At a moment’s notice, your life can change forever. A catastrophic injury accident can cause extensive injuries that could affect every aspect of your life. Victims of workplace, auto, medical malpractice, and other injury accidents may suffer from spinal cord, brain, burn, and other injuries that can be debilitating. Even worse, some catastrophic accidents result in fatal injuries, leaving a grieving family without their loved one.
If you are a victim of a catastrophic injury accident in Alabama, you need a knowledgeable, compassionate personal injury attorney to fight for your rights. Call the Law Office of Dwayne L. Brown for a free case review. Our staff can explain your legal rights and options. Also, we work on contingency, so we only get paid when you win.
You have a right to compensation from the negligent party in your catastrophic accident case. We can help you get started today.
What Is a Catastrophic Injury?
Any accident that results in injuries can be an overwhelming affair for the victim. Having to manage filing claims and dealing with legal issues while healing from your injuries can be a heavy burden on anyone.
Now add the prospect of recovering from a catastrophic injury. With catastrophic injuries, your and your family’s lives are changed forever. Catastrophic injuries could affect your ability to perform routine tasks and are often permanent. Your injuries may prevent you from going back to work. You may be physically or mentally unable to take care of yourself or even enjoy the activities you once loved.
When the injury results in death, the victim’s family may face financial hardship on top of the pain of losing their loved one. But you may have options.
Types of Catastrophic Injuries
When these types of serious injuries occur, they can require extensive research and legal work to help victims receive the compensation they deserve. Some of the types of catastrophic injury claims the Law Office of Dwayne L. Brown handles include:
- Spinal cord injuries
- Third-degree and higher burn injuries
- Amputations
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
- Internal organ injuries
- Multiple broken or crushed bones
- Wrongful death
Our legal team is ready to help you build your claim so that you and your family get the care you need to heal.
Types of Accidents That Contribute to Catastrophic Injuries
We have handled various accident types, and each type can lead to catastrophic injuries for the victim. Such accidents that could result in a catastrophic injury include:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Construction accidents
- Medical malpractice
- Nursing home neglect and abuse
- Premises liability
- Slip and fall accidents
- Dog bite incidents
If you or a family member are suffering from a catastrophic injury due to someone else’s negligent behavior, we can help you identify the liable party, or parties, to pursue compensation.
Identifying the Liable Party to Your Catastrophic Injury
As your catastrophic injury and wrongful death attorney, we will investigate your accident to determine who is liable for your injuries. To identify the liable party, we need to prove negligence. There are four qualities that must be established in any case founded on negligence. Those four elements are:
Duty of Care
Whether by law, accepted professional standards, or codes of conduct, we expect the other party to behave as anyone in the same position and education would. For example, we expect drivers on the road to follow traffic laws.
Breach of Duty
At some point, the at-fault party deviated in their behavior, either through an action or an inaction. Using drivers on the road as our example, the other driver was looking at their cell phone while driving, taking their attention away from the road.
Causation
Failing to behave as one would expect, the at-fault party causes an accident that injures the victim. In our scenario, the other driver doesn’t notice you in the lane next to them because they are focused on their phone. They hit you, cause a serious collision, and you suffer catastrophic injuries.
Damages
Finally, the accident leaves the victim with injuries and losses, legally referred to as damages. These damages have an impact on the victim’s life. To conclude the car accident scenario, you or your loved one now have extensive medical care, time away from work, and uncertainty about your future.
To learn more, call us for a free case review today. Attorney Dwayne L. Brown can put his 30 years of experience helping accident victims to work for you.
Multiple Parties Could Be Liable for Your Catastrophic Injuries
Additionally, if we find that multiple parties are responsible for your injuries, we will pursue compensation from all of them. Take truck accidents as an example. There are multiple parties involved in the transportation of products and people. From the driver, the trucking company, the loaders, to the mechanic that works on the truck, if any one of them failed in their responsibilities, we would file personal injury claims to all the insurers.
Evidence That Proves Negligence
To prove the four elements of negligence requires evidence. The evidence we would gather could include the following:
- Accident and police reports provide relevant data on the incident and often give an unbiased opinion on the cause and who is at fault.
- Medical records detail the injuries, surgeries, treatment, rehabilitation, therapy, and prognosis of accident victims.
- Photos of the accident scene, your injuries, and other related items can validate claims.
- Video from business surveillance, traffic cams, and cell phones can present events before, during, and after the accident.
- Eyewitness statements can give another perspective on the accident.
- Pay stubs and employment records can show the financial losses the victim suffers by being unable to work now and possibly in the future.
We will also consult with experts in the fields of medicine, finance, biomechanics accident reconstruction. Their testimonies can provide powerful insight into the cause of the accident and the effect a catastrophic injury will have on you. Your damages should cover your current losses and also the healthcare costs, pain and suffering, and lost income you will experience in the future.
Catastrophic Injury Damages You Can Request in Your Claim
The severity of your injuries and the effect they have on your life directly influence the compensation you can request from the liable parties in your case. Typically, compensation is in one of two groups: economic and non-economic damages.
Economic damages are tangible losses. They have a definitive value attached to them. Examples of the economic damages are:
- Medical bills, current and in the future
- Rehabilitation and therapy costs
- Home modifications
- Lost wages
- Loss of earning capacity
Non-economic damages represent the losses the victim suffers to their quality of life. They encompass:
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Disability
- Scaring
- Loss of consortium
From our investigation, we can determine the full range of damages you may claim. We can assess their value and request compensation from the liable parties and their insurers.
Wrongful Death Damages for Grieving Families
Please accept our condolences if you have lost a loved one. We understand the pain and heartache your family is facing right now and want to take on some of that burden for you. We can help you pursue compensation for the loss of your loved one.
In Alabama, the personal representative or executor of the estate can file a wrongful death lawsuit. If there is no personal representative, the probate courts will appoint one. Your family can claim compensatory damages in the form of funeral and burial expenses and medical expenses before your loved one’s passing. However, the state will only award punitive damages. These damages are to punish the defendant and deter others from committing similar acts.
Also, the state has no cap on punitive damages in a wrongful death lawsuit.
We Will Represent Your Best Interests
Once we have established liability and determined your losses, we will handle filing your claim and negotiating for a fair settlement. If we cannot reach a fair settlement with the insurance companies and their lawyers, we will be prepared to take your case to court. We will make our arguments, present our evidence, and continue our fight for what is right for you and your family.
Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury and Wrongful Death
You do have a time limit to pursue damages for your catastrophic injuries. Under AL Code § 6-2-38, personal injury cases must be filed within two years of the accident’s date. For wrongful death cases, families have two years also, per AL Code § 6-5-410.
These statutory deadlines are important for two reasons. For one, it takes time to build a claim, and the sooner we can start, the more likely we can preserve crucial evidence. For another, if the deadline expires, you may lose your right to file a lawsuit against the liable parties altogether.
Call Us Today for Help With Your Montgomery Catastrophic Injury Case
If your family is facing income loss, medical costs, emotional pain, ongoing medical treatment, and other damages caused by a catastrophic injury or wrongful death, contact the Law Office of Dwayne L. Brown at our location in Montgomery. Our legal team offers free consultations to discuss the options available to those who have been harmed by someone else’s negligence.
