The Cleveland catastrophic injury lawyers at the Slater & Zurz law firm know how devastating a severe car wreck or serious injury accident can be for you and your loved ones.
When you find yourself with a traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, or other significant injury, Slater & Zurz is ready to get to work on your behalf and help you get the compensation you deserve.
Catastrophic injury accidents can happen quickly and without warning. Even if you could anticipate these incidents, recovering from a catastrophic injury may take months, years, or even longer.
The financial consequences of having to pay medical bills, along with counseling and therapy expenses, at a time when you may not be able to work can cause stress and anxiety for you and your loved ones. The burden of medical expenses, along with counseling and therapy costs, can be overwhelming, especially when you are unable to work, causing significant stress and anxiety.
Do not risk your health and financial stability by agreeing to a settlement that’s too low or that does not adequately compensate you. Call Slater & Zurz for professional legal services and personalized advice. Together, we will work toward resolving your catastrophic injury to leave you in as strong a position as possible.
Severe Accidents Lead to Catastrophic Injuries
The human body is resilient but not indestructible. With enough force or trauma, even the strongest person can sustain a severe, life-altering injury. If you are in poor health or have an underlying medical condition, you may sustain a catastrophic injury more easily.
No matter how your health is, though, there are several ways you might suffer serious harm:
- A motor vehicle accident, especially a high-speed car crash or truck accident
- A slip and fall in public or on someone else’s private property
- Exposure to toxic substances or hazardous conditions
- An accident at work involving heavy machinery
- A fall from a tall height, at work or at home
These and other injury accidents can cause you to suffer catastrophic injuries. Common examples of catastrophic injuries frequently seen by personal injury lawyers in Cleveland include the following:
- Traumatic brain injuries, including concussions and whiplash
- Electrocution or severe chemical, heat, or other burns
- Harm to the neck and spine, or the spinal cord itself
- Injuries that penetrate the skull
- Partial or total loss of a limb
Get immediate medical attention if you or a loved one suffers an injury like this. Then, as soon as you can, reach out to an experienced injury lawyer with the Slater & Zurz law firm.
When we represent you, we will work diligently to secure important evidence and file the necessary paperwork to protect your legal right to compensation. We can also handle inquiries from insurance companies and settlement negotiations so that you can focus on recovering from your injuries.
Getting Compensation Following a Catastrophic Injury
In a catastrophic injury case, you may pursue financial compensation for all expenses and losses you incurred as a result of the injury. As long as the loss or expense is causally related to the accident and the accident was caused by another party’s negligence, your loss is potentially compensable.
Your losses and the compensation available for them will generally fall into two categories: economic and non-economic. Your personal injury lawyer will work to identify and quantify each type of loss so that any jury verdict or settlement you obtain will compensate you as fully as possible. As experienced practitioners in personal injury law, our lawyers at Slater & Zurz in Cleveland are dedicated to ensuring that every aspect of your case is meticulously handled to maximize your compensation. In managing your personal injury claims, our dedicated personal injury attorneys in Cleveland will ensure that all aspects of your catastrophic injury case are meticulously addressed.
Economic losses include expenses you pay or will have to pay to treat your injury fully. Examples of economic losses you and your injury lawyer can pursue include:
- Money for hospital stays, surgeries, and doctor’s visits
- Ambulance costs and medical transportation expenses
- Costs associated with physical therapy services
- Repair costs for property damage you sustained in the accident
- Bills for counseling for depression or anxiety as a result of your accident
Your wages and earning potential are also considered economic losses. If you missed time from work because of your injuries, the value of this missed work can be compensated through a monetary damages judgment or settlement.
If you are not able to return to work or cannot complete the same type of work, any difference in your future earning potential is a compensable loss as well.
Non-economic losses include those intangible harms that you suffer as a result of an accident. These can include pain and suffering and the loss of your ability to enjoy life and time with your family as fully as you did before.
Your injury lawyers can identify your non-economic losses in detail and help you assign an appropriate value to them.
Our Cleveland catastrophic injury attorney may be able to obtain punitive damages for you as well. These are damages meant to punish the responsible party for egregious, shocking, or deliberate harmful conduct and are awarded on top of your economic and non-economic losses.
Your injury lawyer is best suited to tell you whether you can seek punitive damages as part of your overall compensation award.
Your Recovery Begins with a Call to Slater & Zurz
Catastrophic injuries can damage your sense of security and safety. The injuries and expenses you must confront to recover fully can seem daunting and unaffordable.
Do not let these challenges immobilize you from taking steps to assert your legal rights. The first of these steps is enlisting the help of a catastrophic Injury lawyer in Cleveland from Slater & Zurz.
Timely action in retaining a Cleveland catastrophic injury attorney can ensure that you file a lawsuit and take the person or entity responsible for your injuries to court. Taking appropriate and prompt steps after an accident can also put you in a position to negotiate a fair and just settlement.
The Slater & Zurz law firm can help you take the steps that are necessary to secure compensation for yourself and your family.
Contact Slater & Zurz immediately following a catastrophic injury to you or your loved one by calling (440) 557-2861.
Yes. It is not uncommon for someone to suffer severe harm in an accident and still feel alright immediately afterward. This can happen for several reasons, including the rush of adrenaline that follows in the wake of a traumatic injury accident.
While adrenaline may mask the symptoms of your injury for a time, the harm you sustained is still there and needs attention.
If you hit your head, lose consciousness, feel a tingling sensation in your arms or legs, or have any doubt about the extent of your injuries, go to the emergency room right away.
There are a few exceptions to this general rule, but they are limited in scope and application. If you fail to file your claim in time, you are prohibited from seeking any compensation from the negligent party through the courts.
Yes, possibly. You should talk to a injury lawyer with Slater & Zurz immediately. Ohio has a two-year statute of limitations for personal injury cases, which means that any suit for damages following a catastrophic injury must usually begin within two years of the date your accident occurred.
If you file your case after this time period, it can be dismissed without any compensation being awarded to you. However, there are limited exceptions to the statute of limitations. A personal injury lawyer can review your situation and advise you if any of these exceptions apply.
Yes, you may be able to get compensation even if the accident was partly your fault. Ohio handles this situation under the legal theory of modified comparative negligence. As long as you were not the primary cause of the accident or more than 50% responsible, you can pursue compensation.
Any recovery you do obtain would reflect the amount of fault attributable to your actions. For example, if you incurred $60,000 in medical bills but were found to be 25% responsible for the accident, you would receive $45,000 in compensation.