Was your child injured in an accident in Jacksonville, FL? As a parent, you may be entitled to seek compensation for losses suffered by your child and your family. An experienced Jacksonville child injury lawyer at Baggett Law Personal Injury Lawyers can help you fight to recover compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and your family’s suffering.
Our lawyers have over 69 years of experience in personal injury law. Since we founded our practice, we’ve recovered tens of millions of dollars on behalf of accident victims and their families.
You can count on us to give your case the personal attention it deserves. Just contact our law offices in Jacksonville, Florida, to schedule your free consultation today at (904) 396-1100.
How Can Baggett Law Personal Injury Lawyers Help With a Child Injury Case in Jacksonville?
As a parent, you do everything possible to protect your child from harm. However, you can shield your child from all harm. Injuries can and do happen.
When your child is a victim, you may quickly begin to worry about money. The cost of treating your child’s injury may come as a shock. An experienced Jacksonville personal injury lawyer can help you seek compensation so that your child can get the medical care they deserve.
Hiring Baggett Law Personal Injury Lawyers means you’ll have a lawyer to:
- Investigate and determine who is legally responsible for your child’s injuries
- Assess your losses and calculate your case value
- Gather evidence to support each element of your case
- Retain respected experts who can offer guidance and strengthen your case
- Communicate and negotiate with the insurance companies for a fair settlement
Caring for your child is your top priority. Our number one priority is recovering full financial compensation for your family. Call today to learn how a Jacksonville personal injury attorney can help with your case.
How Common Are Child Injuries in Jacksonville?
Studies show that about 30 million children visit emergency rooms in the U.S. for treatment each year. Many of those injuries are mild.
Unfortunately, according to the CDC, about 12,175 children between the ages of 0 and 19 die due to unintentional injuries each year. That means about 33 children die in the United States every day due to injuries. Many of those injuries are, sadly, completely preventable.
Our Experienced Attorneys Handle All Types of Child Injury Cases
Children can suffer many different types of injury. Those injuries can be mild and heal quickly with minimal medical care. Other types of child injury can be life-altering.
At Baggett Law Personal Injury Lawyers, we often represent clients who have suffered:
- Broken bones
- Head trauma, including traumatic brain injuries and concussions
- Brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation
- Soft tissue damage, strains, and sprains
- Burns
- Cuts and lacerations
- Facial injuries
- Crushing injuries
- Back injuries
- Amputations and loss of limbs
- Spinal cord damage
- Paralysis
- Catastrophic injuries and injuries that result in wrongful death
Regardless of the type of injury your child suffered, you can count on our lawyers in Jacksonville to fight to hold the responsible parties accountable.
What Types of Long-Term Damage Can Child Injuries Cause?
Childhood injuries can be extremely traumatizing. Even if a child is injured in the same type of accident as an adult, the experience and injuries can impact the child differently. That’s because children are still developing–both emotionally and physically.
In other words, child injuries can cause long-term damage that adults with similar injuries may not experience.
Some common long-term consequences of a child injury include:
- Delayed development
- Cognitive disabilities
- Extreme anxiety
- PTSD and fear
- Physical disabilities
- Difficulty making friends or problems in social situations
- Special educational needs
Your child’s accident can change your family’s life forever. Our lawyers in Jacksonville are here to help you recover fair compensation. Just call our law firm for a free case review to learn more.
What Are the Most Common Causes of Child Injuries?
It’s perfectly normal for children to sustain injuries as they go through childhood. However, when their injuries occur because someone was negligent, you deserve to be compensated.
At Baggett Law Personal Injury Lawyers, we often handle child injury cases involving:
- Car accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Playground accidents, including defective playground equipment
- Swimming pool accidents and drownings
- Pedestrian accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Sports accidents
- School bus accidents
- Accidents at schools, daycare, and summer camp
- Boating accidents
- Accidents involving recreational vehicles
- Food poisoning
- Suffocation
- Exposure to toxic substances
- Dog bites and animal attacks
- Defective products
- Medical malpractice, including birth injuries
- Intentional child abuse
- Dangerous property conditions
- Negligent security
- Accidents where the child is struck by an object
- Failure to provide adequate supervision
Many injuries to children occur because an adult is negligent. To recover fair compensation, you must first prove that someone else’s actions caused the injury.
How Do I Prove Negligence if My Child Was Injured in an Accident?
Most child injury cases are based on negligence.
The basic elements of a negligence case are:
- The responsible party owed your child a legal duty of care
- They breached the duty of care
- The breach caused your child’s injuries
- Your family sustained damages
These are the basic elements that you must prove if your child was injured in a motor vehicle accident or due to negligent caregiver supervision, for example. Depending on the circumstances of your child’s injury, however, additional elements may be relevant.
Premises Liability Claims
Slips and falls are a leading cause of childhood injury. Many of those injuries occur because a property owner failed to maintain safe premises.
Property owners are required to keep their property reasonably safe under Florida premises liability laws.
The property owner may be held liable if you can prove that:
- A dangerous property condition existed
- Your child was legally present on the property, or attracted onto the property by an “attractive nuisance,” such as a swimming pool
- The property owner knew, or reasonably should have known, about the danger
- Your child was injured due to the unsafe premises
Property owners may even be held liable for failure to provide adequate security if your child was injured due to intentional violence or criminal activity.
Product Liability Claims
Manufacturers of defective products can be held strictly liable for damages. If your child was injured while using a defective consumer product, you won’t have to prove negligence to recover damages.
Instead, you’ll have to prove that the product suffered from a manufacturing defect, design defect, or marketing defect. For example, you may have a valid strict liability case if your child was injured because of a defective children’s toy, car seat, or even furniture.
How Much Compensation Can I Recover in My Jacksonville Child Injury Claim?
Our lawyers will carefully evaluate the details when calculating the value of your personal injury case case.
We’ll evaluate:
- The severity of your child’s injury
- Your child’s prognosis and opinions from doctors and other specialists
- The cost of your current medical treatment
- Costs associated with your child’s anticipated future needs
- How your child’s injuries impact their daily life and activities
- Whether the injury will impact your child’s education and future career prospects
- The emotional suffering your child has experienced
- The circumstances of the accident and injury
Our lawyers founded our practice for one reason: to help injured clients recover the maximum compensation possible. You can count on us to accurately assess your case value. We’ll work closely with your family, your doctors, and other specialists who can help strengthen your case. Just call our personal injury law firm to learn more today.
What Types of Damages Can I Recover if My Child Was Injured in Jacksonville, Florida?
Florida personal injury laws permit accident victims to seek compensation for economic and non-economic damages.
If your child was injured, you may be entitled to financial compensation for:
- Medical bills
- Your lost wages while you care for your child
- Future medical bills
- Your child’s diminished future earning potential
- Rehabilitation
- Psychological counseling
- Special education needs
- In-home assistance
- Long-term care
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Anxiety disorders
- Depression
- PTSD
- Diminished quality of life
- Loss of a normal childhood
In particularly shocking cases, you may also be entitled to seek punitive damages. Courts typically only award punitive damages in cases involving intentional wrongdoing or gross negligence.
How Long Do I Have To File a Lawsuit if My Child Was Injured in Florida?
In Florida, the statute of limitations for most personal injury cases was recently changed. If your child’s injury took place on or after 3/24/2023, you’ll have two years to file lawsuit, and four years otherwise. If you too long to submit your claim, you’ll be permanently barred from suing on behalf of your child.
However, if you fail to take legal action, your child may have the right to file a lawsuit once they turn 18. There are also instances where the statute of limitations can be tolled (paused) for child injury cases, potentially allowing you more time to file your claim.
Since statute of limitations law is especially complex for child injury cases, contacting an attorney to confirm the appropriate deadline for your case is recommended.
Contact a Jacksonville Child Injury Lawyer for a Free Consultation Today
If your child was injured, you deserve time to focus on helping them recover. You can count on our team at Baggett Law Personal Injury Lawyers to stand by your side throughout the entire recovery process. Contact a Jacksonville child injury lawyer for a free initial consultation today.
