Only a person that experienced a catastrophic injury or their family can truly understand the impact they can have. The injury could turn your life upside down, with simple day-to-day tasks suddenly becoming impossible hurdles. Additionally, the financial burdens a catastrophic injury could have on a family could be significant. Fortunately, a seasoned personal injury attorney might be able to help you with these challenges.
If you have suffered a catastrophic injury at the hands of another person, you could bring a civil suit against them. Through litigation, it could be possible to recover monetary compensation for your injuries, missed paychecks, and even your physical suffering. An Alpharetta catastrophic injury lawyer could have the experience and understanding needed to help you pursue your claim.
Common Catastrophic Injuries
Catastrophic injuries describe harm that leaves permanent, irreparable damage to the human body. In many cases, a person with a catastrophic injury is unable to care for themselves or hold down a job.
Many catastrophic injuries limit a person’s mental capacity. When brain injuries occur, they can limit the body’s ability to reason, make decisions, or even control other body parts. Other parts of the body can result in a catastrophic injury, as well. Broken bones, amputation, or severe burns are all possibilities. Some circumstances that could lead to catastrophic injuries include:
- Car collisions
- Truck collisions
- Falls
- Medical mistakes
- Dangerous products or drugs
- Sports injuries
A seasoned Alpharetta catastrophic injury attorney could assist an injured person following any of these accidents. The right legal counsel could help their clients coordinate medical care as well as pursue their legal claim against the responsible party.
Identifying the Responsible Party
Given that catastrophic injuries can come in countless forms, there are a large number of potentially responsible parties. It is up to an Alpharetta catastrophic injury attorney to help a plaintiff identify the parties responsible for their injuries. Each case is different, and some at fault parties are more obvious than others.
When a catastrophic injury occurs in a vehicle accident, there are plenty of indicators on who the responsible party is. Most of the time, the other driver is to blame. However, if a defective part caused the wreck the manufacturer could be the appropriate defendant.
Other cases are less clear. If the injury results from an unsolved violent crime or a sports injury that involved a large number of people, it could take a thorough investigation to find the cause.
It is important to note that some plaintiffs will have played a role in their own injury. In Alpharetta, the courts will determine the degree of fault each party holds. If the plaintiff is 50 percent or more responsible for their injuries, the court will not award them compensation. If the plaintiff’s level of responsibility is less than 50 percent, the court will grant them a reduced damage award based on their degree of responsibility.
What Economic Damages Could Be Recoverable?
Unfortunately, recovering for a catastrophic injury is rarely simple. Because these injuries are often permanent and can greatly reduce a victim’s mobility, sensory capacity, and overall quality of life, any settlement demand or civil lawsuit based needs to account for both damages the plaintiff has already suffered and damages they can expect to suffer in the years to come.
For economic damages, a skilled Alpharetta attorney could seek restitution on behalf of a catastrophic accident victim for any emergency medical expenses immediately after their accident, as well as future expenses for additional surgeries, rehabilitative care, and in-home nursing assistance. Additionally, both past and future losses of income and earning capacity could be factored into a claim, as could costs associated with repairing, replacing, or modifying personal property to allow for increased mobility.
Could a Plaintiff Recover for Non-Economic Harm?
Although severe injuries accompany many financial costs, the most devastating losses of catastrophic accidents are often personal in nature. While it is impossible to assign an objective value to the impact of permanent scarring or disability, legal counsel could help seek fair compensation for various non-economic damages, including:
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium with a spouse
- Loss of ability to pursue hobbies
- Psychological conditions like depression or PTSD
- Physical pain
Does the Statute of Limitations Apply to Catastrophic Injury Claims?
Unfortunately, catastrophic injury victims are not exempt from the civil statute of limitations. Regardless of an injury’s severity, anyone who wishes to seek civil compensation must file suit no later than two years after the date they discovered their injury, as per Official Code of Georgia §9-3-33.
However, catastrophic accident victims are often impacted by their injuries for much longer than just two years. As such, accurate estimation of future damages is an essential part of the litigation process. This is an area in which help from a qualified legal professional may be especially critical to a case’s chance of success.
Call an Alpharetta Catastrophic Injury Attorney Immediately
An individual that receives a catastrophic injury could require medical care for the rest of their life. This care goes beyond the cost of hospital visits. It could include prosthetics, medical devices, therapy, or prescription drugs.
The cost of this medical care is substantial. When another person is responsible for a catastrophic injury, a successful lawsuit could require them to pay for these treatments. To learn more about recovering compensation, contact an Alpharetta catastrophic injury lawyer right away.