from you
Get medical care, and keep going to it. Follow the treatment plan your doctor gives you, even when you are busy and even when you are tired of it. Keep every bill, every receipt, and a few honest notes about the bad days - what you could not do, what hurt, what you had to skip.
Stay off social media about the crash. A photograph of you smiling at a crawfish boil will be exhibit A, and no amount of explaining will fully undo it.
And tell us everything, especially the parts you are afraid will hurt your case. The old back injury. The ticket. The beer you had at lunch. We can work with a bad fact we know about. We cannot work around one we learn about from the defense lawyer in a deposition.
If your crash involved a commercial truck, a motorcycle, an SUV, or happened in Mid-City, the details change - but the approach does not. For more, read how a car accident lawyer can help you and the biggest mistakes made after a car accident.
It costs nothing to find out where you stand
You do not owe us anything to have this conversation. The consultation is free, and if we take your case, you pay no attorney's fee unless we recover money for you. If we do not win, you do not owe us a fee.
Two generations of this family have spent nearly 50 years doing exactly this work for our neighbors in New Orleans. Call us at 504-483-3400, and let's talk about what your case is really worth.
Car accident FAQ
Quick answers to the questions we hear most from New Orleans car accident clients.
How long do I have to file a car accident claim in Louisiana?
For crashes on or after July 1, 2024, you generally have two years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit. Crashes before that date fell under the old one-year deadline. Either way, do not treat the deadline as breathing room - evidence disappears, witnesses move, and the sooner we start, the more of your case we can protect. If a government vehicle or public entity is involved, separate notice requirements can arrive much sooner.
How much is my car accident case worth?
It depends on the severity of your injuries, the treatment you need now and in the future, your lost income and earning capacity, the impact on your daily life, and the insurance coverage available. Anyone who quotes you a number before reviewing your medical records and the facts is guessing. What we can tell you is that the first offer is almost never the real number, and the parts of your claim worth the most - future care, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering - are the parts an insurer will not value unless someone proves them.
Do I have to pay anything upfront?
No. We handle car accident cases on a contingency fee, which means your consultation is free and you pay no attorney's fee unless we recover money for you. If we do not win, you do not owe us a fee. That lets you focus on healing instead of legal bills.
What if I was partly at fault for the accident?
You may still recover. For accidents on or after January 1, 2026, Louisiana follows a modified comparative fault rule: if you are 50% or less at fault, you can recover, though your award is reduced by your percentage of fault. At 51% or more, you recover nothing. Because that line is now decisive, insurers work hard to shift blame onto you - which is exactly why the fault fight is worth taking seriously and worth having a lawyer for.
Should I talk to the insurance company after a crash?
You can report the accident to your own insurer, but be careful. You are not required to give the other driver's insurance company a recorded statement, and doing so early - while you are sore, shaken, and before you know the full extent of your injuries - usually helps them more than you. Politely decline to give a recorded statement or accept an offer until you have spoken with a lawyer.
What if the other driver had no insurance or fled the scene?
You may still have a path to recovery through your own uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage, which is designed for exactly this situation. Louisiana's minimum liability limits are low, so UM/UIM coverage is often what makes a serious claim recoverable. In a hit-and-run, the police report, any camera footage, and prompt investigation matter enormously - another reason to call quickly.
How long does a car accident case take?
It varies. A straightforward claim can resolve in a few months; a serious-injury case can take longer, especially when your medical treatment is ongoing. We generally do not want to settle before your doctors understand the full scope of your injuries, because once you settle, you cannot go back for more. We move as efficiently as the facts allow while making sure the number reflects your future, not just your bills to date.
Do I really need a lawyer for a car accident?
If your injuries are minor and the insurer treats you fairly, maybe not. But if you were hurt, if fault is disputed, if there are multiple vehicles, or if the offer feels low, a lawyer usually changes the outcome. The day we send our letter of representation, the calls to you stop, the evidence gets preserved, and the case gets built the way the other side has been building theirs since day one. The consultation is free, so there is no cost to finding out where you stand.
The Forstalls Take Care of It All
Injured in a crash? Let's talk today.
Tell us what happened. Your consultation is free, there's no obligation, and you pay nothing unless we win.