# Broussard Injury Lawyers

## Broussard Injury Claims: Where They Are Filed and How They Work

Broussard sits southeast of Lafayette along [US-90](https://www.dotd.la.gov/), the corridor being converted to Interstate 49 South. It is one of the fastest-growing cities in Louisiana: the U.S. Census Bureau's vintage-2025 estimates released in May 2026, as reported by [The Advocate's Acadiana desk](https://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/), put Broussard's population at 15,799 as of July 1, 2025, up from 13,521 in 2020, a 16.8% five-year increase, with a further 3% one-year gain from July 2024 to July 2025 alone. Broussard and Youngsville were the two largest population gainers of any Louisiana city in that release, and [Lafayette Parish led every parish in the state](https://973thedawg.com/lafayette-parish-population-growth/) in population growth for the second straight year on the strength of those two cities. That growth pattern matters to injury claims for a practical reason: more residents on the same corridors, more retail and industrial construction along US-90 and Ambassador Caffery, and a driver mix that increasingly includes newcomers unfamiliar with the local road network.

Louisiana is a civil law state, and that distinction shapes how a negligence claim is built. Claims here run on the duty-risk analysis of [La. C.C. Art. 2315](https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=109369), not the common law framework used in most other states. You must establish duty, the scope of the risk, breach, causation, and damages, each on the evidence.

Civil injury suits arising in the Lafayette Parish portion of Broussard are filed in the [15th Judicial District Court](https://www.lpclerk.com/) at the Lafayette Parish Courthouse, 800 South Buchanan Street in Lafayette; the [Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court](https://www.lpclerk.com/addresses) can be reached at (337) 291-6400 with a mailing address of P.O. Box 2009, Lafayette, LA 70502. The 15th JDC serves Lafayette, Acadia, and Vermilion Parishes together. Most of Broussard lies in Lafayette Parish, but a small eastern portion of the city extends into St. Martin Parish, where suits are filed in the [16th Judicial District Court](https://www.16thjdc.org/) in St. Martinville instead, so the parish line inside the city is also a courthouse line and the exact scene location controls venue.

## What Types of Cases We Handle in Lafayette Parish

Trey Morris Injury Lawyers represents clients in Broussard, Lafayette Parish, and the surrounding parishes in cases involving:

* [Car accidents](/louisiana/car-accident-lawyer/lake-charles/)
* [Truck and 18-wheeler accidents](/louisiana/truck-accident-lawyer/lake-charles/)
* [Motorcycle accidents](/louisiana/motorcycle-accident-lawyer/lake-charles/)
* [Pedestrian accidents](/louisiana/pedestrian-accident-lawyer/)
* [Bicycle accidents](/louisiana/bicycle-accident-lawyer/)
* [Bus accidents](/louisiana/bus-accident-lawyer/)
* [Slip and fall accidents](/louisiana/slip-and-fall-lawyer/lake-charles/)
* [Premises liability](/louisiana/premises-liability-lawyer/)
* [Product liability](/louisiana/product-liability-lawyer/)
* [Workplace and industrial accidents](/louisiana/workers-compensation-lawyer/lake-charles/)
* [Oilfield accidents](/louisiana/oilfield-accident-lawyer/)
* [Wrongful death](/louisiana/wrongful-death-lawyer/lake-charles/)

Wrongful death claims for Broussard families proceed under [La. C.C. Art. 2315.2](https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=109371), which lets surviving spouses, children, and other named relatives recover for their own losses. Defective-product claims run under the Louisiana Products Liability Act, [La. R.S. 9:2800.52](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=78553), which sets the exclusive theories against a manufacturer.

Most Broussard injury cases stay in state court at the 15th JDC. Federal court in the [Western District of Louisiana](https://www.lawd.uscourts.gov/), which sits in Lafayette, takes jurisdiction when the parties are citizens of different states and the amount in dispute exceeds $75,000, or when a federal statute controls. Trey Morris Injury Lawyers handles cases in both the 15th Judicial District Court and the Western District, depending on the facts of the claim.

The corridors that move Broussard traffic also generate its crash volume, and the single most important one is the [US-90/Interstate 49 South conversion](https://acppubs.com/CN/article/1D85F737-louisiana-governor-dotd-kick-off-construction-for-ambassador-caffery-interchange-project-in-broussard) that runs along the city's western edge. The I-49 South corridor covers roughly 160 miles between north Louisiana and the New Orleans area, and the stretch through Broussard carries more than 45,000 motorists per day. Inside the city limits, LaDOTD is building the US-90/Ambassador Caffery Parkway interchange, a $136 million, 3.08-mile project that widens US-90 to six lanes and replaces the at-grade signalized intersection with a grade-separated, access-controlled interchange. Construction began in August 2022, and reporting by [The Advocate's Acadiana desk](https://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/) has described the project as being in its third of five phases with completion expected in spring 2026, replacing what that reporting called "a four-way intersection that stopped traffic on the highway" with an elevated bridge. The transitional lane shifts, cone tapers, temporary signal patterns, and shifting merge points that come with a project of this size change the crash profile on the corridor from day to day. Preserving scene photos, lane-configuration documentation, and construction-plan revisions matters more than usual on a Broussard US-90 case because the layout on the ground may not match the layout depicted in a static map by the time the case is worked up.

Broussard's other road profile is a legacy story. [Louisiana Highway 182](https://wiki.aaroads.com/wiki/Louisiana_Highway_182) historically ran directly through the city; in 2015 the route was rerouted around Broussard via LA 89-1 and US-90, and the retired in-town alignment survives as two locally- and state-auxiliary segments, LA 182-1 and LA 182-2, running a combined roughly 2.37 miles within Broussard and Lafayette. That legacy corridor, together with Ambassador Caffery Parkway and Albertson Parkway, moves the dense local retail and intersection traffic. Each corridor presents a different injury profile, from high-speed freight and oilfield-service collisions on US-90 to lower-speed rear-end and left-turn crashes near the city's retail and industrial parks.

The local economy widens the range of injury contexts. Broussard is one of the state's most concentrated oilfield-services and equipment-fabrication hubs. Companies whose own sites confirm a Broussard headquarters or fabrication presence include [Taylor Oilfield Manufacturing](https://tayloroilfield.com/about-taylor-oilfield/), [Eaton Oil Tools](https://www.eatonoiltools.com/) (headquartered in Broussard since 1973), [Oilfield Instrumentation](https://oiusa.com/contact/) (corporate headquarters in Broussard with a fabrication facility in Ferriday), [Diamond Oil Field Supply](http://dofs.net/), and [Cactus Wellhead](https://cactuswhd.com/locations/broussard/). Fabrication yards, threaded-connection shops, wellhead assemblers, and transportation companies that serve the Gulf energy sector generate a workplace-injury profile that Lafayette's broader, more diversified metro economy does not, and third-party negligence in those settings, whether by a contractor on the yard, a delivering carrier, or an equipment manufacturer, remains actionable even when workers compensation covers the direct employer. When a third party's negligence causes a workplace injury, [La. R.S. 23:1101](https://legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=83361) preserves the right to pursue a civil claim against that party in addition to workers compensation benefits.

## Proving Negligence in Louisiana

To recover, you must prove the defendant was negligent. Louisiana's duty-risk analysis requires five elements, and each must be established with evidence.

**Duty.** The defendant owed you a legal duty of care. Drivers owe a duty to others on the road. Property owners owe a duty to lawful visitors.

**Scope of the risk.** Your injury fell within the range of harm the duty was meant to guard against.

**Breach.** The defendant failed to meet the duty. Running a red light on Albertson Parkway is a breach. Leaving a wet floor unmarked in an Ambassador Caffery store is a breach. Failing to slow through a signed construction taper on US-90 near the Ambassador Caffery interchange is a breach.

**Causation.** The breach caused your injury. The connection between the conduct and the harm must be shown.

**Damages.** You suffered actual harm. Without measurable injury or loss, there is no compensable claim.

### Negligence Per Se

When a defendant violated a safety statute and that violation caused your injury, the violation can establish duty and breach without separate proof. Traffic violations are the common example: a driver who ran a signal and struck you supplies the duty and breach, and the focus shifts to causation and damages.

### Government and Premises Claims

Some Broussard injuries involve a government defendant rather than a private one. A claim against the City of Broussard, Lafayette Parish, or [LaDOTD](https://www.dotd.la.gov/) for a road defect, a dangerous condition, or a government vehicle runs on the same general prescriptive period as any other tort claim; Louisiana requires no pre-suit notice of claim. The 90-day rule comes after the suit is filed: under [La. R.S. 13:5107](https://codes.findlaw.com/la/revised-statutes/la-rev-stat-tit-13-sect-5107/), service of citation on the government defendant must be requested within 90 days of the date the action is commenced, or the suit may be dismissed without prejudice as to that defendant. On US-90, LaDOTD's ongoing interchange work at Ambassador Caffery Parkway can put a state contractor, the state itself, or both in the caption when a construction-zone crash injures a driver.

## Louisiana's Comparative Fault Law and the 51% Bar

Louisiana follows comparative fault, the rule that divides responsibility when more than one party contributed to an accident.

For causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, the state applies a modified comparative fault system under [La. C.C. Art. 2323](https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=109387), enacted by Act 15 of the 2025 Regular Session (HB 431). If you are 51% or more at fault, you recover nothing. If you are 50% or less at fault, your damages are reduced by your percentage of fault.

In practice: say you were 20% at fault and your total damages are $100,000. You recover $80,000. At 51% fault, you recover zero.

That one-percentage-point line between 50% and 51% separates partial recovery from no recovery. Insurance carriers now have a direct financial incentive to argue you were more than half at fault, because pushing your share past 50% does not just shrink the payout, it eliminates it. Documentation, early investigation, and evidence preservation carry more weight in a Broussard case because of this rule, and they carry even more when the crash sits inside an active construction zone whose signage and lane geometry can be reconfigured within days.

For injuries before January 1, 2026, pure comparative fault applies, and your damages are reduced by your fault percentage no matter how high it is.

## Louisiana Tort Reform: What Changed and When

Louisiana's personal injury law changed substantially between 2024 and 2026. Here is what directly affects Broussard claims.

**Filing deadline.** For injuries on or after July 1, 2024, you have two years to file suit ([La. C.C. Art. 3493.1](https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=1386443)), enacted by Act 423 of the 2024 session. This replaced the one-year deadline in place since 1825. Product liability claims follow the same two-year period. Injuries before July 1, 2024 remain governed by the one-year rule. A prescriptive period is the legal filing deadline, and a Broussard suit filed after it runs is usually dismissed even when liability is strong.

**No Pay, No Play.** Since August 1, 2025, a driver who carried no automobile insurance at the time of a crash cannot recover the first $100,000 in bodily injury damages or the first $100,000 in property damage, even if the crash was not their fault ([La. R.S. 32:866](https://legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=88612)).

**Causation standard.** For injuries on or after May 28, 2025, the absence of prior similar symptoms no longer creates a presumption that the accident caused the injury ([La. Code Evid. Art. 306.1](https://legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=1428930)). Medical or expert testimony is now required on causation, so prompt and documented treatment matters more than before.

**Medical expense recovery.** For causes of action on or after January 1, 2026, recovery of past medical expenses is limited to amounts actually paid by your health insurer or Medicare plus your out-of-pocket costs ([La. R.S. 9:2800.27](https://legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=1188021)).

**Seat belt evidence.** Since January 1, 2021, failure to wear a seat belt is admissible in civil cases and can support a comparative fault argument.

These changes apply prospectively. The law that governs your claim depends on when your injury occurred.

## Damages You May Recover

If negligence is established, two main categories of damages are available.

**Economic damages** are measurable financial losses backed by bills, pay records, and repair estimates.

* Past and future medical costs
* Rehabilitation costs
* Lost wages and income
* Lost earning capacity
* Property damage

**Non-economic damages** compensate for human harm that carries no fixed bill.

* Pain and suffering
* Mental anguish
* Emotional distress
* Loss of enjoyment of life
* Loss of consortium and companionship

**Punitive damages** are a separate category aimed at punishment, not compensation. In Louisiana they apply only in narrow circumstances, such as DWI crashes and certain other statutory cases, and are not available in ordinary negligence claims.

There is no statutory cap on damages in general [personal injury cases](/louisiana/personal-injury-lawyer/lake-charles/) in Louisiana. [Medical malpractice](/louisiana/medical-malpractice-lawyer/) cases carry a separate $500,000 cap under [La. R.S. 40:1231.2](https://legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=97087), which does not apply to car accidents, truck accidents, premises liability, or other general tort claims.

## Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage

Approximately 12% of Louisiana drivers carry no automobile insurance, according to Insurance Research Council data, roughly one in eight on Broussard and Lafayette Parish roads. Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage is the part of your own policy that pays when the at-fault driver has none. Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage activates when the at-fault driver's insurance is not enough to cover your damages.

Louisiana requires insurers to offer UM coverage, and you can reject it in writing. Many drivers have rejected it without understanding what they gave up.

If an uninsured driver injured you, review your own policy before concluding there is no recovery. The fastest practical step is to pull the declarations page for every policy in your household, then confirm in writing whether UM/UIM was accepted and at what limits. That documentation helps your lawyer find available coverage before bills and lost wages push you toward an early low settlement. Broussard's [commuter profile](https://datausa.io/profile/geo/broussard-la/) matters here in a specific way: 88.5% of local workers drive alone to their job with an average commute of about 19.8 minutes, below the reported national average, so most residents own at least one car, most households carry at least one auto policy, and a careful walk through every household policy usually turns up more UM/UIM coverage than the injured driver realized was in force.

## Common Injuries

**Physical injuries** in these cases range from soft tissue damage to catastrophic harm. Common injuries include:

* [Traumatic brain injury](/louisiana/catastrophic-injury-lawyer/lake-charles/)
* Spinal cord injury
* Neck and back injuries, including herniated discs
* Broken bones
* [Amputation](/louisiana/catastrophic-injury-lawyer/amputation/)
* [Severe burns](/louisiana/burn-injury-lawyer/lake-charles/)
* Internal injuries
* Scarring and disfigurement

Not every injury shows at the scene. Concussion, internal bleeding, and disc injuries can develop over days, so prompt medical evaluation matters regardless of how you feel immediately after a crash.

**Psychological injuries** are recognized under Louisiana law. Anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and adjustment disorder can follow a serious accident and require diagnosis and documentation from a licensed mental health professional to support a claim.

## What to Do After an Accident in Broussard

### 1. Get medical attention

* Seek evaluation even if you do not believe you were seriously hurt.
* Records from the date of the accident are important evidence.
* Attend all follow-up appointments and follow your doctor's instructions.

Prompt treatment protects your health and creates dated records that tie the accident to your injuries. Gaps in treatment are among the first things an insurer uses to challenge a claim. Broussard has no full-service hospital of its own today, so residents ride into Lafayette for emergency care. [Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center](https://www.ochsner.org/regions/lafayette-general/) in downtown Lafayette is the region's only Level II Trauma Center and the facility equipped to handle [traumatic brain injury](/louisiana/brain-injury-lawyer/lake-charles/), spinal cord injury, severe burns, and multiple fractures. Closer to Broussard along the Ambassador Caffery corridor, [Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center](https://www.fmolhs.org/locations/acadiana/our-lady-of-lourdes-regional-medical-center-er) at 4801 Ambassador Caffery Parkway runs a 24-hour emergency department. That access gap is scheduled to narrow: [Ochsner Lafayette General has announced a freestanding, 14,000-square-foot offsite emergency center at 8000 Ambassador Caffery Parkway in Broussard](https://news.ochsner.org/news-releases/ochsner-lafayette-general-announces-offsite-emergency-center-in-broussard/), with eight exam bays, on-site ultrasound, X-ray, and CT imaging, and lab services able to treat and stabilize trauma patients, expected to open in summer 2027 for southern Lafayette Parish, surrounding communities, and travelers on the Ambassador Caffery and US-90 corridor. Until it opens, the practical medical answer for a serious Broussard injury remains a Lafayette hospital.

### 2. Report the incident

* In a car accident, call the police.
* In a workplace injury, notify your supervisor in writing.
* A formal report documents that the accident occurred.

A police report is among the first documents your attorney will request. It establishes that the accident happened, identifies the at-fault driver, records any citations, and captures the responding officer's assessment. The [Louisiana State Police](https://www.lsp.org/) work crashes on US-90 and other state highways through the area, and their crashes are also the ones most likely to be complicated by an active LaDOTD construction zone; city streets fall to the [Broussard Police Department](https://broussardpolice.com/contact-us/) at 5801 Highway 90 East, (337) 837-6259, and unincorporated parish roads to the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office.

### 3. Gather evidence

* Photograph the scene, your injuries, and the property damage if you are able.
* Collect witness names and contact information.
* On US-90 near the Ambassador Caffery interchange work, photograph the temporary signage, the cone taper, and the lane configuration in place at the exact time of the crash; the layout can be changed within days.

### 4. Consult an attorney before speaking to the other side's insurer

* Adjusters may contact you quickly after a crash.
* Their goal is to resolve the claim for as little as possible.
* A recorded statement given before you understand your injuries can be used against you.
* An attorney can advise you before that conversation happens.

### 5. Track deadlines and preserve documents

* Save towing invoices, pharmacy receipts, mileage logs, and every insurer letter or email in one place.
* Ask your providers for complete records and itemized billing, not just visit summaries.
* Early organization helps your lawyer value damages and avoid preventable deadline mistakes.

## Why the 15th Judicial District Matters for Your Case

Broussard civil injury cases that go to trial are heard in the [15th Judicial District Court](https://www.lpclerk.com/) at the Lafayette Parish Courthouse, 800 South Buchanan Street in Lafayette. A civil jury seats 12 people, and 9 of the 12 must agree to return a verdict.

The 15th Judicial District is one of the largest in the state, serving Lafayette, Acadia, and Vermilion Parishes, and a case from Broussard is heard before a Lafayette Parish jury drawn from that community. The demographics, community context, and local knowledge jurors bring differ across districts, and an attorney who understands the Lafayette Parish pool has a practical advantage in deciding how to frame a case. The 15th JDC also carries its own local rules, case management procedures, and judicial assignments, which come from working in that courthouse rather than from a statute book. Broussard's own profile matters to jury selection: per [Data USA's ACS-based profile](https://datausa.io/profile/geo/broussard-la/), the reported Broussard median household income of about $116,179 and an 83.3% homeownership rate sit notably above typical Lafayette Parish figures, consistent with the city's newer-growth, higher-income suburban makeup, but the jury pool is drawn from the parish as a whole rather than from Broussard alone, so the community the plaintiff and defendant are addressing at trial is the wider parish community, not the plaintiff's own city.

## Why Choose Trey Morris Injury Lawyers

Trey Morris Injury Lawyers handles personal injury cases in Broussard, Lafayette Parish, and throughout Acadiana and Louisiana. The firm pairs Louisiana courtroom experience with the resources to take a case to trial when an insurer will not pay fair value, and it works Broussard cases with the specific mix of oilfield-services workplace files, US-90 corridor collisions, and Ambassador Caffery construction-zone crashes that the city's road and industrial profile produces.

The firm is a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, a national organization that recognizes trial attorneys for significant case results. View our [case results](/case-results/) to weigh the track record for yourself.

Trey Morris Injury Lawyers represents personal injury clients on a contingency fee basis. There is no attorney fee unless the firm recovers compensation for you. The fee percentage is agreed in writing at the outset, and court costs are advanced by the firm and deducted from the recovery. The initial consultation is free. If you want to talk through your case, [contact us](/contact-us/).

## How to Request Records in Broussard

The hospitals, police agencies, and courts that serve a Broussard injury claim are mapped in the sections above, beside the steps where you need them. This is how to pull the documents those agencies hold.

**Accident reports.** The [Broussard Police Department](https://broussardpolice.com/contact-us/) at 5801 Highway 90 East, (337) 837-6259, releases reports for crashes on city streets and provides online access through a LexisNexis Crash Reports Online portal linked from the department's contact page; allow a few days after the crash. The [Louisiana State Police](https://www.lsp.org/), which work crashes on US-90 and other state highways, post reports at [crashreports.dps.la.gov](https://crashreports.dps.la.gov), typically 10 to 15 business days after the crash. For unincorporated parish roads, the [Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office](https://www.lafayettesheriff.com/) records division handles the request. If you are unsure which agency responded, your attorney can obtain the report once you provide the date, location, and names of the parties.

**Court filings.** Civil suits arising in the Lafayette Parish portion of Broussard are filed with the [15th Judicial District Court](https://www.lpclerk.com/) at the Lafayette Parish Courthouse, 800 South Buchanan Street; civil filings run through the [Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court](https://www.lafayetteparishclerk.com/), P.O. Box 2009, Lafayette, LA 70502, (337) 291-6400. The eastern portion of Broussard that sits in St. Martin Parish files instead in the [16th Judicial District Court](https://www.16thjdc.org/) in St. Martinville, so the correct court depends on which side of the parish line the incident occurred.

**Driving records.** Driving and vehicle-registration records come from the [Louisiana OMV ExpressLane portal](https://www.expresslane.org). A defendant's prior violation history can be relevant evidence in some cases.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How long do I have to file a personal injury lawsuit in Broussard?

For injuries occurring on or after July 1, 2024, you have two years from the date of injury to file under [La. C.C. Art. 3493.1](https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=1386443). For injuries before that date, the prior one-year deadline applies under [La. C.C. Art. 3492](https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=110515). Product liability claims follow these same deadlines. Some exceptions extend these deadlines. The discovery rule applies when an injury was not apparent at first. The deadline is tolled for claimants under age 18. Claims against the City of Broussard, Lafayette Parish, or a state agency follow the same general prescription, with no pre-suit notice required; once suit is filed, service of citation on the government defendant must be requested within 90 days of filing under [La. R.S. 13:5107](https://codes.findlaw.com/la/revised-statutes/la-rev-stat-tit-13-sect-5107/). Because a Broussard suit that misses prescription is usually dismissed even when liability is clear, the safer course is to consult counsel promptly rather than assume time remains.

### What if I was partly at fault for the accident?

For accidents occurring on or after January 1, 2026, Louisiana applies a 51% bar under [La. C.C. Art. 2323](https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=109387). If you are 50% or less at fault, you recover your damages reduced by your fault percentage. If you are 51% or more at fault, you recover nothing. For accidents before January 1, 2026, pure comparative fault applies and your damages are reduced by your percentage no matter how high it runs. Fault is allocated on the evidence, so partial fault does not automatically end your claim. Early investigation and documentation produce a more accurate account of what happened on the road.

### What happens if the driver who hit me had no insurance or too little?

Your own uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage may be your primary source of recovery. Louisiana requires insurers to offer UM coverage, but a driver can reject it in writing, and many people have without realizing it. Pull the declarations page for every policy in your household and confirm whether UM/UIM was accepted and at what limits. If you were in a commercial vehicle, rideshare, or bus, that vehicle's insurer may add coverage. Counsel can identify every available source before treatment bills force an early settlement.

### What is the No Pay, No Play rule in Louisiana?

Louisiana's No Pay, No Play law ([La. R.S. 32:866](https://legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=88612)) applies to drivers who carried no automobile insurance at the time of a crash. Since August 1, 2025, an uninsured driver cannot recover the first $100,000 in bodily injury damages or the first $100,000 in property damage, even when the other driver was entirely at fault. Maintaining coverage protects both your legal obligations and your right to recover if you are hurt.

### My case involves the City of Broussard or a state road. What changes?

A claim against the City of Broussard, Lafayette Parish, or a state agency such as [LaDOTD](https://www.dotd.la.gov/) runs on the same general prescriptive period as any other tort claim, and Louisiana imposes no pre-suit notice of claim and no pre-suit review process for these claims. The 90-day rule for government defendants comes after the suit is filed. Under [La. R.S. 13:5107](https://codes.findlaw.com/la/revised-statutes/la-rev-stat-tit-13-sect-5107/), service of citation on the government defendant must be requested within 90 days of the date the action is commenced, or the suit may be dismissed without prejudice as to that defendant. If a road defect, a dangerous condition, or a government vehicle contributed to your injury on a Broussard street or a state highway such as US-90, prompt counsel protects both the prescriptive deadline and the post-filing service requirement. On US-90 itself, an active LaDOTD interchange-construction project at Ambassador Caffery Parkway makes preservation of scene photos and lane-configuration evidence especially time-sensitive.

### My crash happened inside Broussard but in the St. Martin Parish part of town. Does that change where I file?

Yes. Most of Broussard sits in Lafayette Parish and files in the [15th Judicial District Court](https://www.lpclerk.com/) in Lafayette, but a small eastern portion of the city extends into St. Martin Parish. St. Martin Parish is served by the [16th Judicial District Court](https://www.16thjdc.org/) in St. Martinville, so a claim arising in that sliver of Broussard is filed there rather than in Lafayette. The parish line inside Broussard is therefore also a courthouse line, and the exact location of the crash controls venue. If the scene is close to the boundary, your attorney will pull the parish tax parcel and the responding-agency report to confirm the correct court before filing.

### Where will my Broussard injury case be filed and tried?

Civil injury suits arising in the Lafayette Parish portion of Broussard are filed in the [15th Judicial District Court](https://www.lpclerk.com/) at the Lafayette Parish Courthouse, 800 South Buchanan Street in Lafayette. The 15th JDC serves Lafayette, Acadia, and Vermilion Parishes together. If the case does not settle, a 12-person jury decides it, and 9 of the 12 jurors must agree to reach a verdict in a civil case. A claim arising in the small St. Martin Parish portion of Broussard is filed in the [16th Judicial District Court](https://www.16thjdc.org/) in St. Martinville instead. Some cases proceed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana when federal jurisdiction applies.

### Does it cost anything to hire Trey Morris Injury Lawyers?

There is no attorney fee unless the firm recovers compensation for you. The fee is a contingency percentage agreed in writing before representation begins. Court costs and case expenses are advanced by the firm and deducted from the recovery if the case succeeds. The initial consultation is free.

### What should I bring to my first meeting with a personal injury lawyer?

Bring the core documents that let counsel evaluate liability, damages, and deadlines quickly: the crash or incident report number, photos, witness names, your health insurance card, any medical records you already have, and all insurer correspondence. If a vehicle is involved, bring the declarations page showing your UM/UIM elections and policy limits. You do not need every record before the first meeting. A complete timeline with dates of treatment, missed work, and insurer contact is usually enough for the lawyer to identify immediate next steps and preservation tasks.