SOUND COUNSEL. STRAIGHT TALK. SENSIBLE SOLUTIONS.
New York Child Injury Lawyer
A child injured in a car crash, a drowning accident, or a playground accident can be devastating for families. Serious and life-threatening childhood injuries can cause years of physical pain, disability, and financial instability for both the child and their family. The emotional toll on top of everything else can certainly feel hopeless. That’s why you need an experienced child injury lawyer from Bailey, Johnson & Peck on your side. Our personal injury law firm has recovered millions of dollars in medical bills and other damages for our injured clients, and we can do the same for you. Call us today at 518-456-0082 for a free initial consultation.
How Many Children are Injured and Killed in the U.S. Every Year?
According to 2020 data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death among children ages 1 to 14 years old. In fact, more than 9,000 children between the ages of 1 and 14 died in 2020. Other leading causes of death within this age range include birth defects or birth injuries, cancer, assault, and intentional self-harm.
Common Types of Child Injuries
Tragically, children can suffer serious injuries or wrongful death from any negligent behavior. The most common injuries that children suffer from on an annual basis are listed below.
Abuse
If a child is a victim of abuse, they will likely suffer from broken bones, bruises, and skin lacerations. Signs of abuse aren’t always physical though. An abused child may exhibit signs of depression, self-harm, aggression, and other strange behaviors. They may also withdraw from their friends and activities they typically enjoy.
Neglect
Neglect and abuse often go hand in hand. While neglect doesn’t always result in obvious physical injuries such as bruising, it’s still considered abuse. Victims of neglect could certainly suffer from catastrophic injuries due to negligent supervision from their parents or guardians.
The most common signs of child neglect include poor hygiene and medical care, dirty clothes, stunted growth, poor school attendance, and stealing or hiding food.
Accident Injuries
Child injury claims most commonly involve an accident of some kind. This could include accidents involving school buses, car accidents, playground injuries and accidents, amusement park accidents, etc.
Product Injuries
Product injuries are also incredibly common in child injury cases. Some kids’ toys and products are choking hazards or contain toxic materials. Defective products, such as a crib or a car seat, for example, could also cause a child’s injury. Lastly, even the most mundane objects such as clothing strings, vacuum cords, batteries, magnets, etc. can be deadly for children, especially when they are around these objects with poor supervision.
Birth Injuries
Many childhood injuries start in the womb or at birth. Some birth injuries are caused by some form of medical malpractice, and some injuries are completely unavoidable. For example, a doctor could use forceps during birth to pull the child out of the canal. This birthing method is incredibly dangerous because it can result in lifelong injuries such as cerebral palsy and other types of brain damage.
A medical error during pregnancy could also lead to a birth injury. For example, a doctor could fail to diagnose a mother with a serious health issue that, if left untreated, could greatly impact the child’s health. Or a doctor could misdiagnose a mother and give her the completely wrong treatment, causing her child irreparable damage.
Brain Injuries
Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) could happen at birth or during childhood. As previously stated, dangerous birthing techniques or inadequate maternal healthcare during pregnancy could easily lead to a traumatic brain injury at birth. Children could also suffer brain injuries from bus accidents, car accidents, amusement park accidents, or even dangerous products.
Other Injuries
An injured child could also suffer from the following situations:
- Negligent supervision at a daycare facility
- Dog bites and other animal attacks
- Burns from hot water, stoves, water heaters, or even a motor vehicle accident
- Pool or lake drownings
What To Do if Your Child Suffers Injuries in an Accident
If your child suffers major injuries in any kind of accident, you may feel so overwhelmed with emotion that you don’t know what to do. A huge adrenaline rush can certainly cloud your rational judgment, making you feel confused about how to correctly respond. Make sure to follow the steps below in order to protect both yourself and your child.
- Seek Immediate Medical Attention, whether that means calling 911 or going straight to the emergency room. Not only is this step crucial in saving the child’s life, but it will also create evidence of the accident or injury.
- Gather Crucial Evidence: Not only are police reports and medical records important pieces of evidence for lawsuits, but so are pictures and witness statements. Take pictures of the car, product, playground equipment, etc. that injured your child when you can. You can take pictures of the injuries as well. If anyone saw the accident or injury happen, make sure to ask for their name and number so that you can use them as a witness later.
- Call a Child Injury Lawyer at Bailey, Johnson & Peck: Lastly, call our law firm. We offer a free consultation to every new client. Our child injury lawyers will listen to your story and thoroughly investigate your case. Our experienced legal team will also fight for the best case outcome possible.
Child Injury Cases vs. Personal Injury Cases
Child injury cases are often treated differently than regular personal injury cases. While injured children can receive the same types of financial compensation as injured adults, children are still treated differently in a court of law. For example, children are assigned a different degree of responsibility compared to adults. So personal injury attorneys and judges have to consider whether a child acted in an age-appropriate manner when the accident occurred. Considering this will determine: was the injury mostly caused by the child’s negligence or another person’s negligence?
Depending on the state you live in, the statute of limitations for a child injury case may also differ from a regular personal injury case. This basically means that you may have more or less time than usual to file a lawsuit on the child’s behalf.
Who Is Liable For a Child’s Injury?
Depending on the specifics of your child’s injuries and accident, multiple people or companies could face a lawsuit. Possible liable entities include:
- Doctors, nurses, surgeons, etc.
- Drivers of cars, motorcycles, trucks, school buses, etc.
- Teachers or daycare workers
- Other parents
- Dog owners
- Property owners
- Manufacturers of playground equipment, toys, or defective products
How to Prove Negligence in Child Injury Cases
Similar to many personal injury cases, an experienced team of child injury attorneys must prove who failed to exercise reasonable care which ultimately led to the child’s injury. A personal injury attorney at Bailey, Johnson & Peck can help parents and families prove negligence in a child’s case through the four elements of negligence.
- Duty of Care: Every person owes each other a specific duty of care. Doctors owe their patients a specific duty of care. Similarly, parents, guardians, and other entities owe children a specific duty of care.
- Breached Duty of Care: The person or entity responsible for child safety breached this duty of care.
- Causation: The breached duty of care directly caused the child’s injuries.
- Damages: The child deserves just compensation for the injuries they suffered due to someone else’s negligence.
Types of Damages for a Child’s Injuries
An experienced personal injury lawyer can help you recover many types of financial compensation for your child’s injuries, including:
- The child’s medical bills
- The child’s rehabilitation bills
- Future rehabilitative and medical expenses if the child is expected to suffer long-term disability and pain
- Future lost wages, especially if the injury is expected to cause long-term disability and pain
- Emotional distress
- The child’s counseling bills if they suffered extensive emotional distress from their injury or accident
- Physical pain and suffering
- Major scarring and disfigurement
- The child’s loss of enjoyment of life
- Funeral and burial expenses if the accident resulted in wrongful death
What is the New York Statute of Limitations for a Child Injury Lawsuit?
In New York, personal injury victims generally have three years from the date of their accident to file a lawsuit. The statute of limitations can vary, especially if the victim in question is a child. If a child was injured due to negligent acts and their parents didn’t pursue legal action, many states allow them to file a lawsuit within 3 years of their 18th birthday.
Call a Child Injury Lawyer at Bailey, Johnson & Peck Today
If your child suffered injuries due to someone else’s negligence, you need a qualified child injury lawyer from our law firm to represent you. Attorneys at Bailey, Johnson & Peck have decades of combined experience in recovering just compensation for our personal injury clients. We understand how heartbreaking and stressful child injuries can be. That’s why it’s best to trust us with the legal stress while you focus on your child’s recovery. Call us today at 518-456-0082 to begin your attorney-client relationship with us. We offer a free consultation to every new client.Practice Areas
Helping Injury Victims
Put Their Lives Back Together
Schedule a Consultation
Our attorneys have extensive experience in personal injury law, including car accidents, slip-and-fall accidents, catastrophic injuries and wrongful death. If you have questions about insurance coverage and how to get the financial compensation you need, contact us today to see how we can help.
We have represented many clients on both sides of personal injury and insurance disputes. Let us use our depth of knowledge and experience to help you and your family get the medical care and financial compensation you need and deserve.
