Santa Monica Child Injury Lawyer

Representing Injury Victims and their Parents in Santa Monica, California

An accident or event that injures a child can have devastating consequences for the entire family. These can include: pain, emotional trauma, severe financial consequences such as medical or dental expenses, ongoing rehabilitative treatment, and more. When anyone is seriously injured due to the negligence, carelessness, or other misconduct of another party, the injury victim can seek legal recourse through the courts under California personal injury law.

If your child has been seriously hurt because of the wrongdoing of another in Santa Monica, we recommend that you contact McGee Lerer Ogrin to arrange a consultation with a Santa Monica personal injury attorney as soon as possible. Our legal team has decades of combined experience in successfully representing clients in personal injury cases throughout southern California. We can provide a case evaluation concerning your child's injuries and discuss with you the best possible course of action to recover financial compensation for damages, such as past and future medical expenses, pain, suffering, disability, and more.

Child Injury Settlements of $5,000 and More

California law mandates that a child injury settlement of $5,000 or more must be approved by the courts in a legal proceeding called a Minor's Compromise Hearing. After being approved, the funds must be placed in a federally insured account which is blocked until the child attains the age of 18. An early release of partial funds to pay for such items as educational supplies, computer equipment, or tutoring may be petitioned for from the court.

In the case of very large settlements, our firm often advises parents to place the funds into a structured settlement, which releases the funds in partial payments over a set interval of time periods, once the child becomes 18. This prevents the entire sum from being accessed at one time and allows for the funds to remain being invested and earning interests while slowly being released at whatever age intervals that parents have set up.

Parental Claims for Emotional Distress

In the case of a parent or other immediate family member who witnessed the injury of the child, a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress may be submitted under California law. Such a claim allows for the traumatized individual to be compensated. Our firm recently represented a child who was injured in a dog attack. The child's grandmother witnessed the incident and became traumatized by what she observed. We arranged for her to receive psychotherapy treatment on a lien basis, in which the therapist was reimbursed through the settlement as opposed to upfront payment.

Talk to a Santa Monica Child Injury Attorney

Your child may have been injured in a car, bus, bicycle or other traffic accident, through the carelessness of a drunk driver or distracted driver, from an animal attack, a defective product, a slip and fall, or in some other negligence-based incident. By consulting with our firm, you can turn over all of the legal repercussions of such an event into the capable hands of an experienced attorney. We have a long history of effective case results in this field.