Arizona Catastrophic Injury Attorney

Catastrophic injuries are usually defined as injuries that dramatically alter the life and livelihood of those who experience them. They leave long-lasting or permanent damage that may never return the injured person’s life to how it was, affecting not only the person who experienced the catastrophic injury but also the lives of those around them. You’ll want Arizona’s professional and experienced catastrophic injury attorney to sort through how to deal with a catastrophic injury.

If you or a loved one have experienced a catastrophic injury, the personal injury lawyers at Gerber Injury Law are here to help fight for you. With over 20 years of experience, we’ve tackled tough personal injury cases and are ready for yours. We are proud to have a 99% success rate, with over $100 million recovered for our clients. We’ll carry that experience to aid in your case.

Where Do Catastrophic Injuries in Arizona Typically Occur?

Catastrophic injuries can occur practically anywhere. Because they’re classified as injuries that cause a huge impact on a person’s well-being and often take substantial medical care to help heal, wherever there might be an accident, there could be a catastrophic injury. The most common places where catastrophic injuries occur are:

• While driving or along roadways
• On or around a construction site
• While playing sports, especially high-contact sports like football or soccer
• While boating, including partial drowning
• At home accidents
• Workplace accidents

We want to help you reclaim compensation for these devastating accidents. Gerber Injury Law’s catastrophic injury lawyers are on your side and will help you file a claim against the responsible parties. We’re here to help you take your future back.

What Types of Accidents are Associated with Catastrophic Injuries?

Many catastrophic injuries happen in the following types of accidents:

• Car crashes
• Boating accidents
• Truck collisions
• Construction accidents
• Accidents involving pedestrians or bicycles and motor vehicles
• Accidents involving pedestrians and bicycles
• Explosion accidents
• Escalator accidents
• Falls that result in broken bones, TBIs, or other injuries; even falls that happen from tripping or slipping and are low to the ground, can be extremely damaging

There are, of course, other ways to sustain catastrophic injuries. If you think you or a loved one have experienced a catastrophic injury, but are unsure, contact Gerber Injury Law with your questions.

Pro-Tip: Drive Safely

Did you know that Maricopa County has the highest rate of auto accidents in the state of Arizona? With the highly dense and quickly growing population, more vehicles are on the road than ever. Dangerous crashes can lead to catastrophic injuries.

Even minor accidents can cause long-lasting injuries, and whiplash is an excellent example of an insignificant injury but can have life-changing effects. Contact the Arizona personal injury lawyers at Gerber Injury Law if you’ve been involved in a serious motor vehicle accident.

What is Considered a Catastrophic Injury?

Catastrophic injuries are those types of injuries that cause substantial damage, trauma, and disruption to a person’s life. Long-term illnesses gained through damage or injury or working in unsafe conditions might also be considered catastrophic injuries under the right circumstances.

The results of a catastrophic injury mean that it may be difficult for the injured person to move around, feed themselves, or otherwise take care of their daily needs without assistance. It might even prevent them from holding a job.

There are activities that increase your risk for catastrophic injuries. People in highly active or dangerous jobs, like construction, transit, or delivery, might experience catastrophic injuries at a higher rate. However, anyone may sustain a life-changing injury from an accident.

You want someone knowledgeable on your side during an accident. At Gerber Injury Law, we have a high success rate of settling and winning cases for our clients. We’ve won millions for our clients, and we practice all across Arizona to bring your case to light.

Examples of Catastrophic Injuries

The range of severity of injuries from the accident will often indicate whether or not an injury is classified as catastrophic.

Broken Bones

Broken bones may be considered a catastrophic injury, depending on the length of time it takes to heal and if the break heals completely. Broken bones affect daily movement and mobility and may require additional assistance if the victim sustained multiple breaks. Broken bones that take extensive healing mean that the individual might experience lost wages, and their quality of life might decrease.

Traumatic Amputation

Amputation resulting from an accident is considered a catastrophic injury. These injuries can happen in fast-paced work areas or around high-power tools but might also result from a car or vehicle collision. Traumatic amputation also increases the risk of emotional or mental distress after the accident.

Injury to the Neck and Spinal Cord

Any head, neck, or spinal cord damage can cause long-term or permanent damage. These injuries can affect essential motor functions, cognitive abilities, or speech patterns in severe cases. While spinal cord injuries can heal, they need time to recover, which often means that time away from work is needed.

Whiplash is also in the category of spinal cord injuries and is damage to the neck. Often associated with car and vehicle crashes, whiplash can be caused by the sudden jolting of the body, even at low speeds. Often, whiplash heals on its own, but if severe enough, it can cause permanent or long-term damage to nerves or mobility.

Spinal cord injuries may result in paralysis. Depending on where the injury occurred along the spine, the injured person may lose the ability to move their arms or legs.

Traumatic Brain Injuries

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) can be internal or open wounds. Penetrating head injuries are TBIs, where an object pierces or becomes lodged in the brain. Such damage can significantly affect memory, movement, speech, and even mood. Penetrating TBIs often take a long time to heal, and in some cases, the injured person never fully recovers.

Concussions are easy to receive but hard to heal from. Concussions often happen when the head makes hard contact with or is hit by something. Concussions need time to heal, and while they do, the injured person may experience a distinct change in quality of life, ability to perform or hold a job, or even participate in daily activities as they usually used to do.

Unfortunately, healing could take months or even years, and there’s no guarantee that TBIs will ever heal fully. Lasting repercussions could include frequent migraines, vertigo, light sensitivity, or affected speech or mobility, among other symptoms. Once a person has a concussion, it is much easier for them to receive more, as the road to damage is already in place.

Eye Injuries

The eyes are incredibly delicate. Penetrating injuries to the eye may occur during accidents that involve flying debris; for example, during a car crash with shattered glass, some pieces of glass may pierce the victim. But the eyes may also be affected by injuries caused by exposure to chemicals; such an event might occur on a construction site. This type of injury dramatically affects the ability to work and the victim’s quality of life.

Burns

Burns are complicated to manage. The damage to the various layers of skin can take months or years to recover from if the burn does heal at all. Burns that cover larger areas of the body may pose other health problems or increase the risk of infection.

Internal Injuries

Internal injuries can present in several forms. Internal injuries from penetrating injuries, or wounds where an object pierces the skin, can damage the skin, nerves, and organs. They might cause permanent damage, even if attended to immediately.

Blunt trauma injuries can also cause serious internal injuries.

These injuries are sometimes more challenging to recognize because there might be no visible wound or only light bruising on the surface, even though there is damage underneath the skin. Internal injuries due to blunt trauma can be very serious and lead to internal bleeding or organ ruptures that can cause further injury or death if a medical professional does not find and fix them. Blunt trauma injuries may be sustained by:

• Falling from height or down a flight of stairs
• Motor vehicle collisions
• Bicycle accidents
• Pedestrian accidents
• Sports injuries

If you’re involved in a motor vehicle crash as a driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, seek medical attention to ensure you don’t have internal injuries.

Nerve Damage

Nerve damage can lead to loss of feeling or movement in the affected area of the body or increased pain and sensitivity around the place where the nerve is damaged. While there are treatments and surgeries to correct nerve damage, they can vary in success. Nerve damage can affect someone’s movement or comfort for the rest of their lives.

Pulmonary Injuries

Injuries to the lungs and heart can be caused by breathing in dangerous or damaging chemicals. They can also be caused by breathing the dust or fumes of an explosion or simply from repeated exposure to such materials on a worksite. Lung injuries can lead to further pulmonary issues, decrease the quality of life, increase future medical problems, and lower life expectancy.

These are just a few of the injuries that may be considered catastrophic. Other injuries can be included in this category. If any of these injuries sound familiar to what you or a family member has experienced, or if you have questions about what classifies a catastrophic injury, contact Gerber Injury Law today.

What Else Is Lost During a Catastrophic Injury?

Catastrophic injuries claim a lot from their victims, including:

• Wages during time off from work to heal
• Professional development
• Quality time with loved ones
• Future wages or earning potential
• Mental and emotional health

A Note on Mental Health and Catastrophic Injuries

Anxiety and depression can occur or increase among people who experience catastrophic injuries, either from the accident or because of the lasting injury and how their life changed. It is estimated that between 20 and 50% of people who experience physical injuries have PTSD from that injury. Our firm takes mental health seriously, and we’ll make sure to include the resulting mental and emotional impact of the injury in your claim.

Catastrophic Injuries and Chronic Pain

Weeks, months, or years after a catastrophic injury, the affected area can still cause debilitating pain to the injured person. This lasting, chronic pain can make daily life difficult and sometimes make holding a job impossible. There are a few ways to treat chronic pain, but because everyone’s body reacts differently, there is no sure cure. The Arizona personal injury attorneys at Gerber Injury Law take this sort of debilitating condition into account as we work on your case.

Learning the Law: What is Comparative Negligence?

Comparative negligence considers both parties’ injuries and faults during a personal injury case. Arizona law uses comparative negligence to determine the outcome of personal injury cases. However, this analysis can be tricky and get very granular during settlement. That’s why it’s a good idea to hire Arizona’s professional catastrophic injury lawyers from Gerber Injury Law. We’ll review all the necessary information and thoroughly investigate your case to put together the best possible claim.

Who is Liable for a Catastrophic Injury Claim in Arizona?

Liability in personal injury cases is determined through fault. A person or company who purposefully caused your injuries, or was at fault for your injuries due to reckless behavior, may be liable to provide you with compensation.

What is Negligence?

Negligence is when a person ignores safety measures that can keep others safe. A good example is someone speeding through a stop sign instead of appropriately stopping. If that behavior resulted in a crash with another vehicle or pedestrian, then that driver would be at fault, and we would appropriately file a claim against them for the injuries they caused to you.

It is not unheard of for companies to also be negligent. Gerber Injury Law may pursue a company who is at fault for unsafe working conditions or negligence on a job site. This could include working more hours in a row than is safe or recommended or even the improper storage of materials.

We have taken insurance companies to court for giving out payouts that were too low to our clients, also known as bad faith insurance. Insurance companies have been known to underestimate their client’s injuries to give lower payouts purposefully.

We have secured significant settlements against insurance companies who initially refused to pay our clients what they were owed for their injuries. If your insurance company undercut your claim and your medical costs and continuing care needs are greater, contact the personal injury attorneys at Gerber Injury Law.

Understanding the Statute of Limitations in Arizona

The statute of limitations means the amount of time a plaintiff has to file a claim due to the injury they incurred. Statutes of limitations surround every sort of tort filing. Personal injury cases are no exception. As with most personal injury cases in Arizona, you have up to 24 months to file a lawsuit for catastrophic injuries.

The catastrophic injury lawyers of Arizona realize that the weeks after an injury of this caliber are challenging, and that you and your family are still healing. However, two years is not as long as you might think, and we urge you to reach out to the Gerber Injury Law as soon as possible. This will allow us to investigate your case while the details remain fresh.

We respect the difficulty of this time, and we will respectfully work with you to gather information and evidence for your case. We understand this is a huge life adjustment for you, and we care about your well-being throughout this process.

Personal Injury Law, Step by Step

The personal injury attorneys of Arizona will help you fight for your deserved settlement. We’ll let our 20-plus years of experience take the lead as we guide you through filing your claim. Here’s what to expect when you come to us with a personal injury case:

• You’ll receive a compassionate but detailed first consultation. Our experienced personal injury lawyers will go over the details of your case and help you understand your legal options.
• We’ll help gather information and evidence for your case. We’ll review your medical records from the injuries you sustained and the continuing medical care you needed. We’ll ask you about how this ordeal affected your life. We may also collect witness statements.
• We’ll arrange an appropriate compensation amount and work to settle with the opposing party out of court. This process might take a few weeks.
• If we can’t settle, we’ll take your case to court. This process could take up to a year.

Know that the Arizona catastrophic injury lawyers at Gerber Injury Law are with you every step of the way throughout this process.

What Sort of Damages Can I Recover After a Catastrophic Injury Claim in Arizona?

Depending on the extent of the injuries and the length of time it takes to recover from those injuries, settlements for catastrophic claims may include:

• Medical costs, including those for treatment, surgeries, and necessary procedures
• Other medical care, like hospital stays
• Compensation for lost time from work and lost wages
• If the injury affected mobility or daily life, possible payment for assistance while you recover
• Cost of physical therapy or other treatments as you continue strengthening and healing
• If the injury affects your ability to hold a job, possible payment for future lost wages
• Damages from pain and suffering, including emotional damages

Other damages might also be taken into account, depending on the situation.

Gerber Injury Law will work with you to provide as strong a case as possible.

Why Is Gerber Injury Law the Right Choice for Your Catastrophic Claim?

We pride ourselves on our two decades worth of experience and our friendly, people-forward attitude. You’re not just another case to us; you’re a person. We provide our clients with top-tier care and consideration as we process your personal injury claim and litigate with the opposing party for an out-of-court settlement.

If no settlement agreement is reached, we prepare your case for court. Our qualifications include:

• Several decades of experience working on personal injury law
• A 99% success rate for our clients
• The experience to take your case to trial if needed

Gerber Injury Law is here for you and your family. Hiring a professional personal injury attorney for your catastrophic injury case is essential. We understand the complexities of the law and have valuable experience not only settling with defendants but going to court for our clients.

Contact Gerber Law with Your Catastrophic Claims Questions

If you or a loved one has suffered an injury that has caused permanent or lasting damage, contact the catastrophic injury attorneys of Arizona at Gerber Injury Law. We have answers to your questions about catastrophic injuries and are ready to help you seek justice.

Reach out to us online or call us at 623-486-8300. Your first consultation is free, and we won’t accept payment until we’ve secured your compensation. You shouldn’t have to go through a catastrophic injury alone — contact Gerber Injury Law today.