Biloxi Catastrophic Injury Lawyer
Catastrophic injuries such as severe burns, traumatic brain injuries, or spinal cord damage could change a person’s life forever. An individual who was once able to work, maintain a home, and enjoy leisure activities or time with their family may face severe limitations due to his or her injury. Even if a catastrophic injury is not permanent, the impact it has on a person’s life could be significant.
If you or a loved one sustained a catastrophic injury due to another person’s careless or reckless conduct, you may be entitled to compensation. Rather than tackling the legal process on your own, though, contact a Biloxi catastrophic injury lawyer for more information if a negligent person or company caused you or your loved one to sustain a catastrophic injury. A compassionate personal injury lawyer could work with you to build a convincing argument for recovering compensation.
Common Sources of Devastating Injuries
Unfortunately, even if someone takes all the necessary safety precautions, another person’s negligent actions could result in a catastrophic injury. Hazardous medications, defective products, and reckless drivers could all cause someone to suffer severe harm.
That being said, certain incidences are more common in inflicting devastating harm. One example is a car accident. Even a collision at relatively low speeds can impart thousands of pounds of force on a person’s body. The resulting damage to a person’s spinal cord or brain could cause permanent or even fatal injuries. It is also possible to suffer injuries of this severity during slips and falls, after taking a dangerous drug, or at the hands of a negligent doctor. A Biloxi catastrophic injury attorney could investigate the cause of serious losses to gather essential evidence of defendant fault.
How Could Violent Acts Impact a Civil Claim?
Not every severe injury is the result of an accident. Assaults, sexual violence, and kidnappings can all result in a person suffering physical and emotional traumas for the rest of their lives. Just as in the case of accidents, a person who commits an intentional act of violence is responsible to provide payments to the victims.
It is essential to realize that these cases are separate from criminal charges in civil court. While a criminal court may convict a defendant and send him to prison, it can never order the defendant to provide compensation to a victim. However, a criminal conviction can serve as powerful evidence of fault in a related civil claim.
Compensation for a Catastrophic Injury
The amount of compensation that an injured party might expect to receive for his or her injury depends on many different factors. One particularly important element of catastrophic injury cases is the amount of financial losses, such as medical costs.
Medical expenses in catastrophic injury cases tend to be significant, as extensive medical treatment may be necessary for severe injuries. It may also be important to consider costs such as hospital stays, physical therapy, and rehabilitative services in a catastrophic injury claim.
Future expenses could be another significant factor in determining the amount of compensation that might make an injured party whole. If, for example, a medical professional determines that an individual who sustained a catastrophic injury would need specialized care for ten years or even the rest of their life, the future costs of that specialized care should be taken into consideration.
Lost wages and diminished earning capacity could also play a role in a catastrophic injury case. Loss of income is a common aspect of catastrophic injury claims, as many catastrophic injuries lead to impairment or disability that permanently interferes with an individual’s ability to work.
An individual who seeks compensation for a catastrophic injury may wish to consider both economic and non-economic damages stemming from his or her injury. Gathering the proper documentation in support of a claim could be vital to financial recovery, but collecting records, bills, and expert opinions to demonstrate losses could be difficult without the help of a Biloxi catastrophic injury attorney.
Could Shared Fault Bar a Plaintiff from Compensation?
A catastrophic injury can have a profound impact on a person’s life well into the future. However, this does not automatically mean that the defendant must provide full compensation. Every defendant in an accident case, including those that result in traumatic harm, has the right to claim that an injured plaintiff shares some blame for the incident.
According to Mississippi Code Annotated §11-7-15, courts must use the concept of pure comparative negligence to evaluate the actions of all parties in an accident. This means that if a court believes a plaintiff shares some responsibility for the incident, that court must reduce the claimant’s award. Especially in cases involving catastrophic injuries, this idea could cost a person thousands of dollars of compensation. A Biloxi catastrophic injury attorney could help prove that a defendant was the sole liable party in an accident. However, even if the injured person is found to be at fault, compensation can still be recovered. The total amount of compensation awarded by a Jury or Court must be reduced by the percentage of fault allocated to the injured person.
Statute of Limitations in a Catastrophic Injury Case
Various types of civil claims have a statute of limitations which defines the amount of time that an injured party has to file a lawsuit stemming from a personal injury. The statute of limitations for personal injury claims varies by State.
In Mississippi, individuals who have sustained a catastrophic injury have three years from the date of the incident to file a personal injury lawsuit (and only one year if the injury was caused by a governmental entity or its employee). A catastrophic accident lawyer in Biloxi could help an injured party determine the deadline for filing his or her personal injury lawsuit and inform him or her of any factors which could affect the filing deadline.
Call a Biloxi Catastrophic Injury Attorney for Professional Assistance
You should not have to bear the burden of medical expenses and other losses which you may have incurred due to the negligence of another person. Fortunately, this is where qualified legal counsel could step in to help.
It could be important to begin gathering evidence and assessing the value of your claim as soon as possible. Contact Van Cleave Law to speak with a Biloxi catastrophic injury lawyer today if you or a loved one sustained a catastrophic injury due to the carelessness or recklessness of a person or company.
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