Hiring a Catastrophic Injury Lawyer: What Is a Catastrophic Injury?

If you get hurt in an accident, you might need to make use of a free consultation with a law firm experienced in the personal injury lawsuit process. Whether it's a traumatic brain injury affecting a loved one or permanent scarring from defective products, injury victims must quickly take action to get the support they need. 

What Counts as a Catastrophic Injury?

There is nothing quite so frustrating as realizing that the insurance company is attempting to downplay the impacts of your personal injury claim. Your life has been forever changed due to an accident and you are just trying to put the pieces back together so that you can move on.

This is where a catastrophic injury lawyer comes in to help you with each aspect of your claim and to ensure that your injuries have been appropriately represented to the other side. Far too many victims who were the ones coping with the impacts of an accident find it difficult to navigate the complex legal maze.

A catastrophic injury lawyer begins by evaluating your case personally and determining the most appropriate strategy for defending your rights. There's so much at stake when you have sustained a catastrophic injury. Attempting to handle a case like this on your own without the support of a catastrophic injury lawyer could be detrimental to your future.

Catastrophic injury lawyers know what it takes to prepare these cases and the common tactics used by insurance carriers to stall or eliminate payouts that victims deserve. Read on to learn more about how a catastrophic injury lawyer could help you in your claim.

Common Causes of Catastrophic Injuries 

Catastrophic injuries can and do occur from a variety of sources, but the ones below are some of the most common: 

• Medical malpractice 
• Car crashes 
• Truck accidents 
• Defective product accidents 
• Sports accidents 

In all of these circumstances, a personal injury attorney can help. A catastrophic injury can be compounded by multiple injuries at once, too. These can take the form of organ damage, paraplegia, costly medical treatment, quadriplegia, brain damage, reliance on medical devices, extensive physical therapy, severe burns, long hospitalization periods, disfigurement, permanent disability, and even wrongful death. For this reason, speaking about your catastrophic injury claims case with a lawyer is essential. Your quality of life can be forever changed by the severe injuries you've sustained and a product liability or accident lawsuit might be your only chance to recover compensation. 

How Do I Know if I am Entitled to a Catastrophic Injury Settlement? 

A catastrophic injury refers to losing a vital part of your person, whether it's the ability to walk, the ability to form a complete and whole thought or a limb. For any accident that leads to a catastrophic injury to even one individual, a settlement and lawsuit can be pursued. In many cases your catastrophic injury lawyer might be able to present evidence and make compelling enough arguments that you could recover full and fair compensation. The life-altering harm that has been done to you means that the other party needs to be held accountable, but you cannot count on them or your insurance carrier to recognize the long term impacts of your injury. You could be entitled to a catastrophic injury settlement for a few reasons including:

• You may be entitled to compensation for the lost wages associated with the injury putting you out of work in the first place.
• The significant medical expenses you have incurred and are likely to incur because of the injury you sustained. This could be rehabilitation, surgeries or even permanent use of a medical device or medication.
• You may have also suffered significant emotional damage and be entitled to compensation as a result.

Three Kinds of Catastrophic Injuries

There are generally three types of catastrophic injuries and more than one might apply in your individual case. These include;

• Cognitive injuries that take away from your ability to form new memories, speak or work
• Spinal cord injuries that can create permanent mobility concerns for survivors
• Physical injuries, such as fractures, amputations, burns, and damage to orthopedic tissue or function

Every catastrophic injury has far-reaching consequences not just for the victim but for their entire family. Taking care of somebody who has cognitive or mobility limitations often force spouses to quit their jobs and is emotionally taxing. Providing care around the clock can be overwhelming and expensive. All of these factors need to be considered when pursuing a personal injury case with the support of a catastrophic injury lawyer.

When to Hire a Personal Injury Attorney

There is a lot at stake when you have sustained a catastrophic injury. Furthermore, the victim is likely completely consumed with their medical care or coping with their day-to-day pain. It's enough just to get through the day and they don't have the time or ability to think about fighting their legal claim. Furthermore, even though the circumstances of the injury might be obvious to the victim and their family members, this requires careful thought and consideration and to help what's presented to the insurance company. 

It might even require more advanced involvement if the insurance company denies the claim or downplays the severity of the catastrophic injury. It is unfortunately an all too common tactic for insurance carriers to argue that the injury wasn’t catastrophic in the first place. This puts victims in a very difficult situation and some of them might simply take the easier route of accepting the insurance company's low settlement offer just to close things out and move on with their future. But this can be a huge mistake. 

A catastrophic injury lawyer plays a critical part in your catastrophic injury case by helping you recover and handling the legal aspects of your claim associated with an assault, an auto accident, a slip and fall, or a sports injury. Unfortunately, these catastrophic injuries can change your life forever and a variety of damages might be available in your case, including pain and suffering, loss of consortium, past and future lost wages, and past and future medical bills. You need an attorney who has both the experience and the resources to handle a complex case like this and one who won't take no for an answer when the insurance company is wrongfully downplaying the severity of your pain.

Catastrophic injuries can be overwhelming for the victim when it comes to a legal case and it might even be difficult for them to imagine their life ever returning to normal. Catastrophic injuries often come with an emotional component of accepting what your recovery will look like.

Unfortunately, in many cases, nothing can restore you to the same physical and emotional state that you were prior to the accident but your best bet is to hire an experienced catastrophic injury lawyer who has handled many cases like this before to handle each and every aspect of your claim so that you have the best chance of moving forward with your life.     

Morgan & Morgan serves victims of catastrophic injuries with over 1,000 trial-ready attorneys and a successful track record of litigation in such cases. If you or a loved one has suffered due to someone else’s negligence, complete a free, no-risk case evaluation and one of our specialists can assist you with your case or any questions you may have.