There are several ways that an attorney may assist when it comes to pursuing monetary compensation in a child injury case. First, your lawyer can investigate the accident or occurrence that injured your child. An attorney may also consult with and retain an expert to determine how your child’s injury likely occurred, as well as the persons or entities that may be fully or partially responsible for the accident/occurrence and the injury.
An expert, including a medical expert, can be useful in determining the exact amount of mental, physical, and financial harm that a child suffered as a result of sustaining the injury in question.
A lawyer can also be helpful when it comes to filing your Gwinnett County child injury claim. In a child injury case, the burden of proof is on the plaintiff to demonstrate that an individual or entity behaved unreasonably under the circumstances. For example, the operator of a motor vehicle may have been speeding, weaving in and out of traffic, or running a red light or stop sign, resulting in the accident.
In the case of defective equipment at a playground or daycare facility, the manufacturer of the equipment may not have properly tested the equipment before making it available for consumers to purchase, or the product may have been designed defectively. Finally, in negligent supervision cases, the person or persons responsible for supervising the child may not have done so adequately, causing the child to become injured.
In addition to proving that a person or business entity negligently brought about the occurrence which led to the child becoming injured, the plaintiff also has the burden of proving that the injury which the child sustained actually resulted from the accident—and that it occurred because of the accident.
Also, in cases where a child is injured in an accident, there are always two separate claims under Georgia law. The first claim is called the parental claim, and it has two distinct elements. The first element of the parental claim is for medical expenses. This claim is necessary because a child’s parents are generally responsible for paying a child’s injury-related medical expenses up until the child turns 18 years old. The second element of the parental claim is for the loss of the child’s services.
In addition to the parental claim that is asserted by the child’s parents in a child injury claim, the child can also assert his or her own claim. As part of the child’s claim, the child may be eligible to recover monetary compensation for all of the pain and suffering which he or she had to endure as a result of the accident and the injuries.
The child can also recover monetary compensation for any permanent injuries that he or she suffered in the accident or occurrence. These permanent injuries may affect a child’s future ability to work, resulting in a claim for loss of earning capacity. The child can also pursue compensation for loss of abilities due to his or her accident-related injuries. Finally, the child can seek compensation for the costs of any anticipated medical care, treatment, and expenses that he or she may need, due to the injuries suffered in the accident or occurrence.
