While any personal injury lawsuit is important, claims related to catastrophic injuries are especially vital to your health and happiness. These injuries have the potential to reshape your life in sudden and unexpected ways. While a financial settlement cannot undo the physical trauma you endured, it could cover your financial needs and provide you with resources to help improve your quality of life.
Pursuing legal action without a dedicated personal injury attorney’s assistance is likely not in the best interest of your case. The help of experienced legal counsel could maximize your financial recovery. Before considering a settlement offer, you could benefit from a discussion with a Trinity catastrophic injury lawyer at Perenich Law Injury Attorneys. We are a committed team of 3 Brothers Helping Others.
Understanding Catastrophic Injuries
While there are different types of catastrophic injuries, what these injuries have in common is the potential to cause permanent or life-altering disabilities and pain. A diligent Trinity catastrophic injury attorney could help file a lawsuit after you or a loved one experiences any of the following:
Traumatic Brain Injuries
Some traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) involve blunt force trauma, while others are penetrating injuries. All involve significant damage to the brain. Of all potential traumatic brain injuries, concussions are the most common. These injuries occur when a sudden impact jolts the brain, damaging it. Concussions can have unusual symptoms that are not apparent until months after an injury occurs.
Severe Burns
While burns can vary in severity, the most severe types of burns can be life-threatening. Serious burns can also lead to permanent scarring and disfigurement. Additional health risks that come with burns include an increased risk of infection and lung problems that come from breathing hot air or smoke.
Paralysis
Injuries to the spinal cord, neck, or head could result in paralysis. This condition involves the loss of motor control or sensation in specific parts of an injured person’s body. The most severe type of paralysis is quadriplegia, which is paralysis of every part of a person’s body from the neck down.
What Situations May Lead to Catastrophic Injuries?
Severe injuries can occur almost anywhere at any time. Regardless of where or how serious injuries happen, they can have devastating consequences. Sometimes, people experience injuries that can change their lives in freak accidents where there is no one other than themselves to blame. Serious accidents occasionally occur in someone’s own home through simple carelessness and not the fault of anyone else, such as when someone slips on their own freshly mopped floor and breaks their back or trips over their child’s toys and suffers a life-altering brain injury. While tragic, these types of incidents do not give rise to grounds to file a legal claim because no third party bears any degree of liability.
However, if an accident resulting in a life-altering injury happens because another person or entity was negligent, reckless, or intentionally committed a criminal act, that person or business should be legally responsible for the losses. Many types of accidents occur where other people’s actions lead to catastrophic injuries, such as:
Motor Vehicle Collisions
Catastrophic injuries often occur from car crashes. The impact of colliding with another vehicle or crashing into a stationary object can cause the occupants of a car to experience life-threatening injuries. A dedicated legal team could comb through the evidence after an automobile wreck to determine precisely how it occurred and who could be legally at fault. If another driver was speeding, drunk, texting while driving, or otherwise at fault, an injured occupant of another vehicle could sue them for damages. If a crash occurred because of a mechanical defect in a vehicle, the injured party might be able to sue the automobile manufacturer for creating a car with an inherent defect, or they might be able to file a claim against the mechanic who failed to properly maintain the vehicle.
Premises Liability Accidents
When an accident occurs at another person’s home or business, the injured party might be eligible to seek compensation from the homeowner, business owner, caretaker, or anyone else in charge of maintaining the property.
The following are the most common types of premises liability accidents that can result in devastating injuries:
Our proactive catastrophic injury attorneys in Trinity could help determine who is at fault.
Workplace Accidents
Unfortunately, devastating injuries can occur at workplaces, such as on construction sites or in factories. A skilled law firm with deep community ties could help an injured party search for avenues of compensation.
Recoverable Damages Following Catastrophic Injuries
People injured in life-altering accidents can usually pursue several different forms of compensation.
Economic Damages
Injured parties have the right to recoup all of their financial losses, which could include medical bills, rehabilitation expenses, future anticipated medical costs, nursing care expenses, and lost income and wages.
Non-Economic Damages
Injured parties also should be eligible to collect compensation for their intangible losses, such as mental anguish, pain and suffering, and loss of consortium.
Punitive Damages
If there is clear evidence that an injury occurred due to another party’s gross negligence or intentional misconduct, the injured party might also be able to pursue punitive damages as a way of punishing the wrongdoer.
Perenich Law Injury Attorneys has three generations of experience in the local area and knows how to help. By spending one-on-one time with the injured party and their family, our compassionate catastrophic injury lawyers in Trinity could carefully assess the impact of their losses to calculate a fair damage award.
The Deadline To File Suit for a Catastrophic Injury
The legal deadline known as the statute of limitations applies to every catastrophic injury case in Florida. An injured person who does not file a personal injury claim within the statute of limitations could lose out on financial compensation—even if their negligence case is strong. A well-practiced catastrophic injury lawyer in Trinity could ensure compliance with this statute.
The clock of the statute of limitations for a personal injury case begins to count down on the date the injury occurs. In most cases, this period lasts for two years. Should an injured person file their lawsuit after the two-year period expires, the court will likely dismiss it “with prejudice.” This type of dismissal not only ends the case but also bars the injured person from ever filing it again.
Schedule a Consultation With a Trinity Catastrophic Injury Attorney
A catastrophic injury has the potential not only to alter the life of the injured person, but also have a significant effect on the lives of their close family members and loved ones. When these injuries occur due to someone else’s negligence, it may be possible to pursue financial compensation.
When you are ready to get started with your claim, a Trinity catastrophic injury lawyer at Perenich Law Injury Attorneys is ready to help. Reach out right away for a free, confidential consultation with one of our compassionate attorneys.
(727) 669-2828