Serious Injury
Serious Injury
HOW DOES A SERIOUS (CATASTROPHIC) INJURY
COMPARE TO OTHER PERSONAL INJURIES?
The term “serious bodily injury” refers to a person involved in an accident in which they have suffered a substantial risk of death, protracted and obvious disfigurement, loss or impairment of their mental faculty, or a bodily member such as an organ or arm/leg, as the result of the accident. Often, these can include third-degree burns, spinal fractures, skull fractures or TBI (traumatic brain injury), or worse.
When we see an accident scene near our Escondido office, or in the North County San Diego area where we practice personal injury law, in which the passengers are in a smaller car that was hit by a larger truck, or a pedestrian who was completely vulnerable to being hit by a vehicle, we can already anticipate that they suffered serious bodily injuries – simply because of the impact that these larger vehicles can make. It is our duty to help fight and advocate for these people who are members of our local community.
The Law Offices of Louis Gabbara is a California Brain Injury, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Spine Injury legal team that has supported and won millions of dollars in settlements, verdicts, awards and judgements for victims of serious bodily injuries. These victims often require extensive and long-term medical
care, and they – unfortunately – get taken advantage of by insurance companies who prey on their ignorance or lack of knowledge about the full and fair amount of compensation and benefits, including medical care, to which they are entitled. Insurance companies have lawyers of their own whose entire job it is to minimize how much they have to pay out for serious bodily injury accidents.
Injured victims in catastrophic accidents have injuries like severe third-degree burns, limb loss, spinal fractures, brain injuries, and/or deep lacerations that affect the body’s organs and structures. These are life-altering injuries that will have serious and long-term consequences.
When it comes to traffic accidents, a minor accident has no significant injuries and only a small amount of vehicle damage. A moderate accident may have some level of vehicle damage and injuries, but the person’s injuries aren’t extreme.
As a victim of a catastrophic crash, you’ll be facing a pile of medical bills and other costs, plus you’ll have an extended period of recovery time. An extreme accident like this completely changes your life and throws your daily routine into chaos.
HOW A SERIOUS (CATASTROPHIC) INJURY
IMPACTS YOUR LIFE AND YOUR FAMILY
When you’re seriously injured, the regular everyday tasks like going to the grocery store and tidying up around your home, taking care of your kids, or taking yourself to doctor/dentist appointments – all the things that we all take for granted – become unbearable or completely impossible. As the result of a serious accident injury that is considered “catastrophic,” you will likely miss a long period from your job, or you could eventually lose your job because of the many missed days of work. None of this is your fault when you are seriously injured in an accident due to the negligence of another person or company; however, these are simply the types of situations in which you may find yourself if you were hospitalized or required surgery after your accident injury. If you were injured on the job, then the good news is that California is a no-fault state, which means that even if you were injured at work or while driving for work, your employer’s insurance is required to cover your medical bills, but a really great lawyer will be able to help you (and/or your family) compensation as a result of an at-work accident. Please call our office if you have any questions about workers’ compensation cases (accidents at work): 760-294-0808
The Offices of Louis Gabbara suggests that you keep a journal of the many ways that your accident has impacted your life. If you are too physically injured to write in a journal, please have a family member or friend record videos of you describing your everyday activities – and most importantly, how they changed your life after the accident. A daily journal helps your lawyer build a strong case for you. For example, if you can no longer do housework or your spouse is overwhelmed with taking care of your children, that is worthy of noting because it shows the impact that your accident has had on your life and your family. Showing examples of how you were negatively impacted after your accident. It is also very important to save all your medical bills, prescription co-pay receipts, and any other documents that show the full costs you have incurred since your accident, even if medical insurance is covering some of them. All of this is evidence that helps you build a strong case for serious catastrophic accident injury compensation.
If you are ever in the unfortunate situation of a serious/catastrophic accident injury, you will need a successful lawyer like Louis Gabbara to help you cope with the massive fallout from the accident. Only a lawyer with experience in handling catastrophic injury cases can truly understand the profound negative impact from the accident, and can help you pursue the maximum compensation that you deserve. Maximum compensation does not just mean getting all of your medical expenses reimbursed, but it means getting you the cash payout for all your pain and suffering, which the court demands from the negligent person’s insurance company when we win your case.
Even in the most serious catastrophic injury cases, you are not required to be in court. At the Law Offices of Louis Gabbara, our team of attorneys can negotiate a valuable insurance settlement that keeps you out of court and allows you to focus on healing.
We know effective ways to fight our personal injury cases that maximize the money in your pocket, like convincing medical providers to lower your bills and organizing evidence in such a meticulous way that justifies the proper monetary valuation to your extreme pain and suffering.
DID YOU KNOW THAT HIRING A PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY
WILL GET YOU 3.5X MORE MONEY VS. NO ATTORNEY?
The Insurance Research Council found that:
“Accident victims with a lawyer receive an average of 3.5 times more than those who are unrepresented.”
When injury victims file successful lawsuits or personal injury claims, they may receive compensation for a range of damages including medical bills and expenses, lost wages, lost earning capacity, property damage, and pain and suffering.
CALIFORNIA SERIOUS PERSONAL INJURIES
A catastrophic personal injury happens in the blink of an eye but can have a long-lasting effect on your life. As a result of the injury, you have partial and/or permanent loss of mobility, cognitive function, organ function, vision or hearing loss, or other severe health consequences.
These injuries usually come with other catastrophic life losses like job loss, financial instability, permanent loss of hobbies, damage to interpersonal relationships, and more. To gain compensation for these losses, you’ll need to gather evidence that shows the full extent of the damage to your life, finances, and relationships.
Examples of non-car-accident-related catastrophic injuries include:
● Golf cart accidents on golf courses
● Pedestrian, bike, and scooter injuries that happen on paths and in parks
● Burn injuries that happen near food, electrical gear, and equipment
● Recreation equipment and vehicles like ATVs, UTVs, 4-wheelers/quad bikes,
watersports vehicles, speed boats, mountain bikes, and mountain-climbing gear
● Amputations or explosions from defective products
● Assault from firearms or weapons
● Crushing injuries from moving items and devices
● Sports accidents that happen on fields and in stadiums
● Government vehicles like buses that crash into pedestrians or vehicles
HOW TO BRING A LAWSUIT FOR A SERIOUS
CATASTROPHIC PERSONAL INJURY ACCIDENT
Our California serious/catastrophic personal injury accident attorney at The Law Offices of Louis Gabbara can help file a lawsuit if you have suffered severe bodily injuries as the result of someone else’s negligence. We can file a lawsuit against:
People who negligently caused your injuries – meaning, you were physically hurt on your body (not property damage or intangible, like emotional distress… these do not qualify as a personal injury accident).
Product manufacturers, for which we would file a product liability lawsuit in California against the manufacturer who caused you serious physical injury. Examples include cell phones that have exploded in someone’s ear during use, or a well-known case tried and won by Louis Gabbara, in which a serious defect in a pressure cooker caused our client to have burns and other physical injuries from a malfunction.
Private landowners, for which Louis Gabbara would file a premises liability lawsuit against the person’s homeowners insurance or umbrella insurance. Examples include when someone slips and falls down the stairs in someone’s home, or falls and hits their head around their pool, causing severe injuries.
Employers, whose required minimum insurance coverage would cover the compensation if someone was injured in case of a slip and fall on their property, or if their commercial driver were to negligently cause injuries to another person.
Dog owners, whose dog may have caused physical injury through a dog bite or even by jumping and pushing someone who fell and injured body parts as the result of a non-dog-bite as well.
Parent corporations, business partners, or other legal entities that may be connected to the result of negligence that caused serious/catastrophic bodily injury to a person – whether directly or indirectly.
The Law Offices of Louis Gabbara, based in Escondido, California, helps people who were involved in serious/catastrophic accidents that happened in Escondido and San Diego County and surrounding cities including Encinitas, Vista, Oceanside, Murrietta, Temecula, Fallbrook, Camp Pendleton, and the Greater San Diego vicinity.