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Why Choose HawkLaw’s Child Injury Lawyers
You protect your children, and we protect your interests. HawkLaw’s team of dedicated child injury attorneys understands the unique challenges that arise from child injuries. Your child may not only face illness or injury, but long-term implications could follow your child into adulthood.
We want you to know you don’t have to deal with this trauma alone. We’ll work tirelessly to earn fair compensation from the party or parties responsible for your child’s injury. As a digital-first law firm, you can initiate your case immediately so we can start fighting for you. Call us today for a free consultation.*
Time Limits For A Child Injury Case
If your child has been injured, you may be concerned about their time limits to act on a lawsuit. While there are time limits to file personal injury claims, those limitations are less of a concern when your child remains underage.
The clock to file a claim doesn’t begin immediately after the accident. Instead, the time limit won’t start until your child is 18 and can file for themselves. However, as the parent, you have a right to file a claim immediately to fight for compensation to cover medical bills and expenses due to the accident.
What Are Some Common Causes of Injuries to Children?
Unfortunately, there are many ways that a child can sustain an injury. The following are a few of the most common causes of injuries in children:
Swimming Pool Accidents
Children love swimming pools but need close supervision. Swimming pools are dangerous places with numerous hazards, including:
- Slip-and-fall injuries
- Diving injuries, including injuries from diving into shallow water
- Pool slide injuries
- Injuries caused by pool chemicals
- Electrical injuries, such as from a defective pool light
- Drowning
These types of injuries may occur in private pools, community pools, or water parks. Premises liability law often holds the property owner responsible for these types of injuries.
Daycare Accidents
Parents entrust their children to daycare centers so the children have supervision while the parents are at work. Sometimes, though, a daycare fails to meet its duty of care, resulting in an injured child. Causes of daycare-related injuries may include:
- Inadequate supervision
- Neglect
- Failure to maintain playground equipment
- Failure to prevent exposure to a known allergen
School Bus Accidents
Children can suffer injuries in any kind of motor vehicle accident. School bus accidents can be especially disturbing because children will suffer most of the injuries. School buses can be involved in car crashes with other vehicles because of a driver’s negligence. They can also have accidents due to improper maintenance.
Bicycle Accidents
Bicycle accident injuries can be devastating for children, with the potential to cause serious injuries. Drivers in cars or trucks might not think to look for children on bicycles, so they do not slow down or make room. Defective bicycle equipment can also result in accidents.
Birth Injuries
The birth of a child is supposed to be one of the most joyous moments in life. When a child suffers an injury during birth, however, it can severely impact that child’s quality of life, possibly for the rest of their life. Birth injuries often result from negligent medical treatment. Medical malpractice law allows families of children with birth injuries to recover damages for their children.
Parental Negligence
Parents have the primary responsibility to keep their children safe. Accidents happen, though, sometimes due to parental negligence. Failure to supervise a child adequately can result in the child suffering injuries, such as leaving a child in a hot car.
Product Liability Accidents
Many types of injuries can result from defective products. These include cribs with design or manufacturing flaws, toys with small parts that could cause choking, or faulty equipment in places like amusement parks.
Animal Attack Accidents
Dog bites and other injuries caused by animals can be both physically and psychologically traumatic for children. The owner of a dog or other pet that attacks or bites a child is usually liable for the child’s injuries.
What if My Child Was Injured by Another Child?
When adults cause injuries to one another, the injured parties can seek compensation from the at-fault parties. This could involve a claim to an insurance company or a personal injury lawsuit. The same may occur in a child injury case if the at-fault party is an adult. However, if a child injures another child, it can be more complicated.
South Carolina law states that a child under the age of seven cannot act negligently. Young children do not yet understand the concept of a duty of care, which is essential to a negligence claim. Children are also typically not able to pay compensation for damages. It might be possible to hold a teenager liable for injuries they cause, but they are not likely to have much money or their own insurance coverage.
The most likely way to obtain compensation is from a legally liable adult. An experienced child injury attorney can help find the best legal options for seeking damages.
- Parents: Parental liability depends, first, on whether the injury was an accident or intentional. Parents may be liable in a child injury lawsuit under South Carolina law if their child caused “malicious or willful” injuries. Their liability would only cover economic damages, such as an injured child’s medical bills, and only up to a maximum of $5,000.
- Parents and children: It is possible to hold the child who caused an injury and their parents jointly liable. If an adult would be held liable for the injuries inflicted by the child, the child and their parents may be found jointly liable.
- Schools or childcare facilities: A school or other facility with childcare responsibilities could be liable for injuries caused by a child if they failed to provide adequate supervision or if they knew about a likely problem like bullying but failed to prevent it.
Child Injuries that Occurred at School in South Carolina
Injuries at school may result from unsafe premises or defective playground equipment. In that situation, the school might be liable based on premises liability, or the playground equipment manufacturer could be liable for its defective product.
Sometimes, however, another person might injure a child. This could be another child or an adult. In that situation, the school or a supervisor employed by the school could be liable for the child’s injuries.
Supervisor Negligence
In a child injury case where another child caused the injury, the school may only be liable if they displayed “gross negligence.” This means that the school knew about a danger to the child, such as threats of assault, and failed to do anything to protect the child.
Injuries to a child caused by an adult at the school, such as a teacher or other staffer, typically result in the adult being liable. The school may also be liable in some situations, such as if they were negligent in conducting background checks or responding to complaints about earlier bad behavior by the employee.
What Kind of Compensation Can You Claim?
Let’s review the types of compensation you can recover for child injury in South Carolina.
Medical Expenses
Under South Carolina law, you can make a child injury claim for any medical bill incurred to treat your child’s injury or illness. Insurers may try to convince you that you can only recover co-pays for the treatment, but you’re entitled to full compensation.
Lost Quality Of Life
If the injury leaves debilitating permanent injuries that impact your child’s quality of life, you can make a claim to compensate for the limited abilities your child will have to make a living in the future.
Mental Impairment
Should the injury be responsible for permanent mental disabilities, you have the right to compensation in support of the mental disability inflicted on your child.
Psychological Issues
In addition to physical and mental scars, a child’s injury could cause psychological damage due to any abnormalities caused by the injury. You can file a claim to cover these types of losses.
What Are Some Effects of Children Sustaining Injuries?
A child who receives a serious injury could have significant future issues. These may include diminished quality of life and a need for ongoing medical care.
Cognitive Problems
When a child suffers brain injuries or certain other related injuries, they can experience delays in their cognitive development. They may have impaired motor skills, memory problems, or difficulty with social skills. These issues may persist into adulthood and affect every aspect of their lives.
Mental Trauma
Injuries can have a serious psychological impact on people of any age, especially when they result from a traumatic event like a car accident or assault. Children can be very susceptible to problems that result from the mental trauma associated with accidents and injuries. They may:
- Experience impairments in their emotional or social development
- Have difficulty regulating their moods or behavior
- Engage in risky behaviors like substance abuse
Physical Development Complications
Injuries experienced during childhood can affect physical growth and development. Broken bones, for example, can lead to stunted growth.
Are Child Injury Cases Different Than Adult Injury Cases in South Carolina?
Traumatic injuries can result in long-term health issues, along with extensive medical expenses. Personal injury claims seek to recover compensation for medical bills and the impact of the injuries on a person’s life. When the injured person is a child, the injuries can have an even greater impact by impairing their physical and cognitive development. They may need even more expensive medical care for the rest of their lives.
Hold Those Who Caused Your Child to Suffer Accountable
If your child has suffered injuries because of someone’s negligent or intentional act, a South Carolina child injury attorney can help you understand your options and fight for your child’s rights. Request a free consultation* with an experienced personal injury lawyer at HawkLaw today by calling 888-HAWKLAW or completing the online contact form.
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Greenville, SC 29615
John Hawkins is the Founder and CEO of HawkLaw He has been licensed to practice law in South Carolina since his graduation with honors in 1994 from the University of South Carolina School of Law, where he was on the Law Review and Order of Wig and Robe.
