El Paso Catastrophic Injury Lawyers

Many personal injuries, such as broken bones or bruises and cuts, may completely heal and allow one to live an everyday life again, but if you have a catastrophic injury, such as multiple, complex fractures or severe burns, you could be overwhelmed with pain, disability, and long-term injuries that never completely heal. Catastrophic injuries can upend your life, but you could have legal options if the accident were through no fault of your own.

If you were injured in a catastrophic accident by another person, you could be entitled to compensation in a personal injury lawsuit. Our El Paso devastating injury attorneys at Nix Patterson have developed an excellent reputation in obtaining fair compensation for our client’s injuries, lost earnings, pain, and suffering, and more. Contact our law office today and set up a complimentary consultation. You don’t pay legal fees unless we obtain compensation for you.

What Is Considered a Catastrophic Injury in El Paso?

Many serious injuries can cause expensive medical bills, pain, loss of income, and other difficulties. But catastrophic injuries are those where the road to recovery is long and may never end. In the worst devastating injuries, you never fully heal. Some of the most common devastating injuries in El Paso are;

Burns

Severe burns, such as those from a fire or truck accident, can permanently change your appearance and be incredibly painful. They may be severe enough to damage the muscles, ligaments, and other tissues beneath the skin, causing mobility challenges. The pain from burn treatments can also be devastating.

Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are common in car crashes, truck accidents, and slip-and-fall cases. They also can happen during sporting events or in the workplace. When your head slams into a hard surface, the brain can move into the skull and be damaged. The brain could be bruised, bleed, and swell, leading to permanent brain damage.

Back or Spinal Cord Injury

A slipped disc in a car accident can affect your ability to walk, exercise, stand, or sleep. If there is a spinal cord injury, you could be partially or fully paralyzed, requiring a lifetime of expensive medical care.

Amputation

Losing an arm, leg, hand, or foot can affect your ability to live and how you look. An amputation can be an expensive, life-changing injury. You could need occupational and physical therapy to learn how to function again. Other potential costs could include mental health therapy, medication, prosthetics, and other expensive assistance.

Severe Fractures

Breaking your arm in a car accident is one thing. But what if you break most of the bones in your legs? This type of fracture injury is catastrophic and could require months or years of healing, surgeries, and rehabilitation.

Paralysis

Many people living with paralysis after a catastrophic accident are disabled for life. Paralysis usually leads to immense financial distress because of the significant medical and rehabilitation costs.

Vision or Hearing Loss

Explosion accidents at plants and oil and gas rigs in Texas are common ways that victims lose their sight, hearing, or both. Losing your sight or hearing is a devastating catastrophic injury that will necessitate extended medical care and rehabilitation.

PTSD

PTSD may not cause pain to your body, but it can cause immense psychological harm. You may constantly relive the accident that injured you, have recurring nightmares, and experience severe anxiety and depression. However, you could be entitled to compensation for PTSD if you can prove the condition is related to your physical injuries.

Whether you suffered one of the catastrophic injuries above or something else, the injury could affect every part of your life: work, mobility, self-care, relationships, etc. For example, a spinal cord injury could cost millions of dollars to treat over someone’s life. A brain injury patient also could spend millions over the years for treatment and therapy.

Types of Catastrophic Injury Claims We Handle

Life-changing catastrophic accidents occur every day in El Paso, but they are even more common among older people and those with pre-existing conditions. Our El Paso catastrophic injury lawyers handle the following types of cases:

Auto Accidents

El Paso is growing rapidly, and auto accidents happen far too often. The impact and force of a crash can easily cause head injuries, spinal cord injuries, burns, internal organ damage, and amputations. Common intersections in El Paso where serious auto accidents happen include I-10 and Hawkins Road, Loop 375 and Montwood Drive, and US-85 and TX-178.

Drivers tend to drive too fast in El Paso to beat traffic, so rear-end crashes, T-bone accidents, and merging accidents are common at these busy intersections.

Slip-and-Fall Accidents

A simple slip-and-fall accident might not sound like a catastrophic injury at first. But falling and hitting your head or other part of the body can cause severe injuries. Common injuries in slip-and-fall mishaps are head injuries, back and spine injuries, multiple broken bones, and even death. Older people are more likely to suffer severe injuries in a slip-and-fall incident.

Commercial Truck Accidents

Many tractor-trailers roar through El Paso every day on our busy interstates. The size and weight of big rigs mean they can cause horrific injuries to other motorists in an accident. Truck drivers may not have serious injuries, but passenger vehicle occupants frequently have severe or fatal injuries.

Job-Related Accidents

For many employees, going to work can be hazardous. Every workplace — from manufacturing plants to offices — has its dangers. Common causes of job-related accidents with severe injuries include exposure to deadly substances, heavy machinery accidents, and falls from heights. You may need to file for workers’ compensation to receive damages in a job-related accident, but in limited cases, you could be eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit.

Oil and Gas Rig Accidents

In Texas, the gas and oil business is big. Many workers head to the gas and oil fields for a hefty paycheck. Unfortunately, this is dangerous work, and many hazards crop up, such as explosions, exposure to hazardous chemicals, working at heights, and being around heavy machinery all day. Many serious and fatal accidents happen in these hazardous workplaces.

Construction Accidents

Construction sites are often busy, with plenty of large machines, pedestrians, and trucks working together. But these job sites have many hazards, including falling from heights, being crushed by equipment, fires, explosions, and more.

Medical Malpractice

Most Texas medical professionals are competent, but misdiagnoses, medication errors, and surgical mistakes can cause catastrophic injuries. If you are injured in a medical malpractice case, you could have a permanent injury requiring years of care and medical expenses. The malpractice accident also affects your family, and they may need to offer a lifetime of care.

Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect

Many older Americans eventually go to a nursing home. Most of these facilities offer good, compassionate care, but neglect and abuse are far too common. If you or a loved one suffers a catastrophic injury from nursing home neglect or abuse, you could receive compensation.

Catastrophic Injury Damages

The physical, psychological, and financial impacts of catastrophic injuries mean that your case could be worth a substantial amount. If your case is successful, you could receive the money needed for essential medical treatments and have your family’s immediate financial needs handled as you heal. Most catastrophic injury victims receive the following forms of compensation:

Economic Damages

• Medical expenses. Medical bills for catastrophic injuries can be huge. You may need medical care for hospital stays, medications, surgeries, X-rays, etc. You also may need months or years of future medical care that your attorney will calculate with the help of medical and economic experts.
• Lost earnings. You may be entitled to lost wages while you are away recovering from your injuries. These damages may include past and future potential wages. Getting fair compensation for lost wages is essential to your future financial stability.
• Lost ability to earn a living. If you have a permanent disability, you may not be able to earn a living anymore or as much as you once did.
• Home alterations. If you have difficulty with mobility, such as after a paralysis injury, adaptations to your home may be necessary.
• Occupational therapy. These expenses are for work therapy that you may need so you can do other work after the injury. Or, you may need to relearn how to do your previous job with limited physical or mental ability.
• Physical therapy. These expenses are for treatments to regain lost physical abilities.

Non-Economic Damages

These damages pay you for the losses that cannot be given a precise monetary value. Non-economic damages are more challenging to calculate, but they are vital for getting you back to health. Some damages for catastrophic injuries are:

• Emotional distress
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Mental anguish
• Loss of companionship
• Loss of consortium

Texas Comparative Negligence for Catastrophic Injuries

An essential consideration in a catastrophic injury case is the comparative negligence law in Texas. In this state, your compensation could be reduced if you were partially at fault for the accident. For example, you may receive less money if you were 30% at fault for a T-bone accident that paralyzed you. If you have $1 million in damages and were 30% at fault, you might receive only $700,000.

Insurance companies will try to use the comparative negligence law against you to reduce their payout. But your attorney knows every insurance company tactic and will attempt to rebut any claim that you were partially responsible for your own injuries.

What Is an El Paso Catastrophic Injury Worth?

Every catastrophic injury case differs from the next, but all involve life-changing injuries that affect your ability to work and live normally. Your accident case could be worth thousands or millions, depending on many factors. Most importantly, your attorney must prove that another party’s misdeed or negligence caused the accident. Factors that may affect the case value are:

• Severity of injury. Suppose you have a broken hip and leg from a car accident. This is a severe injury, but a spinal cord injury is substantially worse and would probably have a higher case value.
• Damages. Severe injuries usually result in higher case values because they involve high amounts of damages for medical bills, lost earnings, and pain and suffering.
• Complexity. Catastrophic injury claims are usually more complex than routine injury claims because of the severity of injuries and the extensive medical care required. In a truck accident, for example, there could be several insurance companies, many lawyers, medical experts, and defendants.

It is important to remember that catastrophic injury claims are always complex and involve high medical bills, and insurance companies will fight them. You should never attempt to negotiate your own catastrophic injury settlement, or you could end up with far less money than you deserve.

Your medical care costs alone could be in the six or seven figures over months or years. It is vital to receive fair compensation for all of your damages, including medical bills, wage losses, and pain and suffering. Therefore, always speak to an El Paso catastrophic injury attorney for legal assistance in such a severe case.

Statute of Limitations for Texas Catastrophic Injury Claims

No matter the severity of your injury, you have only a limited time in Texas to file a personal injury lawsuit. With few exceptions, you have only two years from the date of injury to file your claim. If you wait too long, you could be unable to receive fair compensation for your injuries. That’s why you should speak to an El Paso catastrophic injury attorney as soon as possible after the accident.

Speak to Our El Paso Catastrophic Injury Lawyers Now

No one wants to have a catastrophic injury, but sometimes, another person’s negligence can cause severe, life-changing injuries. If that happens, our El Paso personal injury attorneys are ready to stand up for your legal rights and the most compensation. Contact Nix Patterson today for additional information. Remember, there are no legal fees unless we win, and you pay nothing out of pocket.