About the Firm The law firm of Lewis & Caplan, APLC was established in 1979 by partners Pete Lewis and Robert A. Caplan as a full service plaintiff's firm dedicated to protecting the rights of victims of wrongful injury or death. For over thirty years, local attorneys have referred accident victims to Lewis & Caplan due to its reputation for high quality work and faithful adherence to professional ethical standards. The high quality of the services provided by the firm is evidenced by the AV preeminent rating ( the highest rating by other lawyers for professional excellence in legal ability and ethical standards ) received by each of the firm's lawyers in the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory. Our firm has secured some of the area's largest verdicts or settlements in claims involving vehicles, premises, medical and nursing home negligence. See some of our results here. The firm's team of three attorneys and its support staff work together to provide efficient and friendly legal services to plaintiffs in personal injury cases. Lewis & Caplan prides itself on being a cutting edge law firm experienced in a wide range of injury and accident litigation practice in State and Federal courts. The three lawyers' combined experience of over ninety-five years of litigation includes automobile and trucking accidents, maritime, Jones Act and Longshore Act claims, premises and workplace liability claims, insurer bad faith claims and medical malpractice claims. The firm's attorneys possess impressive academic credentials, maintain strong ties to the local community, and are all life-long residents of the New Orleans area. The firm has achieved numerous million plus dollar verdicts and settlements and has successfully resolved thousands of injury or death claims. Due to our strong track record and many years of success, we are accustomed to fighting for the small individual against some of the largest corporations, insurers and manufactures.
ersonal Injury/Wrongful Death Litigation Automobile Accidents Maritime and Jones Act Personal Injury Longshore Act Claims Workers' Compensation Nursing Home Negligence Medical Malpractice Premises Liability Products Liability Insurance Company Bad Claims
Wrongful death claims arise when the wrongful actions or omissions of a person or entity cause the death of another person. Our goal in handling wrongful death claims is to provide the victims family with compassionate and skilled representation, fighting hard to obtain the full measure of compensation for families devastated by the life-changing tragedy resulting from a wrongful death.
The "Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act" is commonly referred to as the "Longshore Act". It was first enacted in 1927 to cover certain maritime workers, including most dock workers and others not covered by the Jones Act. It covers maritime workers (including longshoremen, harbor workers, ship-repairmen, ship-builders, and ship-breakers) who become disabled or are killed by an injury which occurs on the navigable waters of the United States of adjoining areas. It allows the injured worker to collect both compensation and medical benefits from his employer. Recovery is usually available whether or not there was fault on the part of the employer.
Having handled premises liability cases on a regular basis for over 30 years, we are familiar with the codes, rules, regulations, government agency inspections, and the architecture and engineering standards which become issues in these claims. We know what to look for in commercial settings in terms of discovering applicable security video taping, aisle way cleaning and inspection schedules, operating and training manuals, training videos, store diagrams and the like. In short, we know how to assess and handle claims against property owners or occupants when they fail to provide a safe environment and another person is injured.
Property Damage
A building was damaged by a storm, and the insurer made a partial payment for the loss. We sued the insurer for bad faith failure to settle in a timely manner and recovered penalties and property damage losses during the litigation of over $2,000,000.
Personal injury claims generally arise when individuals sustain injuries, damages or loss of life as a result of the negligence of others or due to defective properties or products. The attorneys in our firm specialize in personal injury claims and we fully understand how drastically the accidents which cause these claims can alter the lives of our clients. Practicing as New Orleans personal injury lawyers for three decades, we have vast experience in all types of personal injury cases, including automobile, trucking and motorcycle collisions, train accidents, boating, marine and offshore accidents, accidents stemming from defective products, longshore or workplace accidents and premises accidents.
Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice occurs when a negligent or careless act is committed by a doctor or other healthcare provider. The patient may have a cause of action against a healthcare provider if the provider causes injury to the patient when the provider's acts or omissions are "below the standard of care" required for diagnosing or treating the condition involved. The "standard of care" essentially is the type of care recognized by other healthcare providers in the same field, i.e. it is the degree of care, skill and knowledge that a healthcare provider in that particular field should possess and provide to the patient. It is the breach of a duty owed by the healthcare provider to the patient, and may be based on a failure to inform the patient of a particular fact or risk, the missed diagnoses of a patient, the failure to use the correct treatment or the failure to consult with a specialist when necessary.