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The aftermath of an accident that results in catastrophic injury permanently changes the course of your life. Catastrophic injury victims can have limitations that go far beyond the initial accident, leaving them struggling to rebuild. Unlike other injuries, catastrophic injuries do not simply heal with time. Rather, they cause limitations and losses that permanently impact the victim’s quality of life. Catastrophic injuries can also lead to ongoing financial costs or impact the victim’s ability to generate income.
When you suffer catastrophic injuries due to another party’s negligence, an injury claim can provide compensation for those losses. A Shreveport catastrophic injury lawyer at Morris & Dewett will provide comprehensive support and guidance as you progress the claim process, increasing the odds that you will recover fair compensation for the losses you sustained.
Catastrophic injuries are permanent. They mean ongoing pain or limitations, significant financial impact, and ongoing struggles, often for the rest of your life. Dealing with the aftermath of a catastrophic injury can permanently alter the course of your life.
Catastrophic injuries may include:
Catastrophic injuries permanently impact the victim’s health, wellness, and overall well-being. Unlike with other types of injuries, you may not have a clear end to medical bills or the lost time at work that impacted your income. Instead, those limitations and issues may linger, leaving you unsure of how to guide your future.
Catastrophic injuries occur in many scenarios. Any type of accident can result in catastrophic injury. However, they commonly include:
A catastrophic injury can occur any time you have an accident. When someone else’s negligence causes that accident, working with a lawyer provides you with the tools you need to establish the compensation you should expect.
At Morris & Dewett Injury Lawyers, we have extensive experience managing catastrophic injury claims and helping our clients pursue the compensation they deserve for those damages. We have successfully recovered millions of dollars in our personal injury practice, providing our clients with much-needed compensation after their accidents. Don’t allow legal missteps to leave you with an untenable financial burden. If you have suffered injuries due to another party’s negligence or because of a faulty product, you should seek to hold the other party liable, and we can assist you with that process.
Recovering compensation after a catastrophic injury in Shreveport proves essential as you deal with extensive medical bills and other financial losses related to the accident. At Morris & Dewett, we cannot guarantee the compensation you will recover after your accident, since compensation can depend on a number of factors. However, we can help you take a look at the damages you sustained and put together a comprehensive claim that covers those elements.
Most injury claims include compensation for:
The impact your injury has on your ability to work and generate income can depend on a number of factors. Most people will end up out of work for quite some time immediately after a catastrophic accident in Shreveport since they will need time to recover before they can go back to their former work responsibilities. However, your ability to return to work can depend on several factors, including:
The longer you have to stay out of work after an accident, the more it impacts your current income and your financial state. A Shreveport catastrophic injury lawyer at Morris & Dewett will help you go over the time you missed at work after your accident, from the time you missed immediately after the accident due to your recovery to the time you had to miss due to follow-up procedures.
Catastrophic injuries often mean not only emergency medical treatment but ongoing hospitalization or medical care needs, a stay in a long-term treatment facility, and other comprehensive medical care. You may need physical therapy to help you rebuild your strength or occupational therapy to learn how you can cope with the limitations caused by your injuries. Those ongoing medical bills can add up substantially. Keep track of all medical bills as they come in, including any co-pays and deductibles related to your treatment.
Catastrophic injuries not only lead to the need for immediate medical treatment, they may leave you with ongoing, extensive future medical needs. As part of your catastrophic injury claim, you have the right to include compensation for anticipated future medical treatment. For example, if you suffered extensive burns because of your accident, you may need plastic surgery in the future to help reduce scarring and restore your former appearance. If you suffered a traumatic brain injury, you may know that you will need to work with an occupational therapist for months or years after the accident. Talk to your lawyer about those anticipated future medical costs and how they have the potential to impact you.
Many catastrophic injury victims find that their injuries have a long-term impact on their ability to work in their former field. For example, if you work as a construction worker, a spinal cord injury can permanently take you off the job site, leaving you unable to work. A traumatic brain injury might influence your ability to think creatively or focus, which could interfere with marketing or financial jobs. Talk to your lawyer about whether you will have the capacity to return to work after your accident.
While many of the damages you include as part of a catastrophic injury claim in Shreveport will have direct financial implications, the pain and suffering you have to contend with after your accident may not. As part of your catastrophic injury claim, you have the right to include the non-economic, or non-tangible, elements of your suffering. Your lawyer may ask about:
While financial compensation cannot restore those losses, you still deserve compensation for the non-financial damages associated with your injuries.
In order to file a catastrophic injury claim, we will establish the party or parties that bear liability for the incident. Establishing liability means looking at several clear elements related to the incident.
First, we take a look at who had a duty of care to you at the time of the accident. A duty of care includes any duty to another party. In the case of a personal injury claim, there is a duty to avoid injury toward that party. For example, on the road, drivers bear a duty of care to other drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, and all others who use the road. They must act in a way that helps prevent injury to those parties. Likewise, the property owner bears a duty of care to anyone who visits that property, whether the property is a commercial or a private one.
Negligence covers the failure of one party to behave with the expected level of care, based on the circumstances. In most injury claims, negligence means that the party has in some way violated their duty of care to the injured party. For example, a driver on the road who chooses to drive while distracted, despite Louisiana’s clear laws against distracted driving, commits an act of negligence against the other drivers on the road.
In order to establish your right to file an injury claim, you will need to show that your accident and damages occurred as a result of the other party’s negligent actions. Because you suffered a catastrophic injury in your accident, you will generally have clear damages to show from the incident, including your medical costs and wage losses. Your lawyer will show the link between your damages and the incident.
In Louisiana, the statute of limitations for a personal injury claim, including a catastrophic injury claim, is one year after the accident date.
Because Louisiana has a short statute of limitations compared to many other states, you may need to act quickly to preserve your right to compensation following a catastrophic injury. Contact a lawyer as soon as possible to proceed with your injury claim.
Because of the devastating nature of catastrophic injuries, you need a lawyer on your side before you move forward with your injury claim. A catastrophic injury claim often involves substantial sums, and the insurance company may fight to reduce the compensation it has to pay out as much as possible. As a result, if you try to handle your claim on your own or wait to get in touch with a lawyer, you may delay the processing of your claim or reduce the compensation you can ultimately recover.
You may notice several signs that indicate you need a lawyer immediately, as the insurance company throws obstacles in your way or delays your ability to get the compensation you expect.
Despite the fact that you have clear evidence of liability or know who caused your accident, the insurance company may try to deny liability or coverage for the incident. The insurance company may:
If the insurance company denies liability for the accident, or denies partial liability for the accident, you need a lawyer to clearly establish liability and show your right to compensation.
Catastrophic injuries often mean extensive suffering and ongoing financial losses. You may need extensive medical treatment, including treatment that extends well after the initial incident. Unfortunately, the insurance company that covers the liable party may choose to ignore the extent of those injuries, leaving you without the compensation you need.
Suppose you have to fight with the insurance company over the extent of your injuries or the medical treatments you need. In that case, a lawyer will lay out the full damages you suffered because of your accident and more clearly establish the losses related to your injuries.
Insurance companies often pressure accident victims to accept settlements that are not in the victim’s best interests. After a catastrophic injury in Shreveport, you may receive a low settlement offer from the insurance company soon after your accident. That offer often reflects only a small percentage of the damages you actually sustained in the accident. Unfortunately, so soon after the incident, you may have no idea what your future medical costs or long-term financial losses will look like. The insurance company may also put a great deal of pressure on you to accept that offer quickly, including telling you that it will be taken off the table if you do not accept it fast.
A lawyer can take a closer look at the damages you really sustained because of the accident and fight on your behalf to raise the settlement to a fair offer that reflects the damages you really sustained in the accident.
After a catastrophic accident, you need to take care of things quickly. Your financial stability can depend on the compensation you can recover. However, the insurance company may make it difficult for you to get in contact with anyone who can provide the answers you need. If you have trouble getting in touch with the insurance company or getting the insurance company to call you back after an accident, a lawyer can get the answers you need.
Catastrophic injuries can leave you with a lot of questions. You may not know how much compensation you should reasonably expect, how to hold someone else accountable for your accident, or even how to protect your privacy as you deal with insurance companies, doctors, and more. If you have any questions about a catastrophic injury claim or your right to compensation, a lawyer can offer those answers and support you as you navigate the claim.
When you suffer catastrophic injuries due to another party’s negligence, it can be difficult to figure out where to turn. Do not try to handle your claim alone! Instead, reach out to a Shreveport catastrophic injury lawyer at Morris & Dewett to discuss your right to compensation.
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