Atlanta Catastrophic Injury Law Firm

If you or a loved one have suffered a catastrophic injury, it is important to contact a Georgia catastrophic injury attorney as soon as possible. It is critically important to hire an experienced, competent catastrophic injury attorney to investigate the incident immediately. Over time, evidence disappears and eyewitness memories fade. It is important for your Georgia catastrophic injury attorney to obtain and preserve all relevant evidence and to interview eyewitnesses while their memories are still fresh. If you or a loved one suffered a catastrophic injury in the State of Georgia, we encourage you to contact one of our catastrophic injury attorneys at Finch McCranie, LLP for a free consultation.

Catastrophic injury cases are different than other personal injury cases due to the severity of the injuries. Catastrophic injuries almost always involve permanent, lifelong disabilities or disfigurement. This almost always results in much higher medical expenses than in a regular personal injury claim. Additionally, because the injury is typically permanent, the future expected medical expenses are often projected to be hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. Catastrophic injury cases are typically more difficult than a regular personal injury claim due to the fact that most insurance companies will resist paying a large settlement whenever possible.

An attorney’s initial handling of a Georgia catastrophic injury case will be dictated by the particular facts and circumstances of each case. If there is a dispute concerning how and why the incident occurred, and which party or parties are legally at fault for causing the catastrophic injury, the attorney must take the necessary steps to investigate the liability portion of the claim. This can involve inspecting and documenting the scene where the catastrophic injury occurred, interviewing eyewitnesses and obtaining sworn statements, and subpoenaing records and documents necessary to prove the case. The Georgia catastrophic injury lawyers at Finch McCranie LLP employ retired FBI agents as investigators in certain cases.

In many catastrophic injury cases, if there is any dispute as to how the incident occurred or which party or parties are legally responsible for causing the injury, it is necessary to file a lawsuit against the responsible parties. In a Georgia catastrophic injury case, after the defendants have been served with the lawsuit, the parties are entitled to conduct discovery in order to prepare the case for trial. If the Georgia catastrophic injury lawsuit is against a company or large corporation, this discovery process will often involve subpoenaing documents such as safety manuals and policies & procedures, the employment file and personnel records of the at-fault employee, and documents and electronic communications concerning the underlying incident. Oftentimes if there is a corporate defendant, we will take a 30(b)(6) deposition of a corporate representative. In a 30(b)(6) deposition, we submit a list of topics that we would like to cross-examine the corporation on. The corporation may choose whomever they like to serve as that representative. That representative is, from a legal standpoint, speaking directly on behalf of the corporation. Oftentimes these depositions can provide critical evidence which allow us to prove our case.

Conversely, a defendant in a catastrophic injury case is also entitled to conduct their own discovery. This usually centers on obtaining information about the nature and extent of the catastrophic injury. This involves obtaining all of the medical records for treatment for the catastrophic injury and all past medical bills. As discussed in more detail below, in many of the catastrophic injury cases handled by our firm, we will retain the services of a lifecare planner to assist in proving the future medical care and treatment that will be necessary.

The parties in a civil lawsuit in Georgia typically have six (6) months to conduct discovery. However, in catastrophic injury cases, due to the complicated issues in typically very high recoveries, this discovery tract is usually expanded to at least eight (8) months, and in most cases one year.

If there is no dispute as to how and why the catastrophic injury occurred, the attorney will move on to investigating available sources of recovery. This includes performing an in-depth investigation to determine the existence of insurance policies which may provide coverage for the catastrophic injury claim. The attorney will also interview the physicians and healthcare providers of the victim to determine the nature and extent of the catastrophic injury victim’s injuries, current problems, future prognosis for recovery, and any future medical care.

In Georgia catastrophic injury lawsuits, there are two categories of damages available to victims, economic damages and non-economic damages.

Economic damages include medical expenses, loss of earnings, cost of retaining domestic services, and loss of business or employment opportunities. The medical expenses in Georgia catastrophic injury cases can be extensive. Due to the nature of the catastrophic injury, it is common that the victim will need some form of medical treatment and assistance for the rest of their life. In these types of cases, we almost always retain a life care planner as an expert witness. A life care planner’s job is to project the future needs of an individual who has suffered a catastrophic injury. This can include physical therapy, prosthetic limbs (which must be replaced every few years), cost of home healthcare workers, cost of domestic health, and any future medical treatment and surgery. Depending on the extent of the catastrophic injury, these life care plans often end up being millions of dollars. Simply proving the cost of future medical care and treatment, and any other needs the injured person will incur in the future, in and of itself is a difficult task. This is why you should only hire an experienced Georgia catastrophic injury lawyer who is familiar with all of these issues that arise in these cases. Among the things a life care planner will consider when preparing a particular life care plan, they will take into consideration medical examinations and treatments, homebased or facility based care, physical, vocational, and occupational rehabilitation therapy, psychological assessments, therapy and counseling, adaptive devices such as walkers, wheelchairs, hospital beds, home adaptations such as ramps, widened doorways, bathroom renovations, and transportation assistance such as a modified van with a wheelchair lift, etc.

The non-economic damages are the intangible losses suffered by a catastrophic injury victim. They include physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, disability or disfigurement, emotional distress, loss of society and companionship, loss of consortium, etc.

Recovering for a catastrophic injury claim is a multi-factored approach. First, it is necessary to identify the party or parties responsible for causing the catastrophic injury. Once you have identified the appropriate parties, your lawyer must then prove that those persons or entities are legally responsible for causing the harm or injury.

Insurance also plays a big factor in catastrophic injury cases. Unless the defendant is a large corporation with deep pockets, in all likelihood recovery will be limited to the insurance the defendant had in place at the time of the incident. If the defendant who caused the injury only has minimal insurance coverage, and no valuable personal assets, unfortunately in many instances the injured party is unable to obtain fair compensation.

If you are looking to hire a Georgia catastrophic injury attorney, it is very important that you retain a lawyer who has experience in investigating and identifying every potential insurance policy which may provide coverage for the incident. There have been several instances where the catastrophic injury attorneys at Finch McCranie, LLP have been referred cases by other lawyers and we have successfully identified, and recovered, insurance proceeds that have not been previously discovered.

There are many law firms that handle catastrophic injury cases, but very few whose lawyers actually try these cases to a jury on a regular basis. Finch McCranie, LLP is one of those few. Our catastrophic injury attorneys have extensive jury trial experience, which enables us to prepare each case with a willingness to go to trial. Because opposing firms know this, it allows us to resolve many cases before trial. In the cases we choose to take to trial, we have a long track record of success in obtaining multi-million dollar verdicts on behalf of our clients.