Any accident that leaves you dealing with a physical injury can disrupt your life for weeks, or months. In especially serious situations, the damage might last for years or become permanent.
These types of injuries are called “catastrophic” by legal professionals and will often require compensation from a personal injury lawsuit in order to offset the costs that come with it. If you have a viable case, a Stone Mountain catastrophic injury lawyer can help you identify every short-term and long-term cost you need to account for and include it in a claim for damages.
Causes of Catastrophic Injuries
Almost any type of event could cause permanent damage. Some of the most common causes that we see include:
- Motor vehicle collisions
- Defective products or drugs
- Unsafe premises or inadequate security
- Medical negligence
For any of these incidents to lead to a lawsuit, there must be another party that was negligent in some way, which caused or contributed to the injury.
How Are Catastrophic Injury Claims Unique?
There is no difference in how Georgia law handles catastrophic injury claims compared to other types of personal injury litigation. What makes catastrophic injury cases different and more complicated is the fact that these injuries are often permanent and debilitating.
If you suffer a lifelong disability or sustain permanent disfigurement because of spinal cord trauma, brain damage, paralysis, a high-degree burn, or the loss of a limb, there is no amount of compensation that will return you to your pre-accident self. Instead, the goal of a catastrophic injury lawsuit must be to maximize your overall quality of life despite the life-altering condition.
These claims must account for immediately obvious losses like emergency medical bills and personal property damage, but also for long-term and subjective forms of harm like:
- Future medical or rehabilitative care costs
- Lost income
- Costs of home or personal vehicle modification—for example, adding wheelchair ramps
- Physical pain and suffering
- Psychological/emotional distress
- Lost consortium
- Lost enjoyment of life
A Stone Mountain catastrophic injury attorney can provide vital help with building a claim that covers all past and future losses that you might experience.
Filing Deadlines After a Catastrophic Accident
Another complicating factor with a catastrophic injury claim is the statute of limitations for personal injury litigation in Georgia. Even though catastrophic injuries will likely last for a victim’s entire lifetime, they still have just two years after the incident to file a lawsuit, in accordance with Official Code of Georgia § 9-3-33.
This rule has few exceptions, and failing to follow it will mean that you are barred from being able to ever file suit for this specific incident. It is important to work with a catastrophic injury attorney in Stone Mountain so they can track the deadline.
Speak with a Stone Mountain Catastrophic Injury Attorney About Legal Options
Your life may never be the same after suffering a serious injury. While you cannot fully fix it, you can file a claim against the negligent party to recover compensation that will pay for medical treatments and other losses. Call our attorneys and learn how a Stone Mountain catastrophic injury lawyer from Childers, Schlueter & Smith can work with you.
