Virginia Beach Catastrophic Injury Lawyer
When someone is permanently impaired, they are considered to be catastrophically injured. When this is due to another person’s negligence, they have the right to bring a claim for compensation against the responsible party. A Virginia Beach catastrophic injury lawyer can help you understand your rights and options if you or your family is in this position.
By working with Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers, you can work with a highly experienced team of injury attorneys who know how to deal with these claims. We work with families like yours all the time and can use our experience to help you get the compensation you need and deserve.
What Is a Catastrophic Injury?
A catastrophic injury is a permanent injury that significantly impairs a person’s ability to function. Usually, these injuries are classified as the loss of a limb or a permanent impairment like a traumatic brain injury or paralysis that prevents a person from being able to live the life he or she had before the injury.
In a catastrophic injury case, there is a greater need for expert testimony to prove the nature and extent of the injury. The attorney will work with the doctors, econimists, and life care planners to ensure that the jury and insurance company fully understand the injury, and its effects on the individual. These claims also need to humanize the victim by making sure the jury understands the life he or she had before the injury and how it will change due to the injury in order to maximize the amount of compensation awarded.
What Should Someone Avoid Doing After a Catastrophic Injury?
Injured parties must avoid discussing their case with anyone before speaking with a catastrophic injury attorney. Additionally, an injured person should not make the mistake of missing important doctor’s appointments and treatment sessions. Claimants must listen to their health care providers and do everything that they are told to do. If an individual fails to listen to his or her doctors and gets worse as a result, the defendant may try to blame the claimant for some of his or her losses.
Compensating for Employment in Virginia Beach
The attorney will try to establish the past lost wages as well the person’s future loss of earnings or earning capacity in a comprehensive catastrophic injury claim. The attorney will work with a vocational expert who can show what the person was capable of making before the accident and the reduced future earning capacity going forward so that the victim can be adequately compensated for that difference.
Typical examples of jobs someone may not be able to do after a catastrophic injury are being a longshoreman at Newport News Shipbuilding or a railroad worker for Norfolk Southern. Someone who was working as an engineer or conductor could have been earning $100,000 before his or her injury. If he or she is unable to go back on the job, there will be a significant loss of earning capacity in the future, even if it is possible to return to a different job. For example, if someone who is catastrophically injured can work as a security guard or a cashier, he or she will only earn $20,000 to $30,000 a year. The difference of $70,000 a year becomes part of the loss of earning capacity that is compensable in a claim. A Virginia Beach catastrophic injury lawyer can help determine how an injury will affect your professional future and will work to get the compensation you need for those effects.
How Can a Claimant Help His or Her Catastrophic Injury Case?
One of the best ways claimants could help their lawyer is by sharing whatever information they have. A person cannot give his or her attorney too much information. It is beneficial for an individual to keep a daily log of what he or she has been through or how he or she is feeling. A claimant should document the injury through periodic photographs.
This is especially important with burn injury cases because these are visible manifestations that anyone could tell the severity of by simply looking at it. As an injury heals, documenting it through photographs can be a helpful tool to a lawyer negotiating a case.
Finding the Right Lawyer
When a catastrophic accident happens in Virginia Beach, the person is usually transferred to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. Often, after that happens, a close relative of the injured person will reach out to an injury lawyer who can visit the hospital to answer questions and start working on the case.
It is critical to work with an attorney who has experience handling catastrophic injury cases because such an attorney knows how to prove the elements of damages to the insurance company, a jury, or a judge. The attorney can maximize the recovery so that the injured person can be financially stable for the rest of his or her life.
Catastrophic injuries are expensive. Between the medical treatment necessary and the inability to work, you may be wondering how your family can cope with the financial burden. The catastrophic injury attorneys at Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers are dedicated to helping families in your position. With a comprehensive claim, you may be able to recover the compensation you need to allow your family to survive what is a challenging time. Call today to set up a free consultation to learn more.
