Keeping children safe remains at the forefront of most parents’ minds, yet accidents can still happen. If your child was recently involved in an accident, speak with a Cordova child injury lawyer as soon as possible. Your family could receive considerable compensation if the offending party or entity failed to uphold child care or duty of care responsibilities.
Children are naturally curious about the world around them, yet they lack the experience that contributes to safety-related decisions. Working with a Board-certified personal injury attorney like David E. Gordon strengthens your claim against the defendant because of his knowledge and experience in representing parents in child accident cases. Having a legal representative like David E. Gordon work on your case also provides peace of mind as you instead spend your own time caring for your child.
What Are Common Reasons for Childhood Injuries?
Some child accident claims are birth-related, such as physical and cognitive health problems due to injuries caused by doctors that manifest immediately or during the child’s formative years. Other accidents causing harm to young children include:
- School bus accidents
- Playground accidents
- Dog bites
- Defective toys or supplies
- Burns from boiling water or hot items such as irons
- Coach, caregiver, or teacher abuse
- Attractive nuisances, like swimming pools and trampolines
- Chemical product ingestion, such as makeup or cleaning fluids
No matter the reason for the injury, a Cordova child accident lawyer can help construct a case to make a claim for financial compensation.
How Does an Attorney Prove a Child Injury Claim?
Proving a claim involving a child depends on negligence and strict liability factors. If the minor sustained an injury from a malfunctioning toy, the case falls under Tennessee’s strict liability guidelines. The attorney does not have to prove that negligence was involved. Both defective products and faulty warning labels make those involved in the manufacturing chain strictly liable.
Injuries resulting from incidents such as car accidents, medical malpractice, and property hazards generally require attorneys to prove someone was specifically negligent. If a child suffered brain damage during birth because they were deprived of oxygen, the local child injury attorney must show that the healthcare staff’s negligence directly relates to the birth defect.
Attractive Nuisances
If an attractive nuisance caused a child’s injury or death, the attorney must prove five specific elements that make the property owner liable. According to Tennessee Annotated Code § 29-34-208, the lawyer needs to show that:
- The property owner maintained a condition on the property that the owner knew or should have known was dangerous to children
- The property owner knew or should have known that children were likely to be attracted to the property
- The children were unlikely to consider the risks involved
- The burden of eliminating the hazard was less than the risks it presented
- No reasonable care was taken to keep children away from the hazard
For example, a landowner might install a swimming pool but did not plant thick hedges or erect fencing with a locking gate around it, ignoring safety measures despite local government citations. That property owner could be held liable if a young child was drawn to the pool and was injured or killed by it.
Speak with a Cordova Child Injury Attorney if Your Child Was Harmed by Negligence
No one should have to witness their child being seriously hurt or fall into debt trying to treat their injuries. Do not delay in talking to a Cordova child injury lawyer if your child sustained severe injuries for reasons that could have been prevented. It is your family’s right to seek damages that pay for expenses such as medical costs, physical therapy, and prescription medication, as well as pain and suffering. Contact the Law Office of David E. Gordon today to learn how we can help your family.
