Child Injury Lawyers in Edmonton
Few things in life are more heartbreaking to a parent than when their child suffers an injury due to someone else’s misconduct, carelessness, negligence, or recklessness. If that happens, as the child’s parent, you may have a right to pursue a claim or lawsuit for negligence on your child’s behalf. As part of that claim, you can seek monetary compensation and damages for your child’s injuries.
Unlike run-of-the-mill personal injury cases, child injury cases are unique, and special issues are frequently involved when compared with adult personal injury cases. If your child suffered an injury in an accident that resulted from negligence, call the knowledgeable Edmonton and Alberta child injury lawyers at MNH Injury Lawyers. Our legal team has handled personal injury cases involving child accident victims.
We know the special considerations these cases involve and will zealously advocate for your child’s legal interests before the insurance company. Our legal team will fight for your child’s right to recover the compensation they deserve for everything that they went through following their accident.
Types of Child Injuries That Result From Negligence
Various types of carelessness, malpractice, and negligence can lead to an accident that results in a child suffering serious injuries in Edmonton, Alberta.
Common child injuries include:
- Head injuries – Children’s brains and heads are not nearly as developed as an adult’s, and when a child sustains a traumatic brain or head injury in an accident, irreversible consequences and symptoms can sometimes result. A child can suffer a serious head injury in a motor vehicle accident, especially where their head strikes a window, headrest, or something else inside the vehicle. Moreover, poorly maintained equipment at nursery schools, daycare centers, and other facilities can lead to serious head injuries. Children who compete in sports can suffer an injury from improperly maintained sports equipment or facilities. Their parents can hold coaches, referees, and organizations who fail to follow concussion protocols responsible for their children’s injuries.
- Neck and back injuries – Neck and back injuries can sometimes happen when a child slips and falls, landing directly on the ground. They can also suffer a whiplash-type neck and back injury in a car accident—especially a rear-end collision. The force of an impact in a rear-end accident may make the accident victim’s head and neck snap backward or forward quickly. While some neck and back injuries are soft tissue in nature, others involve a fracture, such as a vertebrae fracture, that may require surgery to correct. A serious spinal cord injury, such as a full or partial paralysis injury, can lead to lifelong complications and sometimes the necessity for lifetime care.
Common Causes of Child Injuries in Edmonton
Child injuries can happen when others behave in careless, reckless, or negligent ways.
Some of the most common causes of accidents that lead to child injuries include:
- Motor vehicle crashes – Children are sometimes passengers in motor vehicles that become involved in an accident that results from driver negligence. The child’s body might jolt in the vehicle, resulting in a serious injury. Common child injuries sustained in motor vehicle crashes include soft tissue injuries and broken bones, especially if their bodies forcefully strike something inside the vehicle.
- Slip and falls – Premises owners and managers must keep their properties in a safe condition for everyone’s benefit. If a child slips and falls to the ground, they can suffer a lower back injury and one or more broken bones in their fall. This is especially true if they strike the ground with a significant amount of force.
How a Personal Injury Lawyer Can Assist With Proving a Child Injury Claim?
One of the most important steps that you can take in your child’s case is to hire a knowledgeable Edmonton and Alberta child injury lawyer as early as possible. Each type of accident and injury case is different, and some – such as car accident claims – can involve complex laws and legal principles.
For example, our lawyers know how to apply the following and more to your child’s case following a car crash:
- Alberta Insurance Act
- Alberta Standard Automobile Policy
- Alberta Minor Injury Regulation (MIR)
- Alberta accident benefits, called section B benefits
The first step that your lawyer can take is to investigate the accident that led to your child’s injuries. In some instances, your lawyer may want to retain an accident reconstructionist or other expert to determine exactly how the accident or malfunction existed. A medical expert may be necessary to show how your child likely suffered their injury, the nature and extent of their injury, and whether or not the injury is likely to be permanent.
The provider will also need to connect your child’s injury to the accident or occurrence. Your lawyer can assist with retaining the expert or experts necessary to prove the legal elements of your child’s injury claim.
In addition, a lawyer can file a claim with the insurance company (or in the court system) and pursue the compensation your child needs.
First of all, your lawyer can prepare a settlement demand letter that seeks a specific amount of monetary compensation. A lawyer typically directs the demand letter to the insurance company adjuster handling the claim for the at-fault party. In addition to a demand letter, your lawyer can submit important documents, such as your child’s medical records, photographs of their injuries, and photographs of the occurrence scene.
Once the insurance company adjuster has a chance to review all of this documentation, they may begin settlement negotiations in the case. Before you accept a settlement offer on behalf of your child, you want to make sure that the offer will fully and fairly compensate them, not only for their past medical issues but also for anticipated losses in the future.
The offer should also compensate your child for all of their past and potential pain and suffering and lifelong complications. For example, if the child will likely require around-the-clock care in the future, the insurance company should consider that anticipated cost.
In most cases, initial offers from insurance companies are not favorable. Instead, they are an attempt by the insurance company adjuster to try and resolve the case for us quickly and cheaply as possible.
An Edmonton child injury lawyer can negotiate with the insurance company adjuster on your behalf and work to get your child the compensation they deserve for all of their accident-related injuries. If the insurance company will not settle your case favorably, your lawyer can file a lawsuit directly against the at-fault party, seeking compensation for your child.
Once litigation begins, your lawyer may continue negotiating with the insurance company adjuster, in an attempt to fully resolve the claim through settlement. However, once litigation starts, the parties will have to meet court deadlines, take specific steps and may need to participate in one or more court-ordered settlement conferences.
If, after the litigation process concludes, the parties have not resolved their case, they can take it to trial or to a mediation.
If your child has suffered an injury in an accident that someone else caused, the skilled legal team at MNH Injury Lawyers can explain all of your settlement and litigation options to you in terms that are clear and easy to understand.
Our legal team will guide you through every step of the process and make sure that you are fully aware of your legal rights at all times. We can help you decide whether you should accept a pending settlement offer or litigate your child’s case to a conclusion in the court system.
What Damages Can I Recover in a Child Injury Case?
Victims of child injuries often have to undergo painful medical treatment and procedures. Stress can pile up quickly, and parents are often unsure where to turn. Fortunately, the experienced legal team at MNH Injury Lawyers can help you pursue the damages that your child deserves to recover for all of their accident-related injuries.
Potential monetary compensation in a child injury case that results from negligence includes:
- Compensation for future lifetime care costs at a nursing home or assisted living facility
- Compensation for a permanent disability or lifelong impairment
- Pain and suffering damages
- Damages for lost quality of life or loss of the ability to use a body part
- Compensation for inconvenience
- Compensation for mental distress and emotional anguish
- Wrongful death compensation, in the event of a fatal accident
Our legal team can advance your child’s interests when pursuing a favorable settlement with the insurance company or litigating your case in the court system.
Talk to our Edmonton Child Injury Lawyers Right Away
If your child has suffered injuries in an accident that would not have happened but for another person’s negligence, you have legal rights that are available to you.
The experienced and compassionate legal team at MNH Injury Lawyers understands the frustration that comes along with seeing your child in pain. Our skilled lawyers will proactively handle every aspect of your child’s claim and fight for their right to recover full and fair compensation for their injuries, pain, suffering, and inconvenience—past, present, and future.
For a free legal consultation and case evaluation with a child injury lawyer in Edmonton, Alberta, please call us today or contact us online for more information.
Edmonton Office Location
10339 124 St Suite 200, Edmonton, AB T5N 3W1, Canada
