Becoming paralyzed in an accident is physically devastating and can impact many other parts of your life. These injuries might limit how and where you can work, what you can do with family members and friends, and even whether you can take care of yourself in your everyday life. Anyone who causes a paralyzing accident should be held responsible for the negative effects of their careless or reckless behavior.
Civil compensation may not be able to restore you to your previous physical condition. Still, a successful lawsuit or settlement could be the key to recovering pain and suffering damages which are allocated to maximize your quality and enjoyment of life. At Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers, our winning attorneys like Founding Partner Jon Ostroff and Managing Partner Rich Godshall have over 18 years of experience winning multi-million-dollar cases for clients with catastrophic injuries. Let a Reading paralysis injury lawyer fight tirelessly for the compensation you deserve.
How Negligence Can Cause Paralyzing Injuries
In legal terms, “negligence” means the following:
- One person owes you a “duty” to be responsible and careful under specific circumstances
- That person violates their “duty” and instead acts in a careless, reckless, or illegal way
- They cause an accident through their misconduct that otherwise wouldn’t have happened
- You suffer an injury requiring professional medical care directly because of that accident
No matter how a paralyzing injury happens or what was involved in the accident, all these statements must be true for you to be able to sue the negligent person in civil court. Importantly, though, what counts as a “duty” or violation of duty can vary depending on the circumstances.
For example, drivers on public roads have a duty to follow traffic laws, so anyone who causes a wreck because they ran a red light would be legally negligent. On the other hand, private property owners have different levels of responsibility for accidents on their land, depending on who got hurt and what they were doing on the premises. Once hired, a Reading paralysis injury attorney at our firm will help sort out questions of liability and build the strongest case possible on your behalf.
Damages for a Paralyzing Accident
Paralyzing injuries are often permanent. Accordingly, any lawsuit or settlement proposal built around this kind of injury should include both short-term and long-term forms of harm, including:
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emergency medical bills
- Costs of future medical care—for example, physical therapy bills, costs of buying wheelchairs or walkers, and prescription drug costs
- Lost work wages and lost ability to hold a job
- Emotional trauma, like the effects of PTSD
- Loss of life’s pleasures
Under Pennsylvania law, most people who get hurt by someone else’s negligence have just two years after their accidents to start filing a lawsuit. This is true even if their injuries will have lifelong effects. Guidance from a seasoned lawyer can be vital to meeting this deadline for your paralysis injury claim.
Contact an Experienced Reading Paralysis Injury Attorney
Paralysis is a devastating outcome of any accident, especially one that only occurred because another person was irresponsible. Fortunately, you have the right to demand money for all your injury-related losses in situations like this. At Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers, we can tirelessly enforce those rights on your behalf.
A conversation with a Reading paralysis injury lawyer will help you understand your options and determine the best course of action. Call our firm today to set up a meeting.
