San Diego Catastrophic Injury Lawyer

Recovering Compensation for Accident Victims

When you’re injured in an accident, it can dramatically affect your health and quality of life. When that accident results in catastrophic injuries, these effects could be lifelong and life-changing. If your injuries were due to someone else’s carelessness or negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for your medical expenses, financial losses, and pain and suffering.

If your personal injury case includes catastrophic injuries, the team at Finn Trial Attorneys APC is here to help. We’re a full-service personal injury law firm that can help you hold those responsible for your injuries accountable, handle all of the legal actions, and talk with insurance companies to ensure you can focus on recovery and healing. If you were injured in San Diego or the surrounding area, call our office at 619-375-5105. We offer free consultations so you can learn more about how our law firm operates and get a chance to talk with an attorney about your case.

What Is a Catastrophic Injury?

Catastrophic injuries are severe injuries that cause long-term or permanent damage. They generally result in loss of function of an organ or a limb, and they may require the victim to work in another field if they are no longer physically able to perform their duties. In some cases, catastrophic injuries are so severe that the victim is no longer able to work at all.

Catastrophic injuries are possible in almost any type of accident, with even something as seemingly “simple” as a slip and fall potentially resulting in a traumatic brain injury. However, auto accidents, workplace accidents, falls, and medical errors are some of the most common situations that result in these severe injuries. A case dealing with catastrophic injuries generally includes one or more of the following.

Traumatic Brain Injuries

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) can result from either a strong blow to the head or a penetrating injury that goes through the skull and brain tissue itself. Traumatic brain injuries can range from “mild” to severe, but even those classified as mild can result in significant physical and psychological symptoms for victims. They may experience ongoing headaches, nausea, extreme fatigue, and dizziness. It’s also common for traumatic brain injury victims to experience issues with sensory perception, such as smelling things that aren’t there or experiencing vision changes, and they may have difficulty speaking clearly. Mentally, they may have trouble with focus and memory, and they may experience mood swings or personality changes, which can be challenging for both the victim and those around them.

Severe traumatic brain injuries can involve all of the above symptoms, but it’s common for them to be even more intense. For example, someone with a severe TBI may experience headaches to the point that they can’t get out of bed or they have seizures. In the most serious cases, the victim may lose consciousness entirely and be in a coma.

Spinal Cord Injuries

The spinal cord is responsible for relaying messages between the brain and the rest of the body. It carries signals that the brain interprets as touch, temperature, and pain and controls automatic reflexes and some bodily functions. Damage to the spinal cord can result in catastrophic injuries, including complete loss of sensation and function in the affected area. Full or partial paralysis happens in some cases, but it’s also possible for victims to experience severe pain as a result of a spinal cord injury.

It’s not always immediately apparent that someone has a spinal cord injury, and it’s possible for numbness or paralysis to occur hours or days after the accident. This is one reason why it’s always essential to get medical treatment after an accident to ensure you’re aware of all of your injuries and that you can get treatment as soon as possible.

Severe Burns

Burns generally happen when an accident involves a flammable substance, such as the gas tank catching on fire in an auto accident. However, chemical burns are also possible and may happen on worksites or in laboratories. Burns are generally classified for medical purposes into one of three categories: first-degree, second-degree, and third-degree.

Catastrophic injury cases with burns generally involve third-degree burns. These burns destroy both the outer and middle layer of the skin, which includes blood vessels, hair follicles, sweat glands, and nerves. Burns may require skin grafts and surgery, and even with the treatment, there is likely to be extensive scarring and an increased risk of infection. Burns can also result in a limited range of motion and ongoing pain, and victims may deal with psychological symptoms, such as anxiety and depression.

Amputated Limbs

Amputations can happen either as a result of the accident itself or as part of life-saving medical treatment. An amputation may be necessary, for example, after a crush injury or if the area develops a serious infection. Amputation victims obviously experience the full loss of function of the limb, but they also experience life-long consequences, such as dealing with the expense and maintenance of a prosthetic. They often have phantom pain in the amputated limb, which can be challenging to treat, and are more likely to experience anxiety and depression long after their physical injuries have healed.

How Are Damages Calculated in a Catastrophic Injury Case?

When you pursue a catastrophic injury case, you are asking the court — usually a jury — to find in your favor and award you compensation based on the damages you suffered due to the defendant’s actions. These damages generally fall into two categories: economic damages and noneconomic damages.

Economic damages are much easier to calculate than noneconomic damages because they generally come with some precise accounting or documentation. For example, when you are trying to recover compensation for medical bills, you have billing statements from the hospital and doctors to show what your expenses were. If you had to take time off of work or potentially lost your ability to bring in income entirely, you have W2s and pay stubs that show what you were earning prior to the accident. Economic damages can also include future lost income as well, such as diminished earning potential.

Noneconomic damages are those that aren’t related to a direct expense or loss of income. This category is commonly referred to as pain and suffering, but it can encompass a wide variety of consequences. These include physical pain and the resulting emotional suffering, as well as mental health consequences, such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Catastrophic injuries may also cause disfigurement or sexual dysfunction, both of which can be included in pain and suffering.

Putting a value on your emotional suffering and the changes to your quality of life isn’t easy, and there is no legal standard for determining this number. Instead, your attorney will work with you to arrive at a figure — usually by using the per-diem or multiplier method. The per-diem method involves coming up with a specific number per day and multiplying it by the number of days affected. It’s often based on your per-diem earnings prior to the accident. For example, if you earned $500 per day and you experienced pain and suffering for 90 days after your accident, that would be $45,000. The problem with this method is that catastrophic injuries often result in lifelong issues, which makes it much more challenging to determine how many days are affected.

The multiplier method works differently. It generally takes the total of all economic damages and multiplies them by some number between 1 and 5, depending on the severity of your injuries, to determine the amount of pain and suffering. For example, if you had $600,000 in total economic damages and the severity of your injuries was a 4. The total amount of pain and suffering would be $2.4 million.

Keep in mind that when you file your claim, you are asking the court to award you that amount. However, there is also the chance that you settle out of court or the jury decides to lower the amount of damages. Working with an attorney can ensure that you understand the potential outcomes and how they could affect how much you actually take home.

What Kind of Evidence Is Used to Prove a Catastrophic Injury Claim?

A personal injury claim that involves catastrophic injuries to the victim must prove four basic tenets:

• The defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care
• The defendant’s actions breached the duty of care
• The breach caused the defendant’s injuries
• The victim suffered damages as a result of the accident

The evidence used in a catastrophic injury claim focuses on supporting each of these factors to convince the jury that it was more likely than not likely that the defendant was responsible for the plaintiff’s injuries. This is referred to as a preponderance of the evidence and is the burden of proof for civil cases, such as personal injury claims.

Below are some of the common types of evidence your attorney may use to support your catastrophic injury claim.

Accident Reports

Accident reports, which may include police reports, workplace accident documents, and other records, can illustrate the basic facts of the accident. This can help establish that the defendant had a duty of care to the plaintiff and that the defendant breached this duty.

Photo and Video Evidence

Photo and video evidence can be especially persuasive to a jury, as it allows them to see the accident scene and get a better idea of what happened. Dashcam footage may show someone driving erratically right before an auto accident, and photos from a construction accident may show that the required safety gear wasn’t present. Photo and video evidence can also be helpful in illustrating the weather conditions and any other hazards at the time of the accident, which can undermine any claims made by the defense that other factors contributed to the accident.

Eye Witnesses

Those who saw the accident, including what happened directly before, can testify on your behalf in court to confirm that there were unsafe conditions or that the defendant was acting negligently. Having multiple eyewitnesses who support your version of the events can help strengthen your case in court.

Expert Witnesses

Expert witnesses weren’t actually there at the time of the accident to see what happened. Instead, they are experienced professionals who are well-respected in their field and qualified to provide an expert opinion on some aspect of the case. This can include an accident investigator or reconstructionist or a financial expert who is there to help support your projected lost earning potential. Doctors and mental health care providers often serve as expert witnesses in catastrophic injury cases to explain the severity of the injuries and how much they affect your quality of life to the jury.

Medical Records

Your medical records are one of the most critical pieces of evidence in any personal injury claim. They detail the exact nature of your injuries and their severity. They can also show whether you are expected to need further medical treatment in the future, whether that’s additional surgeries, physical therapy, or upgraded medical equipment.

Financial Reports and Documents

Being able to present copies of your pay stubs, tax returns, and other financial documents can demonstrate your income before the accident and be used to help establish what your future earning potential would have been. Billing statements for your medical care and insurance documents can also help prove the financial losses you’ve already incurred, as well as what you’re likely to spend in the future.

Personal Statements

When you are trying to show how the accident and your injuries have affected your quality of life, personal statements can be helpful. Journal entries from before and after the accident can demonstrate how your life has changed and what effect that has had on your mental health and quality of life. Close friends and family members may also be able to testify or provide statements to support your claims of pain, suffering, and emotional distress.

How Does California’s Pure Comparative Negligence Rule Apply to Personal Injury Law?

A common question prospective clients have for us is, “Can I still file a claim if I was partially at fault?” In California, the answer is a resounding yes because it follows a pure comparative negligence rule. This means that a plaintiff is allowed to file a claim and seek compensation even if they were 99 percent at fault for the accident. However, if you were partially at fault for the accident, any damages you’re awarded can be reduced accordingly.

Understanding the pure comparative negligence rule and how it could affect your case is essential for those seeking damages for catastrophic injury accidents because it’s common for there to be multiple contributing factors. Accidents don’t happen in a vacuum, and everything from the weather and road conditions to defective equipment or lack of supervision can also contribute to an accident — as well as the actions of the defendant and plaintiff.

If you could be considered partially at fault for an accident or have questions about how that may affect your case, contact our firm to schedule a free consultation to get more information and learn more about your options.

What Makes a Catastrophic Personal Injury Claim Different?

While catastrophic injury cases are personal injury claims, they have some specific differences from other personal injury lawsuits that deal with less severe injuries. The first is the severity of the impact of the injuries on the victim’s daily life and how long that impact is expected. In traditional personal injury cases, the injuries are generally treatable, and the victim often makes a complete recovery after several weeks or months. With catastrophic injuries, the damage is much more severe and may not be completely treatable. An amputated limb can’t be put back on, and there is only so much doctors can do to treat extensive scarring from severe burns. These are extensive injuries that have a lifelong impact on the physical and mental health of the victim.

The value of the damages is also often much higher in catastrophic injury cases. This makes sense because they require more intensive and ongoing treatment, and the loss of future income is frequently permanent or highly diminished instead of just needing a few weeks or months off of work to recover. The amount victims seek for pain and suffering is also much higher due to the significant impact these injuries have on all areas of the victim’s life.

Personal injury cases involving catastrophic injuries are also more likely to take longer to resolve and are more complex from a legal standpoint. They may involve more testimony from expert witnesses and an extensive amount of discovery. These cases may take longer to negotiate a settlement, if that’s an option that’s being explored, because the anticipated payouts are much more significant. Insurance companies may try to get the victim to settle as soon as possible for a low-ball offer or resist negotiations in an attempt to minimize what the company ends up paying out.

Why Should You Work With Finn Trial Attorneys APC?

When you choose a personal injury lawyer to represent you in your catastrophic injury case, you’re trusting them with your future. At Finn Trial Attorneys APC, we are dedicated to ensuring that our clients have the aggressive legal representation they need to win their cases and secure the compensation they deserve for their injuries. We have a strong track record of positive results for clients who suffered serious injuries due to others’ negligence, and we’re prepared to put that same knowledge and professionalism to work for you.

If you were injured in the San Diego area and suffered catastrophic injuries as a result, call Finn Trial Attorneys APC to talk to an experienced personal injury attorney. We offer free consultations to new clients, where we can answer your questions and explain what legal strategies we would use for your case. Call 619-375-5105 to schedule an appointment and get started.