New York Personal Injury Lawyers / Edison Catastrophic Injury Lawyers

Edison Catastrophic Injury Lawyers

Did you suffer a catastrophic injury due to the negligence of another party? Are you struggling to decide what to do next; how to seek compensation for your injuries; or even what parties may share liability for your losses?

At Jacoby & Meyers, LLP, we understand how your life can change because of catastrophic injuries: the physical difficulties, the financial losses, and the numerous challenges you may have in front of you. Contact us today to learn more about your right to compensation.

Jacoby & Meyers, LLP, Can Help After Your Edison Catastrophic Accident

At Jacoby & Meyers, LLP, we have helped our clients attain the results they deserve following accidents that resulted in catastrophic injuries.

Take a look at some of our past case results and how we have helped our clients achieve the best possible results for their claims.

• $5,000,000 in compensation to a driver injured in a multi-vehicle collision.
• $4,200,000 to an infant who suffered severe burns due to an unstable stove.
• $3,500,000 to a laborer who suffered a traumatic brain injury after severe overwork led to an accident.
• $2,533,000 awarded to the victim of a serious car accident who suffered multiple severe injuries to the neck, back, and shoulder.

The results obtained in these claims cannot guarantee the results of your catastrophic injury claim, even if you suffered injuries similar to the victims. However, at Jacoby & Meyers, LLP, we work to help our clients achieve the best results we can in their catastrophic injury claims. Our attorneys will help make sure you understand the full compensation you deserve and can fight to help you maximize that compensation as you navigate your claim.

“Best personal injury attorneys in the state. Staff is friendly and very knoledgeable.” -Maria D.
★★★★★

Common Catastrophic Injuries in Edison, New Jersey

Catastrophic injuries include any type of injury that may lead to permanent physical limitations in the victim’s life. Catastrophic injuries can occur because of any type of accident, including construction site accidents, premises liability accidents, and auto accidents.

They all, however, involve severe, long-term impacts that can prevent the victim from engaging in their normal leisure activities, working in their usual profession, or enjoying time with friends and family the same way they would have before the accident.

Loss of Hearing or Vision

The loss of hearing or vision in a catastrophic accident can be incredibly frustrating and isolating for the victim, who may have to completely relearn how to perform many common activities. While many people learn how to compensate satisfactorily for lost senses, they may still feel a void in their lives related to the activities they can no longer enjoy.

Loss of hearing can lead to a relationship disconnect for many individuals, who may feel unable to connect with loved ones due to conversational difficulties. Loss of vision can pose substantial work difficulties and an immense loss of independence for the victim, who may have to rely on others to help them navigate the world around them following the accident.

Amputation

Catastrophic accidents may result in the need for limb amputation, in which the victim needs to have a limb removed permanently due to the severity of the injuries they suffered during the accident. Like victims who lose the use of one or more senses, amputees must often relearn how to perform activities they once took for granted, including activities related to self-care and work.

Many amputees use prosthetic devices to make it easier to navigate with the missing limb or to improve their cosmetic appearances, since prosthetics can help mimic the missing limb and make the victim blend in better. These prosthetics, however, will create an ongoing expense in the victim’s life, since the victim may need to replace prosthetics every three to five years with normal usage. More advanced prosthetics, including those that offer more mobility or function, may mean increased financial expense.

Traumatic Brain Injury

Victims with traumatic brain injury may feel as though they must think through a fog as they navigate everyday life. Traumatic brain injury can make it difficult to focus on the task at hand or make it hard for the victim to call to mind specific words, phrases, or facts.

Patients who suffer from traumatic brain injury may have difficulty not only with long-term memory, as popular media often portrays, but with short-term memory—remembering, for example, why they walked into a room or what instructions someone gave them only moments before.

Traumatic brain injury may also have a substantial impact on the patient’s ability to moderate emotions. Many victims struggle with mood swings or extreme emotional reactions, which can cause significant challenges in relationships and make it hard for the victim to navigate customer service or interactions with colleagues at work.

Spinal Cord Injuries

Around 50 percent of spinal cord injuries involve complete paralysis below the affected area of the body, even if the spinal cord does not sever completely in the accident. Spinal cord injuries can cause immense complications in the victim’s life. Not only do they paralyze the body below the site of the injury, spinal cord injuries can also cause decreased organ function, which can cause further complications for the victim. Victims with incomplete spinal cord injuries may not suffer from full paralysis, but they may still have to deal with severe loss of mobility, which can prove incredibly frustrating and leave them reliant on assistive devices to get around after the accident.

Facial Injuries

Severe facial injuries can lead to immense scarring or loss of function in the face. For many victims, this loss can cause as much emotional devastation as physical pain. Often, facial injuries result in permanently changed appearance, which many victims find disconcerting. Some victims of facial injuries may choose to undergo plastic surgery to restore normal appearance. While plastic surgery may not restore the victim’s appearance fully, it can make the victim feel more confident overall. Plastic surgery does, however, lead to increased expense for the victim.

Birth Injuries

Birth injuries occur when either mother or child suffers substantial injury during the childbirth process. Birth injuries may result in permanent damage to the mother’s fertility or sexual function, or they may cause severe, lifelong limitations for the child. Birth injuries may include cerebral palsy, brachial palsy, skull fracture, brain damage, or nerve damage to the infant. Birth injuries may also result in a wrongful infant or maternal death.

Seeking Compensation After an Edison Catastrophic Injury: The Basics

Following an Edison, New Jersey, accident that resulted in substantial injury, many victims have the right to pursue compensation through a catastrophic injury claim. At Jacoby & Meyers, LLP, we help our clients understand their legal right to compensation, including whether they may have grounds to pursue a catastrophic injury claim.

Determining the Liable Party in Your Accident

Catastrophic injuries often have causes stemming from more than one source. Working with a catastrophic injury attorney can help you identify all parties that may share liability for your accident—which can, in turn, help you seek additional compensation for the injuries you may have suffered and the financial losses you faced.

In general, the liable party would include someone who:

• Bore a duty of care to you at the time of the accident;
• Violated that duty of care; and
• Caused your injuries due to that violation of the duty of care.

In many cases, this may involve multiple parties. For example, suppose that you suffered a spinal cord injury in an accident with an 18-wheeler traveling down I-287. You know the driver chose to speed down the highway, significantly increasing the risk of an accident. The driver crashed into you, resulting in your injuries. However, upon further investigation, the lawyer might uncover unsafe policies held by the trucking company, which insists that the driver make deliveries on a tight deadline and does not allow adequate time for potential traffic jams.

Moreover, you discover that the trucking company’s policies require the driver to finish the run even if they run out of hours they can legally drive. Because the trucking company’s unsafe practices contributed to the accident, the trucking company might share liability for the accident in that scenario.

Evaluating Compensation After a Catastrophic Injury in Edison, New Jersey

The compensation you can receive for catastrophic injuries attained in an accident may depend on several key factors. Your claim will not look exactly like anyone else’s, even if you suffered very similar injuries under seemingly similar circumstances. However, after evaluating your claim, an attorney can give you a better idea of how much compensation you may expect for your injuries. Numerous factors can contribute to the compensation you ultimately receive for your injuries.

The insurance policy that covers the liable party. Most of the time, in a catastrophic injury claim, you will not deal directly with the party that caused your accident. Instead, you will deal with the insurance company that covers that individual or entity. If you need to file a claim after catastrophic injuries in a car accident, for example, you would deal with the liable driver’s auto insurance company. If you suffer catastrophic injuries in a slip and fall accident, you may need to deal with the property owner’s property insurance company. You may file for compensation through a homeowner’s policy or a business liability policy, depending on where your accident occurred and who contributed to it.

Each insurance policy has its own terms and limitations, which can influence the compensation you can recover for your injuries. An attorney can help evaluate the policy and give you a better idea of how much compensation you should pursue after your accident.

The extent of your injuries and medical bills. Your medical bills would likely form the foundation of your catastrophic injury claim. They help establish a measurable line that serves to indicate the extent of your other losses. In addition, your medical bills can substantially impact your overall financial worries and the challenges you may face as you heal after your accident.

Following catastrophic injuries, start a file for all your medical bills. Clearly mark whether you have paid them or not. Make sure you include bills from therapists, in-home care providers, and durable medical equipment as well as bills that come directly from your hospital or doctor. Also, note that you may receive more than one bill for the same procedure, especially when those procedures involve more than one provider. By keeping all your medical bills in one place, you can often more easily determine how much you have spent on medical care related to your accident.

How much time you missed at work (and if you can return). For many victims of catastrophic injuries, missed time at work may prove just as daunting as the bills they face following their injuries. Without time at work, you may have no income to help cover your existing bills.

Sometimes, your employer may work with you and help you get back to work as soon as you can, even if that means providing modifications and allowing you to work on a limited basis. Other times, your injuries may prevent you from working at all until you make a full recovery. You may also need to remain out of work due to safety hazards your injuries might cause to you or your coworkers during your recovery. You could, however, add the funds lost due to lack of work to your catastrophic injury claim.

In addition, some people who suffer catastrophic injuries can never entirely return to their previous work duties. They may have to pursue employment in a new field. In that case, you may choose to include lost earning potential as part of your catastrophic injury claim. Your claim for lost earning potential can help provide you with the funds you need to go back to school or obtain new certifications in a new field that could make you employable despite your injuries.

Pain and suffering related to your injuries. Pain and suffering often factors heavily into a catastrophic injury claim. Many people undergo immense suffering because of the injuries they sustained in a catastrophic accident. You may lose contact with loved ones, find yourself struggling to maintain your independence, or undergo intense physical pain.

Your lawyer can discuss those elements of your recovery with you following your accident, including a full evaluation of how your injuries have impacted your life. Have your injuries decreased your overall enjoyment of life or prevented you from engaging in activities you once enjoyed? Do you have to struggle to maintain your independence? Has your accident impacted your relationships? All those elements could help impact the compensation you may receive for pain and suffering as part of your claim.

Edison Catastrophic Injury FAQs

Do you need to know more about what a catastrophic injury claim will look like? Take a look at the FAQ below to learn more about your right to compensation. If you have specific questions about your injuries, contact Jacoby & Meyers, LLP for your free consultation today.

1. Thanks to my catastrophic injury, I will have medical bills for the rest of my life. How can I include my bills in a catastrophic injury claim when I don’t even know what they will cost?

After suffering a catastrophic injury in Edison, New Jersey, you may know that you will have to deal with immense ongoing medical costs, but not exactly what those medical costs will look like over time. Accurately assessing the extent of your future medical bills, however, can help you maximize the compensation you can receive for your losses and increase the odds that you will have the funds you need to pay for those medical bills. Talk to your attorney about how to handle your medical costs related to the accident while keeping in mind these two key factors.

Your attorney may recommend waiting until your doctors can accurately predict your future recovery before filing your catastrophic injury claim. In many cases, your attorney may advise not filing a catastrophic injury claim immediately. Suppose, for example, that you sustained incomplete spinal cord injuries in your accident. Your doctors may think that you will eventually recover some mobility below the site of the injury, but immediately after the accident, you remain completely paralyzed. How much mobility will you regain?

It may take as much as six months after your accident before your doctors can fully predict your road to recovery. After that time, you may have a much better idea of what your ongoing medical costs will look like and, therefore, how much you will need to claim in compensation for your injuries.

By waiting to file your claim, you will also allow room for complications in the recovery process. Burn victims, for example, often suffer severe infections, which may lead to longer hospitalization, additional procedures, and significant risks for the victim. If you have burned more than 30 percent of your body, your compromised immune system may further increase that risk of infection. Your attorney may advise waiting until you have moved past those risks before filing your claim.

You may need to look at future medical cost estimates to give you a more accurate idea of your future bills. For many injuries, your doctor, or even your lawyer, may provide a cost estimate that will let you predict how much your future medical bills will cost. While these estimates will not perfectly establish your future medical bills, they will provide you with the foundation you need to include in your catastrophic injury claim.

2. What should I do about my medical bills while waiting for compensation through my catastrophic injury claim?

Your medical bills remain your responsibility regardless of who caused your injuries. That means you will need to make arrangements to pay them. Unfortunately, for many catastrophic injury victims, managing medical expenses quickly grows prohibitive.

While waiting for the funds from a catastrophic injury claim, you can ask your attorney to write a letter of protection. A letter of protection establishes your intent to pay for your medical expenses once you receive compensation for your catastrophic injury claim, but can temporarily alleviate some of that burden by keeping your bills out of collections while you wait to reach a settlement or receive a court award.

Fortunately, you may have some options that can help alleviate some of the strain from those medical bills.

• Use your medical insurance. Contact your medical insurance provider to learn what coverage you may have for the injuries you sustained in your accident. Your medical insurance may pay a large percentage of your medical costs, especially in the initial days after the accident. Make sure you have a solid understanding of your medical insurance coverage so that you and your care team can work out a plan of care that fits your specific coverage along with your medical needs.
• Talk to the hospital billing department. Many hospitals, particularly university-associated hospitals, will assist patients who struggle to pay their bills, especially if their income falls under a certain level. You can often have part of your bill forgiven. In addition, the hospital billing department will often work with you to make it possible to pay your hospital bills over time, which can make it easier for you to manage those expenses following a catastrophic injury.

If we take your case, ask us if we can help you make those arrangements with your health insurance or medical providers.

3. Will I have to go to court to deal with my catastrophic injury claim?

Most of the time, insurance companies will settle claims out of court if at all possible. Going to court can significantly increase the legal costs both sides may face, which may mean that it makes more financial sense for the liable party’s insurance company to settle out of court.

In catastrophic injury claims, however, due to the high level of compensation you would need to ask for, insurance companies may draw out the negotiation process and even force you to take them to court to get the compensation you deserve. While most catastrophic injury claims in Edison usually settle out of court, you should still prepare for a court battle.

If you do have to go to court, having an attorney on your side can be very important. An attorney can help present your claim in the best possible light so that you can maximize the compensation you may receive for your injuries.

4. How long does it take to file a catastrophic injury claim?

You suffered severe injuries in your accident, and you may feel that you need compensation in your hands as soon as possible. You have bills adding up, and you need to figure out how to handle your lack of income. However, it can take time to arrive at a resolution in your catastrophic injury claim.

Several factors may influence the time it takes to file your claim and acquire compensation for your injuries.

• Investigating your claim. Both your attorney and the liable party’s insurance company will need to investigate your claim: how you suffered your injuries, who contributed to the accident, and even the extent of your injuries and your medical bills. The more complex your accident or your injuries, the longer it can take to investigate the claim.
• Negotiation. You may need to go through numerous rounds of negotiation before arriving at a settlement agreement that works for both you and the liable party’s insurance company. Each round of negotiation can further extend the time needed to reach an agreement.

You should plan for it to take time to resolve your claim. In the meantime, you may need to make other financial arrangements that will help you pay your bills. Your lawyer can help you do this by talking to your creditors.

5. What should I do if the liable party’s insurance company offers me a settlement for my injuries after a catastrophic accident?

Insurance companies frequently provide catastrophically injured individuals with settlement offers soon after their accidents. In fact, you may receive that settlement offer before you even have a chance to receive a full evaluation of your injuries from your doctor. Insurance companies often know just how to make that offer as tempting as possible.

They may try to convince you that you can have that settlement in hand fast, helping you pay your medical bills and cover your other expenses while you manage the aftermath of your accident. In other cases, the insurance company may even try to pressure you by telling you that the current settlement offer will only remain on the table for a limited amount of time.

In many cases, however, the injured party will deserve more compensation than the insurance company offers in that initial settlement.

Instead of accepting that offer, contact a catastrophic injury attorney to discuss your legal right to compensation and the settlement offered by the insurance company. At Jacoby & Meyers, LLP, we go over that offer with our clients in-depth to determine whether it represents the full compensation they deserve, then help them decide how to move forward.

6. How do I know I have suffered catastrophic injuries?

Catastrophic injuries usually include life-altering injuries that result in permanent disability. While not every catastrophic injury will prevent you from performing gainful work, catastrophic injuries may diminish your ability to participate in your usual work activities, take care of yourself, or engage in the activities you once enjoyed.

Generally, catastrophic injuries require emergency medical treatment as well as long-term medical treatment. You may need to go through extensive physical and occupational therapy to relearn how to perform normal activities following your catastrophic injuries.

7. What happens if my loved one dies after filing a catastrophic injury claim?

If your loved one starts a catastrophic injury claim after suffering serious injuries due to the negligence of another party, but dies before they can complete the claim, surviving family members may have the right to file a wrongful death claim. A wrongful death claim can help the surviving family seek compensation for the deceased’s final medical bills as well as the loss of the deceased’s income and that individual’s presence in their life.

8. Is a catastrophic injury claim different from a regular personal injury claim?

Sometimes, a catastrophic injury claim can involve a more complicated legal battle than a standard personal injury claim. Catastrophic injury claims involve immense medical bills, permanent disability for the injured party, and the need for substantial compensation. They may also require more in-depth investigation, both of the extent of your injuries and of how those injuries occurred. As a result, you may need to go through a more involved and complex legal battle to secure the compensation you deserve for your injuries.

9. Do I have to have a lawyer to handle a catastrophic injury claim?

You should work closely with a catastrophic injury lawyer like the lawyers at Jacoby & Meyers, LLP, when managing your catastrophic injury claim. As you deal with catastrophic injuries, you may suffer immense pain and frustration. You do not need the stress of trying to navigate a catastrophic injury claim on your own on top of that. In addition, a lawyer can help to guide you through your claim, provide you with the vital information you need to determine how much compensation you deserve, and maximize that compensation as you move forward with your catastrophic injury claim.

Without a lawyer, the insurance company that covers the liable party may try to take advantage of you, refusing to provide you with the compensation you really deserve. An attorney would represent your best interests throughout the catastrophic injury claim. Consider reaching out to us at Jacoby & Meyers, LLP, for a free case evaluation.

Contact an Edison Catastrophic Injury Attorney Today

If you suffered catastrophic injuries due to the negligence of another party, you may have grounds to file a catastrophic injury claim that will help you seek compensation for those injuries. Jacoby & Meyers, LLP, can help. Contact us today at (732) 287-6890 for your free consultation.

Edison Office

1929 NJ-27
Edison, NJ 08817
732-287-6890

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“I’m really grateful for the settlement my lawyers at Jacoby & Meyers helped me to obtain. I was badly hurt when another driver crashed into my card. The driver was careless. My team at Jacoby & Meyers didn’t let the reckless driver get away with it. I’m really glad I made the call to Jacoby & Meyers and would suggest anyone hurt in a car crash do the same.”
Review by: Jose V.

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