Catastrophic Injury Questions & Answers
Straight answers to what people ask most. These hold wherever you were hurt — for the deadlines and rules that depend on your state, choose your state below.
What Counts as a Catastrophic Injury?
There is no single legal checklist, but a catastrophic injury generally means one with permanent, life-altering consequences — an injury that changes a person's ability to live, work, and function for the rest of their life. The classic examples are traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and paralysis, amputations, and severe burns.
Read the answer →What Is a Life Care Plan?
A life care plan is a detailed, expert-prepared roadmap of everything a catastrophically injured person will need for the rest of their life, and what it will cost. It covers future surgeries and treatment, therapy, medications, attendant or nursing care, equipment and its replacement over time, home and vehicle modifications, and more — laid out year by year.
Read the answer →Why You Should Not Settle Too Early
After a catastrophic injury, a family often faces overwhelming medical bills and financial pressure — which is exactly the moment an insurer may offer a quick settlement. It can feel like relief, but settling before the full extent of the injury is understood is one of the most costly mistakes in these cases.
Read the answer →How Much Does a Catastrophic Injury Lawyer Cost?
We handle catastrophic injury claims on a contingency basis for the cases we take, which means there is no fee unless we recover for you. The fee is a percentage of the recovery, and if there is no recovery, you do not owe an attorney fee.
Read the answer →Questions about the law in your state?
Filing deadlines, fault rules, and limits on damages differ by state. Choose where you were hurt for answers under that state's law.
General information, not legal advice. Every situation is different, and the law differs by state.