What is a catastrophic injury? Catastrophic injuries are serious injuries that cause long-term and/or permanent disabilities. They can result from major accidents such as car accidents, truck accidents, oil-field explosions, industrial accidents at plants and refineries, and defective products.
Catastrophic injuries impact your life by making it difficult or impossible to work, care for your family, or engage in the daily activities that most people take for granted. They can result in long-term mental pain and suffering and serious and ongoing physical pain.
You may need expensive, continuous physical care and/or modifications to your home. You may need therapy for depression and anxiety. The day-to-day impacts of a catastrophic injury are always with the victim.
Proving Fault In Your Catastrophic Injury Case
To recover compensation for a catastrophic personal injury, you need to prove the following:
- There was a duty of care to you, the plaintiff. A duty of care is a responsibility to avoid harm to another person. For example, a business owner must keep his place of business reasonably free of hazards that would endanger you if you were a customer. Similarly, a car driver has a duty not to endanger other drivers by driving intoxicated. Sometimes, a duty of care is set forth in the law. Sometimes, a duty of care is set by legal precedent.
- The duty of care was breached. This breach could be due to negligence or willful misconduct.
- There is causation between the negligence or misconduct and your injury. Note that if your own negligence played a role in your injury, your compensation will be reduced accordingly. You must be less than 50% liable for your injury to recovery.
- You suffered damages.
An experienced Houston catastrophic accident lawyer can help you develop legal strategies that will compensate you for your accident. These strategies include:
- Describing and documenting the injuries you suffered
- Explaining the medical procedures required due to your catastrophic injury
- Documenting all of your out-of-pocket expenses, from medical costs to lost wages
- Documenting your non-economic costs, including pain and suffering, and
- Investigating all the financial resources available from the defendant and insurance carriers
In order to prevail on your claim, you must provide proof by a preponderance of the evidence. This means that you must show that each element of the case is more likely than not true.
Your lawyer can also explore the possibility of punitive damages, which may be available in the case of wanton negligence, unreasonably dangerous conduct, and malicious intent.
Contact Lopez Franco
The attorneys at Lopez Franco have many years of experience guiding their clients through the legal process of trying and proving cases involving catastrophic injuries. We are experienced and able trial attorneys who also provide compassionate and caring legal services. If you’ve been hurt in an accident, contact us today for a free consultation.