Our firm of personal injury lawyers is dedicated to assisting individuals who have endured severe catastrophic injuries as a result of someone else's negligence.
We collaborate with experts across various medical specialties to gain a comprehensive understanding of the profound physical and emotional impact these serious injuries have on our clients. Our Louisiana serious injury attorneys advocate for individuals coping with conditions such as paralysis, traumatic brain injuries, and amputations.
When a catastrophic injury occurs, it can have a profound impact on the individual, their family, and their loved ones. In addition to the physical and emotional toll, there may also be significant financial expenses associated with medical treatment, rehabilitation, and ongoing care.
Our catastrophic injury law firm can help.
What is the Difference Between a Personal Injury and a Catastrophic Injury?
A personal injury refers to physical or mental harm that an individual suffers as a result of the negligence of another person. Some personal injuries can be minor to moderate. These injuries may resolve with just time and rest. Or a minimal round of physical therapy or chiropractic care.
A catastrophic injury is a severe personal injury that typically results in significant and often permanent physical, emotional, and financial consequences for the victim.
Catastrophic injuries are usually characterized by their severity and the long-term or permanent disabilities they cause.
Types of Catastrophic Injuries
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): A TBI can range from a mild concussion to a severe brain injury. Severe TBIs can lead to cognitive impairment, memory problems, and even permanent disability.
- Spinal Cord Injury: A serious accident can cause damage to the neck, back, and spinal cord, leading to partial or complete paralysis. Paraplegia (paralysis of the lower body) and quadriplegia (paralysis of both the upper and lower body) are possible outcomes.
- Amputations: A high-impact accident can result in traumatic amputations of limbs, fingers, or toes, requiring extensive medical treatment and rehabilitation.
- Severe Burns: Sometimes an accident can lead to fires or explosions, causing severe burn injuries. These injuries may require multiple surgeries and long-term care.
- Multiple Fractures: High-velocity collisions can result in multiple bone fractures, often requiring surgery, rehabilitation, and the possibility of permanent disability.
- Organ Damage: The force of impact in an accident can cause internal injuries, including damage to vital organs such as the heart, lungs, liver, or kidneys. These injuries can be life-threatening and/or require lifelong care.
- Facial Injuries: Facial injuries, including fractures, lacerations, and damage to the eyes, can occur in motor vehicle accidents. These injuries may result in disfigurement and long-term physical and emotional trauma.
- Internal Bleeding: Blunt force trauma in car accidents can lead to internal bleeding, which can be life-threatening if not promptly treated.
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): While not a physical injury, a serious accident can cause psychological trauma, resulting in conditions like PTSD, which can have a significant impact on a person's life.
- Wrongful Death: In the most tragic cases, an accident can result in the loss of a loved one, leading to wrongful death claims for surviving family members.
Common Causes of Catastrophic Injuries
- Car Accidents
- Workplace Accidents
- Commercial Truck Accidents
- Boating Accidents
- Motorcycle Accidents
- Pedestrian Accidents
- Motor Vehicle Accidents
- Defective Products
- Workplace Accidents
The Legal Process for Catastrophic Personal Injury
Personal injury claims for serious injuries in Louisiana are more likely to need a personal injury attorney. Determining and then obtaining fair compensation for the injury victim can be more difficult and complicated after these types of accidents.
When you or a family member have been seriously injured, your focus should not be on your legal case. Your focus needs to be on your medical care. Endless doctors' appointments, therapy, tests, and procedures. It can be a full-time job in itself.
A catastrophic injury lawyer can manage your case, handle communication with the insurance company, obtain police reports, preserve evidence, and collect video from surveillance and traffic cameras, dash cam footage, and police body cameras.
With catastrophic injury claims, it is important that you do not settle only for your current medical costs but take into account long-term needs.
Experienced catastrophic injury attorneys can work with a team of experts to create a care plan and determine the projected future expenses based on your injuries. Future expenses include medical bills, vocational rehabilitation, physical and/or occupational therapy, long-term care, and potential home modifications.
Economic impact including current and future lost wages needs to be calculated by expert witnesses as well.
Many serious injury cases can have multiple negligent parties with comparative negligence in the accident complicating the situation even further. Attorneys experienced in personal injury law will know how to identify all potentially responsible parties and will have the know-how to make sure they don’t try to pass the buck on each other.
As a result of your legal team gathering all of this information, together you can make informed decisions on total case value and your attorney can be best informed on how to approach the negotiation process and make decisions on accepting settlements or taking the lawsuit to trial.
How Do You Calculate Compensation After a Catastrophic Injury?
Damages that your personal injury lawyer will fight for after your accident include:
- Medical bills
- Lost wages
- Property damage
- Physical therapy
- Speech therapy
- Occupational therapy
- Vocational rehabilitation
- Long-term care
- Life plans
- Home and transportation modifications
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional pain and suffering
- Future medical bills
- Future lost wages
How Long Do I Have to File a Catastrophic Injury Lawsuit in Louisiana?
Louisiana’s statute of limitations for most personal injury cases is one year. This Louisiana law gives you 365 days from the date of your accident to formally seek damages.
Don’t approach the statute of limitations without taking action. Once the deadline passes, you forever lose the right to file a claim and secure the compensation you deserve. And with catastrophic injury cases, time is of the essence. Contact a catastrophic injury lawyer as soon as possible. The sooner you call, the sooner we can get to work on gathering evidence and collaborating with medical experts.
Contact a Catastrophic Injury Lawyer at LJBLegal
Catastrophic injury claims are complex because they can involve ongoing rehabilitation and future care that can include medical care, vocational rehabilitation, speech or occupational therapy, and sometimes even around-the-clock care.
When you and your family’s financial future is on the line, you shouldn’t take chances. Don’t accept a settlement without consulting a personal injury law firm experienced in catastrophic injury. You need fair and full compensation that covers all aspects of your loss.
If you or someone you love has suffered a catastrophic injury in a Louisiana accident, call us now at 985-240-9773 so we can begin the work of taking the legal burden off of your shoulders so you can focus on getting the care you need to heal.
