Legal terms are helpful for personal injury attorneys. We use them to communicate with other professionals in our field. We use them in legal documents. But we also know that most people aren’t familiar with jargon used in the legal industry.
One common term used by personal injury lawyers and doctors is catastrophic injuries. Though this phrase can include several types of injuries, it typically implies that the injury is debilitating and long-lasting.
So, a sprained ankle is not a catastrophic injury. But a serious spinal cord injury is absolutely a catastrophic injury.
Examples of Catastrophic Injuries
To better illustrate our point, here are a few injuries that fit the term catastrophic:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Serious burn injuries
- Loss of a limb
Each of these injury types tend to share a few things in common. They restrict people from performing everyday activities. They are incredibly painful and costly. They’re also, at least to some extent, permanent in nature.
Why Does It Matter if an Injury Is Catastrophic?
Personal injury cases involving catastrophic injuries tend to require a great deal of research and preparation on the part of a personal injury lawyer. The stakes are also very high in these cases. If the injured person doesn’t get adequate compensation for the damages they’ve experienced, they could be forced to live a life without the care, treatment, and rehabilitation needed to cope with their injuries.
In short, when you hear that an injury is catastrophic, you know that the damages suffered by the injured person are severe. When someone suffers an injury of this magnitude, they need an attorney with experience handling catastrophic injury cases.
If You Need Help, Contact Us
If you or a loved one has suffered a catastrophic injury through no fault of your own, reach out to the experienced Roanoke personal injury attorneys at Lowell Stanley Injury Lawyers. Contact us today for a free consultation.
