Most people don’t want to even think about what they would do if they suffered a catastrophic injury. But no matter how careful you are, there is always a risk that you will suffer life-changing trauma. If you find yourself in this unfortunate situation, you need a catastrophic injury lawyer to help you recover.
An Akron catastrophic injury lawyer from Slater & Zurz can help you fight for the money you need to recuperate after suffering a catastrophic injury. Your life may never be the way it was before, but we can help you seek resources to improve your quality of life and help restore your health.
After suffering a traumatic injury, call Slater & Zurz to speak to an attorney who cares. We can schedule a free consultation to explore the details of your case.
Catastrophic Injuries
Ohio law defines catastrophic injuries as injuries that meet one of the following criteria:
- Permanently and substantially disfigure or deform
- Result in the loss of a limb
- Result in a lost organ
- Paralyze one or more limbs
- Prevent a person from caring for themself or sustaining their own life
In the simplest terms, a catastrophic injury will permanently alter the quality of your life. Typically, these injuries severely limit your ability to earn a living and often require lifelong treatment. Many of these injuries will also shorten your expected lifespan.
If you have suffered a catastrophic injury in Akron, you should consult with a personal injury lawyer who is knowledgeable about these types of cases. You may be eligible for millions of dollars, but only a skilled attorney can determine the true value of your claim.
Common Causes of Catastrophic Injuries
No matter how much care you take in your everyday life, there is no certain way to avoid suffering a catastrophic injury. You can be seriously injured due to:
- Accidents while performing maintenance or construction
- Car accidents
- Falling down stairs
- Cooking accidents
- Fires
- Exposure to dangerous chemicals, including cleaning supplies
- Pedestrian accidents
- Playing sports
- Animal attacks or bites
Even something as innocent as playing with your kid could result in a catastrophic injury if you are incredibly unlucky.
Since there is no way to completely prevent a catastrophic accident, you must take the appropriate actions if you have been injured. You should immediately call 911 and get evaluated at Akron General or another nearby hospital.
Once you have been stabilized, you should call Slater & Zurz to speak to a catastrophic injury lawyer in Akron for free.
What to Expect After a Catastrophic Injury
The main difference between a catastrophic injury and other types of injuries is how much it impacts your life. If you break an arm, for example, you may need to visit a doctor a handful of times, and you will be in recovery for a few months. You may require occupational therapy after, but you will probably be fully healed within the year at most.
However, if you suffer a catastrophic injury, you should expect to receive some form of medical treatment for the rest of your life. And for many catastrophic injuries, it is impossible to recover completely.
With this in mind, you should expect a lifetime of:
- Doctor appointments
- Physical or psychological therapy
- Assistance devices like wheelchairs
- Pain, discomfort, or disability
- Bureaucracy and paperwork
An Akron catastrophic injury attorney understands that you need compensation for more than just medical bills. You need money to pay for:
- Lost work hours or to replace your income if you can never work again
- The loss of companionship that often results from a catastrophic injury
- A lifetime of pain and disability
- Assistance services like live-in nurses or transportation
- Physical, occupational, and psychological therapy sessions
Only taking into account medical treatment, you could be looking at over $1 million in expenses. When you account for the other expenses and losses, you might require multiple millions just to return to an almost normal life. And that still doesn’t include the non-economic damages that you may deserve.
If you attempt to recover this type of money from an insurance company without the help of an Akron catastrophic injury lawyer, you will probably receive a trivial percentage of what you deserve.
Furthermore, you can’t afford to hire just any personal injury lawyer to help you recover money. If your attorney isn’t a catastrophic injury lawyer in Akron, they probably won’t have the experience to accurately determine the value of your case.
Call Slater & Zurz to get assistance from personal injury lawyers who have years of experience dealing with catastrophic injury cases in Akron.
How an Akron Catastrophic Injury Lawyer Can Help
After suffering a catastrophic injury, you will likely be incapacitated for weeks, if not months. Those are weeks or months that you can’t afford to lose when it comes to filing an insurance claim.
Preferably, you will file your insurance claim within hours of suffering your injury. But understandably, that may be impossible if you have just suffered a life-altering injury. This is where an Akron catastrophic injury lawyer can help.
We have decades of experience dealing with injuries and insurance companies. With minimal input from you, we can handle the majority of your insurance claim. This lets you focus on recovery while experienced professionals fight on your behalf for the money you need to recuperate.
Our attorneys can take charge of all of the bureaucracy that you associate with an insurance claim. That means we will directly communicate with the insurance company and file all necessary paperwork. Additionally, we will collect evidence like:
- Medical records
- A police report, if applicable
- Income statements
- Interviews with witnesses, if applicable
- Receipts for services or expenses resulting from your injury
The more evidence we collect, the easier it will be to get you the maximum possible compensation for your injuries. Insurance companies have an unfortunate tendency to try to undervalue legitimate claims. At Slater & Zurz, we will do everything in our power to secure a fair compensation value for you.
Exceptional Catastrophic Injury Legal Services in Akron
When you are recovering from a life-changing injury, the last thing you need to deal with is the stress and bureaucracy of dealing with an insurance company. At Slater & Zurz, we understand the pain you are suffering and will fight zealously to make your recovery as stress-free as possible. If you have suffered a life-altering injury, call the Akron catastrophic injury lawyers at Slater & Zurz today at (330) 762-0700 to schedule a free consultation.
Hopefully, you won’t see the inside of a courtroom. Typically, we attempt to negotiate a fair settlement with the insurance company responsible for your claim. We define a settlement as “fair” if you receive enough compensation to allow you to recover as best as possible and additional damages for any long-term suffering.
Usually, we successfully negotiate a fair settlement, which ends your claim. You will only need to go to trial if the insurance company refuses to make a fair offer. While this is rare, our attorneys are passionate trial lawyers with excellent records of success in the courtroom.