Tacoma Catastrophic Injury Lawyer
Some injuries, such as tiny cuts or bruises, can be a nuisance but heal relatively quickly. Others, such as lacerations or broken bones, might require professional medical intervention but rarely result in permanent complications. On the other hand, a catastrophic injury often results in severe consequences that can change every aspect of a person’s life forever.
If you or a loved one got a catastrophic injury in an accident in Tacoma, you might be eligible for significant compensation for your current and future losses. Yet, many people who suffer these types of injuries face challenges when dealing with insurance companies that refuse to compensate them fully.
The experienced Tacoma catastrophic injury attorneys at Park Chenaur and Associates have successfully represented many clients across Washington suffering from catastrophic injuries. We are ready to put our experience and skills to work for you, too. We can help you hold the at-fault party accountable and pursue the compensation you deserve.
We will fight for your rights and interests so that you can move on with dignity. Our legal team will give you and your case individualized attention to help you achieve your goals and get the best outcome. Call us at (253) 345-2555 or contact us online for a free consultation to learn more about your legal options.
What Is a Catastrophic Injury?
The federal government defines a catastrophic injury as an injury that directly prevents a person from performing any gainful work. A catastrophic injury typically leaves a person with permanent pain, disability, or disfigurement. Even if a person with a catastrophic injury recovers as much as possible, they might never work again, perform daily tasks, or participate in hobbies or sports.
We represent clients with catastrophic injuries resulting from accidents and other harmful incidents to help them seek the compensation they need to rebuild their lives. Suppose you or a loved one suffered a catastrophic injury in an accident that was not your fault. In that case, the compassionate attorneys at Park Chenaur and Associates understand your unique challenges. Let us help you pursue the financial relief you need for medical treatment, lost wages, and other losses.
Common Catastrophic Injuries
Many people who sustain catastrophic injuries will require medical care for the rest of their lives. Here are the most common catastrophic injuries we see in the cases we handle:
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
A TBI happens when the brain suffers damage from blunt force trauma, a penetrating injury, or a sustained lack of oxygen. TBIs can be minor, such as concussions that resolve independently, or severe, including permanent brain damage.
A TBI becomes catastrophic when it causes severe impairment of the brain’s functions, such as:
- Severe cognitive impairment
- Severe motor impairment
- A permanent semi-conscious or unconscious state
Spinal Cord Injury
Many accidents that damage the spinal column can impair the spinal cord and other nervous structures that link the brain with the rest of the body. These injuries can sometimes heal over time, but often, they are permanent and cause life-altering changes to sufferers. If a spinal cord injury leads to partial or total bodily paralysis, the individual will likely require expensive assistive devices and home modifications.
Severe Burns
A burn can qualify as a catastrophic injury if it leads to permanent disfigurement, disability, or another health complication that decreases an individual’s quality of life and prevents them from living as before the burn incident.
Severed Limbs
People in accidents that cause traumatic amputations or limb loss often face lifelong complications and changes to their well-being. Those who suffer catastrophic injuries that crush their limbs or require amputation have to face this overwhelming prospect for the rest of their lives. A person who loses a limb might require a prosthetic, extensive physical therapy and rehabilitation, and the installation of medical devices in their home.
Organ Failure
When a person’s internal organs and systems fail to function properly due to an accident or harmful incident, the health consequences can be disastrous, and they may cause life-changing injuries. Whether due to a car accident, truck accident, or medical malpractice, a person who suffers this type of injury deserves to recover compensation for the ongoing losses and difficulties they will face for the rest of their lives.
Common Causes of Catastrophic Injuries
Various accidents and harmful incidents can lead to catastrophic injuries. The following are some of the most common causes of catastrophic injuries we see in the cases we handle.
Automobile Accidents
Like most of the country, Tacoma sees many traffic accidents. In one recent year, nearly 8,000 crashes happened in Tacoma. More than 200 incidents resulted in serious injuries, with some crashes injuring multiple people. Some of the top causes of these accidents include speeding, aggressive driving, and failing to yield the right-of-way.
Many people suffer TBIs and spinal cord injuries in car accidents due to the force of impacts, which can send vehicle occupants flying or cause them to hit their heads on the vehicles’ interiors.
Bicycle and Pedestrian Accidents
Cyclists and pedestrians are even more vulnerable in crashes than automobile occupants because they have little to protect them. Whereas vehicle occupants have seatbelts, airbags, and a steel frame, bicyclists have only helmets, and pedestrians typically have nothing to shield them from an automobile’s force.
As such, bike riders and pedestrians are exponentially more likely to suffer catastrophic injuries in traffic collisions. According to data, six pedestrians sustained injuries in Tacoma traffic accidents in one recent year, while nine cyclists suffered injuries.
Premises Liability Incidents
People who own or manage properties are responsible for ensuring that those who visit their premises remain safe from harm. When someone slips and falls because of an owner’s negligence, catastrophic injuries can result. While older adults are particularly susceptible to slip-and-fall injuries, younger individuals can also suffer considerable trauma from slip-and-fall accidents, such as TBIs or paralysis.
Workplace and Construction Incidents
Many workplaces and construction sites are full of potential dangers that could lead to catastrophic injuries.
Employees and passers-by can suffer life-altering injuries due to:
- Falling from great heights
- Losing limbs in moving machine parts
- Electrocution or explosion
- Crashes with vehicles such as trucks or forklifts
- Chemical exposure
Defective Products
Product manufacturers and designers must test their goods before releasing them to the public. If a product has a design or manufacturing defect, its sudden failure can cause catastrophic injuries, even if the consumer uses the product as designed.
Medical Malpractice
You may assume that your medical professionals will deliver a certain standard of care when you seek medical attention. Yet some doctors, nurses, and technicians do not always meet this standard. When a medical professional’s intervention leaves a patient worse off than before the procedure or treatment, the patient can suffer severe consequences.
Dog Bites
A person who suffers dog bite injuries may face severe physical and emotional trauma for the rest of their life, particularly if the victim is a young child. A pet owner that does not take reasonable precautions to prevent their animals from injuring other people could be legally liable for the losses that result from the attack.
Compensation You May Receive for Catastrophic Injuries
In most cases, Washington law permits individuals to seek compensation if they suffer catastrophic injuries due to another party’s negligence, recklessness, or carelessness. This compensation often covers two categories: economic losses and non-economic losses.
Economic Losses
An economic loss leads to a measurable financial expense. When you seek compensation for economic losses, you ask for money for the out-of-pocket costs you have incurred due to your catastrophic injury.
You may pursue compensation for these economic losses:
- Current and future medical bills, including ambulance rides, emergency room visits, doctor’s office appointments, diagnostic exams, surgeries, and hospital stays
- Assistive medical devices such as prosthetics
- Home modifications to accommodate disabilities
- Physical and occupational therapy
- Mental health treatment
- Lost wages due to missed time at work during recovery
- Reduced income capacity due to disability or disfigurement
Because the compensation you seek should cover future costs as well as ones you have already incurred, you should enlist the assistance of an experienced injury attorney. They can help you calculate your future losses and ensure that you claim compensation that will cover your ongoing expenses.
Non-Economic Losses
Non-economic losses can be more challenging to calculate because they are intangible and do not carry an inherent dollar value.
Such losses can include:
- Physical and emotional pain and suffering
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of companionship in wrongful death claims
Why You Need a Lawyer for Your Claim
Many people who suffer catastrophic injuries feel understandably overwhelmed in the incident’s immediate aftermath. In addition to the considerable physical pain, people who suffer catastrophic injuries must navigate their lives in an entirely new way, which can feel daunting.
Because the interventions these injuries require can cost so much, a person who suffers a catastrophic injury may face significant financial strain. With so many things to worry about, consulting an attorney may not be the first thing on your mind.
Yet speaking to an experienced injury lawyer is one of the most helpful things you can do now. The longer you wait to enlist the services of an attorney, the more challenging your injury claim may become. Washington allows just three years from the date of an injury to file a lawsuit against the at-fault party. While this might seem like a long time, those years can pass quickly.
The sooner an attorney can get started on your case, the better chances they have at resolving your claim effectively and swiftly. They may need to interview eyewitnesses and collect other evidence while it is fresh on the minds of everyone involved.
Furthermore, the at-fault party’s insurer will begin conducting its own investigation soon after the incident occurs. Yet the insurance adjuster will aim to minimize the amount of money they will need to pay out. They will find as much evidence as possible to undermine your claim and avoid giving you the compensation you deserve. If you do not have an attorney working for you during this time, you might fall victim to the insurer’s tactics.
What Will Park Chenaur and Associates Do to Help?
The experienced Tacoma catastrophic injury lawyers at Park Chenaur and Associates will work to protect your interests against the insurance companies and the at-fault party’s attorneys. You have the legal right to compensation when you have suffered severe losses due to another party’s negligence, and our attorneys are here to stand up for those rights.
With us on your side, you will have someone to:
- Provide you with high-quality legal counsel at every stage of your claim
- Investigate the accident to determine who is at fault
- Collect documents that are necessary for your case, such as police reports and medical records
- Calculate the fair value of your losses
- Employ expert witnesses who can speak to the seriousness of your injuries
- File necessary court paperwork on time
- Take the at-fault party to court if the insurance company will not give you the compensation you deserve
Filing an insurance claim is difficult, even at the best of times. You should not have to deal with the legal headache of doing so when trying to recover from a catastrophic injury. Let us do the hard work for you so you can focus on what is essential right now.
Contact Our Tacoma Catastrophic Injury Attorneys
If you suffered a catastrophic injury in Washington, you deserve compensation for your significant losses. The experienced attorneys at Park Chenaur and Associate will fight aggressively for what you deserve so that you can move on with dignity. Reach out to a Tacoma personal injury lawyer.
We understand that our clients have enough financial worries, so you will only owe us fees after we have recovered a monetary award on your behalf. You have nothing to lose. Call us today at (253) 345-2555 or contact us online for a free consultation to learn more about how we can help you.
Tacoma Office Location:
3517 6th Ave,
Tacoma, WA 98406,
Phone: (253) 345-2555
