A catastrophic injury can genuinely change your life forever. When an injury is long-lasting or permanent and severely affects your quality of life and ability to work, it may be classified as a catastrophic injury.
Catastrophic injuries often require extensive medical treatment and rehabilitation and can profoundly impact an individual’s quality of life.
Often, these injuries result from negligence or wrongdoing on the part of another person or entity.
Working with a Seattle personal injury lawyer with a proven track record of recovering damages for catastrophic injury victims will ensure you receive the compensation you deserve.
Types of catastrophic injuries include traumatic brain injuries, neck and spinal cord injuries, burns, loss of limbs, facial injuries that cause significant scars and deformity, loss of vision, hearing or speech, organ damage, permanent disfigurement, or disability.
Some of the most common causes of catastrophic injuries include car accidents, falls, workplace mishaps, truck accidents, construction site accidents, sports, and recreational activities, defective products, fireworks-related accidents, explosions, motorcycle accidents, and gunshot and firearms accidents.
Damages That You Can Collect In A Personal Injury Claim Or Lawsuit Involving Catastrophic Injuries
Although no amount of money can make up for the suffering you have endured, obtaining a fair settlement can make a big difference in providing the financial help you need to recover.
The Seattle catastrophic injury lawyers at Pacific West Injury Law seek to get adequate compensation for victims of devastating injuries and help them and their families who have to undergo numerous lifestyle adjustments.
The skills and resourceful attorneys at our Seattle personal injury law firm help victims recover:
Economic Damages
Past, Current, And Future Medical Costs
In most catastrophic injury cases, the medical bills are the single most significant expense incurred by the victim. Victims require continuous medical care and treatment for their injuries.
After initial treatment and rehabilitation, victims of catastrophic injuries often require further medical care in the future. Expert testimony from doctors and therapists can establish that the victim requires other extensive treatment.
Lost Wages And Business Income
Whether employed, self-employed, or a business owner, a victim can recover compensation for the time spent away from work or business.
Loss of future earning capacity
Some catastrophic injuries harm the victims in such a manner that they are no longer able to do the job that they were doing before the accident. In many instances, a victim may change from a full-time to a part-time job or move from a highly-paid position to a lower-remuneration job. In such cases, additional compensation may be awarded.
Permanent Injury And Disability
Some injuries have lifelong implications on the health of a victim. Victims may never fully recover from these injuries.
Care and Assistance
Family members may need to reduce their working hours or quit altogether to provide care to victims, leading to further financial loss.
It is well established that courts can award the plaintiff direct compensation for the cost of care provided by friends and family for no financial gain, which is known as gratuitous care.
Out-Of-Pocket Expenses
Expenses you pay out-of-pocket include the costs associated with traveling to and from medical appointments, assistive devices and technologies, prescription medications, hiring workers to provide home healthcare and other household services, and home and vehicle modifications and adjustments, ranging from ramps and widened doorways to accessible vehicles. These modifications can be costly but necessary for promoting independence and quality of life.
Non-economic Damages
Pain and suffering
Injuries cause pain that can be extreme and debilitating. Such pain Is accompanied by emotional suffering and stress. Washington law allows victims to collect compensation for such sufferings.
Emotional distress
Additional mental and emotional illnesses can arise from catastrophic injuries sustained. If proven by experts, emotional distress can support a victim’s claim for further compensation.
Loss of consortium
Catastrophic injuries can limit and restrict a victim’s essential life functions resulting in loss of love, affection, and companionship. Under the loss of consortium, a victim can claim damages for physical isolation suffered due to catastrophic injuries.
Loss of enjoyment of life
Victims of catastrophic injuries are entitled to these damages if they cannot perform physical, social, and recreational activities they enjoyed performing before sustaining the devastating injury.
Punitive damages may be awarded in catastrophic injury cases if the defendant has acted with malice, recklessness, or deceit. Punitive damages are awarded not necessarily to compensate the plaintiff but to punish the defendant.
The Doctrine Of Pure Comparative Negligence In Washington
Even if you are partially to blame for your injury, you can still recover damages under Washington’s pure comparative negligence laws. The total amount of money you receive will just be reduced in proportion to your degree of fault: So, if you were 50% to blame for a car accident that caused you $2 million in damages, you should be able to recover $1 million.
Washington state’s statute of limitations for filing personal injury lawsuits is three years. The clock starts running on the date of your accident or injury.
There are no caps on the compensation you can be awarded in Washington personal injury lawsuits. Washington courts have held that these kinds of damage caps are unconstitutional.
Pacific West Injury Law -Empathy, Perseverance, And Unprecedented Results Are The Hallmarks Of Our Legal Practice
Pacific West Injury Law is a client-centered personal injury law firm with friendly and accessible attorneys.
We like to fight for the underdog. Empathetic lawyers at our Seattle law firm use a combination of dedication, intelligence, and personal attention, along with years of experience, to get our clients the compensation they need and the justice they deserve.
If you or a loved one have suffered catastrophic injuries due to someone else’s negligence in Seattle, you should consult a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. The experienced attorneys at Pacific West Injury Law can help you understand your legal rights and guide you through recovering compensation for your injuries.
Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us for a free consultation and let our expertise work for you.