As a parent, you want to protect your children and keep them out of harm’s way. Unfortunately, there is no way to ensure their safety, especially when other adults act recklessly or negligently. If another person caused an accident that harmed your child, you could demand money for the long-term effects of your child’s injury through a lawsuit or settlement proposal.
Child injury lawsuits are similar to typical personal injury claims in some ways and different in others. Help from a seasoned personal injury attorney at Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers can be crucial to getting a positive case result. With one of our winning Lewisburg child injury lawyers representing your family, you will have much better chances of holding the wrongdoers accountable and protecting your child’s future.
Unique Aspects of Child Injury Lawsuits
The main difference between a standard personal injury lawsuit and a child injury lawsuit is that children under 18 years old cannot file civil lawsuits on their own behalf. When someone else’s misconduct directly leads to a child getting hurt, the parent(s) or guardian(s) can file the claim for them. Alternatively, the child can wait until they turn 18 and then file suit on their own. Either way, state law gives a maximum of two years after the injury occurs—or, if the child is suing on their own behalf, two years after they turn 18—to begin the claim.
Property Accidents Affecting Children
Another important difference between child injury lawsuits and other claims is that there are some situations where an adult could be held legally liable for injuring a child when they wouldn’t be responsible for injuring an adult. The most common example of this is the “attractive nuisance” doctrine. This applies to situations where a curious child is drawn onto private property by something like construction equipment or a swimming pool.
Property owners in Pennsylvania generally don’t have any responsibility to protect adult trespassers from getting hurt on their land. However, this doctrine says that landowners can be liable for injuries suffered by trespassing children if the landowner didn’t take reasonable steps to secure the “attractive nuisance” on their land—for example, by putting up a fence. Your Lewisburg attorney can go into more detail during a private meeting about what could justify a child injury claim.
Getting Your Child Paid for All Their Injuries
Whether they file suit by themselves as adults or have someone else sue on their behalf, children who get hurt in accidents can recover for all past and future effects of their injuries, including:
- Pain and suffering
- Medical expenses
- Lost future earning ability
- Lost short-term wages, if a parent or guardian must miss work to care for their injured child
- Emotional distress
- Loss of life’s pleasures
However, there are many restrictions under state law on how the child injury settlement money must be handled until the child comes of age. A seasoned lawyer at Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers can further explain these aspects of child injury claims in Lewisburg during a free consultation.
Speak with a Lewisburg Child Injury Attorney Today
No child should have to deal with a serious injury, especially one caused by an adult’s negligence. If your family is dealing with the aftermath of a traumatic accident, taking legal action on your kid’s behalf may be the best way of protecting their long-term prospects.
Our Lewisburg child injury lawyers know how to fight on your behalf to get you the money you deserve. We recently won a $3.5 million settlement in mediation with a trial judge for a child struck by a drunk driver while she was riding her bike near the Lehigh Valley. Call us today to learn how we can advocate for you and your family.
