Any injury that results from another person acting recklessly around you can be frustrating to deal with, not to mention expensive to treat and effectively recover from. Additionally, the burden lies on you to prove that the other individual was negligent and establish the extent of your damage to collect compensation for your losses. The process can be even more complicated if your injuries have long-term or debilitating consequences.
In a high-stakes situation like this, assistance from a seasoned personal injury attorney is crucial to ensure you understand your legal rights and can enforce them properly. With a Williamsville catastrophic injury lawyer from Richmond Vona, LLC on your side, you will have a far better chance of securing a favorable result from your settlement demand or civil proceedings than you would have filing on your own.
Click to jump to any topic on this page:
What Counts as a “Catastrophic” Injury?
New York state law does not set out a formal legal definition of the term “catastrophic injury.” Instead, legal professionals and court authorities generally use it to refer to injuries that result in a substantial loss of bodily function and are expected to affect the injured person for the remainder of their life. Examples of injuries that often meet this definition include but are not limited to:
Since state law does not distinguish catastrophic injuries from other types of personal injury, catastrophic injury lawsuits broadly follow the same rules as other forms of personal injury litigation. This means a person who wants to hold someone else liable for causing them harm generally must prove that the other person was legally negligent in some way.
More specifically, this entails showing that the person being sued owed the injured party a “duty” to act a specific way under the given circumstances, failed to fulfill this duty, and directly caused an accident resulting in severe physical injury as a result. A Williamsville catastrophic accident attorney can go into more detail about how cases like this work in practice during a confidential consultation.
Compensation for the Long-Term Effects of Catastrophic Harm
What sets catastrophic injury litigation apart from other claims, is the seriousness—and therefore the inflated financial value—of damages that injured parties may need to recover for. A long-term and debilitating injury will no doubt alter the course of the injured person’s life. A comprehensive lawsuit or settlement demand based on that injury should account for all the negative effects it will have in the short term as well as years or even decades past the end of the claim.
A qualified Williamsville attorney can help accurately evaluate and effectively demand restitution for forms of economic and non-economic forms of loss related to a catastrophic injury. These might include medical bills, lost working capacity, lost enjoyment of life, and various types of psychological and physical pain. Proactive legal counsel can also ensure that an injured person starts their case within applicable filing deadlines, so that the statute of limitations does not run out before the full value of their damages becomes clear.
Seek Help from a Williamsville Catastrophic Injury Attorney
Recovering fairly from the effects of a catastrophic injury is largely a matter of maximizing your quality of life moving forward rather than just reimbursing you for short-term losses. With this in mind, support from trusted legal representation is crucial to getting the best possible result from your legal proceedings while minimizing additional stress on you and your family.
A conversation with a Williamsville catastrophic injury lawyer can give you much-needed answers to your important questions and concerns. Call Richmond Vona, LLC today for a free case evaluation.
With over 25 years of combined personal injury experience, our co-founding attorneys, John E. Richmond and Keith R. Vona, have helped injury victims and their family members recover more than $150 million in financial relief.
John E. Richmond
Co-Founding Member
As one of New York’s top personal injury attorneys, John E. Richmond understands that clients come first. With over a decade of experience representing plaintiffs, he knows how to hold negligent corporations and big insurance companies liable.
In his nearly 15 years in practice, Keith has been consistently recognized for his client service and record of results. He has been selected for inclusion in the New York Super Lawyers® Rising Stars list four times (2013 to 2016), an honor reserved for the top up-and-coming attorneys.
