East Baton Rouge | West Baton Rouge | Ascension | Livingston | Iberville | Pointe Coupee | West Feliciana | East Feliciana | St. Helena
When a back or spinal cord injury turns your life upside down, you need attorneys who will fight for every dollar you deserve. At Melancon, Rimes & Daquanno, our partners personally handle your case from the first consultation through resolution, preparing for trial while pursuing maximum compensation for your injuries.
Combined Experience
Trial Lost in Over 20 Years
A spinal injury affects far more than your body. It can impact your ability to work, provide for your family, enjoy daily activities, and live the life you had before the accident occurred.
You should not have to fight with insurance companies and their lawyers while trying to recover from a life-altering spinal injury. Let us handle the legal battle.
At Melancon, Rimes & Daquanno, we have helped clients suffering from herniated discs, spinal cord damage, nerve injuries, and conditions requiring fusion surgery recover compensation that accounts for both their current losses and their future medical and financial needs. We understand the life-changing nature of these injuries.
Our attorneys gather extensive medical records, retain qualified medical and economic experts, and build comprehensive cases that clearly demonstrate how your injury occurred and what it will cost you over your lifetime. We prepare every spinal injury case for trial from day one. This positions us to negotiate from a place of strength with insurance companies.
We represent Clinton residents in a wide range of personal injury matters. Our experience includes:
Rear-end collisions, hit-and-runs, and drunk driving accidents are causing serious injuries
Commercial truck crashes, including cases involving defective equipment and driver negligence
Animal attacks resulting in facial injuries, scarring, and emotional trauma
Premises liability cases involving unsafe property conditions
Industrial accidents, machinery incidents, and exposure to hazardous materials
Injuries from manufacturing flaws, design defects, and inadequate warnings
Fatal accidents caused by negligence, providing families with compensation for their loss
Misdiagnosis, surgical errors, medication mistakes, and nursing home negligence
Severe burns requiring specialized treatment and long-term care
Abuse or inadequate care in nursing facilities
Traumatic brain injuries with lasting cognitive and physical effects
Crashes involving motorcyclists struck by negligent drivers
Whether your injury happened on Clinton’s roads, at a local business, or at work, we evaluate your case and pursue full compensation for your losses.
When you hire our firm, you gain access to the collective expertise of three partners who have practiced before federal courts in Louisiana, Georgia, Texas, California, and New York, as well as the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.
You work directly with Jason Melancon, Robert Rimes, or Lee Daquanno throughout your case. You will not be handed off to junior associates or paralegals.
We prepare every single case for full litigation from the start. Insurance companies know we are willing and ready to go to court if they refuse to offer fair compensation.
We recovered $1.25 million for a client who needed spinal fusion surgery after a rear-end collision. Defense attorneys claimed the injury was pre-existing, but we proved otherwise.
From your very first phone call to the final resolution of your spinal injury case, we keep you informed and involved at every step of the process. You will always know where your case stands.
Throughout this entire process, you will have direct access to your attorney. You can reach us by phone, text, or email whenever you have questions or concerns about your case.
We listen carefully to your account, review the facts of your accident, and evaluate the strength of your case at no cost to you.
We gather all relevant medical records, accident reports, witness statements, and retain expert witnesses to build your case.
We document every element of your damages, including future losses, and prepare your case as if it is going to trial.
We pursue maximum compensation from the insurance company and reject lowball settlement offers that fail to reflect your true losses.
If the insurance company refuses to offer fair compensation, we are fully prepared to take your case to court and fight for you before a jury.
All past medical bills and estimated future costs, including surgery, hospitalization, physical therapy, rehabilitation, medications, and ongoing care needs.
Wages you have already lost during your recovery, plus compensation for any reduction in your future earning ability due to your injury.
Financial recognition of the physical pain, discomfort, emotional distress, and mental anguish your spinal injury has caused you and continues to cause.
Compensation for how your injury affects your ability to enjoy daily activities, hobbies, relationships, and independence you had before the accident.
Our track record shows our ability to secure meaningful compensation for clients who have suffered serious back and spinal cord injuries due to someone else’s negligence.
Defense attorneys claimed the client’s back pain was pre-existing. We gathered extensive medical records proving the accident caused the herniated disc.
Husband and wife injured in collision. The trial judge dismissed the defense’s comparative fault argument after our motion for directed verdict.
Personal injury case resolved in East Baton Rouge Parish after thorough case preparation.
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Every case is unique, and results depend on the specific facts and circumstances involved.
Let us help you!
Your initial consultation with our firm is completely free and comes with no obligation. We will listen to your story, evaluate the facts of your case, answer all of your questions, and explain your legal options so you can make an informed decision.
We handle all spinal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. This means you pay absolutely nothing upfront and owe us nothing unless we successfully recover compensation for you. Our fee is one-third of your recovery if we settle your case without filing a lawsuit, or 40% if litigation becomes necessary. We advance all case expenses ourselves, including court filing fees, expert witness fees, and medical record costs, so you are never asked to pay anything out of pocket.
"Great experience. They were very professional and were there whenever I called or needed them. My settlement was well worth the wait. I recommend them to anyone needing legal services. They will fight for you and get you what you deserve for your injuries. I didn't just gain good legal representation, I also gained friends and a law firm that cared."
"I couldn't be more pleased with choosing Jason and all of the associates at Melancon & Rimes. I was told by several people throughout the duration of my litigation that I was in good hands with one of the best attorneys in Louisiana, and the results did not disappoint. A very efficient group that worked diligently to win my case and keep me well informed along the way."
"Jason and his entire staff are terrific. They are honest, thorough, meticulous and totally professional. You could not ask for more from a law firm. Highly recommended."
"Lee Daquanno and his staff put outstanding professionalism and astounding work ethic into my case. Lee was prompt and kept me informed at every step. I would recommend him to anyone seeking legal help."
Much of our business comes from referrals by satisfied former clients and other attorneys who trust us with their cases. This speaks to the quality of service we provide.
Our three partners bring diverse educational backgrounds, professional credentials, and decades of combined litigation experience to every spinal injury case we handle. When you hire one attorney at Melancon, Rimes & Daquanno, you effectively hire the entire firm. Our partners collaborate and share their collective knowledge to provide you with the strongest possible representation for your case.
Graduated from LSU Law School where he served as Senior Associate with Louisiana Law Review. He’s been recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star (2013-2015) and Super Lawyer (2018-2021).
Earned his law degree from Loyola University School of Law where he was a member of the Moot Court Staff. He leads our personal injury section with extensive trial experience.
Â
Partner since 2022, graduated magna cum laude from Southern University Law Center and served as senior editor of Southern University Law Review.
More than 50 years practicing personal injury law across our three partners
Licensed in all Louisiana state courts, U.S. District Courts for Middle, Eastern, and Western Districts of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court
Our attorneys have received Super Lawyers and Rising Star designations for their work in personal injury law
Jason Melancon earned degrees in both Biological Engineering and Law from LSU. This scientific background gives him valuable insight into the complex medical evidence involved in spinal injury cases.
Louisiana law generally gives you two years from the date you knew or should have known you were injured to file a personal injury lawsuit. This is called the statute of limitations. Missing this deadline can permanently bar you from recovering any compensation, no matter how serious your injuries or how clear the other party’s fault. Evidence also tends to disappear over time, and witnesses’ memories fade. For these reasons, it is important to speak with an attorney as soon as possible after your spinal injury to protect your rights and ensure all legal deadlines are met.
This is one of the most common defense tactics insurance companies use to deny or reduce spinal injury claims. They will comb through your medical history looking for any prior complaints of back pain. In one of our spinal injury cases, defense attorneys argued exactly this. We responded by gathering extensive medical records that proved our client had no significant back problems before the accident. We demonstrated that the collision caused our client’s herniated disc and the resulting need for lumbar fusion surgery. We ultimately recovered $1.25 million for that client. We know how to counter these pre-existing condition arguments with solid medical evidence.
Every spinal injury case is different, and the value depends on many factors specific to your situation. These factors include the severity and permanence of your injury, whether you required surgery, the total cost of your past and future medical treatment, how much income you have lost and will continue to lose, and how the injury affects your ability to perform daily activities and enjoy life. During your free consultation, we can discuss the specific factors that apply to your case and give you a realistic assessment of what your claim may be worth based on our experience handling similar cases.
Most personal injury cases, including spinal injury claims, settle before trial through negotiations with the insurance company. However, we prepare every single case as if it is going to trial. This thorough preparation strengthens our negotiating position because insurance adjusters know we are willing and able to take them to court if they refuse to offer fair compensation. In 20 years of practice, we have only lost one trial. If the insurance company will not offer a settlement that fairly compensates you for your injuries, we are fully prepared to present your case to a jury.
With a contingency fee arrangement, you pay nothing upfront to hire us. We advance all of the costs associated with your case, including court filing fees, expert witness fees, costs to obtain medical records, and any other litigation expenses. Our fee is a percentage of the compensation we recover for you. If we settle your case without filing a lawsuit, our fee is one-third of the recovery. If we need to file a lawsuit, our fee is 40% of the recovery. If we do not win your case and recover compensation, you owe us nothing at all. This arrangement allows anyone to afford quality legal representation regardless of their financial situation.
We handle all types of back and spinal cord injuries resulting from accidents caused by someone else’s negligence. This includes herniated discs, bulging discs, spinal fractures, compression fractures, spinal cord damage, injuries requiring fusion surgery or other surgical intervention, nerve damage causing radiating pain or numbness, injuries resulting in partial or total paralysis, and chronic pain conditions resulting from trauma to the spine. Whether your injury resulted from a car accident, truck accident, slip and fall, workplace incident, or any other type of accident, we can evaluate your case and advise you on your legal options.
Our office is located in Baton Rouge, and we represent clients throughout the greater Baton Rouge area and surrounding Louisiana parishes. Our attorneys are familiar with the local courts, judges, and insurance companies that operate in this region, which helps us effectively advocate for our clients.
East Baton Rouge | West Baton Rouge | Ascension | Livingston | Iberville | Pointe Coupee | West Feliciana | East Feliciana | St. Helena
If you have suffered a spinal injury anywhere in the greater Baton Rouge area or surrounding parishes, contact our office today to schedule your free consultation with one of our partners.
Hours:
Monday – Thursday: 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM | Friday: 8:30 AM – 3:30 PM
6700 Jefferson Hwy (Building 6), Baton Rouge, LA 70806