La Crosse Catastrophic Injury Lawyers

The injuries cause long-term or permanent disabilities.

You might suffer from:

• The permanent loss of a limb.
• The permanent loss of a body function, such as your eyesight.
• You can’t gain meaningful employment.
• You might need lifelong care, assistance, or even accommodations.
• You might need prosthetic devices or might have to use assistive devices, such as wheelchairs and walkers, for the rest of your life.
• You might have to take medication for the rest of your life.
• You might have permanent disfigurement and/or scarring.

The medical treatments you might need, including surgeries and therapies, depend on the injuries you suffered. Some of the treatments could include skin grafts for extensive burns, rehabilitation and/or physical therapy if you lost the use of a body part, pain or other medication to treat the disability, additional surgeries, and emergency medical care if the injury and/or disability gets worse.

It depends on the insurance company. Most insurance companies will try to deny your claim or offer you a low amount because they lose money every time someone files a claim. However, if you can get an insurance company to settle for a fair and reasonable amount, it may be better to settle.

However, if the insurance company refuses a fair and reasonable settlement for the compensation you deserve, litigation is almost always worth the extra time and effort.

Any injury that leaves you with permanent disabilities is catastrophic.

Such injuries could include:

• Traumatic brain injuries, including concussions. In some cases, concussions could cause chronic traumatic encephalopathy or even Alzheimer’s disease. Other types of traumatic brain injuries include intracranial hematomas, skull fractures, contusions, diffuse axonal injuries, and penetrating injuries.
• Internal injuries, including damage to the kidneys, liver, spleen, heart, and lungs.
• Back and spinal cord injuries that lead to partial or full paralysis.
• Neck and shoulder injuries that lead to partial or full paralysis.
• Multiple fractures, whether simple or compound, especially if those fractures are not expected to heal properly.
• Excessive scarring, such as that from burns or road rash.
• Disfigurement, such as that from broken bones or back and spinal cord injuries.

You can recover two types of compensatory damages: Economic damages and non-economic damages. Economic damages have a monetary value while non-economic damages do not. In some cases, you might also recover punitive damages if the defendant’s actions or inactions were grossly negligent or intentional.

Sometimes referred to as special damages, economic damages include:

• Past medical expenses for those incurred because of the accident and before a settlement or a trial award.
• Future medical expenses for those incurred because of the accident and after a settlement or trial award.
• Future lost wages for the time you cannot gain meaningful employment because of injuries and disabilities caused by the accident. Future lost wages come into play after a settlement or a trial award.
• Replacement or repair of any personal property destroyed or damaged in the accident. This includes your vehicle and anything in it, such as a computer, school books, clothing, and other personal property. This also includes personal property on your person that suffered damage or destruction in a pedestrian accident, bicycle accident, or motorcycle accident.
• Funeral, burial, and/or cremation expenses if you lost a loved one from catastrophic injuries.

Sometimes referred to as general damages, non-economic damages include:

• Pain and suffering, including emotional distress, if you suffered catastrophic injuries in an accident.
• Emotional distress for those who lost a loved one because of catastrophic injuries.
• Loss of quality of life.
• Loss of companionship if you can no longer enjoy and/or take part in family activities and events, such as playing ball with your children or going on a camping trip.
• Loss of consortium if you can no longer have a physical relationship with your spouse.
• Loss of use of a body part, such as a foot or a hand.
• Loss of use of a bodily function, such as your eyesight or bladder control.
• Inconvenience if you have to hire someone to do your usual chores, such as grocery shopping, lawn maintenance, home repairs, and home maintenance.
• Amputation of a limb, whether the doctors couldn’t save a severed limb or because doctors had to amputate because of gangrene or another problem that is a direct cause of the accident injuries.
• Excessive scarring and/or disfigurements, such as burns, road rash, or even when doctors cannot properly set a broken bone because the fracture is so bad.
• Wrongful death from catastrophic injuries.

Yes. In most other injury claims, you don’t have to figure for long-term or permanent disabilities. When you suffer a catastrophic injury, it usually leads to permanent disabilities that could require additional surgeries, follow-up appointments, therapies, life-long care, and special accommodations.

Your attorney also has to figure for future lost wages and other damages for the long-term instead of for the few weeks or months it might take you to recover from non-catastrophic injuries.

The defendant covers any therapies that you might need after suffering injuries in a catastrophic accident as medical expenses. Depending on your injuries, you might require physical therapy or occupational therapy. Some might require cognitive therapy or other psychological therapies.

It is not uncommon for those suffering catastrophic injuries to also suffer from anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. If your doctor recommends any of these therapies, don’t miss any appointments except in an emergency. The defense will quickly point out that you don’t really need those therapies if you miss appointments—and aren't that badly injured.

Depending on the type of accident, several people could share in the liability for the compensation you deserve. If you suffered injuries because of a defective product, the manufacturer, seller, and others could share in the responsibility.

If you suffered injuries because of a slip or trip and fall at a friend’s home or a retail establishment, landlords, owners, managers, homeowner’s insurance, and others could share in the liability.

Vehicular accidents are often as complicated. If one person hits you, the person driving and the owner of the vehicle might share responsibility. If a big rig causes an accident, the driver, trucking company, dispatcher, truck maintenance tech, and others could share in the responsibility for your injuries.

Your initial case evaluation is always free. We take cases on a contingency basis, which means that you don’t pay us unless we secure compensation for you. When you come in for your free case evaluation, you’ll receive a contingency contract that outlines our fees, which come only out of your settlement or trial award. You will not pay out of pocket for us to represent you.