What You Need to Know About Pursuing a Birth Injury Case
Finding out your child has suffered a birth injury can be a life-changing moment in a parent’s life. Birth injuries can range in severity from mild to catastrophic, but they are always traumatic nonetheless. Unfortunately, for some parents, a catastrophic birth injury may require ongoing medical care.
In this instance, family bonds can be tested, as well as their financial fortitude. Not only can medical costs pile up, but so can lost wages and the accommodations parents have to take to care for a sick child. You may feel helpless and uncertain of where to go from here.
Fortunately, there are people dedicated to helping people just like you. But in an industry saturated with get-rich-quick lawyers, finding the right one can be challenging. That’s why it’s important to find a law firm with experience in cases you’re looking to pursue and who will do anything they can to help you.
If you’re looking to pursue a birth injury case with your lawyer, here is everything you need to know.
Do I Have a Case?
The first step to determining whether or not you have a legal claim is to determine the cause for your child’s injuries. Causation could include both medical negligence and general malpractice on the part of your medical provider. You must prove that they had broken your trust, and in doing so, sacrificed the wellbeing of your child.
Unfortunately, pinpointing malpractice can be difficult, but not impossible. Negligence can come in many forms and manifest itself from pre-natal care all the way to the delivery of the baby. Some examples of negligence include:
- Mishandling medications
- Failing to properly diagnose a potentially serious condition in the mother or fetus
- Failing to provide the mother with a c-section when required
There are many more examples of medical malpractice that could lead to the injury of a child. It’s important to keep in mind that birth defects do not automatically qualify as negligence, especially if a physician could not foresee any of these issues.
What Can a Birth Injury Lawyer Do to Help?
If you feel that your child was a victim of a birth injury caused by medical negligence, contacting a birth injury lawyer is your best bet. First, your lawyer will work with you to determine if you definitely have a case. To make the process run smoothly, be sure to bring all medical documents and anything else that may help your case. Your lawyer will then go over all of your evidence and build a case around that information.
During the pre-litigation process, your lawyer will go through every detail involved in your case, and they may propose a settlement to the defense, however, it is not guaranteed that they will settle. If a settlement cannot be reached, your lawyer will file a formal complaint against the defendant in civil court, thus beginning the litigation process.
How Long Will a Birth Injury Lawyer Work on My Case?
The length of a birth injury or Cerebral Palsy lawsuit can vary widely depending on many factors. If you are represented by Latona Law, our legal agreements for birth injury cases are not based on hours or the length of the case. Our birth injury lawyers will spend as long as it takes to explore every option and do the best possible job for you and your family. As the review progresses, there may be options that result in a resolution sooner than expected, and likewise, certain cases can be more complex. Your birth injury lawyer will be able to make better suggestions after reviewing your case.
How Much Compensation Will I Receive?
There is no set amount of compensation you will receive in a birth injury lawsuit. If you win your case, the amount of compensation you receive will depend on a number of factors. Things like the type of birth injury, the severity of the injury, and the past, present, and future costs of the injury will all factor into how much you walk away with.
When it comes to choosing the right attorney to take on your birth injury case, trust Latona Law to help you out. The team of dedicated medical negligence lawyers at Latona Law has over 25 years of experience in helping people in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area and have helped recover over $40 million in cases in Luzerne, Lackawanna, and the surrounding counties.
Contact Latona Law today to schedule a free consultation and find out how we can help.