Catastrophic Injury Lawyers in Florence
There are many ways you could suffer a personal injury in Florence, Alabama. From car accidents to slip and fall accidents to construction accidents and more, you could sustain a wide range of injuries due to someone else’s negligence. Some injuries can be quite severe, such as catastrophic injuries. These types of injuries can greatly affect your life and future, and you need to discuss your case with an experienced personal injury attorney in your area.
The experienced Florence catastrophic injury lawyers at McCutcheon & Hamner have decades of combined legal experience helping accident victims of traumatic brain injuries and other severe injuries recover due compensation. If you or a family member are worried about the costs of medical treatment from your injury and personal rehabilitation or the future costs of living with a catastrophic injury-related disability, a lawsuit may provide you with an opportunity to regain personal financial stability.
While each case is different, our attorneys have recovered verdicts and settlements to help our personal injury clients cover extensive losses that were incurred because of the negligent, reckless, or intentional act of another party. If you or a loved one has suffered a catastrophic injury of any kind, McCutcheon & Hamner can help you learn about your legal rights and available options for recovering compensation. Contact us today for a free consultation.
To contact us, please fill out our free consultation form or call (256) 333-5000. A statute of limitations may apply to your case, so it is important that you contact our office as soon as possible.
Types of Catastrophic Injuries in Florence
Catastrophic injuries are severe injuries that result in long-term or permanent damage to a person’s health and well-being. These injuries often have a profound impact on the individual’s ability to perform daily activities and may require extensive medical treatment and rehabilitation. Common types of catastrophic injuries include:
- Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs): Severe blows or penetrating injuries to the head can cause traumatic brain injuries, leading to cognitive impairments, memory loss, and changes in behavior.
- Spinal Cord Injuries (SCIs): Injuries to the spinal cord can result in partial or complete paralysis, affecting motor and sensory functions below the injury site.
- Amputations: The loss of a limb due to accidents or medical conditions is considered a catastrophic injury and can significantly impact a person’s mobility and quality of life.
- Severe Burns: Extensive burns covering a significant portion of the body can lead to permanent scarring, disfigurement, and complications such as infections.
- Multiple Fractures: Severe fractures, especially those involving multiple bones or complex fractures, can lead to long-term disabilities and chronic pain.
- Organ Damage: Injuries that cause damage to vital organs, such as the heart, lungs, liver, or kidneys, can have serious and lasting consequences on a person’s health.
- Blindness or Vision Loss: Catastrophic eye injuries or conditions that result in permanent blindness can have a profound impact on an individual’s independence and quality of life.
- Severe Orthopedic Injuries: Injuries to the musculoskeletal system, such as severe joint dislocations or fractures, may require extensive surgery and rehabilitation.
- Crush Injuries: These injuries occur when a part of the body is compressed between two heavy objects, leading to damage to muscles, nerves, and blood vessels.
- Severe Soft Tissue Injuries: Injuries to soft tissues, such as muscles, ligaments, and tendons, can result in long-term pain, limited mobility, and a decreased ability to perform daily activities.
Catastrophic injuries often have far-reaching consequences, not only for the individuals directly affected but also for their families and caregivers. Rehabilitation and ongoing medical care are essential to help individuals cope with the physical, emotional, and financial challenges associated with these types of injuries.
Proving Negligence in a Catastrophic Personal Injury Claim
The elements of a catastrophic personal injury claim or lawsuit depend on the facts. Most personal injury lawsuits are based on negligence, which involves the careless actions or inactions of another.
The four elements of negligence are:
- Duty: The other party owed you a duty of care. For instance, all drivers have an inherent duty of care to drive responsibly and not endanger others, and doctors have a medical duty of care not to cause patients further harm.
- Breach of Duty: The other party breached their duty of care through their negligence, carelessness, recklessness, or intentional misconduct. A good example is a driver causing an accident because they were texting or driving impaired.
- Direct or Proximate Cause: The breach of duty caused the accident.
- Injury: You suffered injuries and compensable damages as a result.
Each of the personal injury case elements above has to be proven by a preponderance of the evidence. If the personal injury lawsuit involves a recalled defective product and the injury is linked to that product, the case is one of strict liability, meaning the cause is considered proven. If the injury results in death, the personal injury lawsuit becomes a wrongful death case.
What Types of Compensation Can I Receive from a Catastrophic Injury Claim in Florence?
Compensation for a catastrophic injury claim can vary depending on factors such as the nature and severity of the injury, the circumstances surrounding the incident, and the jurisdiction in which the claim is filed. While I can provide a general overview, it’s crucial to consult with a legal professional to get advice tailored to your specific situation. That said, here are common types of compensation that may be sought in catastrophic injury claims:
- Medical Expenses: Coverage for current and future medical treatment related to the catastrophic injury, including surgeries, medications, rehabilitation, and assistive devices.
- Lost Wages: Compensation for income lost due to the inability to work during recovery or because of a permanent disability resulting from the catastrophic injury.
- Pain and Suffering: Damages for physical and emotional pain and suffering caused by the injury. This is a non-economic damage that aims to compensate for the intangible impact on the individual’s quality of life.
- Disability and Impairment: Compensation for the long-term effects of the catastrophic injury, including any disability, disfigurement, or impairment that affects the individual’s ability to perform daily activities or enjoy life.
- Loss of Consortium: Damages awarded to the spouse or family members of the injured person for the loss of companionship, support, and intimacy resulting from the injury.
- Property Damage: If the catastrophic injury was the result of a vehicular accident or another incident involving property damage, compensation may be sought for the repair or replacement of damaged property.
- Home Modifications and Assistive Devices: Funding for modifications to the injured person’s home or the purchase of assistive devices to accommodate their new needs or disabilities.
- Rehabilitation Costs: Coverage for the costs associated with physical therapy, occupational therapy, and other forms of rehabilitation necessary for the injured person’s recovery.
- Punitive Damages: In some cases, if the actions leading to the catastrophic injury were particularly egregious or intentional, punitive damages may be awarded to punish the responsible party and deter similar behavior in the future.
It’s important to note that each case is unique, and the types and amounts of compensation can vary. Consulting with a personal injury attorney who handles catastrophic injury claims can help you understand your rights, evaluate the potential value of your claim, and navigate the legal process to seek fair compensation.
The Alabama Brain Injury Lawsuit Process
Your personal injury attorney must first determine whether you have a valid claim for relief. To have a valid brain injury case, you must have been injured by the negligent, reckless, or intentional act of another, such as a careless doctor or a drunk driver.
If the parties to the brain-related lawsuit do not reach an out-of-court settlement, your McCutcheon & Hamner personal injury attorney will prepare for trial by working with various medical experts and other related witnesses to explain to the court how the defendant’s negligence caused your brain injury.
Medical experts may be used to demonstrate to a jury just how your injuries were caused by the malpractice or negligence of another party. The medical neurological expert may testify about the treatment and rehabilitation that will be needed in the future to help you recover. An economic forecast expert may be used to explain to the jury the financial value of your lost wages and diminished earning capacity as a result of your brain injury or accident.
Brain Injury Classifications
A personal traumatic brain injury may be legally or medically classified as mild, moderate, or severe. When evaluating brain injury claims, many insurance companies often attempt to classify the brain injury as “mild.” While some injuries are more severe than others, any attempt by an insurance company to downplay the seriousness of a brain injury is unacceptable.
The brain injury attorneys in our Alabama offices are experienced in dealing with insurance companies in these brain injury-related cases and will work to develop a plan that seeks adequate compensation for a brain injury victim. Even when an injury seems minor at first, the victim may develop serious disabilities or personality changes as a result of the injury.
Mild traumatic brain injuries can at times be the most difficult to diagnose and treat. Many of the symptoms of mild and even moderate brain injuries can be subtle and may not be detected by routine medical tests. In some cases, mild brain injuries can remain undiagnosed for several months.
Symptoms of a mild brain-related injury can include:
- Impaired judgment
- Difficulty speaking and communicating
- Memory loss
- Headaches
- Impaired sight, smell, or taste
- Difficulty swallowing or chewing
- Short–term memory loss, decreased attention span, or trouble concentrating
- Sleep-related disorders
- Unusual anger, depression, or other personality changes
If you or a family member has suffered a brain injury, please complete our case review form to learn about the legal options that may be available to you. Or call our office at (256) 333-5000 for a free no-obligation consultation.
Paralysis & Other Spinal Cord Injuries
Spinal cord injuries can be one of the most serious types of life-changing injuries caused by accidents, negligence, or intentional wrongdoing. Spinal injuries can be life-threatening as well as drastically alter the quality of one’s life. After a spinal injury or accident, the victim may require costly rehabilitation services, intensive medical care, or expensive medical equipment to regain the ability to function and even perform normal, activities of daily living. When full bodily function cannot be regained, spinal injury victims may experience a loss of income and have to pay for assistive devices and medical supplies like wheelchairs, prescription medications as well as in-home healthcare to get the best quality of life possible for the victim.
When considering the level of life-changing impact that a spinal injury of this kind may have on a victim and his or her family members, it is important to consult an experienced personal injury lawyer who is experienced in the handling of spinal injury cases as soon as it is possible to do so. You may have only a limited time from the spinal incident to file a lawsuit against the at-fault party. Taking legal action immediately can help to preserve your right to just compensation.
Spine Injuries: Causes & Effects
A spine injury can be caused by an auto accident, slip and fall, tripping accident, or assault. The spine itself may sustain a blow, or the back may twist or be pulled in an unnatural way. In either case, the vertebrae and/or spinal cord may be stretched, permanently damaged, or severed completely. The spinal cord is part of the central nervous system and has the task of carrying information and commands to and from the brain and the rest of the body. Any spinal area injury to this sensitive area can impair motor control and sensation, leading to severe life-changing consequences such as paraplegia (paralysis of the legs and lower torso) or quadriplegia (paralysis of the legs, arms, and torso).
The spinal cord area has four regions, these regions are known as the cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacral regions. Injuries that occur higher on the spinal cord (in the cervical or thoracic areas) can often result in the most severe debilitating effects because they can impact a larger region of the body. Depending on the location and extent of the spinal damage, a victim may suffer from partial or total paralysis which can affect part or all of the body.
Severe Burn Injuries
With any personal injury burn case, it’s difficult to make an accurate prediction as to what any burn injury settlement or verdict will be. Some of the biggest factors can be the severity of the burn injury, the intentions of the person who may have caused the burns, and the extent to which a defendant can pay a settlement. Burn injury cases tend to have a higher settlement value due to the pain and permanent scarring.
Who Can I Hold Responsible for My Burn Injury?
With a personal injury burn accident case, there can be multiple parties that may have had a duty of care.
Depending on the facts of a case, possible parties with a duty of care to you at the time of your burn accident may include the following:
- An employer
- A property owner
- The owner of a vehicle
- The driver of a vehicle
- A product manufacturer
- A utility company
- A propane company
- A person who may have serviced a propane tank, vehicle, piece of equipment, etc.
- A person’s landlord
The Florence burn attorneys at McCutcheon & Hamner will thoroughly investigate your burn accident and injury to determine who should be sued to compensate you for your pain, suffering, and financial losses resulting from your burn injury.
Expert Witnesses That May Be Needed in a Burn Injury Lawsuit
Burn injury lawsuits may require the expert legal testimony of medical doctors, biomedical professionals, and engineers. At McCutcheon & Hamner, we have the needed resources to get qualified expert witnesses and pay for professional visuals that can make their testimony come to life in a courtroom trial.
The personal injury lawyers at McCutcheon & Hamner understand the complex science behind burn injury cases we have successfully used complex, science-based testimony of expert witnesses, in pre-trial motions and during negotiation settlements.
At McCutcheon & Hamner, we recognize the horrible pain and disfigurement resulting from burn injuries and the legal and financial needs of burn survivors and their families.
Loss Of Limb & Amputation Injuries
A traumatic amputation personal injury occurs with the loss of a body part toe, finger, leg or arm) which is caused by a serious personal injury. Some causes of a traumatic amputation injury may include car accidents, construction accidents, factory accidents, farm accidents, other work-related accidents, or injuries involving defective products.
Amputation accident and injury cases may involve an accident, medical malpractice, a defective product, a dog attack, or assault.
Fault is determined by the facts involved in each amputation injury case. If someone is at fault for your amputation personal injury, you have a right to seek compensation from all liable parties involved.
Amputation Lawsuit: Liability
Liable parties in a personal injury case are people and companies that are responsible under the law for your amputation accident or injury.
Liable parties in an amputation case may include one or more of the following:
- A vehicle owner
- An employer
- A trucking company
- The driver of a vehicle
- The owner of freight being hauled by a tractor-trailer truck
- A construction company
- The owner of a dog
- The manufacturer of a defective product that caused your amputation
- The manufacturer of a drug responsible for your amputation, such as a medication that may have caused gangrene, which leads to an amputation
- The owner of the property on which you were hurt, such as the owner of a construction site or a farm
- The person who assaulted you and inflicted injuries that led to your amputation injury
Amputation Lawsuit: Amputation Victim Compensation
After your amputation, you may be contacted by insurance companies THAT WILL BE seeking a quick settlement. Insurance companies will never offer you the amount of amputation injury compensation you deserve. Do not talk with these insurance representatives of the potentially liable parties. Anything you say about your case can be used by the insurance company to pay you less than you should get and deserve in your case.
When you have lost a limb, you deserve justice. You won’t get your limb back, the only way you will get the justice and compensation you deserve is to get the most money possible in an amputation personal injury lawsuit against all of the liable parties.
Compensation for amputation injury and accident victims, may include money for the following:
- Disability
- Embarrassment
- Loss of quality of life
- Emotional distress
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Lost earning capacity
- Disfigurement
- Pain and suffering
When McCutcheon & Hamner represents amputation victims, we use our own investigation team to gather evidence regarding fault, liability, and damages (the amount you should be compensated for your amputation injury).
In most amputation personal injury cases the insurers or insurance companies of the liable parties are contractually obligated to pay you the compensation agreed to in an amputation personal injury settlement or monies awarded to you by a jury.
Medical Negligence
Medical negligence actions in the state of Alabama are governed by the Alabama Medical Liability Act. This act was passed by the Alabama legislature, and it requires a person who claims to have been injured by the negligence of a healthcare professional to prove certain things. One unusual requirement is that the dean of the Medical School of Harvard University is not qualified to come to Alabama to testify that your doctor did anything wrong. A dentist may not testify against an orthodontist and an orthodontist may not testify against an endodontist. Requirements of the Act are that the medical specialist must be equally qualified, licensed to practice, and actually practiced in the same field as the health care professional you allege has committed an act of medical negligence. If that physician is board-certified then the expert you rely on must be board-certified.
Medical negligence is defined as a breach of the relevant standard of care. Damages must result as a proximate result of that breach. These cases are very difficult to win and very difficult to prove. One of the reasons is that doctors are reluctant to testify against each other and another more practical reason is that most doctors out there are really trying to help people. That is no excuse for negligence, but the intent is different and I think the jury often sees that.
Personal injury lawyers who do medical negligence actions have to prove what the standard of care is through the testimony of an equally well-qualified healthcare professional or book that is recognized in the field. You have to prove that that standard was breached and prove that the breach of that standard was an act of negligence that caused the harm that you claim. Statistics show that lawyers who file these claims are losing about 8 out of 10 even though some reports indicate that medical negligence is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States.
Sports Injuries
As an accident and injury law firm, the attorneys with McCutcheon & Hamner get a lot of questions about sports-related injuries to minor children. Often, these sports injuries occur at a school or during a school-sponsored event. Occasionally, we will see a child or teenage athlete injured pretty badly and often as the result of a flagrant foul committed by an opposing player. Outraged parents want to sue someone and ask us about lawsuits arising out of sports injuries.
Schools, school officials, teachers, coaches, and school boards are all protected by the concept of sovereign immunity. Sovereign immunity is a concept that comes to us from English common law when the kings and queens of England were thought to have been anointed by God. They were deemed immune from the courts of justice here on earth as they were beyond its earthly influence. Governments still retain sovereign immunity especially as it protects the governmental pocketbook.
Generally speaking, governmental immunity or sovereign immunity applies to employees of a governmental agency who are performing their duties. Obviously, if they are not at work but merely citizens violating traffic regulations and injuring someone, they are not immune.
An intentional injury by an opposing player could be the basis of both a criminal and civil penalty. This does occasionally occur. the problem with a civil lawsuit against a minor for injuring someone in a sporting event is that minors have no money and you cannot insure against an intentional act. If you intend to hurt someone and do, there is no insurance coverage to protect you.
The only cases that have been truly successful are those unfortunate cases where there is a failure of equipment such as a football helmet that is designed to protect against injury and injury occurs. Those cases have been successfully litigated as product liability cases.
Contact an Experienced Florence Catastrophic Injury Attorney Today
The Florence catastrophic injury attorneys at McCutcheon & Hamner are here for you. Our attorneys have decades of combined legal experience, and you can trust us to explain your rights and options for pursuing compensation from the parties who caused your injuries.
However, you must act quickly to seek compensation. Alabama allows you only two years from the date of your injury to file a catastrophic injury lawsuit in civil court. If you don’t have a lawyer file a lawsuit on your behalf within that time, you will lose your rights to pursue compensation.
Contact us today for a free consultation concerning your Florence catastrophic injury claim and learn how we can help.
Schedule a free consultation with our catastrophic injury attorneys in Florence today by calling us at (256) 333-5000 or filling out our online contact form. We are here to help.
Florence Office
2210 Helton Drive
Florence, AL 35630
(256) 333-5000
