Baton Rouge Catastrophic Injury Lawyer
Practice Areas
Our Baton Rouge catastrophic injury lawyers understand how often a critical or severe injury leads to permanent disability, scarring, chronic pain, or disfigurement. Whether your injuries were caused by a car accident or workplace accident, these injuries not only cause physical pain and suffering but also cause emotional damage and a major financial burden.
Our experienced attorneys can help you recover compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, emotional distress, and more for severe injuries through a catastrophic injury lawsuit.
The Baton Rouge catastrophic injury lawyer group at The Law Offices of Ossie Brown has the skill and experience necessary to help victims and their family members obtain justice and financial recovery from the negligent party.
Call 225-343-1111 to schedule a free consultation with a Baton Rouge catastrophic injury lawyer at our law firm today.
What is a Catastrophic Injury?
While catastrophic injuries are defined in many states, Louisiana does not have a clear definition of what a catastrophic injury is. To determine if an injury is a catastrophic injury, the person’s quality of life has to have been significantly altered from the injuries sustained due to someone else’s negligence. These injuries can result in physical or mental disabilities and often require an extensive recovery time.
Common Types of Catastrophic Injuries in Baton Rouge
If you or a loved one has suffered from one of the common catastrophic injuries listed below, contact an experienced personal injury lawyer at the Law Offices of Ossie Brown today.
Brain Damage
Brain injuries are considered catastrophic injuries because they can permanently affect a person’s ability to perform daily tasks, work, or live independently. These injuries often require extensive medical care, caregiving services, and ongoing rehabilitation, creating a significant financial burden for the victim and their family. A Baton Rouge brain injury attorney can help secure compensation to cover medical expenses, lost income, and the cost of long-term care, ensuring the support needed for recovery.
Spinal Cord Injury
Spine injuries are considered catastrophic because they can leave victims of spinal cord injuries permanently disabled or wheelchair-bound, significantly impacting their quality of life. These injuries often require extensive physical therapy and other medical equipment to help regain the use of motor skills or adapt to new physical limitations.
A Baton Rouge spine injury lawyer can assist in securing compensation for medical expenses, ongoing care, and rehabilitation, ensuring victims receive the support they need.
Amputation Injuries
Amputations are considered catastrophic injuries as they involve the loss of a major body part, often resulting from a traumatic event. These injuries cause not only significant physical pain but also mental anguish as victims adjust to life with permanent changes. Physical therapy is typically required to adapt to prosthetics and regain functionality. A Baton Rouge amputation lawyer can help victims seek compensation for medical expenses, therapy costs, and emotional suffering to aid in their recovery and adaptation.
Burn Injuries
Burn injuries can be considered catastrophic due to the severe physical and emotional toll they take on victims. Third or fourth-degree burn injuries are extremely painful and often require extensive treatment, including surgeries, skin grafts, and long-term rehabilitation. Serious burn injuries frequently result in permanent scarring and disfigurement, impacting a victim’s quality of life. A Baton Rouge burn injury lawyer can help victims seek compensation for medical expenses, pain, and emotional distress caused by these life-altering injuries.
Paralysis
Paralysis is considered a catastrophic injury because it permanently affects a person’s mobility and independence, often requiring lifelong medical care and support. Victims may face significant physical, emotional, and financial challenges as they adapt to their new circumstances. A Baton Rouge paralysis lawyer can help pursue catastrophic injury claims in Baton Rouge, securing compensation for medical expenses, rehabilitation, and lost income to support the victim’s long-term needs.
Other Catastrophic Injuries
Other catastrophic injuries include loss of hearing, major broken bones, skull and facial fractures, and any other injury that renders the victim permanently disabled and unable to function on their own for the rest of their life.
Common Causes of Catastrophic Injuries in Baton Rouge, LA
Catastrophic injuries can happen to anyone. Often, they are the result of one single accident. The following causes of catastrophic injuries in Baton Rouge are listed below:
Motor Vehicle Accidents
Car accidents can result in catastrophic injuries, such as traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, or amputations, drastically altering a victim’s quality of life. These injuries often require extensive medical care, physical therapy, and long-term rehabilitation, leading to significant financial and emotional burdens. A Baton Rouge car accident attorney can help victims seek compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, and ongoing care, ensuring they receive the support needed to rebuild their lives.
Premises Liability Accidents
Premises liability accidents, such as slip and fall accidents in Baton Rouge or dog bites in Baton Rouge, can result in catastrophic injuries like traumatic brain injuries, spinal damage, or severe lacerations.
These injuries often require extensive medical treatment, rehabilitation, and long-term care, placing significant financial and emotional strain on victims. A Baton Rouge premises liability attorney can help hold negligent property owners accountable and secure compensation to cover medical expenses, lost income, and other damages caused by these life-altering accidents.
Workplace Injuries
Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice can fall under catastrophic injuries if a patient endures surgical errors, medication errors, diagnostic errors, chiropractic errors, or even anesthesia errors. Our Baton Rouge catastrophic injury lawyers understand that victims of medical malpractice can suffer a wide variety of serious injuries, such as spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, paralysis, strokes, seizures, and more.
Contact our law firm to see how a personal injury lawyer in Baton Rouge can assist.
Other Causes of Catastrophic Injuries
Catastrophic injuries can arise from numerous causes, including violent assault in Baton Rouge, fires, explosions, sports injuries, and pedestrian accidents. These incidents often lead to severe outcomes such as traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, or debilitating burns. For victims of pedestrian accidents, a pedestrian accident lawyer in Baton Rouge can assist in pursuing compensation to cover medical bills, rehabilitation costs, and lost income, providing vital support during recovery.
Personal Injury Cases vs. Catastrophic Injury Cases in Louisiana
Since Louisiana does not clearly define catastrophic injuries, how do you know if your injury falls under this category?
There are several factors that determine whether an injury is a catastrophic injury versus a personal injury. While victims of both catastrophic injuries and personal injuries suffer greatly, one type of injury is more severe than the other.
The Severity of the Damage
Victims of both types of injuries not only suffer physical damage, but also mental and emotional damage, as well as medical bills and other expenses resulting from their injuries. The victims of a personal injury accident may recover for weeks or months from their injuries. Meanwhile, the victim of a catastrophic injury will have months or even years worth of medical treatments and rehabilitation that can cause a mountain of debt. The injuries from a catastrophic injury – such as a severe traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury – can also result in permanent disability. This life-altering damage caused from the catastrophic injury also has a great emotional and mental impact on the victim and their loved ones.
Recovery Time
The recovery time for a personal injury accident can last weeks or months, but the victim is able to return to work at some point. The injuries from their accident do not debilitate them in the long run as they are able to go back to living the life they had prior to the accident.
On the other hand, many catastrophic injury victims are not this lucky. The recovery time for a catastrophic accident can last years while the victim never fully recovers from their injuries whether they are now wheelchair bound or otherwise. This can mean the victim is unable to return to work and cannot pay for the medical bills that they have acquired during treatment. Not only does a catastrophic injury change a person’s life physically, but the increasing debt and overall life changes can cause severe mental and emotional trauma.
Determining Negligence in a Catastrophic Injury Claim
A Baton Rouge catastrophic injury attorney at The Law Offices of Ossie Brown will use their legal expertise in helping determine whether or not negligence played a role in your case. In order to have the most successful catastrophic injury lawsuit possible, the victim and their legal team will have to prove the 4 elements of negligence listed below.
- Duty of Care: Everyone has a responsibility to behave responsibly and carefully on the road or at work, for example, so as not to cause harm to others.
- Breached Duty of Care: When a person acts negligently or recklessly, they are breaching the duty of care.
- Causation: The victim suffered a serious injury as a direct result of the breached duty of care.
- Damages: The victim should receive fair compensation due to the extent of their catastrophic injuries and the damages that they incurred from their life-altering injury.
Important Evidence in Catastrophic Injury Cases
The evidence listed below is key to any catastrophic injury case. Without this evidence, it will be very difficult for Baton Rouge catastrophic injury attorneys to prove that negligence occurred.
- Medical Records are the most important piece of evidence in your catastrophic injury case. These records will state the extent of the injuries sustained from the accident and the cost of the medical care you received. Medical care listed on your records could include medications, multiple surgeries, medical devices, physical therapy, mental health counseling costs, and more.
- Pictures and Videos: It’s important to document any injuries from a catastrophic accident so that they may be used to prove that negligence occurred. For example, if the injuries were caused by a motor vehicle accident, you would want to present photos or videos of your injuries and the accident scene.
- Witness Statements can give those that were not present for the accident a clearer picture of what occurred.
- Police Reports are an important piece of evidence in proving that negligence occurred in car accidents, work accidents, or even violent physical assaults.
Damages for a Catastrophic Injury
Baton Rouge personal injury attorneys can help catastrophically injured victims recover financial compensation for both economic damages and non-economic damages.
Economic damages are financial losses sustained due to the catastrophic injuries the victim suffered. Examples of economic damages are listed below:
- Past and future medical and rehabilitation bills
- Mental health counseling bills
- Past and future lost wages
- Property damage
- Costs of medical equipment like wheelchairs or prosthetic devices
- Caretaking expenses
- Funeral and burial costs, if the catastrophic injury resulted in wrongful death
Non-economic damages are losses that don’t have a monetary value. Common examples include:
- Physical and emotional pain
- Loss of consortium
- Permanent scarring, disfigurement, and/or disability
- Loss of enjoyment of life
How a Baton Rouge Catastrophic Injury Attorney Can Help You
Oftentimes, insurance companies will push you to settle out of court. This is not always the best option for someone suffering from a catastrophic injury, because the settlement may not cover all of the damages suffered. That’s why it’s so important to work with an experienced personal injury attorney. Our legal team can protect your rights and ensure that you receive maximum compensation for your suffering through an insurance company or a personal injury claim.
When you hire Baton Rouge catastrophic injury lawyers at The Law Office of Ossie Brown, you can expect:
- Guidance throughout the entire legal process, from beginning to end.
- Our attorneys will consult medical doctors, forensic experts, engineers, and more to prove that negligence occurred and determine who was at fault.
- We will fight for the maximum financial compensation to cover all the damages that you and your loved ones have suffered from during this difficult time.
Experienced Catastrophic Injury Attorneys in Baton Rouge
If you or a loved one has suffered a catastrophic injury, the legal team at Law Offices of Ossie Brown wants to represent you. Having served the Baton Rouge area since 1984, our attorneys are experienced in handling catastrophic injury claims. We will make sure that you receive the maximum financial compensation you deserve. Let us fight the legal battle for you so that you can focus on your physical and emotional recovery. Call a Baton Rouge catastrophic injuries lawyer today at 225-343-1111 to schedule a free legal consultation.
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