Ideally, every adult would act carefully and responsibly at all times, especially while they’re near young children. In reality, there are new examples every day of grown-ups acting negligently around children and causing those children to suffer serious physical injuries.
It may fall to you as your child’s parent or legal guardian to file a civil lawsuit on their behalf and demand fair financial restitution for the harm they’ve sustained, both of which are things a Mt Laurel child injury lawyer can help you do. No matter who specifically is to blame for your child’s injury or how bad the injury is, our personal injury attorneys will make sure you can enforce your family’s rights as effectively as possible.
What to Do After Your Child Gets Hurt in an Accident
If your child has been involved in any kind of accident that leaves them seriously injured, your top priority should always be making sure they have appropriate medical care for any and all injuries they’ve suffered. In addition to seeking professional medical attention at a hospital, urgent care clinic, or a pediatrician’s office, there are also a few things you can do in the short term to potentially strengthen a future civil claim, including:
- Talk to and get contact information from people who may have seen the accident happen
- Take photos of the place where the accident happened, as well as of your child’s injuries at various stages of healing
- Check for surveillance cameras that may have recorded your child’s accident
- Keep copies of all your child’s medical records, as well as bills, receipts, and other evidence detailing expenses your child’s injuries have required you to pay
- Compile pay stubs, tax returns, and other evidence indicating lost work income if you have to take time off work to care for your injured child
A Mt Laurel child accident attorney can provide vital help with preserving and making the most of this information during a lawsuit or settlement proposal.
Can Children Be Held Liable for Their Own Negligence?
Something else a skilled lawyer can help you with after your child gets seriously injured in Mt Laurel is fighting allegations of comparative fault made against your child. Under New Jersey law, a court can assign a percentage of fault to an injured person if it thinks that person is partially or mostly at fault for causing their own injuries through their own irresponsible actions.
Then, the court can reduce the total amount of money available to that person by that same percentage or even throw their case out of court entirely if the percentage is greater than 50%. While this doesn’t come into play quite as often during child injury claims, it can still be a major obstacle to fair financial recovery that your legal representative can help you navigate around.
Consider Working with a Mt Laurel Child Injury Attorney
Children are our future, and that makes it all the more important for adults to act carefully around kids so they don’t accidentally cause a child to suffer a life-altering injury. If your child has been hurt through an adult’s misconduct, you likely have grounds to file suit on your child’s behalf and demand compensation for the harm they’ve unfairly sustained.
Assistance from a Mt Laurel child injury lawyer can be all but essential to getting the best possible outcome from this unique type of civil claim. Call today to discuss your options.