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Omaha Catastrophic Injury Lawyers
Legal help when an injury changes the future you expected
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After a catastrophic injury, the questions can be bigger than “When will I feel better?”
Will I be able to work again? Will I need another surgery? Can I live independently? Who will help take care of my children? Will my home need to be changed? What happens if I need medical care for the rest of my life?
Those are difficult questions, but they are also exactly the questions a serious injury case needs to address.
At Inserra Kelley Cooper Sewell, our Omaha catastrophic injury lawyers look beyond the immediate medical bills. We work to understand how the injury will affect your health, income, independence and family in the years ahead so that the claim reflects the life you are actually facing.
How We Can Help
- What is a catastrophic injury?
- Common types of catastrophic injuries
- What causes catastrophic injuries?
- Why catastrophic injury cases require long-term planning
- Who may be held responsible?
- How we prove the full impact of a catastrophic injury
- Compensation in a catastrophic injury claim
- What if you are unable to return to work?
- Comparative negligence in Nebraska
- How long do you have to file a catastrophic injury claim?
- Omaha catastrophic injury frequently asked questions
- Do you have an Omaha catastrophic injury lawyer near me?
What is a catastrophic injury?
“Catastrophic injury” is generally used to describe an injury with profound, long-term consequences.
A catastrophic injury may permanently affect mobility, cognition, communication, the ability to work or the ability to handle everyday activities without assistance. Some people need ongoing therapy or medical treatment. Others require adaptive equipment, home modifications or personal care.
When an injury creates needs that may last decades, resolving the case based only on today’s bills can leave the injured person carrying tomorrow’s costs alone.
Common types of catastrophic injuries
Serious accidents can cause injuries such as:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Paralysis
- Amputations
- Severe burns
- Complex or multiple fractures
- Crush injuries
- Organ damage
- Loss of vision or hearing
- Permanent nerve damage
- Severe scarring or disfigurement
Some catastrophic injuries are immediately apparent. Others become clearer only after doctors have had time to evaluate the person’s recovery and long-term prognosis.
What causes catastrophic injuries?
Catastrophic injuries can happen in many different settings. Our attorneys may investigate serious injuries arising from:
- Car accidents
- Semi-truck crashes
- Motorcycle accidents
- Bicycle or pedestrian collisions
- Defective products
- Dangerous property conditions
- Workplace incidents involving negligent third parties
- Fires, explosions and other severe accidents
The cause of the injury determines the legal theory, the evidence that must be preserved and who may ultimately be responsible.
Why catastrophic injury cases require long-term planning
A broken bone that heals completely and a spinal cord injury requiring lifelong care cannot be evaluated the same way. Catastrophic injury cases often require answering questions about the future:
- Will additional surgery be necessary?
- How much rehabilitation will be needed?
- Will the person be able to return to the same job?
- Can the home remain accessible?
- Will a modified vehicle be needed?
- What assistive technology may be necessary?
- Will family members have to provide care?
- How will medical needs change as the person ages?
A settlement or verdict generally comes once. The consequences of the injury may continue for the rest of a person’s life. That is why these cases often require careful medical, vocational and financial analysis before anyone can responsibly determine their value.
Who may be held responsible?
Liability depends on how the injury happened. Potential defendants can include:
- Negligent drivers
- Trucking or transportation companies
- Employers whose workers caused an accident while acting within the scope of their work
- Manufacturers of dangerous or defective products
- Property owners
- Contractors
- Other companies or individuals whose negligence contributed to the injury
Some catastrophic injury cases involve several defendants, multiple insurance policies or disputes over which party bears what percentage of responsibility. We investigate each possible source of liability rather than stopping with the first obvious defendant.
How we prove the full impact of a catastrophic injury
Medical records tell an important part of the story, but they do not always show what it is actually like to live with a permanent personal injury. A strong catastrophic injury case may require evidence from:
- Treating doctors
- Medical specialists
- Rehabilitation professionals
- Life-care planners
- Vocational experts
- Economists
- Accident-reconstruction specialists
- Engineers or other technical experts
- Family members and others who know the injured person
We may also document changes in daily life.
Can the client get upstairs? Drive? Cook? Return to work? Coach a child’s team? Sleep without pain? Take care of themselves without assistance? These details help connect medical diagnoses and financial projections to the real person whose future was changed.
Documenting your recovery can help tell the full story
Medical records are important, but they may not capture everything a person goes through after a catastrophic injury.
A doctor’s chart might show that someone has limited mobility, for example. It may not show that they can no longer walk their dog, pick up their child, sleep through the night or make it through a grocery store without pain.
That is why the details of everyday recovery can matter.
Photographs, treatment records, information about missed work and notes about changes in daily activities may help show how an injury has affected someone over time. Family members can also provide important insight into changes they have witnessed.
At Inserra Kelley Cooper Sewell, we take the time to understand those details. A catastrophic injury claim should reflect the person behind the medical records, not just a diagnosis and a stack of bills.
Compensation in a catastrophic injury claim
Nebraska law recognizes both economic and non-economic losses in personal injury cases. Depending on the circumstances, damages may include:
- Past medical expenses
- Future medical treatment
- Rehabilitation
- Medication and medical equipment
- Home or vehicle modifications
- Personal or attendant care
- Lost wages
- Reduced earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Permanent disability
- Disfigurement
- A spouse’s loss of consortium
The value of a catastrophic injury claim depends on the individual. Two people with the same diagnosis may face very different medical needs, careers, family responsibilities and long-term limitations.
What if you are unable to return to work?
Lost income is not limited to the paychecks you missed immediately after an accident. A permanent injury may prevent someone from returning to their previous occupation, force them to work fewer hours or limit the type of work they can perform in the future. Nebraska law recognizes loss of earnings and earning capacity as economic damages.
In serious cases, vocational and economic experts may help evaluate what the person likely would have earned without the injury compared with what they can reasonably earn afterward.
Comparative negligence in Nebraska
An insurance company may argue that the injured person contributed to the accident.
Under Nebraska’s modified comparative negligence system, a claimant in a negligence case who shares some fault may still recover, but the award is reduced in proportion to that person’s share of negligence. If the claimant’s negligence is equal to or greater than the combined negligence of the parties from whom recovery is sought, the claim is barred.
In a catastrophic injury case, even a relatively small dispute over the percentage of fault can have a major financial effect because the overall damages may be substantial.
How long do you have to file a catastrophic injury claim?
Many Nebraska personal injury actions must be brought within four years, but the correct deadline depends on the type of case and the defendant. Claims involving governmental entities can have substantially shorter notice and filing requirements. Other areas of law also have their own statutes of limitations.
Do not use the general four-year period as a reason to wait. A catastrophic injury case can require extensive investigation, expert review and future-care analysis. Getting started early also gives your attorney a better opportunity to preserve vehicles, electronic records, video and other evidence.
Omaha catastrophic injury frequently asked questions
When does an injury qualify as catastrophic?
There is no single diagnosis that determines whether an injury is catastrophic for every legal claim. The term generally describes severe injuries that produce permanent or long-term effects on a person’s health, independence or ability to work.
Why shouldn’t I settle while I am still receiving treatment?
Can future medical expenses be part of my claim?
Can I recover if I can still work but cannot do the same job?
Will my catastrophic injury case go to trial?
Do you have an Omaha catastrophic injury lawyer near me?
Yes. Inserra Kelley Cooper Sewell is located at 6790 Grover Street, Suite 200 in Omaha.
For more than 65 years, our firm has represented injured people and families. We take a healing-first approach while preparing cases carefully for negotiation and, when necessary, trial.
Contact an Omaha catastrophic injury lawyer
A catastrophic injury can change the plan you had for your career, your family and your future. The legal case should account for more than the stack of bills sitting on the table today.
Inserra Kelley Cooper Sewell offers free, confidential consultations, and there is no upfront legal fee. Contact us to tell us what happened and learn how we can help.