Catastrophic Injuries

Baton Rouge Catastrophic Injury Lawyers

The injuries that happen in an accident can have devastating consequences on someone’s life, from short-term pain and medical expense to long-term rehabilitation and mental anguish. There’s no hard-and-fast legal line for when an injury becomes catastrophic, but these types of injuries are distinguished by a recovery period measured at least in months (if not longer) and extremely high treatment and rehab costs. Factors making up a fair settlement can be complex, requiring the ability to take a broad view of all the ways the victim’s life, and that of their family has been impacted.

The Baton Rouge catastrophic injury lawyers at Beall & Thies have deep experience in investigating, negotiating, and litigating difficult personal injury cases and fighting for fair settlements. Call today at (225) 577-6223 or contact us online to set up a consultation.

Our Baton Rouge catastrophic injury lawyers work with victims, their families, the professionals in their lives (therapists, doctors, etc.) to bring forth testimony that creates a picture of what the injured person’s life was like before the accident, what it’s like now, and what it’s likely to be for the foreseeable future. All of which can help a court decide what a fair compensation level would be.

Beall & Thies has attorneys who have spent over a combined 100 years fighting to get fair compensation for those that have been injured because of someone else’s negligence. If you’ve been injured, we want you to be the next person we fight for.

Call today at (225) 577-6223 or contact us online to set up a consultation.

What to Consider in a Louisiana Catastrophic Injury Settlement

All personal injury settlements, from car accidents to burn injuries, and more, cover basics, like the costs of medical care, recovery, and compensation for lost time at work. An injury of any sort can cause the intangible suffering of “pain and anguish” that deserves compensation. When a person suffers a truly catastrophic injury—spinal cord damage and brain injuries being prime examples, there are other factors that must be anticipated.

Is the house still livable?

The person who suffered a severe spinal cord injury and is confined to a wheelchair likely did not buy their home with this condition in mind. Simply living their life will mean significant renovations to the house. A home with more than one story will need rampways to go where staircases used to be. Bathrooms will have to be altered to be handicapped-accessible.

Furthermore, the injured person will need somewhere to live when all of this renovation is taking place and that home will have to meet accessibility requirements. The final settlement should include plans to finance all of this.

How much income did the injured person lose?

You can get a certain baseline figure by looking at a person’s current earnings and projecting out cost-of-living increases until they reach retirement age. But this baseline figure may not do justice to what an injured party’s real earning potential was.

What if they were in graduate school and on the verge of obtaining a master’s degree that would lead to significant increase in earning potential? What if they were the owner or partner in a business that had just turned the corner into profitability and reasonably anticipated even better days ahead? For that matter, what if they simply had opportunities to work overtime, impress their current employer and earn promotions? The catastrophic nature of their injuries may have rendered that impossible.

An experienced Baton Rouge catastrophic injury attorney can work with expert witnesses within the profession an injured person worked in. A reasonable projection can be built out of what the injured party—and a family that may have been depending on them—have lost. That projection can help reach the ultimate settlement figure.

What is the value of a person’s mental anguish?

The short answer is that there’s no monetary value that can be assigned to the ability to enjoy life with loved ones. But in a strict legal sense, the settlement ought to make some attempt to compensate the injury victim and their family for what they lost.

There’s a good chance the injured person can no longer do their favorite hobbies, perhaps permanently. It’s reasonable to think being at an event with family and friends, even if physically possible, is now a mental and emotional struggle. It’s certainly likely that ongoing therapy is needed to adjust to these changed circumstances.

Furthermore, the sheer catastrophic nature of an accident can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder and other issues. The victim of an electrical accident might suffer ongoing nightmares. Physical disfigurement can lead to serious depression.

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Russell W. Beall
"Russell W. Beall is a founding partner in the Baton Rouge law firm of Beall & Thies LLC. His main emphasis of practice is on Civil Litigation including Torts, Products Liability, and Premises Liability. Russell is a frequent guest speaker at Louisiana State University Law School where he participates in the Appellate Advocacy Program and the Professionalism Orientation. He earned his B.A. degree at Louisiana State University (1998) and his J.D Louisiana State University Law School (2001). Russell is an active member of the Louisiana Association for Justice and is frequently invited to be a guest speaker at continuing legal education seminars."
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William W. Thies
"William W. Thies was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1974 moving with his family to Slidell, Louisiana at seven years of age. Mr. Thies graduated from Slidell High School in 1992. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in history and political science from Louisiana State University in 1996 and his Juris Doctorate from the Southern University Law Center in 2001. He was admitted to the Louisiana State Bar Association in May 2002. He is a member of the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, American Bar Associations, and the Louisiana Association of Justice. He is admitted to practice in all state courts, the United States District Court for the Middle and Eastern Districts of Louisiana, as well as the United States Supreme Court."
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Jacob Thomas
"Jacob H. Thomas is originally from the Piney Hills of North Louisiana, known for producing great litigators such as Huey P. Long as well as several other notable statesmen on the both the federal and state levels.
Jake is a graduate of Jonesboro-Hodge High School and Northwestern State University where he was a member of the Theta Mu chapter of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity, the NSU Presidential Leadership Program, and the Inter-Fraternity Council serving as Vice President."
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Aaron Humphreys
"Aaron Humphreys joined Beall & Thies, LLC as an associate attorney in the fall of 2016. He was admitted to the Louisiana State Bar Association in May of 2016. Aaron is also a member of the Baton Rouge Bar Association and the Louisiana Association of Justice."
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George Caballero
"George G. Caballero practices general civil law and focuses on plaintiff’s personal injury, wills, and successions. George joined Beall & Thies as of counsel in 2017 after starting Caballero Law Firm in 1993. Mr. Caballero has over thirty years of experience as an attorney and has served clients in various matters ranging from business and tort litigation, business, family law, and successions.
Mr. Caballero is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. He is a graduate of Louisiana State University and Mississippi College School of Law. Upon graduation, he immediately went into the private practice of law, practicing in both Louisiana and Mississippi."
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Jewel “Trae” E. Welch, III
"Trae is a lifelong resident of the Baker-Zachary area. Trae is the son of The Honorable Judge Duke Welch, currently presiding on the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeals, and former East Baton Rouge Councilwoman, Roxson Welch. Trae is married to the former Lynn Caldwell of Tallulah, Louisiana. Together Trae and Lynn are raising their two children Quade and Vivian."
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