Day Care Injuries

Child Accident Lawyers for Traverse City, Grand Rapids, and Detroit Residents

When parents send their children to a day care center, they trust that the center will provide experienced and attentive care. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. If your child suffers day care injuries, you may be able to sue for compensation with the assistance of an injury attorney. In most cases, you will need to establish a premises liability or other negligence claim. You should take your child to the doctor as soon as possible and obtain a medical report and medical bills, so that your claim is substantiated. At the Neumann Law Group, a Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Traverse City day care injury attorney can evaluate the evidence and bring a lawsuit on your behalf if appropriate.

Seeking Compensation for Day Care Injuries

Negligence at a day care can involve negligent maintenance, unsafe facilities, badly designed toys, or negligent supervision. In order to establish negligence, you will need to prove the day care’s duty of care, the day care’s breach of duty, a causal link from the breach to your child’s harm, and actual damages. In most cases, the duty of care is relatively easy to establish because the day care assumes a duty of care towards your child by agreeing to provide services to him or her. An employee’s inadequate supervision of a child or failure to immediately tend to a child who is showing signs of illness may be a breach of duty.

Premises liability can also provide a basis for suing a daycare if your child is hurt there. In most cases, a child will be treated as an invitee on the property. If there is a dangerous property condition, the daycare owes the child and you a responsibility to investigate any potentially dangerous conditions and either warn of the danger or make repairs. For example, if your child broke a bone because a step leading to a playroom was broken, you would probably have a premises liability claim. You can potentially recover compensation under a theory of premises liability if the day care knew or should have known about a dangerous property condition.

Before bringing suit, you will need to have the court appoint you as guardian ad litem for your child because minors cannot bring lawsuits. Often, cases involving injuries to children are settled using a structured settlement. This provides a tax-free and management-free investment, but generally the money cannot be touched until it is paid out on or after the child’s 18th birthday. Accordingly, it might not be appropriate if a minor has an immediate need for medical care. The experienced day care injury attorneys at Neumann Law Group can take care of all of the legwork related to a guardian ad litem appointment for you.

Under MCR 2.420, each personal injury settlement or judgment for a minor needs to be brought before a judge who can decide whether it is a fair settlement. Either the money may be placed in a minor conservatorship estate, or an annuity can be purchased with the settlement, with the money to be paid after the minor turns 18.

Consult a Day Care Injury Attorney in Grand Rapids, Traverse City, or Detroit

At the Neumann Law Group, Detroit, Traverse City, and Grand Rapids day care injury lawyer Kelly Neumann offers experienced legal representation to the families of children who have been hurt at day care centers. As an award-winning trial lawyer, Ms. Neumann has consistently settled millions in personal injury cases each year over the past several years. We take cases on a contingency basis, meaning that you can hire us with no out-of-pocket costs to you. Any legal fees and other costs that are incurred are covered upfront, and you only pay us if we win a settlement or judgment in your favor. The Neumann Law Group represents people in Petoskey, Warren, Holland, Midland, Muskegon, Saginaw, Wyoming, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Flint and Ann Arbor, as well as communities throughout Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Contact us at 800-525-NEUMANN or via our online form to schedule a free consultation. Our personal injury and wrongful death attorneys also can assist residents of California, New York and Massachusetts.