Shreveport Bus Accident Lawyer

Shreveport bus wrecks involve SporTran buses on the downtown and Texas Avenue routes, school buses, and charter and intercity coaches on I-20, I-49, and the Inner Loop. The people hurt in them are taken to Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport on Kings Highway, Willis-Knighton on Greenwood Road, or CHRISTUS Highland on Bert Kouns. The Shreveport Police Department writes the report inside the city limits, and the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office writes it on parish roads. Trey Morris Injury Lawyers is at 509 Milam Street downtown, across the street from the Caddo Parish Courthouse at 501 Texas Street, where Caddo suits are filed and tried in the First Judicial District Court. In the first week we pull the report, name the operator and its insurer from the route and vehicle number, and send a preservation letter for the onboard camera footage and event data recorder.

The law that governs the claim is Louisiana law, and it is the same in every parish. A SporTran crash is a two-year claim under La. C.C. Art. 3493.1, and once suit is filed, La. R.S. 13:5107(D) gives you 90 days to request service of citation on the City of Shreveport. We open a Caddo Parish bus wreck as a common-carrier file, not a bigger car accident, because the duty a carrier owes its passengers is higher than the duty one driver owes another.

Real commercial vehicle accident results

Results for Louisiana Clients

All case results →

• $17.2 MillionCommercial Vehicle Accident

  Client was struck head-on by a disconnected load of an 18-wheeler that crossed the median causing broken bones and amputation.

• $13 MillionCommercial Vehicle Accident

  On the interstate, an 18-wheeler failed to yield right of way then made an unsafe lane change causing the accident which resulted in major bone breaks, damaged organs, and ultimately a leg amputation.

• $7 MillionCommercial Vehicle Accident

  An 18-wheeler cut across traffic on an illegal left turn and hit our client, who suffered neck and back injuries.

• $4 MillionCommercial Vehicle Accident

  Our client's vehicle was struck by the at-fault vehicle, resulting in neck and back injuries.

• $3.2 MillionCommercial Vehicle Accident

  Commercial vehicle collision. Details not publicly disclosed.

• $3.2 MillionCommercial Vehicle Accident

  While our client was stopped, the at-fault driver rear-ended our client's vehicle and set it on fire, leaving our client seriously hurt.

Past results do not guarantee future outcomes; each case is decided on its own facts.

Bus Accident Injuries in Shreveport

Almost no transit or charter bus in this town has seatbelts. In a hard stop or a rollover, the people inside keep moving at whatever speed the bus was carrying until something stops them. A transit bus weighs between 25,000 and 40,000 lbs, and when that mass sheds its speed in a second, the passengers absorb the difference.

traumatic brain injury

TBI | Damage to the brain from an external force. Symptoms run from concussion to permanent cognitive impairment. Often invisible on the first imaging. Needs a specialist to evaluate.

The injuries we see after a bus wreck: traumatic brain injury, spinal cord damage, broken bones, internal bleeding, and crush injuries where one seat meets the next. Shattered windows cut people badly in rollovers. If a bus hit you while you were walking or on a bike, the mass differential between a 40,000-lb vehicle and a human body decides the rest.

Standing passengers take the worst of a sudden stop or a sharp turn, and a grab bar is built for a lurch at a red light, not highway-speed deceleration. A rollover adds the vertical dimension: a bus is tall, so any tip drives bodies into the roof structure or the pavement.

Spinal and brain trauma get priced across a lifetime, not one hospital stay, and that distinction decides what your claim is worth. Without a medical economist and a life-care planner on the file, damages you are owed never reach the ledger.

For brain or spinal damage, see brain trauma claims and spine trauma claims. For broken bones, see broken bone injuries.

This week, ask the hospital that treated you, Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport on Kings Highway for the worst of them, for the full chart and the itemized bill.

Why Shreveport hires us

Local Office. Statewide Record.

• Across the street

  From the 1st JDC

  Our 509 Milam St office sits across the street from the First Judicial District Court, where Shreveport injury suits are filed and tried.

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  Trial attorneys, one team

  Your case is handled by the firm's own trial attorneys, and we respond in minutes, 24/7.

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  Hospital, home, or the office at 509 Milam St. Free case review, and no fee unless we win.

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  Cases resolved over $1 million

  Verdicts and settlements of $1 million or more, won by the same trial team that handles Shreveport cases.

Types of Bus Accidents and Who Is at Fault

Who you sue depends on who was operating the bus and under what authority. That answer shapes everything after it.

Transit buses. SporTran, the Shreveport Area Transit System, runs fixed-route service on city streets. SporTran is a government entity, so a claim against it follows the Louisiana Governmental Claims Act: the same two-year prescriptive period, but service of citation on the government defendant has to be requested within 90 days of filing under La. R.S. 13:5107(D).

School buses. Louisiana holds school bus operators to strict safety standards, and the district and its insurer answer for a driver’s negligence. Most school bus claims are government claims too, with the same post-filing service-of-citation requirement.

FMCSA

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The federal agency that sets safety standards and enforces commercial vehicle rules including hours of service, vehicle inspections, and driver qualifications.

Charter and tour buses. A private carrier running charter or tour service answers to the FMCSA. Federal regulations set its hours of service, vehicle inspection requirements, and driver qualification standards. An FMCSA violation is powerful negligence evidence.

Intercity and commercial passenger carriers. Long-distance bus lines carry federally mandated insurance minimums well above standard auto coverage. Their defense teams are experienced and well funded.

Rideshare and shuttle buses. Liability turns on whether the operator holds a commercial carrier license and whether the vehicle meets federal standards for carrying passengers. This category varies more than any other.

Third-party defendants. A vehicle manufacturer answers for brake failure, a tire blowout, or a door mechanism that caused or contributed to the crash. A maintenance contractor who did the service badly is a proper defendant too. The driver is rarely the only name on the petition.

For related commercial vehicle cases, see commercial vehicle accidents.

This week, write down the route number, the vehicle number off the side panel, and the date and time. Give us those and we can name the operator and its insurer.

What we handle

Shreveport Practice Areas

• Car AccidentsRear-end, intersection, and highway collisions across Louisiana.
• Truck Accidents18-wheeler and commercial-vehicle wrecks governed by federal trucking rules.
• Catastrophic InjuryBrain, spinal-cord, amputation, and severe-burn injuries that change a life.
• Wrongful DeathClaims brought by families after a fatal accident or act of negligence.
• Premises LiabilitySlip-and-fall and unsafe-property injuries on someone else's premises.
• Product LiabilityInjuries caused by defective or unreasonably dangerous products.
• Oilfield AccidentsDrilling, pipeline, and refinery injuries across the energy sector.
• Industrial AccidentsPlant, warehouse, and heavy-equipment injuries in industrial settings.
• Offshore AccidentsRig, platform, and vessel injuries beyond the shoreline.

Common Causes of Bus Accidents in Shreveport

The cause of the crash is not background color. It picks which law applies, which evidence has to be locked down, and who answers.

HOS

Hours of Service. Federal rules limiting commercial drivers to 11 driving hours within a 14-hour on-duty window, with a mandatory 30-minute break after 8 hours.

Driver fatigue. An HOS violation is more than a regulatory infraction. It is direct evidence of negligence. When a charter driver went past legal driving hours before the crash, the carrier’s scheduling moves to the center of the case.

Distracted driving. Cell phone use, dispatch radio traffic, and in-cab displays pull a bus driver’s attention the same way they pull any commercial operator’s. Cell phone records are discoverable in a bus case.

CDL

Commercial Driver’s License. A federally required license for operating vehicles over 26,001 lbs GVWR, vehicles carrying hazardous materials, or vehicles transporting 16+ passengers.

Inadequate training. A bus driver has to hold a CDL with a passenger endorsement. An employer who hired without verifying CDL status, or skipped required training, carries direct liability for what follows. Employment files often hold prior violations the carrier already knew about.

Poor vehicle maintenance. Louisiana and federal law require regular inspection of brakes, tires, steering, and door mechanisms. Maintenance logs and inspection records are discoverable. A carrier that put off a repair it knew about answers for the injury.

Speeding and unsafe speed. Buses run the I-20, I-49, and Texas Avenue corridors at highway speeds every day. Too much speed on a city street or in a school zone raises the risk to passengers and pedestrians in step with the weight of the vehicle.

Impaired driving. Commercial drivers answer to a 0.04% BAC standard under federal law, half the 0.08% limit that applies to everyone else. A driver at 0.05% BAC is legally impaired for purposes of your claim.

Failure to yield at crosswalks and intersections. Shreveport bus routes cut through high-pedestrian ground downtown and near Centenary College and Louisiana State University Shreveport. Where a route crosses a campus perimeter, the duty to yield rises with it.

Road defects. Broken pavement and missing signage on Shreveport streets contribute to bus crashes. When the road itself caused or contributed to the wreck, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) or the City of Shreveport can share liability as the maintainer.

Road and Weather Hazards on Shreveport-Area Bus Corridors

The elevated urban stretch of I-49 in Caddo Parish is a documented high-risk corridor. The section between LA 526 and I-20 northbound, and I-20 to LA 3132 southbound, closes for ice and snow, and a bus working it in winter runs a higher risk of rollover or loss of control. Louisiana DOTD keeps records of closure events and infrastructure conditions there, and those records can support an infrastructure liability claim.

Commercial vehicles including buses are barred from the I-20 reconstruction zone near Bossier City and have to detour by way of I-220. An unfamiliar route raises the odds of a collision. Violating a commercial vehicle detour order is punishable under La. R.S. 32:237. A carrier whose driver ignored a mandatory detour is exposed on the negligence and the regulatory violation both.

Real-time crash and road condition data for the Shreveport interstates is public at 511LA.org. Traffic incident records from the state monitoring systems can document what the road was doing before the crash.

If weather or pavement had a hand in your wreck, note the mile marker and direction this week and photograph the spot in daylight.

Louisiana and Federal Law That Governs Bus Accident Claims

Two bodies of law run at once in a bus case: Louisiana law and the federal motor carrier regulations. Sorting out which rules bind which defendant is the first real work in the file.

Federal regulations. The FMCSA regulates interstate and charter bus carriers. Hours-of-service rules, vehicle inspection requirements, driver qualification standards, and minimum insurance are all federal. An FMCSA violation is negligence per se, so you never have to argue the conduct was unreasonable. The regulation sets the standard of care.

Louisiana minimum insurance for commercial carriers. The minimum liability coverage Louisiana requires of a commercial passenger carrier runs well above standard auto minimums, which sets the realistic floor of available coverage when the injuries are serious.

Government-operated buses: the Louisiana Governmental Claims Act. A claim against SporTran or a public school district follows La. R.S. 13:5101 et seq.. There is no special pre-suit notice and no shorter deadline for suing a Louisiana political subdivision; the general two-year prescriptive period governs. The government-specific rule runs after filing: under La. R.S. 13:5107(D), service of citation on the government defendant has to be requested within 90 days of commencing the action, or the suit can be dismissed without prejudice as to that defendant. The Act also carries damage caps and immunity provisions that never touch a private carrier.

Prescriptive Period

Louisiana’s term for statute of limitations. The legal deadline to file a lawsuit. For personal injury, it is two years from the date of injury under La. C.C. Art. 3493.1, effective July 1, 2024.

Prescriptive Period La. C.C. Art. 3493.1 (effective July 1, 2024) gives you two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury suit. Government entity claims get the same two years; the only timing rule unique to the government is the post-filing 90-day service-of-citation requirement under La. R.S. 13:5107(D).

Comparative Fault

A legal rule that reduces your compensation by your percentage of fault. In Louisiana, if you are 51% or more at fault, you collect nothing. If you are 50% or less at fault, your damages are reduced proportionally.

Comparative Fault La. C.C. Art. 2323, as amended effective January 1, 2026, sets a hard 51% bar. A court that puts you at 51% or more sends you home with nothing, and defense teams build their strategy around pushing your share past that line. A seated passenger rarely carries meaningful fault. A pedestrian case is different, and the carrier’s attorneys will comb the video for any step you took off the curb.

respondeat superior

Latin for “let the master answer.” A legal doctrine holding employers liable for negligent acts committed by employees within the scope of their employment.

Vicarious liability. A bus company answers for its driver’s negligence inside the scope of employment, under respondeat superior. The driver and the employer are both proper defendants.

negligent entrustment

A legal theory holding a vehicle owner or employer liable for knowingly allowing an unqualified, incompetent, or reckless person to operate a vehicle. Applies when the company knew or should have known about the driver’s unfitness.

CDL standard of care. Federal CDL requirements set the baseline. A driver operating a bus without a valid passenger endorsement hands you a negligent entrustment claim against the carrier.

Government Bus Claims Under the Louisiana Governmental Claims Act

SporTran is a government service, so a claim against it is a claim against the City of Shreveport. That changes the procedure rather than the deadline: the general two-year prescriptive period still governs and there is no pre-suit notice to clear. What you cannot miss is the request for service of citation under La. R.S. 13:5107(D), due within 90 days of commencing the action, or the court can dismiss the claim against that defendant without prejudice.

The Act also caps damages against public entities for certain categories of harm. Those caps never reach a private charter carrier or a commercial bus line, so if your bus was privately operated, none of it applies to you.

Caddo Parish District Court is the venue for bus suits against Shreveport government entities and for most private carrier cases in the parish. We file at 501 Texas Street, across the street from our office, so we know the judges, the clerks, and how fast the docket moves.

Find out this week whether the bus was SporTran, a school district bus, or a private charter. That answer decides which rules your case lives under.

What to Do After a Bus Accident in Shreveport

What you do in the first hours and days moves the value of the claim more than anything later.

Call 911. Law enforcement creates the official record: driver information, the circumstances of the crash, the officer’s first read on fault, and the report itself, a primary document in your claim. Do not leave before officers arrive.

Get seen the same day. Internal injuries, concussion, and soft tissue damage can stay quiet for a day or two. A same-day evaluation ties your injuries to the crash in writing. A gap between the wreck and your first visit becomes an argument that you were not really hurt, and adjusters use it every time.

Do not sign anything at the scene. Bus companies and their insurers send people out fast. Sign no release, no settlement authorization, and no medical authorization at the scene or in the days after. You do not know yet how badly you are hurt.

Document everything. Photograph the bus with its route number and the vehicle identification number on the side panel, then the scene, the road conditions, the traffic signals, and your visible injuries. Get the driver’s name and CDL number if it is visible, the bus company name, and its insurance carrier. Collect names and numbers from witnesses before they walk away.

Do not give a recorded statement to the carrier or its insurer. Commercial carrier adjusters are trained to hold payouts down, and a recorded statement taken before you have a lawyer is a tool for them, not for you. Send every adjuster call to your attorney.

Keep the physical evidence. The clothing you had on, anything of yours that was damaged, any object connected to the crash. Do not wash it, repair it, or throw it out.

Talk to a lawyer before you accept any offer. A first offer from a commercial carrier insurer arrives before your treatment is finished. Accepting closes the claim for good; there is no reopening it after you sign a release.

Put it all in one folder this week: the report number, the photographs, the witness names, the discharge paperwork, and every insurer letter. Bring it to the first meeting and we will tell you what is missing.

Establishing Negligence in a Shreveport Bus Accident Claim

Negligence in a bus case comes down to four elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages. Each one is proved with different paper than an ordinary car wreck takes.

The duty standard is higher. Louisiana puts a common carrier duty on a bus operator. Passengers have to be carried safely and are owed the highest degree of care on board. That is stricter than ordinary negligence, and it works in favor of an injured passenger.

Primary evidence sources. The police report fixes the official version. Traffic camera and dashcam video capture the sequence. Onboard cameras usually record the cabin and the road ahead at once. Other passengers and bystanders are primary witnesses, and they scatter fast.

Preservation Letter

A formal legal demand sent to the bus company requiring them to preserve all evidence related to the crash. Stops the carrier from overwriting camera data or destroying driver logs on their normal retention schedule.

Spoliation

The destruction or alteration of evidence after a party has notice of pending litigation. Courts can instruct juries to assume the destroyed evidence was unfavorable to the party that destroyed it.

Onboard camera and black box data. Most commercial buses carry an event data recording system that logs pre-impact speed, braking inputs, and cabin footage. All of it sits on a routine overwrite cycle, so it has to be locked down with a Preservation Letter. We send ours within 24 hours of being hired, and if the carrier destroys the data after our demand lands, the court can give the jury a Spoliation instruction.

ELD

Electronic Logging Device. A device installed in commercial vehicles that automatically records driving time. Required by federal law since 2019. ELD data documents hours behind the wheel and is key evidence in driver fatigue cases.

ELD data. For a commercial charter or intercity carrier, the ELD records show whether the driver blew through the hours-of-service limits before the crash. That data is time-sensitive.

Maintenance records. Inspection logs, repair orders, and the service history for the bus are discoverable. A carrier that deferred brake or tire work while knowing about the defect has a hard time explaining the crash.

Driver records. The employment file documents CDL status, endorsement history, prior traffic violations, training, and drug test compliance. Carriers do hire drivers with disqualifying violations on the record, and when that turns up the claim against the carrier gets much stronger.

FMCSA carrier safety ratings. The FMCSA publishes safety ratings and inspection histories for every regulated carrier. A carrier with a pattern of violations is a different defendant than one with a clean file.

Accident reconstruction. For a multi-vehicle crash or a pedestrian impact, a reconstruction expert establishes pre-impact speed, braking geometry, and the order of contact, which turns physical evidence into a story a jury can follow.

Types of Evidence We Gather in Bus Accident Cases

We start with what disappears first. The preservation demand goes to the carrier within 24 hours for the onboard footage and the event data recorder, and we request the driver’s full employment file, CDL records, and drug test compliance history in the same week.

We pull the carrier’s FMCSA rating and inspection history from the public record, because a compliance history can show the same violation repeating until it caused your crash. ELD data follows if the carrier is a commercial operator. The driver’s cell phone records take a subpoena, which means filing suit or pursuing pre-suit discovery.

Traffic and intersection camera footage from the city systems and nearby businesses has a short retention window. We map which cameras had an angle on your crash and send preservation requests to the departments and business owners who control them. Maintenance logs, inspection records, and the repair history for the bus round out the core set.

Witness numbers go stale faster than anything else in the file. If you have one for somebody who saw it, call this week and confirm it still works.

Compensation Available After a Shreveport Bus Accident

Louisiana sorts what you can collect into economic and non-economic damages. You need both halves in front of you to tell whether an offer is serious.

Economic damages. The losses with a dollar figure attached: the ambulance, the hospital stay, surgery, physical rehabilitation, prescriptions. They also cover the wages you lost while you were out and the earning capacity you lost for good if the injuries are permanent. Future care takes a life-care plan from a medical expert and a present-value calculation from an economist. Without those, a claim for future medical care is easy to pick apart.

Loss of Earning Capacity

The difference between what you could have earned over your working lifetime and what you can earn now after the injury. Calculated by a vocational expert and converted to present value by an economist.

Loss of Earning Capacity is a separate number from lost wages. If your injuries keep you out of the work you used to do, or cut what you can produce over the years you have left, that gap has a present value, and expert testimony establishes it.

Non-economic damages. Pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress, permanent disfigurement. No bill arrives for any of it, and Louisiana law treats every one as compensable.

The collateral source rule. Louisiana’s 2020 tort reform changed how medical damages get presented when an insurer negotiated a discount off the billed amount. In some circumstances, damages are limited to what was actually paid instead of the full amount billed. We work out which version applies to your dates and your coverage before we put a number on the file.

Punitive damages. La. C.C. Art. 2315.4 allows exemplary damages when an intoxicated driver causes serious injury. The BAC standard for a commercial driver is 0.04% under federal law, and a driver over it at the time of the crash puts punitive damages on the table, which changes the settlement math.

Survival Action

A claim under La. C.C. Art. 2315.1 that recovers damages for the victim’s own pain and suffering between the moment of injury and the moment of death. It is separate from the wrongful death action and can be filed alongside it.

Wrongful death claims. If the crash killed someone, the surviving family can bring damages under La. C.C. Art. 2315.2 for loss of financial support, loss of companionship, and funeral costs. A separate Survival Action under La. C.C. Art. 2315.1 carries what the person went through between injury and death.

See wrongful death claims for how those cases are handled.

What Your Bus Accident Claim May Be Worth

The number turns on how bad the injuries are, whether they are permanent, how many parties are liable, the insurance limits, and whether punitive damages apply. There is no going rate for a bus case.

Commercial bus carriers hold insurance limits far above any personal auto policy, and those limits set the realistic ceiling on a settlement or a verdict. An $800,000 claim against a private charter carrier may have full coverage behind it. The identical claim against a government entity can run into the Governmental Claims Act caps.

Traumatic brain injury, spinal cord damage, and wrongful death cases take expert testimony to value honestly. A vocational expert measures the loss of earning capacity, a medical economist brings future care costs to present value, and a life-care planner prices the treatment ahead over a lifetime. Skip them and the claim settles for less than it is worth.

MMI

Maximum Medical Improvement. The point at which your treating physician determines your condition has stabilized and further treatment will not significantly change the outcome.

Early offers from commercial carrier insurers are low by design, made before your treatment is finished and before your damages are documented. Take one before you reach MMI and you have permanently capped yourself at what was known that day.

Ask your treating physician this week whether you are at MMI, and if not, what treatment is still ahead. In writing, that is what a settlement number gets built on.

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What Shreveport Clients Say

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  Emma Dvorak
  Shreveport Office · Sep. 3, 2026

  I was overwhelmed dealing with everything after my injury, but their team took a lot of the pressure off of me.They were patient, answered all my questions, and made sure I understood what was happening.

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  Diane Didier
  Shreveport Office · Sep. 2, 2026

  I was recommended to Trey Morris by a friend, and they have been amazing!They kept me up to date with all the details of my case. I was in the loop during the entire process. Having to go over the details my accident was so uncomfortable, but they were so understanding and made every effort to make the entire process as smooth as possible. I would highly recommend Trey Morris and his team to anyone.

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  Laurie Shearin
  Shreveport Office · Sep. 2, 2026

  I'll always appreciate the way I was treated here.I felt heard, respected and taken care of from beginning to end.

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  Zachary Krengle
  Shreveport Office · Sep. 2, 2026

  Trey Morris and the team treated me so well after my accident.Beyond taking the steps to make sure my case was taken care of timely and apropiatelly. They listened and made me feel like I was a priority to them and not just another client. I hope none of my friends are put in a situation to need them, but if they do I would highly suggest Trey Morris and the team.

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  Valorie Schneider
  Shreveport Office · Sep. 2, 2026

  Really glad I chose Trey Morris Injury Law.They were easy to work with and made sure I understood what was going on.

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  Alayna Cantrell
  Shreveport Office · Sep. 2, 2026

  I would recommend Trey Morris to my friends and family.Trey Morris & the team there helped me with my case. The firm is amazing!

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  Sunshine Halpert
  Shreveport Office · Sep. 2, 2026

  This is the firm you want handling your car accident.Trey Morris Injury Lawyers is the best. Jessica, Seth, and Brian handled my case quickly. They kept me up to date and infor ed the whole time. I will send everyone I know to you guys. Thanks so much!

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  Alyx Braud
  Shreveport Office · Sep. 2, 2026

  My mans Trey Trey got it done!All the people at the firm were super friendly and they really made me feel like they cared about my case as much as I did. It didn't take too long and I got my settlement 🤑

What a Shreveport Bus Accident Lawyer Does for You

A bus claim runs on knowledge that does not carry over from an ordinary car wreck: FMCSA regulations, Governmental Claims Act procedure, CDL standards, how commercial carrier insurance is layered, and how fast the evidence goes away. A lawyer without commercial vehicle work behind him can miss damages, or miss a deadline nobody can fix later.

The 90-day service rule is the plain example. We calendar that date under La. R.S. 13:5107(D) the day the petition is filed, because a missed request ends the claim against SporTran or the school district.

Evidence preservation is the other. Onboard footage and event data recorder information get overwritten on a schedule, and commercial carriers have legal teams on the file the day of the crash. Our preservation letter lands before their team finishes its first internal review.

Negotiating with a commercial carrier insurer is nothing like calling a personal auto adjuster. These insurers put specialized defense teams on the file with authority to hold the line. Sit down alone across from that team and the only person with the training is on the other side.

Contingency Fee

A fee arrangement where the attorney is paid a percentage of what the client collects, and only if the client collects. The client pays nothing upfront and owes no attorney fees if the case is unsuccessful.

We handle bus accident cases on a Contingency Fee. You pay nothing out of pocket to hire us. If we collect nothing for you, you owe us no attorney fees.

We have represented injured people in the Shreveport area for over 25 years. Our attorneys hold AV Preeminent ratings from Martindale-Hubbell and have been recognized by Super Lawyers, and our Shreveport office has more than 2,753 five-star client reviews. Those matter here only because a bus case takes a lawyer who already knows commercial vehicle law and the Caddo Parish courts.

Read the fee agreement before you sign it, whoever you hire, and ask in that meeting what happens to case costs if the claim does not succeed.

Down the street, not a call center

Your Shreveport Trial Team

Meet all 11 attorneys →

The lawyers who work your file. Every Shreveport case is handled by the firm's own trial attorneys.

• Trey Morris Founding Partner
• Brian F. Trainor Attorney
• Elizabeth Hancock Attorney
• Meghan Nolen Attorney
• Joseph B. Odom Attorney
• Caitlin Nerren Attorney
• Seth Blackledge Attorney
• Austin Townsend Attorney
• Maliyah Shavers Attorney
• Lane Robinson Attorney
• Coleman Nerren Attorney

Why Bus Accident Claims Are More Complex Than Standard Car Accident Claims

The gap between a bus claim and a car claim is not cosmetic. It shows up in procedure, evidence, defendants, and the legal standard at every stage.

Multiple defendants are the norm. The driver, the bus company, the manufacturer, a maintenance contractor, and a government entity can all carry a share, each with separate counsel, separate insurance, and its own defenses. Running a case against five defendants is nothing like running one against one.

Commercial carrier policies hold far higher limits than personal auto coverage, and insurers guard those reserves with seasoned defense teams, so the litigation is heavier from the first pleading.

Government bus claims add procedure that private carrier claims never have: the post-filing service rule under La. R.S. 13:5107(D), Governmental Claims Act requirements, and the damage caps.

Federal regulation runs in parallel with state law. FMCSA rules set the standard of care for a commercial carrier, and a violation is handled differently than a state traffic violation. A lawyer who knows federal motor carrier law uses it. One who does not never sees it.

Black box and onboard camera data will not wait. Carriers know their retention schedules to the day, and the preservation demand has to land before the overwrite cycle finishes.

Medical damages in bus cases tend to be severe, so projecting future cost accurately is the difference between a claim that reflects what happened to you and one that settles cheap.

For a broader overview of how injury claims work in Shreveport, see Shreveport injury lawyers.

If your crash was on or after July 1, 2024, mark the two-year date on a calendar you look at and get a lawyer on the evidence long before it. The footage goes first.