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Any injury caused by an accident born of negligence can result in physical, financial, and personal losses that can be hard to overcome even with comprehensive civil recovery. However, when an injury is catastrophic, the short-term and long-term effects of that injury can be life-changing in virtually every respect, making civil recovery a matter of maximizing quality of life rather than completely restoring an accident victim to their pre-injury condition.
In this kind of scenario, assistance from a Cleveland catastrophic injury lawyer could be vital to preserving not only your own future prospects and financial stability, but also those of your entire family. By hiring a personal injury attorney with experience handling uniquely complex and high-stakes cases like yours, you could more effectively pursue financial compensation while navigating around common legal and procedural roadblocks.
In most states, “catastrophic injury” is a purely colloquial term, generally used by court authorities and legal professionals to refer to injuries which result in permanent disability and/or disfigurement. In Tennessee, though, “catastrophic injury” actually has a specific definition that, if fulfilled, can significantly impact how much compensation an injured individual may recover through civil litigation.
Subsection (d) of Tennessee Code §29-39-102 defines “catastrophic loss or injury” to be any of the following specific conditions:
This definition is important because of the cap on recovery for non-economic forms of harm—such as physical pain, psychological trauma, and lost enjoyment/quality of life—established under the same statute.
In most situations, the most an individual plaintiff may recover for losses of this nature is $750,000. However, if someone sustains one or more catastrophic injuries as defined above, this cap is raised to $1,000,000. A Cleveland catastrophic accident attorney could explain how this section of state law may impact a particular case during a private consultation.
Another state statute that can have a significant impact on how a catastrophic injury claim plays out is the statute of limitations codified in TN Code §28-3-104. Under this statute, a person who accrues a cause of civil action for personal injury—in other words, someone who gets hurt directly because of another person’s misconduct—generally has a maximum of one year from the date on which their injury occurred to file any civil lawsuit they intend to pursue over that incident.
There are very few exceptions to this rule under any circumstances, and the severity of harm a person sustains has no bearing on the amount of time the law grants them to pursue litigation. Because of that, contacting a seasoned lawyer quickly after a catastrophic injury in Cleveland can be essential to preserving the injured person’s right to recovery.
Obtaining comprehensive financial recovery after a catastrophic accident can be extremely difficult for any injured individual to achieve. Even if it seems obvious who bears fault for the harm you sustained, the various rules and restrictions applicable to cases like this under state law can make effectively pursuing the compensation you deserve much more challenging than you might expect.
Fortunately, help is available from a dedicated Cleveland catastrophic injury lawyer with the expertise and experience necessary to proactively enforce your rights. Call today to schedule a meeting.