Catastrophic Injury Lawyers in Edmonton
Serious accidents, like pedestrian accidents, bicycle accidents, motor vehicle collisions, slip and falls, and construction accidents that occur on the job can lead to catastrophic personal injuries. Given the harsh winter weather, snow, ice, and cold temperatures that Edmonton, Alberta receives every year, it is no surprise that outdoor slip and falls and weather-related motor vehicle crashes happen regularly.
After a person suffers a catastrophic injury in a serious accident, they may need to spend time in the hospital or undergo surgery or another complicated (and sometimes painful) medical procedure. The accident victim might also need to follow up with a primary care doctor, medical specialist, or physical therapist. All of this medical treatment—especially surgeries—can be painful and inconvenient, causing many disruptions to your life.
Moreover, victims of catastrophic injuries often have to spend time away from their work. They might not return to the same occupation after their accident due to their injuries. Therefore, they may lose a significant amount of earnings. Finally, a person who suffers a catastrophic injury in an accident will almost always experience reduced quality of life and the inability to take part in activities they once enjoyed.
If you or a person you care about has suffered a catastrophic injury in an accident that resulted from another person’s negligence, you have legal options that you might pursue. One of the first steps that you need to take after suffering a catastrophic injury is to retain a knowledgeable lawyer who regularly handles these complex cases.
A knowledgeable Edmonton and Alberta catastrophic injury lawyer at MNH Injury Lawyers will discuss your accident with you and develop a plan of action for moving forward with your case. Our legal team has a strong track record of success in handling catastrophic injury cases.
In your catastrophic injury case, we can first negotiate with the insurance company for the at-fault party to pursue a favourable settlement on your behalf. If the insurance company refuses to offer you the compensation you deserve, our team can litigate your case to a favourable conclusion, including going to court.
How Can MNH Injury Lawyers Help with Your Catastrophic Injury Claim?
For more than 17 years now, the Edmonton personal injury lawyers at MNH Injury Lawyers have delivered exceptional legal representation to victims of serious and fatal accidents throughout Western Canada and beyond. During that time, we have successfully handled numerous complex injury claims in a variety of areas, including:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Wrongful death
- Traumatic brain injury
- Soft tissue injuries
Our lawyers have extensive experience in all areas of personal injury law, and we can advise you of your rights and options for pursuing fair compensation and help you through the legal process while always looking out for your best interests. We are highly effective negotiators who can help you obtain a fair settlement, and we are also tenacious and aggressive trial lawyers who are ready to take your case to court if necessary.
To learn more about how we can help you through the claim process and increase your chances of getting substantial compensation for your injuries and losses caused by the negligent actions of another party, please call our law firm today at 1-888-664-5298 or contact us online. An Edmonton personal injury lawyer can review your case during a free initial consultation, and our lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, so you won’t pay any legal fees upfront. We only accept a fee if we recover damages for you.
What Are Catastrophic Injuries?
Catastrophic injuries are permanent and affect an accident victim’s life and well-being long-term. They might leave the accident victim permanently debilitated, and they typically require a significant amount of medical treatment. Catastrophic injuries can arise from a number of scenarios, including motor vehicle accidents, workplace and construction accidents, slip and fall accidents, and other preventable tragedies.
Some of the most common catastrophic injuries that people suffer in accidents include broken bones, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, paralysis, and internal organ damage.
If you experienced any of these injuries after a serious accident caused by someone else’s negligence, the compassionate catastrophic injury lawyers at MNH Injury Lawyers can assist you. While you are still receiving treatment for your injuries, our team can begin gathering your medical records and other documentation and pursuing a claim on your behalf. Once you have completed your treatment, we can negotiate with the insurance company and pursue a favourable settlement for you.
Establishing That You Suffered a Permanent Injury
To recover monetary compensation for a catastrophic injury, it is necessary that you first satisfy the legal burden of proof in your claim. Specifically, an accident victim must demonstrate that another person behaved unreasonably under the circumstances, leading to their serious accident.
Negligence might include violating a traffic law in a motor vehicle accident case or failing to maintain business premises in a slip and fall case. The accident victim must then show that as a direct result of their accident, they suffered a catastrophic injury.
To establish that an injured person suffered a permanent injury in an accident, they will need to have an experienced medical expert on board in their case. To establish permanency, a healthcare provider must be willing to state in writing, and to a reasonable degree of medical probability, that the injury the accident victim suffered is permanent.
A permanent injury will remain with the accident victim for the rest of their life—and that may cause them to experience symptoms indefinitely.
The knowledgeable team at MNH Injury Lawyers will retain a medical expert in your case to establish that your catastrophic injury is permanent and that, as a result, you deserve to recover fair and just compensation for your long-term pain, suffering, and inconvenience.
Filing a Catastrophic Injury Claim
The first step to filing a catastrophic injury claim is submitting a demand letter with accompanying documents to the insurance company—usually for the at-fault party who caused the accident. The demand letter will make an initial monetary demand for settlement, while the attached documents will support the personal injury claim.
A catastrophic injury lawyer will attach copies of the accident victim’s medical diagnosis and records, photographs of their injuries, photographs of the accident scene, property damage photos, lost wage documentation, and a victim impact statement. The insurance company will then review all of this information and determine whether to accept fault for the accident and make a counteroffer or move the claim to litigation.
If the insurance company agrees to liability and to negotiation, the parties will typically negotiate back and forth until they resolve the case through settlement or reach an impasse. If the parties cannot agree on a settlement, the accident victim’s lawyer can file a lawsuit in the court system on their behalf.
Filing a lawsuit formally starts the litigation process. However, from that point forward, the case can still be resolved by settling at any point along the way. The parties will take part in the Discovery/Questioning part of the litigation process. The defence lawyer will use Questioning to learn more about the injured person’s injuries and other problems.
If the case does not settle by the end of the litigation stage of the case, the parties can take the matter to an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process such as mediation. If that fails, the matter will advance to trial.
At an ADR process such as mediation, the mediator whom the parties pre-selected will listen to the evidence and decide the issue of damages. A potential benefit of mediation is that the accident victim is entitled to recover at least some compensation. Therefore, mediation eliminates at least some of the risks associated with a trial.
The skilled legal team of Edmonton and Alberta catastrophic injury lawyers at MNH Injury Lawyers can help you decide whether you should accept a pending settlement offer or litigate your case to a conclusion. Whatever you choose, you can be sure that we will zealously advocate for your legal rights and pursue the best compensation available on your behalf.
Recovering the Monetary Compensation That You Need for Your Catastrophic Injury
If you have suffered catastrophic injuries in an accident that resulted from another person’s recklessness or negligence, you must file the right claim and supporting documentation. For example, if your injury resulted from a car accident, we might apply and review the Alberta Insurance Act, Alberta accident benefits, called section B benefits, Alberta Standard Automobile Policy, and the Alberta Minor Injury Regulation (MIR).
No matter what accident led to your injuries, you might be in a position to recover various damages. Damages in catastrophic injury cases compensate accident victims not only for their out-of-pocket expenses but also for the consequences of their serious injuries.
First of all, a catastrophic injury victim can pursue compensation for all of their related costs. These economic damages include:
Medical Expenses
These include your current and past medical bills associated with your accident injury. In some catastrophic injury cases, a healthcare provider might project that the accident victim will need to undergo surgery, injections, or some other procedure in the future. When that is the case, the anticipated inconvenience and effects of that future medical care can be included in the accident victim’s total damages.
Lost Wages and Income
You can recover compensation for lost wages or for loss of earning capacity if you had to miss time away from work or switch jobs because of your catastrophic injury.
Property damage
You could receive compensation for any property damaged or destroyed in the accident. This could be your motor vehicle or some other personal property.
Associated Out-of-Pocket Expenses
You may also obtain compensation for other expenses you incurred as you recovered from or received treatment for your injury.
Non-Economic Damages
In addition to economic damages, you could also obtain compensation for non-economic damages. These damages are to help compensate you for the lost quality of life, inconvenience, emotional anguish, mental distress, and pain and suffering.
Some accident victims suffer such catastrophic injuries that they can no longer take part in the activities they once enjoyed. Those individuals can make a claim for lost quality of life or for loss of the ability to use a body part, such as with a full or partial paralysis injury. In addition, an accident victim can pursue a claim for loss of spousal support and companionship resulting from their injuries.
Punitive Damages
In certain rare cases, victims may receive punitive damages from the court. These types of damages are meant to punish the wrongdoer and send a message to others not to engage in that sort of behavior. The court typically only awards punitive damages in cases where it finds the defendant acted with extreme negligence, unlawfulness, or intentional misconduct.
If you suffered a catastrophic injury in an accident, the skilled legal team at MNH Injury Lawyers can discuss your eligibility for all of these damages with you. We can then help you pursue the maximum settlement available in your injury case.
Contact our Edmonton Catastrophic Injury Lawyers Today
If doctors expect you to suffer lifelong complications from catastrophic injuries, you want knowledgeable and experienced legal counsel on board at every stage of your claim.
The insurance company is never on your side. These companies will do everything they possibly can to undervalue your claim and pay out as little compensation as possible to satisfy it.
When it comes to pursuing a favourable monetary settlement, court verdict, or mediation award, the skilled and experienced personal injury lawyers at MNH Injury Lawyers can serve as your advocates.
Our legal team can zealously take on the insurance company to ensure you receive all the compensation you deserve to recover from your permanent injury. If that is not forthcoming from the insurance company, we can litigate your case and, if necessary, take it to trial to help ensure you are fairly compensated. For a free consultation and case evaluation with a knowledgeable Edmonton and Alberta catastrophic injury lawyer, please call us today or contact us online for more information.
Edmonton Office Location
10339 124 St Suite 200, Edmonton, AB T5N 3W1, Canada
