Scaffolding Accidents

Catastrophic Injury Attorneys for Victims in Grand Rapids, Traverse City, and Detroit

Accidents can have many devastating outcomes. Among the possible consequences are scarring and disfigurement. A scarred or disfigured victim may need extensive medical care, including expensive reconstructive surgery. Additionally, it can be emotionally painful to experience other people’s reactions to the disfigurement and to see oneself as physically and permanently altered due to someone else’s negligence. If you suffer from permanent scarring or disfigurement that was the result of an accident, consult the Detroit, Traverse City, and Grand Rapids catastrophic injury lawyers at Neumann Law Group. Each year for the past several years, our principal, award-winning trial lawyer Kelly Neumann, has secured more than $3 million in personal injury cases.

What Do You Need to Prove to Win a Personal Injury Case in Michigan?

To successfully bring a Michigan personal injury case, you’ll need to establish four elements by a preponderance of the evidence:

1. The defendant owed you a duty of care;
2. The defendant breached the duty they owed to you;
3. The defendant’s actions caused or contributed to your injuries; and
4. You suffered economic and/or non-economic damages as a result.

Treatment for Accident Victims Dealing with Scaring or Disfigurement

Scarring and disfigurement are among the most serious and permanent injuries because they can permanently change your life. The possible treatments are often extremely expensive, may need to be repeated, and may not result in significant improvement. Even with medical care from top-rated doctors, you may still suffer permanent changes to your appearance.

Treatments for scarring include pressure scar modification, surgical excision, reconstructive surgery, and dermabrasion. The appropriate treatment for a scar depends on various factors, including the patient’s medical history and skin type. As is the case with other catastrophic injuries, such as brain injuries, it may be necessary for you to receive counseling for the emotional distress, mental anguish, and pain and suffering you experienced because of the accident.

Damages in Michigan Personal Injury Cases Involving Scarring and Disfigurement

The damages obtained through a settlement or trial involving scarring or a disfigured body part vary depending on the specifics of the case. For example, insurers and jurors may treat young women who suffer facial scarring differently from people who suffer scarring on other parts of the body. It is assumed that young women will experience more significant distress as a result of the alteration in their appearance. Moreover, the face can be more difficult to treat because the facial tissues and muscles are more complex and harder to work on. Additionally, an accident victim whose career hinges on their appearance, such as an actress or model, can usually recover a greater award for noneconomic damages than a more reclusive, older, or male accident victim.

Both economic and non-economic damages may be available to address scarring and disfigurement. The economic portion of the damages award includes costs of treatment, such as surgery, and lost income resulting from time off work that is necessary for treatment.

Noneconomic damages, such as pain and suffering and mental anguish, are more subjective and can vary dramatically depending on what jurors believe is a natural reaction to the quality and location of the scarring or disfigurement that a particular accident victim has suffered.

Discuss Your Case with a Catastrophic Injury Lawyer in Traverse City, Grand Rapids, or Detroit

It can be devastating to suffer scarring and disfigurement as a result of an accident. If you were hurt by someone else’s negligence, the Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Traverse City catastrophic injury attorneys at Neumann Law Group may be able to help you recover any economic and noneconomic damages to which you may be entitled. Neumann Law Group represents victims in Petoskey, Warren, Holland, Midland, Muskegon, Saginaw, Wyoming, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Flint, Ann Arbor, and communities throughout the Upper Peninsula, as well as in Massachusetts and California. Contact us at 800-525-NEUMANN or via our online form for a free consultation with a car accident attorney or guidance with any other personal injury claim.