Dismemberment Lawyer in Riverside, CA

The loss of a limb is devastating, not only because you must adjust to life without an important part of your body. There is also a tremendous emotional burden to bear, and when someone else is responsible for your harm, you need experienced guidance from a dismemberment lawyer in Riverside, CA.

At the Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas, we are committed to holding negligent parties accountable for their actions. You have the right to seek compensation for medical costs as well as your pain and suffering. To learn more, contact us to speak with a Riverside personal injury trial attorney during a free case review.

How Dismemberment Differs From Amputation

Losing a limb can occur accidentally or intentionally, and that makes the difference between dismemberment and amputation.

When you lose a body part at the time of an accident or traumatic injury, it is known as dismemberment.
If a doctor removes the part, either as part of treatment or following the accident, it is an amputation.

Losing a Limb Affects Physical and Mental Health

While an amputation can go wrong and could justify a medical malpractice lawsuit, a dismemberment case deals with the actions of a negligent person in situations like a car accident, workplace mistake, or other violent incident. The force of what happened tore your limb from your body, which can lead to many other serious conditions, such as excessive bleeding, nerve damage, and bone injury.

In addition to the physical harm, you may develop severe emotional distress as you process what happened to you after dismemberment. These can include anxiety, isolation, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While you may require years of physical therapy and psychological counseling after an amputation, the sudden nature of dismemberment adds another layer of effort to adjust to the loss and rebuild your life.

Emotional Recovery After Dismemberment

Suppose you lose most of your leg in a car crash, requiring lengthy treatment including surgeries and physical therapy. This is significant enough for anybody, but suppose you are a college athlete with a promising professional career ahead of you. Not only must you deal with the typical physical challenges of recovery, but you likely will have to say goodbye to your expected future job.

While it is possible to retrain your body with a prosthetic and return to following your dreams, the emotional journey there will be challenging and frustrating. The goal of a personal injury claim is to “make you whole,” meaning to return you to the state you were in before the person hurt you. With dismemberment claims, this is extremely complicated because the subjective impact is so large.

In California, you can use the multiplier method to determine how much your non-economic damages are worth. Your lawyer will assign a number (1.5-5) to describe the severity of your injuries. If you are seeking $100,000 in economic damages and you lose a limb, your dismemberment attorney will likely assign a multiplier of 5, resulting in a claim of $500,000 for non-economic losses.

What Life May Be Like After a Dismemberment Injury

We have discussed the emotional concerns following a dismemberment, but it is vital to understand that the physical recovery will also be difficult.

Surgical Treatment and Physical Rehabilitation

You may require months of corrective surgeries and be bedridden until you can begin therapy. While your therapist will celebrate your progress, you will face pain and mental anguish at what you have lost.

Effects on Your Daily Life

Depending on the limb you lost, you may also suffer chronic pain, insomnia, rash or bruising from your prosthetic, spinal issues from an altered gait, or difficulty learning to write with your non-dominant hand. In many instances, you can return to your job and remain employed. In others, you may be permanently disabled from working for the rest of your life.

Phantom Limb Pain

Many dismemberment survivors also deal with phenomena like phantom limb pain, where they feel as if they are hurting in a hand or leg that is not there anymore. This can add to your mental burden as you recover.

How Our Law Firm Can Help with Your Dismemberment Case

By establishing the Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas in 1995, our founding attorney, Fernando Vargas, created an institution dedicated to using his experiences in the insurance defense industry to serve everyday people instead. He brings a unique insight into battling insurance providers for fair settlements, using their own tactics against them. His knowledge and skill make him the right choice for your dismemberment injury claim in Riverside, CA.

With superior negotiation and litigation skills, our team handles your case with professionalism and integrity. We identify who is to blame, then assemble relevant evidence to demonstrate the other party’s fault. We help you calculate the value of your case, including future medical costs and the emotional impact dismemberment can have on your life.

Above all, we treat you with honesty, respect, and care. Our dismemberment attorneys offer the benefit of years of work in California personal injury law and an affinity for the Spanish-speaking community. No matter how you have lost a limb, you can turn to us for powerful legal representation with attorneys who prioritize your interests and well-being.

The Dismemberment Injury Claim Process

The first step after you have lost a limb is to get immediate medical care. Once you are able, it’s best to contact our personal injury law firm to discuss what comes next. We will answer your questions during a complimentary case review, then begin investigating the details of your injury.

We start by identifying those at fault and any available options for compensation, such as through insurance policies. We will conduct negotiations on your behalf so you can focus on healing, using our experience in this field to reach the best offer possible. If the other side does not meet our demands, we move forward with preparing your case for the courtroom.

At trial, we argue fiercely to show the other party’s negligence and why you deserve full compensation. We use evidence such as photos, videos, witness statements, police reports, expert opinions, and other material to persuade the jury to your side. Throughout this process, we keep you updated and informed, so you can make the choices that work best for you.

What Your Dismemberment Claim Could Be Worth

Each personal injury case will have a different outcome and value, but dismemberment claims are often worth much more than most. Your compensation demands must account for the devastating effect your loss will have on the rest of your life. You will likely have as many non-economic damages as economic ones.

Here are common losses associated with dismemberment cases:

Economic Losses:

Emergency transport to a hospital
Surgery, ICU, and ER care
All your medical bills for follow-up treatment
Travel costs to attend appointments and get care
Physical therapy treatment
Prosthetics, mobility aids, and medical devices
Lost income, benefits, retirement savings, and insurance coverage
Home services expenses, such as cooking, cleaning, and maintenance

Non-economic Losses:

Pain and suffering
Mental anguish
Loss of society
Scarring and disfigurement
Loss of personal and professional reputation
Loss of consortium with your spouse or partner
Permanent disability

Because you could spend the rest of your life adapting to the loss of a limb, your case could be worth millions in extreme cases. Although we cannot estimate its value until we know more about your claim, rest assured, we will make every effort to obtain as much as possible, based on the specifics of your situation.

The Role of the Jury in Dismemberment Trial Awards

Once you have a full value for your case, your dismemberment lawyer uses this to begin insurance negotiations. If your case goes to trial, the jury plays an important role in the final damage award. They will consider many factors, such as:

The severity of the accident
Whether the defendant’s actions were negligent, careless, or intentional
Whether you played any part in the incident
How much of the limb you lost, such as a finger, hand, or the entire arm
Your health, age, and ability to recover
Your mental health and emotional distress over the injury
Whether you have a supportive home/work environment
Whether you have access to services for recovery

Our skilled dismemberment attorneys here in Riverside will tailor your evidence and case details to persuade the jury of the other party’s fault, even if you are partly to blame for the injury. From the moment we accept your case, we strive to maximize your settlement during negotiations and throughout the trial. We hope to settle quickly and for a satisfactory amount, but are prepared to pursue your case as far as needed.

Common Accidents That Can Lead to Dismemberment

As with any other accident, dismemberment can happen quickly and unexpectedly. Helping a neighbor clear their yard can result in losing fingers or a hand from a mishandled chainsaw. A co-worker who fails to use safety gear and follow protocols for industrial machinery can mean you lose your leg below the knee.

Our dismemberment lawyers have helped clients pursue their claims after situations such as the following:

Dismemberment can be as small as part of a finger that is hanging on by the skin, to a life-threatening loss of a leg up to the hip. Regardless of the details, your injury needs immediate medical care to reduce the damage. Once you are stable, contact the Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas for aggressive legal assistance with seeking justice.

California Laws That May Affect Your Dismemberment Case in Riverside

California has a famously complex legal system, but our dismemberment attorneys will research cases like yours so we can apply the law to your greatest advantage.

You Have Two Years to File a Lawsuit for the Loss of a Limb

For example, the California statute of limitations generally allows just two years for you to file a lawsuit, but we may recommend doing so as soon as we begin negotiations. This can encourage the other side to make a better offer sooner, letting us settle your case with the financial resources you need for your recovery.

State Auto Insurance Laws

If your dismemberment happened in a car accident, you can use California’s at-fault auto insurance laws to file a claim against the other driver’s policy. All drivers in the Golden State must carry at least $30,000 in bodily injury liability coverage. If this amount does not cover your losses, you can proceed to a lawsuit to try to collect the full value of your claim.

You Can Still Seek Damages If You Were Partly at Fault

Another consideration is the state’s comparative negligence statute. As long as you are less than 99% at fault for what happened, you can seek compensation from the other party. However, the defendant may attempt to move more blame onto your shoulders to reduce what they have to pay. Our attorneys will push back against this technique by presenting evidence showing the other party’s negligence.

You Must Demonstrate the Other Party’s Negligence

For personal injury claims like dismemberment, you and your attorney must show the court what is known as a preponderance of the evidence. This means you supply a large amount of high-quality evidence establishing their negligence.

This process requires that you support these four elements:

The defendant owed you a duty of care to avoid causing harm.
They failed to uphold this duty.
Their failure directly caused your dismemberment injury.
You have losses associated with your injury.

Once your lawyer can support these factors, the court can consider whether to award you damages. In some instances, the defendant’s actions may rise to the level of oppression, fraud, or malice, meaning they intended to hurt you. If you can show clear and convincing evidence (a much higher standard), the court may elect to award punitive damages to make an example of the at-fault party.

Contact Our Dismemberment Lawyers in Riverside, CA

You do not have to go through this without skilled and supportive legal help. We put your needs first and do not back down until we get the compensation and closure you need. To request a free consultation with our experienced dismemberment lawyers near you, contact our law firm today.