When a minor sustains physical harm due to another party’s negligence, parents or guardians can file a legal claim for damages on their behalf. If someone’s reckless behavior injured your child, you should contact an experienced personal injury attorney for help understanding your rights and legal options.
A Ventura child injury lawyer could conduct a thorough investigation to identify all parties responsible for your child’s injury and collect the necessary evidence to build a strong case.
What Are the Common Types of Child Injury Claims?
A child’s developing body and brain make them more vulnerable to severe and long-lasting injuries than adults. The potential for lifelong impacts on a child’s education, career, and overall future makes these claims particularly complex, requiring extensive planning for medical, therapeutic, and supportive care.
Common types of child injury claims include:
- Auto accidents: Claims often arise from reckless driving behaviors, such as speeding, distracted driving, or driving under the influence
- Pedestrian and bicycle accidents: Young children may have slower reaction times and less traffic awareness than adults, so drivers have a heightened responsibility to be aware of children in or near the road
- Premises liability: Property owners and occupants have a duty to keep their premises safe, and this duty is often heightened when children are present
- Playground and amusement park accidents: Defective equipment, lack of maintenance, or inadequate supervision can cause injuries from falls, broken parts, or entrapment
- Swimming pool accidents: Pools are considered an attractive nuisance, meaning owners are liable for injuries to child trespassers unless they take preventative safety measures, such as locking gates
- Slip and fall accidents: Child injury claims can result from falls on poorly maintained surfaces, stairs, or other hazardous conditions
- Daycare and school negligence: Schools and daycares are legally required to provide safe environments, so injury claims can arise if a child is harmed because staff members failed to supervise them properly
- Defective products: Courts can hold manufacturers and retailers responsible for injuries that unsafe products intended for children cause, including defective toys, car seats, cribs, strollers, or other items that cause injury due to improper design, manufacturing, or marketing
A youth injury attorney in Ventura could provide crucial assistance by navigating the legal process on your family’s behalf, protecting your child’s rights, and fighting for the compensation necessary for their recovery.
Pursuing Compensation in a Child Injury Claim
A Ventura attorney can calculate the full value of your child’s injury claim, accounting for the immediate and future costs associated with the injury. These could include:
- Medical expenses: This includes all forms of healthcare costs, including emergency room visits, surgeries, hospitalization, ongoing treatments, rehabilitation, therapy, and prescription medications
- Specialized equipment: This covers the cost of medical equipment, assistive devices such as wheelchairs, and necessary home or vehicle modifications
- Lost future earning capacity: If the injury will permanently affect your child’s ability to work or earn a living, professional economists can help calculate the potential loss of future income
- Educational support: If the injury impacts your child’s ability to learn, compensation can cover tutoring services, special education programs, and assistive technology
- Pain and suffering: Compensation for your child’s physical pain, discomfort, and overall negative experience due to the injury
Because minors cannot legally manage their own financial affairs, state law has specific procedures to protect their settlement funds until they reach adulthood. This process requires court approval for any settlement of $5,000 or more, where a judge reviews and approves the settlement to ensure it is fair and in the child’s best interests.
Contact a Child Accident Attorney in Ventura
A Ventura child injury lawyer could negotiate on your behalf to secure a fair settlement from the at-fault party or parties. Contact our legal team today to request your free case consultation and discuss the next steps for your case.
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