Birmingham Child Electrical Injury Lawyers
There are about 1000 deaths per year in America caused by electrocution injuries. Approximately 20 percent of these injuries occur in children, mainly toddlers and adolescents, and the majority of these injuries occur at home.
If your child has suffered an electrical injury caused by another’s negligence, you have options for seeking compensation. The Birmingham child injury attorneys at Farris, Riley & Pitt, LLP specialize in helping residents of Birmingham and North Central Alabama get compensation for injuries through a personal injury claim or lawsuit.
Call us today at (205) 324-1212 for a free consultation. We will review your case at no charge and determine whether you’re eligible to file a claim or lawsuit against the responsible party. Don’t let an electrical injury affect your child’s future. Call Farris, Riley & Pitt, LLP today.
What Are Electric Shock Injuries, and How Do They Occur?
Electric shock injury is when electrical current passes through or contacts the body. An injury occurs when the current is strong enough to damage the skin or internal organs, causing damage or burns. Electrocution occurs when the shock injury is fatal. Electric shock injuries vary widely and include the following:
- Cardiac arrest
- Burns
- Organ damage
- Internal injuries
- Brain damage
- Nerve damage
- Tissue damage
- Fall injuries after contact with electricity
- Amputation
- Coma
- Death by electrocution
Even with small electric shock injuries, the damage to the body can be severe. An injury that manifests as a burn on the skin can be hiding severe muscle, nerve, or even bone damage underneath.
Burns from electric shock are the most common type of non-fatal injury. In children, electric shock injuries usually occur when a child pokes metal objects into an unprotected outlet or tries to bite a live electrical line, such as Christmas tree lights.
Why Do I Need an Attorney?
Obtaining compensation requires proving that another party was responsible for your child’s injury and submitting a demand for compensation to their insurance company. Although this may seem straightforward, there are many pitfalls and obstacles to filing an injury claim that only an attorney can help overcome. A good lawyer can help in several other ways you might not realize.
Your lawyer will take on the complex task of building and supporting your claim, so you don’t have to. We will investigate the accident, gather evidence and documentation, speak to eyewitnesses, and negotiate with insurance adjusters on your behalf, allowing you and your family the time you need to recover from the trauma and emotional strain of the accident.
Obtaining compensation requires an understanding of how losses and damages work. You may be compensated for any verifiable losses you sustained as a result of the accident, but those losses must be accurately categorized and defined. Some of them are easy to define, such as medical bills, but others are not as simple to itemize. An attorney can help explain how damages work, which categories of damages may apply to your case, and can help you pursue the full amount of compensation you’re owed.
Reputation is a factor in injury law. When you hire an attorney to assist with your claim, you signal to the insurance company that you’re serious about getting the fair and just compensation you’re owed and that you won’t accept a small settlement offer. A demand letter written on our letterhead will hold more weight than one coming directly from the claimant.
Hiring a lawyer brings with it the option of filing a lawsuit against the responsible party if settlement negotiations are unsuccessful. Although the vast majority of claims are handled with a settlement, if the insurance company should decide your claim doesn’t have merit and deny payment, you’re mostly out of options. With an attorney to assist you, the insurance company has to factor in the cost of a lawsuit if they deny your claim. Litigation is expensive, sometimes more expensive than a fair settlement might be. Hiring an attorney can tilt the odds in your favor.
Why Hire Farris, Riley & Pitt, LLP to Represent Me?
Farris, Riley & Pitt, LLP has over twenty years of experience helping Birmingham residents get the compensation they need to move on after an injury. We know what an injury to a child does to a family in Alabama, and we will work tirelessly to help in any way we can.
We have the knowledge and skills to make the law work for our clients, and we have the compassion and personal touch to make the entire ordeal easier for you. We believe in treating our clients with respect and dignity because we know how difficult this process can be. We will take the time to listen to your needs and keep you fully updated on the progress of your case.
We don’t just support our clients. We support the communities that have helped make us who we are today. That includes charitable donations to causes and organizations like Children’s of Alabama, United Way, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Our clients wouldn’t choose us if we didn’t have a record of success. We get the results our clients need, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and awards. We can’t guarantee a win in every case we take on, but if we don’t win, we don’t take payment. Farris, Riley & Pitt, LLP works on contingency, which means that we only take payment for our services if we’re successful in getting you the compensation you need. If we don’t, we don’t get paid.
Who is Responsible for My Child’s Electric Shock Injury?
In order to obtain compensation, we need to show that another party was responsible for your child’s electric shock injury. This requires proving negligence. We must compile enough evidence to show that the responsible party should have recognized a substantial and unjustifiable risk the way a reasonable person would, that they either didn’t recognize the risk or did and ignored it, that this behavior caused an accident, and this accident caused your child injuries.
The responsible party will vary depending on the circumstances of the accident. If your child was injured while they were under the care of someone else, such as a sitter or nanny, they may be held responsible. Or, if the electric shock injury was caused by an unsafe or defective toy or product, we may be able to hold the product’s manufacturer responsible for the injury. If your child was injured outside the home, we may be able to hold the manager or owner of the property on which they were injured responsible. Talk to your attorney to learn more.
Steps to Take After an Electric Shock Injury
If your child just suffered an electrical injury, here are some steps to take immediately:
- Shut down the power source. Verify that the electrical current supplied to the device or equipment that caused the injury is shut off before moving forward.
- Get medical attention. Call emergency medical services immediately and give them as much information as possible about the circumstances and the injury. Follow their instructions.
- If there is no pulse or breathing, start CPR. If you can’t detect any pulse at the neck and the victim is not breathing, begin CPR and continue until medical help arrives.
- Document everything. If you’re able, start the documentation process immediately. Get contact information for any eyewitnesses, take photos of the injury, get medical records showing the extent of treatment, and gather anything that might shed light on what happened or who was responsible will be invaluable to your lawyer.
- Get legal help. Contact an attorney and start the claims process.
Compensation for an Electric Shock Injury
The amount of compensation you may be able to obtain varies widely depending on the circumstances that led to your child’s accident. In general, the more severe the injuries, the more compensation you should demand, but we wouldn’t be able to estimate the amount until we fully evaluate your case.
The amount to demand is determined by the verifiable losses or damages your child and your family suffered as a result of the accident.
Economic damages are any losses with a specific monetary value. These are the actual financial costs of treating the injury or its consequences. Some examples include:
- Lost opportunity
- Lost wages
- Medical bills
- Property damage
- Household expenses
Non-economic damages relate to the emotional toll of going through the injury itself and not the costs of treating it. There are many categories, such as:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Mental anguish
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Wrongful death
In cases of extreme negligence or malice, Alabama law allows some injury victims to seek punitive damages as well as compensatory damages. Punitive damages are designed to punish the bad actor in personal injury claims and not to compensate you for any material or immaterial loss. Punitive damages can only be awarded by a judge or jury, require a higher burden of proof than compensatory damages, and are only allowed in cases of extreme oppression, fraud, malice, or wantonness. Talk to your lawyer to see if punitive damages might apply to your case.
Contact Us Today for a Free Consultation
If your child has been injured in an electric shock accident, don’t wait any longer. Call Farris, Riley & Pitt, LLP today, and let us review your case to determine whether you’re eligible for compensation. The first consultation is absolutely free, and we only take payment if we get money for you, so you have nothing to lose. Call (205) 324-1212 today.
