When Kids Get Hurt. More Than Just The Facts.
Lawyers tend to focus on facts and law. Sometimes, the facts and the law are not enough. In cases involving injured children, especially children with head injuries, facts and law are most definitely not enough. Lawyers must get to know the children, their families and others close to them who have been affected by the injuries and the fallout.
Why is this important? Legal claims are intended to compensate the victim for his/her losses. The victim's lawyer must prove those losses, usually by a "preponderance of the evidence." In order to prove those losses, a lawyer must have a clear understanding of the child's life before and after the injuries. The people in the best position to provide that understanding are family, friends, teachers and other who have a history with the child.
Communications with the child, friends and family requires more than just fact gathering. It requires a lawyer to comprehend the emotional and psychological effects of the injuries and aftermath on everyone involved. Only then can a lawyer truly convey to a jury (or even to just an insurance company) the true losses arising from an injury.
Losses include medical bills, rehabilitation costs, therapy, educational costs, etc. But these are only some of the losses. The most substantial losses are the intangibles. The ones that are hard to measure. Those can be best ascertained by careful investigation into the life the child had before the tragedy, and the life the child and his family must face afterward.
