A catastrophic injury in New York is a serious injury that causes permanent or significant life changes. This can include a traumatic brain injury, spinal cord damage, full or partial paralysis, amputations, and other long-term disabilities.
If you’re the victim of an accident that left you with a catastrophic injury, you have rights. The sooner you call a Long Island personal injury lawyer from Chaikin Trial Group Personal Injury Lawyers, the more time your attorney will have to pursue compensation on your behalf.
What Makes an Injury Catastrophic?
There is no single New York law that lists every injury that is considered catastrophic. Instead, the term generally refers to injuries that permanently change a person’s ability to work, care for themselves, or enjoy daily life.
From a legal perspective, catastrophic injuries often involve more serious damages because the effects extend far into the future. A lawyer’s job is to prove that an injury occurred and demonstrate how that injury will continue affecting every aspect of your life.
Wondering when to hire a personal injury lawyer? The sooner you call Chaikin Trial Group Personal Injury Lawyers, the sooner we can work on your case.
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Common Examples of Catastrophic Injuries
In New York, many types of injuries are classified as catastrophic because of the lasting limitations they create.
Traumatic Brain Injuries
Traumatic brain injuries can affect memory, concentration, speech, balance, emotional regulation, and personality. Even injuries that are not immediately obvious may leave victims unable to return to work or manage daily responsibilities.
These cases often require testimony from neurologists, neuropsychologists, rehabilitation specialists, and life care planners to fully explain the long-term impact of the injury.
Spinal Cord Injuries
Damage to the spinal cord can result in partial or complete paralysis, chronic pain, reduced mobility, and permanent loss of independence. People with these injuries often need extensive rehabilitation, adaptive equipment, home modifications, and ongoing medical care.
Severe Burn Injuries
Burn injuries frequently involve multiple surgeries, skin grafts, infection risks, permanent scarring, and emotional trauma. In addition to physical pain, victims may experience lasting psychological effects that deserve consideration when calculating damages.
Amputations
The loss of a limb affects nearly every aspect of a person’s daily routine. Prosthetic devices, rehabilitation, future medical care, and reduced earning capacity can all contribute to substantial financial losses. An attorney from Chaikin Trial Group Personal Injury Lawyers can make sure long-term needs are included when negotiating.
Permanent Vision or Hearing Loss
If you lose your eyesight or experience hearing loss, you will likely need to adjust the way you live your life. You might not be able to work, communicate, or maintain independence like you once did.
As a result, these injuries often require you to receive advanced medical care, assistive technology, and vocational rehabilitation. Furthermore, you might need all of this additional help for years to come.
Proving Negligence is the Foundation of Every Case
No matter how severe an injury may be, compensation is generally only available if another party can be held legally responsible. Under New York negligence law, your attorney must establish that one of these people or parties failed to exercise reasonable care:
- Another person
- A business
- Property owners
- Drivers
- A contractor
- Another responsible party
They also have to show that this failure directly caused your catastrophic injuries. This often requires a thorough investigation that includes these tasks:
- Reviewing accident reports
- Interviewing witnesses
- Preserving surveillance footage
- Examining maintenance records
- Consulting with professionals
- Collecting extensive medical documentation
Because evidence can disappear quickly, contacting an attorney from Chaikin Trial Group Personal Injury Lawyers soon after an accident can make a significant difference in building a strong case.
How Compensation Can Help After a Catastrophic Injury
When pursuing financial recovery in the form of verdicts and settlements, you might find that the value of your catastrophic injury claim is often much higher than that of other personal injury cases because it must account for both current and future losses.
Depending on the circumstances of your case, here’s what you might be able to recover compensation for:
- Medical expenses
- Future medical treatment and rehabilitation
- Lost wages
- Loss of future earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Home modifications and assistive equipment
- Long-term nursing or personal care
- Other accident-related financial losses
Calculating these damages often requires more than simply adding up medical bills. Attorneys frequently work with medical workers, vocational professionals, economists, and life care planners to estimate the full cost of living with a catastrophic injury.
This helps ensure that any settlement or verdict reflects the long-term impact the injury will have on your health, finances, and quality of life.
Contact Chaikin Trial Group Personal Injury Lawyers for Help After Catastrophic Damage in New York
If you’re wondering whether you sustained a catastrophic injury in New York, Chaikin Trial Group Personal Injury Lawyers is the one to call. Thanks to our authentic, genuine, and aggressive approach, we get things done.
Our attorneys have 50 years of combined experience. Home to a principal attorney who has 20 years of experience, we have recovered $100 million in compensation for our clients. We can start by figuring out whether you have a legal claim on your hands.
From there, our firm will investigate what caused your injury, identify the parties who might be liable, and fight for a favorable outcome. Every case is prepared as though it will go to trial. We focus on keeping cases moving. Come in as a client, leave as a friend. Contact us today!