Legal Question in Personal Injury in South Carolina

Re: Injured

Be careful with this claim. Not only do you as the parent have a claim for medical damages (present & future if appropriate), child has claim for pain & suffering, and impairment (if leg is not straight/will not straighten). Also, another issue to watchout for is depending on the amount of the recovery, you may be required to go through probate court to have the settlement approved since there is a minor involved. As for the best way to get the offer increased - hire an attorney. If you are worried about the attorney's fee cutting into the child's recovery, you can always negotiate with the attorney to have the fee be only a percentage of the settlment the attorney reaches above what you had already negotiated. (Example: you negotiate to recieve 5,000 without attorney involvement. Contract with attorney for his/her fee to be X% of the amount recovered over $5,000.) In this type of circumstance, the firms I have worked for agreed to this kind of contract generally without any dispute. Also, remember, you must use the child's funds for the child's benefit - and that doesn't include basic living expenses that the parent is already obligated to pay.

Re: Injured

I would need more information as to how the accident happened. Was it due to negligent supervision of the children or was there something wrong with the house where the child was injured? (Developer/Builder could be liable) If this accident happened in South Carolina, you would need to show that the property owner was at fault in some way. Where was the parent when this happened? Parent's failure to supervise (negligence) may be imputed to child. A property owner is not the insurer of a guest's safety, although in certain circumstances, liability may attach. If I were you, I would contact an attorney in this matter. There may be more insurance out there to collect other than the homeowner's.