Hitchcock Personal Injury Lawyer

It is an unfortunate fact of life that accidents happen and people can suffer injuries and property loss. This often produces economic hardship for the person suffering the loss.

When an accident results from another party’s failure, the negligent parties are responsible for an injured person’s losses. You could work with a trustworthy attorney to claim compensation for their out-of-pocket expenses, inconvenience, pain and emotional suffering, and property damage. A Hitchcock personal injury lawyer ensures that you have someone on your side fighting for justice.

Damages in a Personal Injury Case

An insurance company might offer someone a settlement check that covers most of their expenses, but it is unwise to them off the hook so easily. An accident often causes losses that far exceed the cost of medical treatment or lost earnings. The law holds a negligent party responsible for all an injured person’s losses. This can occur in the following situations:

• Motor vehicle accidents (including motorcycles)
• Pedestrian or bicycle crashes
• Premises liability (such as slip and falls)
• Dangerous drugs and product liability
• Medical malpractice
• Nursing home abuse
• Catastrophic injuries
• Work accidents (such as maritime injuries)
• Non-subscriber claims

After suffering harm due to one of these events, it is important to determine the damages that the plaintiff sustained.

Economic Damages

Economic damages are expenses or losses with a fixed value, like damage to a vehicle and its contents, medical care, and lost earnings from missing work. Economic damages also include other outlays such as:

• Transportation costs to medical appointments
• Home renovations necessary to accommodate an injury
• Costs of household services the injured person cannot perform, such as cleaning, child care, or yard work
• Alternative treatments or therapies insurance does not cover
• Incidental expenses necessary because of the accident

An injured person in Hitchcock could claim any expense they incurred due to the accident or its aftermath as part of their economic damages.

Economic damages also cover reasonable anticipated future losses, such as future medical care, ongoing home healthcare support, or a permanently reduced capacity to earn a living. A Hitchcock personal injury attorney could retain experts to calculate the extent of a person’s expected future losses.

Non-Economic Damages

An accident has impacts unrelated to financial costs. Non-economic damages compensate for temporary and permanent changes to an injured person’s quality of life.

Inconvenience, embarrassment, and humiliation are compensable through non-economic damages. If an injured person was disabled for a period and missed a family celebration or could not engage in activities they enjoy, they deserve compensation for the loss. Injured people deserve non-economic damages for the physical pain they suffer and the emotional trauma an accident causes.

Punitive Damages

Most injury cases do not involve punitive damages. However, if the party responsible for the accident behaved intentionally, fraudulently, with malice, or was grossly negligent, a judge might award punitive damages. In the personal injury context, judges sometimes award punitive damages if a drunk driver causes a significant injury or a company ignores safety concerns to increase its profits, causing a truck collision.

Person Injury Laws on Filing a Claim

Laws known as statutes of limitation restrict the timeframe for bringing lawsuits. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003 requires adults to file a lawsuit seeking damages within two years of the event that caused their injury.

Someone injured as a child has until two years after their 18th birthday to file a lawsuit. However, a child’s parents could sue on their behalf, subject to the two-year limit. It often makes sense for a parent or guardian to bring a lawsuit on behalf of a child while the evidence is available and witnesses’ memories are fresh.

If a government entity has potential liability in a case, consulting a Hitchcock personal injury attorney immediately is imperative. The Texas Tort Claims Act requires someone with a claim against the state to file an official notice within six months of the injury. Local governments can impose even shorter time frames. Engaging a legal professional soon after the event could ensure the notices are delivered promptly, preserving all claims.

Contact a Hitchcock Personal Injury Attorney Regarding an Accident Claim

You are not required to pay for your medical treatment out of your own pocket if someone else was responsible for the event. A Hitchcock personal injury lawyer could demand the maximum settlement to redress all your losses. Swift action usually produces better results, so consult with the team at Schechter Shaffer & Harris to learn your options.