Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New York

what is a fair civil judgement in my son's head injury? - guidelines?

In SEpt. 1997, my son, then 4yrs. old, tripped and fell in a fun zone place cutting his head in the front forehead, and requiring 8 stitches by a plastic surgeon. I sued the place, and for the next 4 yrs. got the runaround every time I would call.

Finally, we received a settlement offer of approximately $10,000. What i'd like to know is, Is this a fair offer for the injury? And what are the guidelines for something like this? If it's taking 4 yrs. for this, I might as well find another attourney.


Asked on 5/29/01, 8:10 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Garry Hanlon

Re: what is a fair civil judgement in my son's head injury? - guidelines?

There are no fixed guidelines for damages

There are reporters (books) which show

other awards in similar cases, but each

injury is handled on a case by case basis

Four years in litigation is not unusual

Without more as to the nature of the injury

it is impossible to determine whether the

10,000 offer is sufficient or light

All infant settlements (less than 18 years

old) are subject to court review A judge

will look this over and needs to approve

the settlement before it is finalized

Changing attorneys in mid stream is possible

but expensive. Most attorneys will be

handling this on a 1/3 contingency Your

current attorney may want the full 1/3 for

what was done to date, or he may settle

for less. You can always ask what his fee

would be for services to date if you were

to change firms. This also would be

reviewed by the Court in conjunction with

the infant settlement

Read more
Answered on 7/09/01, 3:24 am


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