Ottawa Catastrophic Injury Lawyers

Any type of personal injury caused by someone else’s negligence can derail your plans for the future and lead to significant financial and personal losses, even if you make a full recovery over time. Unfortunately, some severe accidents have permanent, life-changing consequences, leaving injury victims and their families to deal with new disabilities, additional expenses for medical treatment and attendant care, irreversible loss of earning capacity, and immense pain and suffering.

Maximizing your recovery and effectively protecting your best interests in a claim for statutory accident benefits or a tort claim can be challenging without the guidance of a personal injury lawyer who specializes in litigating catastrophic injury claims. A compassionate Ottawa catastrophic injury lawyer can help you reach a favourable outcome and secure compensation to assist with the long-term repercussions of your or your loved one’s injuries.

When is an Injury Considered Catastrophic?

Catastrophic injuries involve severe, devastating loss of functioning that is life-altering. In the context of statutory accident benefits, the definition of “catastrophic impairment” are injuries that result in:

• Paraplegia
• Quadriplegia
• Paralysis
• Amputation
• Total loss of vision
• Acquired brain injuries
• Significant or extreme mental, neurological, and behavioural disorders
• Traumatic brain injury
• Spinal cord injury
• Severe burns

If you are determined to have a catastrophic impairment in your statutory accident benefits claim, the benefits available for medical and rehabilitation, attendant care, and housekeeping increases significantly.

Outside of the context of statutory accident benefits, these same injuries will often entitle a plaintiff to higher damages in a tort claim stemming from a motor vehicle collision or another type of accident. An experienced lawyer can clarify for a prospective client whether their injury meets the criteria necessary to be considered catastrophic in nature and what benefits or compensation they are entitled to claim.

Recoverable Damages in a Tort Claim

If catastrophic injuries were caused by the negligent or intentional act of another, a civil claim on behalf of the victim, and the damages awarded if successful, is critical to the victim’s quality of life going forward. Medical treatment and rehabilitation expenses as well as an inability to work will have huge financial implications throughout the lifetime of a catastrophically injured person.

Our lawyers are well aware of the long-term implications of many catastrophic injuries in that the full impact of the injury may appear even more significantly as the person ages, and we take that into consideration in advocating for the long-term welfare of our clients. For example, a person who becomes paralyzed due to spinal trauma may have to pay for emergency medical treatment immediately after their accident as well as future rehabilitative treatments, attendant care, and physical therapy.

However, Ontario law imposes certain damage caps that may limit a catastrophically injured person’s recovery. For example, there is a limit on damages for pain and suffering, which is capped at about $370,000 as of 2020, although this amount will increase each year with inflation. Damages for income loss and future cost of care (medical expenses) do not have a cap. A local lawyer can offer insight on what claims you can advance for pain and suffering, income loss, recovery of medical, rehabilitative, and attendant care following a catastrophic accident.

Contact an Ottawa Catastrophic Injury Lawyer Today

When an accident has life-altering consequences, what you do in the following weeks and months can have a substantial impact on your and your family’s future. Taking legal action against the party responsible for your injury may be the best course of action, but you should not do so without the professional help and guidance of a lawyer.

If you or your loved has suffered this severity of impairment, our Ottawa catastrophic injury lawyers can help you in obtaining the full scope of benefits to which you are entitled and make available full resources to help you. We are here to assist with your inquiries and concerns and will do so with sensitivity, experience, and expertise. Contact Nicholson Gluckstein Lawyers today to schedule a free consultation.