While any injury caused by another person’s reckless or careless actions can be frustrating to deal with and disruptive to every part of your life, “catastrophic” injuries are exponentially more severe in terms of both short-term and long-term harm. By definition, these types of injuries are physically or cognitively debilitating and are expected to last for your entire life.
Put simply, pursuing compensation for an injury this substantial is a matter of minimizing its negative impacts rather than completely erasing them. When you need help demanding fair financial restitution for this level of harm, there is no substitute for assistance from a Woodbridge catastrophic injury lawyer with a track record of positive results from similar past cases. Reach out to our firm today to speak with a seasoned personal injury attorney to learn more.
What Makes an Injury Catastrophic?
There is technically no clear-cut definition of a catastrophic injury. However, most judges, juries, attorneys, and other legal authorities use the term to characterize any injury, illness, or medical condition that results in serious debilitation, disability, and long-term or permanent harm. Some examples include:
- Traumatic brain damage resulting in long-term loss of sensory, motor, or cognitive function
- Spinal cord trauma
- Paralysis, including paraplegia and quadriplegia
- Multiple broken bones
- High-degree burns
- Limb amputation
- Any injury causing deafness or blindness
- Wrongful death
These injuries can happen in a number of settings, including car, truck, and motorcycle accidents, pedestrian and bicycle wrecks, premises liability incidents, medical malpractice, and more.
Typically, catastrophic injuries prevent a person from returning to work or having any kind of employment, which causes a substantial loss of income on top of piling medical bills for the extensive treatment these injuries usually require. A Woodbridge catastrophic injury attorney is vital to effectively pursuing litigation over harm of this nature to help an injured person adjust to their new way of life.
Recovering for a Permanent Injury Inside Filing Deadlines
A comprehensive civil claim must account for the effects the injury will have on a person for the remainder of their life. This includes both economic and non-economic forms of loss. Economic damages are those that reimburse the injured party for financial harm such as past and future medical expenses, rehabilitative care, home modifications, assistive equipment like wheelchairs, lost working capacity, and sometimes 24-hour in-home assistance.
For non-economic damages, recovery typically centers around physical pain and psychological suffering but can also incorporate things like lost consortium and lost overall quality of life. The statute of limitations for filing suit over a catastrophic injury is generally two years after the injury first occurred, as per New Jersey Revised Statutes § 2A:14-2. A trusted Bloomfield attorney can ensure all necessary legal action is taken within this restrictively short deadline.
Contact a Woodbridge Catastrophic Injury Attorney for Help
Catastrophic injuries make for uniquely complex civil claims with exceptionally high stakes. The compensation you obtain now could be the main factor determining what your life looks like decades into the future. With that in mind, you should think twice before proceeding with your claim without first contacting and retaining a legal professional who knows how to handle situations as serious as yours.
Working with a skilled Woodbridge catastrophic injury lawyer can substantially improve your chances of maximizing compensation and getting the best possible legal outcome for your claim. Call Fredson Statmore Bitterman, LLC today to discuss your options.
