When your child gets injured, you want answers immediately. What happened? How will this affect my child’s life? Do I have legal options? Can I sue? Serious injuries to minors can have a lasting effect on growth and development. This incident could change the course of a child’s life. We understand your anger and uncertainty, which is why we’re here to hold people accountable.
CPY Law is here to help parents, children, and their loved ones through a difficult time. Our Kansas City personal injury attorneys want to seek maximum compensation to cover your medical bill and give your family the best shot at dignity and happiness despite what you’ve experienced.
Focus on recovery while we work on the legal fight ahead. You pay nothing unless we win for you. For a free consultation with an experienced child injury lawyer in Kansas City, MO, contact our law firm today.
Common Places Where Child Injuries Occur
While children can suffer serious injuries anywhere in Kansas City, there are certain places where these incidents are more likely to occur.
Daycares
Infants, toddlers, and very young children may suffer serious injuries if staff at daycares are not attentive or do not provide adequate supervision.
Schools
When injuries occur at kindergartens, grade schools, middle schools, or high schools, our lawyers can hold teachers, staff, administrators, and districts accountable for injuries.
Playgrounds
Playground injuries at public parks, apartment complexes, and other properties can be serious. CPY Law can ensure the liable parties are held accountable.
Other Potential Causes of Child Injuries
In addition to incidents at the locations we noted above, child injuries are also possible in a variety of other situations.
- Collisions with Motor Vehicles: If your child was hit by a reckless driver or due to issues with road conditions, our Kansas City auto accident lawyers will help you seek accountability.
- Pedestrian and Bicycle Crashes: Many kids bike to school or walk to school. Children also get around Kansas City using bicycles, e-bikes, scooters, and skateboards. When injuries happen, CPY Law will be here for you.
- Slips, Trips, and Falls: Children can suffer slips, trips, and falls throughout KCMO. This includes falls in places like Crown Center and also trips around neighborhood streets due to uneven pavers or broken pavement.
- Dog Bites and Animal Attacks: When children get attacked by dogs, the scars and emotional trauma can be devastating. Our Kansas City dog bite lawyers are here to help children recover and help ease their fears.
- Drowning: Children could drown in public pools and pools at private residences. A lack of lifeguards or poor safety measures could be grounds for legal action.
- Poisoning: Children are naturally curious, and they might ingest hazardous chemicals and other substances if they aren’t properly supervised and looked after.
- Choking and Suffocation Hazards: Like poisoning, children may choke on a snack or get into situations in which they are unable to breathe if adults looking after them are inattentive.
Duty of Care for Caretakers, Babysitters, and Those Responsible for Children
Child caretakers in Missouri have a duty to support children, provide nutrition, and look after a child’s well-being. Missouri law does not require a caretaker to be professionally licensed, which means babysitters are also subject to this duty of care.
With this in mind, inadequate supervision is not necessarily neglect. If your child got hurt while under the care or supervision of a babysitter or other caretaker, discuss it with our injury lawyers in Kansas City. Your child’s injury could be the basis of a claim.
How the Attractive Nuisance Doctrine May Apply to Child Injury Claims
An “attractive nuisance” refers to a potentially dangerous condition on someone’s property that could attract children. Minors who trespass or otherwise enter the property and interact with this attractive nuisance may suffer harm.
Examples of Attractive Nuisances
Common examples of attractive nuisances include:
- Swimming pools
- Trampolines
- Abandoned vehicles
- Old appliances
- Power tools or heavy machinery
- Construction sites and places with construction materials
Impact on Property-Related Child Injuries
Property owners who have an attractive nuisance on their property could be held liable for injuries to children. This depends on whether the property owner took care to secure the attractive nuisance from potential trespassers or follow basic safety laws regarding the object on the property.
When minors get hurt on other people’s property, our Kansas City premises liability lawyers can consider attractive nuisance laws and other factors that could affect a child injury claim.
Compensation in Child Injury Claims
Families can seek compensation for any losses caused by an incident. This includes economic damages (measurable financial losses) and non-economic damages (subjective and intangible losses).
- Medical Expenses: This includes the cost of the ambulance, stabilizing care, and hospitalization. This also covers ongoing medical needs, such as physical rehabilitation, specialist visits, occupational therapy, and the use of assistive devices as a result of injury.
- Future Medical Care Needs: If a child will need special medical care well into their teens and adulthood, this can be estimated and covered as part of compensation sought. This could also address home renovations or other accommodations if a child suffered a disability as a result of an incident.
- Damage to Property: This includes any damage to a vehicle, electronics, valuables, and other personal belongings during the incident that caused the injuries.
- Impact on Future Earning Capacity: This includes any loss in your child’s future earning capacity when injuries result in permanent disability or when these injuries prevent a child from being gainfully employed in the future.
- Pain and Suffering: This includes lasting emotional distress, mental anguish, chronic pain from lingering injuries, and ongoing nightmares or insomnia following a traumatic event to a minor.
- Lower Quality of Life: This includes your child’s reduced sense of contentment or well-being, loss of enjoyment in their favorite hobbies, and any strain on your family after an incident.
At CPY Law, our Kansas City child injury lawyers will help you understand how much your case is really worth and the long-term effects on your child’s life.
Estimating the Long-Term Impact of a Serious Injury During Childhood
Serious injuries during childhood can affect growth and development, cause issues with mobility and function, or impact cognitive ability and social interactions.
When estimating the future or lifetime costs of care, our child injury attorneys and our experts will consider:
- What future health and wellness needs to expect
- How long these care needs will be required
- How much these health needs will cost during that time
- How inflation will affect the cost of these services
Partial Responsibility: Missouri’s Pure Comparative Fault Law
Missouri follows a pure comparative fault rule (RSMo § 537.765). This means you can still seek compensation if your child was partly or mostly at fault for the incident that caused their injuries. The compensation awarded is reduced by your share of liability.
For example, say that your child was hit by a car while riding their bike to school. You are awarded $100,000 in compensation. However, your child was found 20% liable for the incident. Because of pure comparative fault, your family would still receive $80,000 in compensation.
Special Legal Procedures for Minor/Child Injury Settlements in Missouri
Since Missouri law prohibits minors (people under 18) from entering into legally binding contracts, special procedures are required in child injury settlements. The state has certain protections in place to look out for the minor’s best interests outlined in the Missouri Statutory Thresholds for Settlements Involving Minors Act (RSMo § 436.700) and RSMo § 507.184.
The basics of these legal procedures include:
- A parent or person acting on a minor’s behalf can agree to a settlement.
- Settlements over $35,000 will require approval by the court to ensure the child’s best interests.
- When a child’s best interests are in conflict with their parent(s) or guardian(s), the court may appoint a guardian ad litem (GAL) to help protect the minor’s interests.
- Funds in a minor injury settlement are saved to a Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) account for the sole benefit of the child. Funds cannot be withdrawn from the account except under court order or when the minor turns 18 years old.
When you meet with our child injury attorneys in Kansas City, we can discuss these procedures in greater detail so you have a better understanding of what to expect.
How Long Do I Have to File a Child Injury Lawsuit in Kansas City, MO?
The statute of limitations for child injuries in Missouri can vary depending on the incident.
- For injuries to a child, you typically have five years from the date of the incident to file a lawsuit (RSMo § 516.120)
- For fatal incidents involving children, you typically have three years from the date of death to file a lawsuit (RSMo § 537.100)
There are exceptions to these statutes of limitations. For example, if the injury to your child involves a government entity, you need to file a formal notice of claim within 90 days of the incident. In addition, the statute of limitations does not begin tolling for minors to file their own lawsuit for injuries until they are 21 years old.
Even though you may have a several years to file a lawsuit, it’s best to contact a Kansas City child injury lawyer ASAP. The attorneys at CPY Law can secure key evidence and start building a strong case. We will communicate with the insurance company to help your family receive maximum compensation that truly considers the lasting impact of what happened.
Why Choose CPY Law After a Child Injury in Kansas City
People throughout Kansas City know they can trust CPY Law to fight for their child after a serious injury. We want children and their families to focus on healing while we handle the legal fight.
Here’s why people throughout Jackson, Clay, Platte, and Cass counties trust CPY Law.
- Reliability and Legal Excellence: The team at CPY Law has decades of legal experience in Missouri. We work closely with families to identify the best solutions for their cases.
- We Hold Ourselves Accountable to You: When you hire our attorneys for a child injury case, we will own the problem and lead the fight forward. We do what we say, and we ask the same of our staff and colleagues.
- Free and Confidential Case Reviews: You don’t have to worry about upfront legal fees at CPY Law. Consultations are free, confidential, and no obligation. We want to hear what happened and give our honest opinion about your best options.
- Clients Pay Us Nothing Unless We Win: CPY Law works on a contingency fee basis. That means our attorneys only get paid after your child injury case is successfully resolved. If we don’t win, you pay nothing.
Contact Our Kansas City Child Injury Attorneys Near You
Injuries to a minor can affect the rest of that child or adolescent’s life. It can also impact that child’s family. Let us lead the legal fight forward and seek maximum compensation. CPY Law is on your side. For a free consultation with an experienced child injury lawyer near you, contact our Kansas City law firm today.
Frequently Asked Questions About Child Injuries in Kansas City
These are some of the most common questions we’ve heard from concerned parents and children who’ve experienced serious injuries.
After turning 18, can a Missouri child sue for an injury that happened years earlier?
Yes. The state of Missouri pauses the filing deadline for a lawsuit involving a minor, which does not begin tolling until that child turns 21. That means you have until your 26th birthday to file an injury lawsuit.
Even though you have time to seek legal action, it’s best to speak with a child injury attorney in Kansas City as soon as possible.
Who signs off on a personal injury settlement on behalf of a child in Missouri?
A parent, legal guardian, or court-appointed conservator will sign off on a personal injury settlement involving a child. In addition, any settlements above $35,000 must be reviewed and approved by a judge. This amount increases periodically according to the Consumer Price Index.
Can a Missouri public school district be sued when a child suffers a catastrophic injury?
Potentially yes, though the state of Missouri has sovereign immunity rules in effect for some government agencies, which include public school districts. However, sovereign immunity is waived in incidents that involve the negligent operation of a motor vehicle or dangerous conditions on the property.
If your child got hurt while at school or around campus, our attorneys can help hold negligent parties accountable for any injuries or harm.
Can I sue a company for making dangerous toys or other products aimed at children?
Yes. Companies that design, manufacture, or distribute toys that are harmful to children can be held legally responsible for causing injuries. This includes electronic devices that cause burns or electrocution as well as toys with small parts that are a choking hazard to infants and toddlers.
The Kansas City product liability attorneys can take on companies when their toys or products hurt children.
