Jimmie Kang Law Firm represents people with amputation injuries suffered in accidents such as motor vehicle collisions, work-related accidents and other types of professional negligence. Our law firm has collected a series of amputation accident FAQ’s related to the medical and legal aspects of an accident involving an amputation. Should you have additional questions, we invite you to contact our office for a free review of your legal rights.
Victims of traumatic injury or health-related amputations are at serious risk of life-threatening complications including shock, infection, excessive bleeding, and death. Common amputations involve the loss of the leg, foot, toe, arm, hand, or finger. Numerous health issues can lead to an amputation including diabetic ketoacidosis, gangrene, or nerve damage. Traumatic amputations are often the result of an accident including:
- Vehicle crash
- Construction site injury
- Defective product
- Industrial incident
- Electrocution
- Explosion or fire
- Malfunctioning machinery
- Insufficient worker training
- Unsafe working condition
Amputations can occur when limbs and appendages are severed by machinery like a conveyor belt, meat grinder, drill press, printing press, milling machine, metal forming equipment, mechanical power press, and guillotine (knife cutting) shears. Appendage severing accidents tend to cause extreme emotional difficulty and life-changing issues.
According to OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), nearly two million individuals in the United States live with an amputated body part that requires specific adjustments to their Activities of Daily Living. Amputations typically require extended hospital stays where the nursing staff can monitor the victim’s emotional stability, wound healing, and phantom pain that feels like a sharp painful sensation in the part that has been severed.
The Amputation Injury Attorneys at Jimmie Kang Law Firm have years of experience in obtaining fair compensation for our clients who were injured through the negligent actions of others. Our legal team has compiled a list of the most, and frequently asked questions involving amputation accidents and posted the answers below.
What is the First Thing I Should do if I Suffered an Appendage or Limb Injury?
If you have experienced an injury that partially or completely severed an appendage or limb, you need to receive the best medical attention available. Quality health care can minimize the potential for serious complications including a life-threatening tissue infection, bone infection (osteomyelitis) bedsore (decubitus ulcer) or blood infection (sepsis).
Additionally, you are likely to suffer severe emotional injury as well due to a loss of your appendage or limb with concerns over your diminished quality of life. The psychological and emotional injuries you experience could lead to anxiety, depression, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and grief.
The Injury was not my Fault. Who can I Sue for Justice?
If your amputation injury is the result of negligence by another individual or business, you have the legal right to seek financial compensation for damages. However, you will need to prove in a court of law that their negligent action directly resulted in your severed or amputated appendage or limb. Potential defendants in an amputation injury lawsuit could include motor vehicle drivers, construction workers, medical professionals, product manufacturers, employers, property owners and others.
Am I Entitled to Recover Damages in an Amputation Injury Case?
If another individual or company is responsible for causing your amputation injury, you are entitled to receive tangible and non-tangible damages. Tangible damages could include past, current, and future medical expenses, lost wages, loss of future earnings, future medical bills, and out-of-pocket expenses. Non-tangible damages could include pain, suffering, mental stress, emotional anxiety, loss of convenience, loss of life’s enjoyment, and the inability to participate in recreational activities. An attorney working on your behalf will likely build a case for compensatory damages and seek punitive damages if the actions of the individual or business at fault for your harm were egregious.
There is Already a Filed Police Report. Why is my Lawyer Investigating my Accident?
Based on the seriousness and extent of your injury, your attorney might hire a professional to perform a comprehensive investigation to determine exactly how the accident or incident occurred. A comprehensive investigation will require forensic experts to examine the scene of the accident, determine the instrumentalities that led to the event, collect evidence, a review medical records, interview eyewitnesses, and generate reports from more than one investigatory agency.
To determine who is at fault, the attorney will need to establish responsibility to identify every guilty defendant while establishing their client’s lack of responsibility for causing their injury. The lawyer will need to identify wrongdoers and understand extenuating circumstances that might be involved in the accident like weather conditions and road conditions at the time when the event occurred. Most of this information can only be identified through comprehensive investigation by your legal team.
Also, an investigation will help determine the post-accident condition of all evidence that must be maintained to prove your case trial. Any vehicle damaged during the event should not be repaired, nor should any malfunctioning equipment or machinery that was involved in the accident.
Why Would an Attorney Need to Retain Experts for Testimony?
Your attorneys have the legal responsibility to prove the defendants’ liability to obtain compensation for your injuries. Resolving the case requires the skillful competence of experts who can provide testimony during negotiations or provide evidence at trial that link how the defendants’ negligence directly caused your injury. Other experts will provide essential proof of how much financial compensation you will need for future medical expenses, and adjustments and modification you’ll need to make to continue living. These adjustments and modifications could include installing access ramps at your home, purchasing prosthetic limbs or hiring professional help to assist you with your activities.
The Defendants Have no Money. Who Will Pay for my Expensive Damages?
If found responsible in a court of law, or through a negotiated settlement, the company or individual that caused your amputation injuries will be responsible for paying for your damages. However, because of your amputation, you likely have enormous ongoing medical expenses. Fortunately, businesses, homeowners, renters, drivers and others carry insurance policies with an upper limit of $1 million or more in coverage to resolve liability cases.
Performing an early investigation is crucial to the success of ensuring that you receive adequate compensation for your damages. Your attorney may determine that there are multiple defendants in the case who each have an individual liability insurance policy to cover serious injuries like your amputation or severed limb.
It is Obvious Who is Responsible for my Injuries. So, Why do I Need an Attorney?
Civil laws about personal injury cases and wrongful death lawsuits are often extremely complex. Your case may be based on multifaceted tort law involving negligence, product liability, premises liability or medical malpractice. The attorney working on your behalf may build your compensation claim on more than one factor in the case. Your legal team may determine that there more than one defendant is responsible for your injuries like the driver who caused the accident, the carmaker that manufactured a defective product, and the highway maintenance crew that failed to maintain the road.
Can I Wait to File my Case?
By law, all documents and paperwork necessary to initiate a lawsuit or compensation claim must be filed before the state statute of limitations expires. Determining the date of expiration can change on a case-by-case basis. An attorney can assist you in determining how late you can file after the accident occurs, which will likely be based on the complexity of the facts in your case, if your medical condition is stable, and the determination of your limiting lifestyle. An attorney with years of experience can evaluate which statute of limitations pertains to your case based on your type of claim.
Should I Expect my Case to Settle Out the Court?
While a jury trial award resolves many amputation accident injury cases, most (90% – 95%) compensation claims are resolved out of court through a negotiated settlement. Your attorney will gather enough evidence to build a claim for negotiation and discuss the facts in the case with the defendant’s attorneys with the goal of reaching an agreed settlement in an acceptable amount that is appropriate to cover the client’s injuries. If the legal team is unable to reach an acceptable settlement, they will file a lawsuit in the appropriate county courthouse and begin building a case to present the evidence in front of a judge and jury.
How Much Will I Receive for my Amputation?
If your case goes to trial, the jury will consider several factors to decide the total sum of your monetary compensation. If you settle the case out of court, the negotiating abilities of your legal team to convince the defendant’s lawyers or claims adjuster will determine the how much compensation you will accept to drop further legal action before the case goes to trial.
Typically, the financial recovery you receive is calculated on the extent of your injuries, your ongoing medical requirements and the amount of pain and suffering you continue to endure in the weeks, months and years after the accident. Your lawyer will seek compensatory damages that include:
- Medical treatments
- Lost income
- Property damage
- Emotional distress
- Pain, suffering, and grief
- Loss of consortium
- Loss of enjoyment
- The cost of making significant adjustments in handling your Activities of Daily Living
How Long Will it Take to Resolve my Case?
The length of time it takes to investigate the facts of the case, gather evidence, speak to eyewitnesses, file the appropriate paperwork, and begin the settlement negotiation process or take the case to trial can vary greatly. Simple cases might be resolved in a few months, and highly complex cases could take years to complete.
How Much are the Consultation Fees to Review my Case?
The Amputation Injury Attorneys at Jimmie Kang Law Firm provide no-obligation, initial consultations at no charge. Our legal team can review your case and provide numerous legal options on how to proceed to ensure you receive the financial compensation you deserve. The information you share during the consultation remains confidential. Additionally, we postpone your payments for legal services until after your case is successfully resolved in a court of law or through a negotiated out of court settlement.
Taking the First Legal Steps Following an Amputation Suffered in an Accident
The loss of an appendage or limb can place an unimaginable and unbearable impact on the quality of your life and could require you to make significant adjustments to maintain your livelihood. The financial costs involved in losing a limb or appendage can create destructive consequences to you individually and with your family. When another person or business is responsible for causing your injuries, they should be held legally and financially accountable for their negligence.
The amputation accident injury attorneys at Jimmie Kang Law Firm fight aggressively by pursuing compensation and seeking justice on behalf of our clients. Our legal team takes all appropriate measures to investigate your compensation claim fully and gather evidence, hire investigators, speak to expert witnesses, and build your case for successful resolution. Our attorneys have decades of experience and have secured tens of millions of dollars in financial compensation for the victims we represent.
If you or someone you love suffers from an amputation injury, we urge you to contact our law offices now to schedule a free, no obligation case consultation. We accept all wrongful death lawsuit, personal injury cases, an amputation accident injury claim for compensation through contingency fee agreements. This arrangement will postpone all payments for your legal services until after we have successfully resolved your case through a negotiated out of court settlement or a jury trial award.
We offer every client a “No Win/No-Fee” Guarantee, meaning if we are unable to secure adequate compensation to resolve your case, you owe us nothing. Discuss your case with us today, so we can begin exploring your legal options now.
