There are few worse feelings you can have as a parent than learning your child has been hurt due to another adult’s reckless or careless action. In a sensitive and emotional situation like this, it can be difficult to calmly review your legal options and seek financial recovery for the injuries your child should not have sustained.
Fortunately, help is available from a Longmont child injury lawyer with experience handling cases like these. With a knowledgeable injury attorney’s representation, you could protect your child’s future prospects while also seeking some measure of justice from the negligent party who allowed them to get hurt.
In order to recover compensation, parents and legal guardians seeking civil recovery on an injured minor’s behalf generally must prove that a defendant’s negligence was the cause of their child’s losses. This specifically entails showing that the defendant had an implicit or explicit duty to act in a reasonable way under certain circumstances, subsequently violated that duty, and directly caused an accident resulting in injury to the child through their irresponsible behavior.
For the most part, adults can be held financially liable for injuries they cause children through negligence in the same way that they would be liable for injuries caused to adults. However, there are some situations in which adults may bear responsibility for injuring a child when they would not have been accountable for damages to an adult.
For instance, under the “attractive nuisance” doctrine, property owners who fail to secure things like swimming pools or construction equipment that might inspire a curious child to trespass and inadvertently hurt themselves could be held legally liable for injuries sustained by trespassing children. Property owners would typically not be at fault for any injury experienced by a trespassing adult. A skilled Longmont child injury attorney could clarify in more specific detail what could possibly serve as grounds for a lawsuit of this nature.
Through a successful lawsuit or settlement demand, a parent or guardian filing suit on an injured child’s behalf could demand restitution for the financial, physical, and personal harm their child will experience because of their injury. Beyond just short-term medical expenses, physical pain, and emotional trauma, a comprehensive claim could also seek recovery for long-term damages like lost earning capacity and lost quality of life.
It is important to note that any settlement negotiated on behalf of an injured minor is subject to a Compromise of a Minor’s Claim process. This procedure exists to protect the rights of the child and will officially finalize the lawsuit. After this, the court will generally take additional steps to ensure the funds are protected until the child is old enough to take possession of them. A child injury lawyer in Longmont could explain how state law and legal precedents govern claims like this prior to a claim being filed.
Any accident that leads to a child getting hurt is a tragedy, and what makes such an incident even worse in many cases is the fact that it could have been avoided but for the negligence of one person involved. You have the right as a parent or guardian of an underage accident victim to seek fair financial recovery on their behalf for every injury and loss they sustained.
Working with a skilled Longmont child injury lawyer could be crucial in effectively pursuing a positive case outcome. Learn more by calling our office today.
