Lakeland Catastrophic Injury Attorney

Catastrophic injuries can permanently change your life: your finances, your independence, and even your employment.

When someone else’s negligence caused your catastrophic injuries, you may have the right to file a claim for compensation for those injuries. However, many people do not know how to handle a catastrophic injury claim or what steps they need to take to secure the compensation they may deserve.Working with a catastrophic injury lawyer in Lakeland can make it easier for you to pursue the compensation you deserve.

Contact Frank and Jennifer at the Fernandez Firm today to learn more about your right to compensation.

What Counts as a Catastrophic Injury in Lakeland?

Catastrophic injuries occur when you suffer an injury that will lead to lifelong consequences and changes. Many catastrophic injuries include permanent limitations that will prevent the victim from engaging in common activities.

Catastrophic injuries may include:

• Severe traumatic brain injuries
• Spinal cord injuries, particularly those that result in full paralysis
• Loss of either sight or hearing
• Limb amputation
• Severe burns, especially those that will cause ongoing scarring
• Back and neck injuries that will cause a permanent or long-term loss of mobility
•  Injuries that cause permanent disfigurement

In addition, catastrophic injuries may include any injury that causes permanent disability.

How Can a Lakeland Catastrophic Injury Lawyer Help?

At Fernandez Firm, we have considerable experience dealing with various injury claims, including catastrophic injury claims, and helping victims of those injuries throughout the Lakeland area and beyond file claims that can help them recover much-needed compensation for those injuries.

Our results include:

• $36,700,000 awarded to the family of a child who suffered a catastrophic brain injury due to medical malpractice
• $1,800,000 awarded to a woman who developed permanent nerve damage and loss of the use of her leg due to medical malpractice
• $1,650,000 for a man who suffered a right leg amputation after a boating accident
• $850,000 for a car accident victim who suffered serious head and back injuries

These claims cannot guarantee the results of future cases, even if you suffer similar injuries under similar circumstances. However, at the Fernandez Firm, we offer considerable experience and determination to guide Lakeland’s catastrophic injury victims through their claims.

We make sure our clients understand their full right to compensation.

Catastrophic injuries often bring a lot of expenses, including the expenses often associated with a permanent disability. Catastrophic injury claims help victims who sustained severe injuries recover reasonable compensation for those injuries to help them pay for needed medical costs and rebuild their lives.

Unfortunately, many insurance companies will not offer the compensation that catastrophic injury victims need or deserve upfront. The insurance company may try to pressure those victims into accepting a very low settlement offer that simply does not reflect the needs of the victims.

At the Fernandez Firm, we make sure our clients know how much compensation they should expect, including breaking down the extreme expenses they may have faced due to their catastrophic injuries. Providing them with that information, we have helped many clients negotiate from a better position of power as they deal with the insurance companies handling their claims.

We help our clients collect any needed evidence related to their injuries.

In catastrophic injury claims, evidence collection can prove immensely important. Not only do you want to identify evidence against the primary party that caused your accident and your injuries, but you may also need to identify any additional parties who may have contributed to your accident in any way. By identifying all liable parties, you can often increase the compensation you can recover by filing an injury claim against each liable party.

Frank and Jennifer utilize modern technology and comprehensive investigative techniques to collect needed evidence for our clients. Then, we help pull that evidence together into a claim that identifies all parties that may share liability for the incident, which has helped many of our clients recover more compensation for their injuries.

We help our clients maximize their claim results.

A catastrophic injury claim can leave you with substantial medical and financial challenges. You may need to maximize the compensation from your claim as much as possible. At the Fernandez Firm, we want to win maximum results for our clients and help them increase the compensation they can recover as much as possible.

To that end, we take on negotiations with the insurance company for our clients. Many of our clients find that not dealing with the insurance company themselves helps them reduce their stress levels and improve their recovery. By taking over with the insurance company, we have helped ensure that many of our clients had what they needed to maximize their compensation as much as possible.

Lakeland Catastrophic Injuries: Who Bears Liability?

Catastrophic injuries can occur in various ways and from several potential accident scenarios.

They may include a wide range of potentially liable parties.

• Construction accidents
• Auto accidents
• Premises liability accidents
• Product liability accidents
• Medical malpractice
• Slip and fall accidents
• Nursing home abuse or neglect
• Workplace accidents
• Swimming pool accidents

The liable party, or parties, may depend on the specific actions that led to the incident. A lawyer will ask several key questions when determining who may bear liability for those incidents.

Who bore a duty of care to the injured party at the time of the incident?

A close examination of who bears liability for a catastrophic injury may start with a look at who bore a duty of care to the injured party. For example, drivers always bear a duty of care to others who share the road with them. Caregivers, including medical care professionals, bear a direct duty of care to those they care for.

Likewise, employers usually bear some duty of care to their employees. (Note that workplace accident claims, including workers’ comp claims for catastrophic injuries, may look very different from a personal injury claim. Working with an experienced workers’ compensation attorney can prove essential.)

How did the liable party violate that duty of care?

A driver out on the road may violate the duty of care very quickly, often in ways that he does not think twice about. For example, a driver might choose to drive while distracted, or ignore the rules of the road, including speeding, often at excessive speeds. A property owner who does not properly care for the property, including taking care of needed maintenance, may bear liability for an accident caused by that lack of maintenance, especially if the property owner fails to properly warn guests about the hazard.

A lawyer can look into the specific act of negligence that caused an accident, including whether another party, under the same circumstances, would have taken better action to help protect against injury.

How did that violation lead to the incident?

Your lawyer may look into how any violation of the duty of care led to your accident and injuries.

Suppose, for example, that you suffered a slip and fell down a flight of stairs that led to spinal cord injuries. The property owner failed to take care of needed maintenance, despite the business operating on that premises, separate from the owner, notifying the landlord about the need for maintenance and care. That lack of maintenance caused your injury. However, the business operating on the premises may also bear liability for failing to post signs or take steps to keep you away from that potentially dangerous area.

You may need to talk to your lawyer about all the factors in your accident. Identifying multiple parties who share liability for your catastrophic injuries may make it easier for you to recover additional compensation for your injuries, which can prove essential in your financial recovery.

What injuries did you sustain due to the incident?

To file a catastrophic injury claim, you must show evidence of catastrophic injuries related to the accident. The existence of circumstances that could have caused catastrophic injury alone will not prove adequate to file a catastrophic injury claim. While you can pursue compensation for any injuries you did sustain due to the act of negligence, if you did not sustain injuries in the accident, you may not have the right to pursue compensation.

Recovering Compensation Following a Lakeland Catastrophic Injury: What to Expect

Following a catastrophic injury in Lakeland, you may have the right to recover substantial compensation for your injuries. Catastrophic injuries often mean high medical bills and ongoing financial limitations. Talk to a lawyer about your specific claim and the losses you may have sustained to better understand your next steps.

At the Fernandez Firm, we cannot guarantee the specific compensation you will recover as part of your catastrophic injury claim. We can, however, help you take a look at the financial and non-financial losses you may have sustained to give you a better idea of the compensation you might expect.

Your medical bills, including both current and future expenses.

When you suffer catastrophic injuries, you may require lifelong medical care. Patients with spinal cord injuries, for example, may need a lifelong organ or mobility support. Patients who have suffered limb amputation may require regular replacements for their prosthetic devices. The more severe your injuries and the more they impact you, the more time you may need to spend receiving medical treatment and the higher your anticipated medical costs may look.

In addition, you may require considerable treatment immediately after your accident. You may spend a long time in the hospital or have a lot of visits with specialists who will help you learn how to cope with your injuries. You may have to go through long-term occupational therapy to help you cope with those injuries.

As part of your catastrophic injury claim in Lakeland, you can include those medical costs.

Your lost income related to your accident.

A catastrophic injury can keep you out of work for months or even years. In some cases, it may even prevent you from going back to your former profession, especially if you have suffered injuries that will make it unsafe or impossible in some way for you to complete your usual job tasks.

As part of a catastrophic injury claim, you can include compensation for all the lost income related to your accident and your injuries. If you cannot return to work immediately but can eventually return, you may claim specific lost wages and time at work. If you suffer long-term losses that will permanently prevent you from working in your profession, you may claim compensation for lost earning potential or the income you would reasonably have earned but for those injuries.

Your pain and suffering.

Catastrophic injuries often mean immense suffering. Many people find their self-concept changing dramatically after a catastrophic accident. They may have significantly less independence, or they may have to give up many of the hobbies and activities that once defined who they were.

While the financial losses associated with the injury can prove incredibly challenging, for some patients, the non-financial elements can prove even more devastating. Working with an injury lawyer can help you break down the suffering you have faced because of your catastrophic injury and how you can best include it as part of your injury claim.

Contact a Lakeland Catastrophic Injury Lawyer Today

If you suffered catastrophic injuries in Lakeland due to the negligence of another party, you might have the right to pursue compensation for those injuries. Contact Frank and Jennifer at the Fernandez Firm today at (863) 230-8066 for your free consultation.

The Fernandez Firm – Lakeland

100 S Kentucky Ave #285
Lakeland, Florida, 33801
(863) 230-8489

Client Testimonials

I was recently injured in an automobile accident. Contacting the Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys was the wisest choice I made. They navigated me through the process from beginning to end. The outcome was positive and painless. I appreciate the hard work of your firm and highly recommend anyone else in a similar situation to contact you.

Jesse Perez