As their name suggests, catastrophic injuries can be catastrophic. Brain damage, the loss of a limb, permanent paralysis, substantial disfigurement, or the death of a loved one can severely alter your life forever. While no amount of money can ever truly compensate a victim for these types of losses, recovering damages can be essential just to get through this tough time.
At 1Law, we are keenly aware of the challenges faced by catastrophic injury victims. Our Orem catastrophic injury attorneys will work diligently to ensure that you get the money you need for your injuries so that you can rest and focus on healing as much as possible.
Before you can pursue compensation for your catastrophic injury, you must first determine who is liable for the damage done. In some cases, liability is clear. However, assessing who is at fault can often be quite challenging, with many different parties potentially holding a level of responsibility for your injuries.
An experienced catastrophic injury attorney will investigate your case and help clear up the question of liability. Once liability has been established, you can begin to build your case for compensation through an insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit.
Beyond assisting you with determining who is liable for your damages, a catastrophic injury lawyer in Orem can also help you in many other ways. Attempting to recover compensation for your injuries on your own can be challenging. You should realize that even lawyers tend to hire other lawyers when fighting their own legal battles.
By hiring an attorney, you can instead focus your energies on healing from your wounds. Stress can slow the healing process. That makes fighting a legal battle one of the worst things you can do during your recovery.
Those who hire attorneys also usually recover far more money for their injuries. Even after you pay your lawyer, you will likely end up with far more compensation once the dust has settled than if you attempt to represent yourself.
After suffering a catastrophic injury, you will likely be eligible to recover a wide variety of damages. In most cases, you will be able to receive both economic and non-economic damages. Determining the specific losses for which you are eligible will depend on the particulars of your case and the injuries you suffered.
Common economic damages that may apply after a catastrophic injury include:
Common non-economic damages that may apply after a catastrophic injury include:
Depending on the actions or inactions of the liable party, you could also be eligible to recover punitive damages after a catastrophic injury. Punitive damages are different from the compensatory damages listed above. Rather than focusing on losses suffered by the victim of a catastrophic accident, punitive damages are aimed at the liable party.
Punitive damages are only awarded in extreme cases where the at-fault party acted in a manner deemed to have been criminally negligent or carried out with the intention of causing harm to others.
When you plan to file a catastrophic injury lawsuit, it is critical that you pay attention to the statute of limitations. Utah generally gives injury victims four years from the date of their accident to file a lawsuit against the liable party under Utah Code Ann. §78B-2-307. Failure to file within this period will likely result in the loss of your right to recover compensation.
You also must realize that special circumstances could apply to your case, which would further limit the amount of time you have to file. By hiring an experienced catastrophic injury attorney in Orem as soon as possible after your accident, you can ensure that all your deadlines will be met and that your right to recover compensation will be protected.
Hiring an attorney early will have the added benefit of putting them in the best position to gather evidence and build a strong case on your behalf.
Many types of lawyers earn big paydays regardless of the outcome for their clients. These attorneys charge based on the amount of time they spend working on their clients’ cases rather than the results they are able to achieve. However, this is not the case with catastrophic injury lawyers. These lawyers collect their fees based solely on how much money their clients get.
Upon hiring a catastrophic injury attorney, you will agree to pay them a specified percentage of the money recovered from the liable party. With this payment system, your lawyer’s payday will be proportional to the money you recover, which will help ensure that your attorney will work diligently to get you as much compensation for your damages as possible.
Should your lawyer fail to secure compensation on your behalf, they won’t get paid for their services.
At 1Law, our Orem, UT, catastrophic injury lawyers will do everything in their power to ensure that our clients get the money they deserve. We’ll take care of every step of the compensation process so that you can focus on your health. Give us a call, fill out our online contact form, or use our legal chat tool to get started with a free consultation.