What Will a Birth Injury Lawyer Do to Help Me and My Baby?
Having a child with a birth injury can be traumatic and expensive. Some parents feel helpless to help their child and often blame themselves for something that went wrong during pregnancy that could have caused the child’s injury. But it’s the responsibility of medical providers to prevent these kinds of injuries when they are able to and assure the healthy delivery of your child.
While birth injuries are rare, they are often caused by medical negligence. Whether it’s the fault of the primary care physician, the hospital, or any prenatal care received before delivery, a birth injury attorney can help you get the justice you deserve and seek it from the party responsible for your child’s injury.
Nothing can replace the years of trauma that result from a birth injury, but a birth injury attorney can at least help your family get the compensation and resources it needs to survive this incident. No one wants to think the worst when a child is born with an injury. But sometimes it’s necessary to look at your legal options when dealing with a birth injury. Finding the right birth injury attorney can help your family get back on its feet emotionally and financially.
Here, we’ll explain what compensation a birth injury lawyer can win for you and what to expect out the legal process for filing a birth injury claim.
What Compensation Does My Family Qualify For?
Compensation in birth injury cases is typically awarded through economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are any bills, fees, or wages lost as a result of a child’s birth injury. This could include medical bills, family counseling, and other accommodations that have been made at home or work.
Non-economic damages include any emotional distress that is awarded by the defendant or judge in the settlement.
Pennsylvania does not cap any economic or non-economic damages in cases dealing with private entities. For this reason, there is no definitive answer to how much your family may get compensated for, but we can answer what you can receive compensation for.
Compensation from a birth injury lawsuit may come in the form of:
- Medical bills and hospital treatment
- Emotional pain and suffering
- Counseling and psychological services needed
- Physical therapy
- Medications used by the child
Law firms like Latona Law have won over $40 million for victims of medical malpractice.
Unfortunately, settlements may take months to years to proceed and compensation may not come in one lump sum. Understanding the legal process for filing a birth injury claim will help you determine if hiring a birth injury lawyer is the right course for you and your baby.
The Birth Injury Legal process
The Initial Consultation
The first thing a Latona Law birth injury lawyer will do to help you and your family is listen to your story. That’s why we offer free consultations, at the time and place of your choosing, and spend as long as it takes to hear your story, and understand the details.
This includes uncovering the extent of your child’s injuries, going over all medical history, and determining if negligence may have contributed to it. If the team at Latona Law thinks that you may qualify for a claim against a medical provider, they will start a free case review.
Case Review
During the case review, our attorneys will review the details of your case with the necessary medical advisors, medical lawyers, and other relevant staff to determine if negligence occurred and the possibility of compensation for your family warrants proceeding. This will involve a thorough review of you and your child’s medical history and an examination by another doctor to determine the extent of the injuries and acquire any additional information necessary.
Determining a Proper Course of Action
Once all the facts have been determined, Latona Law can begin determining a proper course of action. The first step is often referred to as pre-litigation, which involves gathering a list of witnesses and expert testimony that can back up the parent’s claim.
From here, Latona Law can request a settlement amount from the responsible party and allow them time to analyze this claim. The defendant can either agree to a settlement amount or proceed to trial. If they agree to the settlement amount, you are rewarded. If not, Latona Law will have the option to push your case for trial and file a claim in court.
During the discovery phase of litigation, the defendant will have time to read over all testimony and evidence used to determine a claim. While court cases can be costly, you will not pay a penny unless we win your case for you. Latona Law’s team of attorneys will be with you all of the way, helping you to make it through this trying process and win what you deserve.