Metairie Child Injury Lawyer
Parents are always fiercely protective of their children. But even the most alert and attentive parent cannot prevent all possible injuries to their child. Sometimes children simply have accidents. But in other cases, a child is injured because of the reckless or illegal act of another person.
An experienced Metairie child injury lawyer can represent you and your child in seeking compensation from such negligent parties. At Palazzo Law Firm, our personal injury team knows how to deal with insurance companies when it comes to negotiating a settlement. And where a settlement is not possible or not in your child’s best interests, we are prepared to present your case to a judge or jury.
How the Rules Differ for Child Victims Vs. Adults
Personal injury claims involving children differ from those involving adults in a couple of different ways. The first is that you often have a longer amount of time to file a lawsuit when a child is the victim. Louisiana normally has a one-year statute of limitations in civil cases, which includes personal injury claims. For example, if an adult is injured in a car accident, they have just one year from the date of the crash to identify and sue the negligent parties.
But when a child gets hurt, the one-year limitations period will not start to run until the child’s 18th birthday. It doesn’t matter how young the child was when the accident actually took place. The child effectively has until their 19th birthday to file a lawsuit.
A second difference between adult and child injury cases is the standard used to evaluate their own actions. Louisiana follows a “comparative negligence” rule in personal injury cases. This means that a court will account for the victim’s possible negligence in apportioning fault for an accident. An adult’s conduct is based on how a reasonable person in their position would have acted at the time of the accident. Children, however, are generally evaluated based on how a reasonable child of the same age, intelligence, and maturity as themselves would act.
Finally, child injury cases often involve the legal principle of an “attractive nuisance.” Basically, if there is something on a person’s property that might tend to attract the interest of a child, and that child is injured as a result, the property owner can be held liable. A common example of this is a swimming pool that is not protected by a fence or otherwise restricted from being accessed by unsupervised children.
Contact The Palazzo Law Firm Today
Child injury cases are often more complicated than parents initially realize. It is not enough to prove your child was hurt. You must prove someone else hurt the child in a negligent manner. A skilled Metairie child injury lawyer can help you in making that case.
So if your child has been harmed in any sort of accident, it is important that you seek out timely legal advice. Contact Palazzo Law Firm today to schedule a free initial consultation.
