Lawyer for Child Injuries

This video features Grant Lawson, a Personal Injury attorney based in Wyoming.

Wyoming Attorney Explains how to Find the Right Lawyer for an Injured Child

Video Transcript:

Grant Lawson:

Especially really young children, they won't have the ability to communicate what they're going through and they may not understand, of course, what they're going through, so yes, many many challenges come up with that.

Rob Rosenthal:

If you have a child that's injured because of someone else's negligence, do you know how to get help, and is it the same as an adult injury? Well we're we're gonna find out right now, because that's what we're going to ask the lawyer on today's episode. Hi again everybody, I'm Rob Rosenthal with Ask the Lawyers.com. My guest is a Wyoming attorney Grant Lawson with the Metier Law Firm. I wanna remind you right up front, if you'd like to ask Grant questions about your specific situation, it's easy to do, just hit up AskTheLawyers.com, click the button to the top right hand corner of the page that says Ask a lawyer, and you can do that right there. Grant, good to see you as always, thank you for helping us out. 

Grant Lawson:

Yes, Rob, great to see you as well. Thank you. 

Rob Rosenthal:

So we're talking about child injuries, and let's just talk a little bit about your experience with representing children who have been injured because of someone's negligence, have you handled some of these cases?

Grant Lawson:

I have. No case is easy, no injury case or death case is easy, but it's especially even more difficult when it's involving children, and that makes the case even more impactful and just heartfelt when you're trying to help a child who's been seriously injured, especially brain injuries with young children, and they present a whole new list of challenges that you don't see or necessarily have with adult cases, because children's brains are young, they're developing, their injuries may not come fully to light for years and years to come, so these cases are very, very challenging.

Rob Rosenthal:

So let's talk about just some of the more common injuries for children that you've seen that could result in some sort of a case for you. What are some of the activities, some of the things that ways children are normally injured? 

Grant Lawson:

Yeah. So thankfully, children are when they're young, they're a little bit more... they can recover a lot easier from some of these injuries that us older folks can't, but when children are injured, especially orthopedic injuries, fractures, neck spine, back, brain injuries, those things are very, very very concerning because you don't know the full extent of those and what they're gonna do to a child as they grow and get older and develop and mature, and so there's a lot of attention that needs to be paid towards the development, and sometimes it takes years. Definitely more than months, but years into their life until you're really gonna know, and it also really requires having great experts. Great expert doctors, physicians who specialize in pediatric care and caring for children to really know what to expect, how to plan for it, so that those children receive the best care and treatment throughout their lifetime, so that they're getting to the best that they possibly can get.

Rob Rosenthal:

So I would imagine coming up like you're saying with a life care plan is gonna be more difficult, 'cause obviously there's much more of a life to be lived, and like you said, you don't see the injuries right away, maybe.

Grant Lawson:

Yeah, that's right. And so having the life care planning is essential, it's having doctors who specialize in treating children, and we have those connections with those doctors who really know who through experience and training can understand the challenges that are gonna present for children as they grow older, and what those injuries and limitations can present and do and how to plan for them, how to treat for them, and especially in the lawsuit, how to make sure that they're getting compensated fully for those injuries and the treatment that's needed in the future

Rob Rosenthal:

Is one of the difficulties, Grant, that sometimes children just can't tell you what's wrong with them, they don't really know how to communicate?

Grant Lawson:

Absolutely, it's just like me and my eight-year-old trying to get him to tell me what's going on, sometimes is impossible, and so with children, you really have to have people with the experience to know what's going on with them, even though they can't communicate it, and really looking deeper into not only the literature, but from based on experience, what kind of injuries will present different problems or limitations and issues in the future, and how to plan for that because a child may just not have the ability to talk about... Especially really young children, they won't have the ability to communicate what they're going through and they may not understand, of course, what they're going through, so yes, many, many challenges come up with that.

Rob Rosenthal:

Let's talk about if the... Let's say there is a recovery from an insurance policy, how is that handled for, say, a minor child? Take us through that process a little bit.

Grant Lawson:

Sure, depending on what state you're in, and the state-specific rules that apply, states will require usually that a child have a guardian ad litem or a conservator in place, which is absolutely...thank God for that process, because with children, a lot of times, there needs to be somebody appointed who can be responsible for the money that's received and that it's being guarded and protected, and also that's being reported to the court, the court has a responsibility to oversee what the conservator or the guardian is doing with that money to make sure it's not being wasted, spent inefficiently and being protected for the children, and so that's something that we work with. We make sure that we have the right guardian or conservator appointed, sometimes it's a bank, sometimes it's a family member, sometimes it's a doctor, it just depends on the situation with the child, but making sure that any money that's received is being protected and safeguarded for the future, for the child.

Rob Rosenthal:

What's your advice to parents who, their child's been injured because of someone else's negligence, how do they pick the right lawyer? What's your advice there?

Grant Lawson:

Well, you want somebody, number one, who cares and has compassion for what their child has been through and also has the experience and how to tackle these tough injuries and tough issues that come up, and to fight these insurance companies to make sure they're not just being... The carrots not dangled, "Shoot we'll give you give you X amount of money, that's a lot of money." And parents not really fully understanding or knowing that their child may have long, life-long lasting injuries and problems that need to be forecasted and worked through and planned for, and so my recommendation is, if you have a child involved with an accident that's been hurt, you gotta find the right lawyer, you gotta find the right doctors, and you gotta really pay attention to what's going on and not just be incentivized by an insurance company to take some money real quick and then being regretful for the rest of that child's life, 'cause they didn't give everything that they need it.

Rob Rosenthal:

'cause you can't go back. 

Grant Lawson:

You can't go back, that's right. 

Rob Rosenthal:

Grant, lots of really helpful information as always, thank you for making some time to answer our questions.

Grant Lawson:

Yeah, absolutely, and thank you Rob, really appreciate it, always a pleasure to be here and hopefully everything's good in your world, Rob.

Rob Rosenthal:

All good right now, thank you so much. That's gonna do it for this episode of Ask the Lawyer. My guest has been an attorney Grant Lawson from Wyoming with the Metier Law Firm. Remember, if you'd like to ask Grant questions about your specific situation, it's easy to do, go to AskTheLawyers.com, there's button in the upper right hand corner that says Ask a Lawyer, just click there, and it doesn't cost you anything to ask a question. Thanks for watching. I'm Rob Rosenthal with Ask the Lawyers.

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