Child Injury Attorney
Choose a child injury attorney that will fight to get you the highest compensation
Does a child who is injured in an accident have legal rights to make a claim for compensation? The basic answer is yes. A child who is injured negligently by another person has basically the same rights as an adult to bring a legal claim, called a lawsuit, against the person who caused the injury. But, because the minor has limited legal rights, including restrictions on owning property, making contracts, and voting, the law recognizes some special rules for minors who need to make a legal claim against someone who injured them. One requirement is that an adult, such as a parent or other legal guardian, will need to stand in for them in court. This doesn’t mean that the injured child’s parent will have to be the lawyer for the child. Rather, the parent becomes the person who is suing in court, which is called a “plaintiff” in a personal injury lawsuit. It is still a very good idea to have a lawyer to represent the child and to also represent the adult who is taking care of the child’s legal interests.
What Should I Do If My Child Has Been Injured By Someone?
If one of your children is harmed, then to make the most of your child injury lawsuit, it makes sense for you to get a free consultation with child injury attorneys. A case evaluation with a well-informed injury lawyer allows you to determine whether you have a viable claim and how to go about filing a suit. My Rights Law is a personal injury law firm focused on helping child injury victims get the most possible compensation and justice from those who harmed them. Our child injury lawyers are here for you and your children when you need us. Please do not hesitate to reach out to My Rights Law by calling (888) 702-8882 or leaving a message on our secure web form for a free consultation.
Some Typical Child Injuries
Children are likely to be in an accident or injury sometime during their early years before they turn 18. Many children are naturally adventurous, and part of the growth and learning processes involve taking risks or doing things that are beyond the child’s ability level. For many reasons, children are prone to be injured in an accident.
Some of the most common types of injuries include:
- Bike, Scooter, Or Skateboard Crashes
- Car Accidents, As A Passenger Or Pedestrian
- Drownings Or Suffocation Incidents
- Electricity And Fire Injuries
- Falls, or Playground Equipment Failures
- Dangerous Products
Common Sense Protection: Supervision And Safety Devices And Training
Obviously, you can’t always be with your child, supervising them every moment of every day. As children get older, they develop greater independence and begin to test their limits, and often engage in more risky activities, usually with less parental supervision.
Some of the best things you can do as a parent to prepare your child for safety and good health are to educate your child on known risks and hazards of an activity before they start, and then to thoroughly equip your child with safety gear and good equipment. Next, as a parent, you need to trust the child to make sensible decisions when you can’t be around to watch over them.
Teach kids that while biking, scootering or skateboarding, they must always wear a helmet and protective padding on elbows and knees. They should know the limits of what they can safely handle on wheels, and they need to learn and understand the rules and operating guidelines to get the most out of their fun while riding or boarding safely.
When kids are passengers in cars, they need to learn and consistently use proper safety restraints. The child’s age and size will determine whether to use a car seat, booster seat, or safety belt. Teach your kids about road safety, good driving, and how to avoid causing or being involved in driver distractions.
Decrease drowning risks with strong and secure safety fencing around water areas. Educate kids on water safety; swimming; basic first aid and CPR when they’re old enough; and teach them to swim with a buddy system for added safety.
Teach kids the facts about electricity and the risks of fires. Be sure they don’t play with matches, lighters, or fireworks unsupervised. With education, they can understand and respect electrical wires and fire safety to avoid the most obvious dangers.
Avoiding falls starts with your kids knowing their limits. Teach them to never climb higher than they can safely get down from and that they should never play around on railings and stairs.
When The Unthinkable Happens
No one wants to think about the worst-case scenario, where your child has had an injury, and you are responsible for resolving the situation and getting the help the injured child needs. Being an adult doesn’t always make it easy to remember the most important points and follow good commonsense to get the care the situation requires:
- Stay calm – It does not help to panic. It is never easy to see an injury immediately after it has happened, and it can be even more difficult to witness your child in a condition of pain or potential risk of greater harm. Truly, though, the best thing you can do for your child is to remain calm and keep your common sense in place despite the stress of the moment. Assess the injury as best you can, call for help as needed, and be there to comfort and aid your child.
- Secure The Situation And Get Help – If there is an ongoing safety hazard after you’ve gotten to the injured child, get it resolved. If live power wires are exposed, for example, turn off the circuit breaker. If the swimming pool door was open, close it securely. Call for help from other adults onsite or by phone if needed to get Emergency Medical Technicians on the scene.
- Get medical care and insurance details – When the injured child is medically stable, and the situation has calmed down, be sure to follow up on details like getting contact information from any witnesses or other people involved in the incident, finding out who owns the property where the injury happened, and any other useful information that your lawyer may be able to use to investigate and support a legal or insurance claim.
Your child depends on you to take care of the important steps to help them get the best treatment and care after the injury and to resolve legal and insurance claims that may come out of the situation where the child was injured.
Does A Child Have The Right To Sue Or Make A Claim?
If a child is injured because someone else was negligent or careless, does the child have the right to make a claim against the person who caused the injury? The simple answer is yes. In many cases of child injuries, the child can pursue justice and work with a lawyer in the legal system to get compensation paid by the negligent person.
In the law, the at-fault person who causes the injury is called a “tortfeasor.” This word is derived from the legal term “tort,” which refers to the action that causes an accident or injury. Every person, regardless of age or legal status, has a right to seek compensation in the form of money, called “an award of damages.”
Since children are minors who can’t do many things on their own, they rely on their parents for most of their care and guidance in life. So, a minor can’t bring a claim directly, but a parent or other guardian can bring a lawsuit in court for the child. In most states, the role for an adult to sue for a child is usually called a “Guardian Ad Litem,” and this person has a duty to do everything in the case for the benefit of the minor who was injured. All the legal rights that an adult could claim are available to the child in the court action, but they have to be done through the adult representative.
Most adults who need to go to court, for themselves or for a child, recognize the value of having a lawyer on their side to understand the complexities of the law. So, the lawyer works on the case and appears in court to argue the case in front of the judge.
Time Limits To Make A Claim
There is a time limit to file a lawsuit. These time-limiting laws are called “statutes of limitations,” and they cut off your right to go to court with a lawsuit after a certain time. For most injuries, the basic statute of limitations allows the injured person to bring a claim in court within a short period following the date of the incident that caused the harm. Other limitations exist for different types of claims, including special limitations for cases that involve, or were caused by, a government agency or employee, for example.
In some states, the good news for children who are injured in an accident is that the time limit may be extended for them. Because they are minors and aren’t allowed by the law to enter into contracts, for example, or to bring a legal claim in their own name, as discussed above, the law lets them have longer to file a lawsuit. In some states, the statute of limitations is “tolled,” which means put on hold until the child becomes recognized as an independent adult in the law.
Child Abuse Attorneys
If you suspect that someone injured your child, then the attorneys at My Rights Law will take the time to clearly understand your situation. Our child abuse attorneys will help you identify all of those who may be at fault. We are ready to help you determine your legal options against the abuser and fight on your behalf to help get you compensation and justice from them. We understand how child abuse can severely harm a child’s life and how important it is as the parent of that child to obtain compensation and justice from the wrongdoer so that your child is made whole. Please do not hesitate to reach out to My Rights Law by calling (888) 702-8882 or contacting us through our secure web form for a free consultation.
