Maison Law represents Tulare dog bite victims. Our skilled Dog Bite Lawyers assist victims who suffer broken fingers, deep puncture wounds, and other serious injuries. We stand by our clients through a difficult recovery and ensure they receive the support they need to heal and rebuild their lives. Victims should contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation. It’s a no-risk opportunity to find out what your case may be worth and how to hold a dog owner fully responsible.
Do I Need a Lawyer After Suffering a Dog Bite?
If your dog bite injuries are serious, like broken bones or a deep wound, it’s a good idea to bring your case to a skilled Tulare Dog Bite Lawyer to discuss what you should be demanding in compensation. Even a shallow bite wound can do major damage to someone’s hand. Victims may need months of physical therapy to restore full function to fingers and thumbs.
When insurance adjusters see the enormous medical bills, they’ll seek to blame you for the dog attack or even try to convince you your injury isn’t all that serious. Your lawyer fully investigates your case so the facts can’t be changed and then demands the maximum in benefits for you and your family.
The Most Common Dog Bite Injuries
These are just a few of the types of dog bite wounds treated at Adventist Health Tulare’s Emergency Room:
- Hand Injuries – The hands and fingers are the most commonly targeted body parts. Victims may be attempting to pet dogs or the dog’s head may just be closer to the hands when the dog decides to latch on. Patients often need physical therapy to learn how to use their hands again after healing. Amputations can also occur or be necessary through surgery.
- Ankle and Foot Injuries – The ankles, feet, and calves are always within striking distance of a frightened or aggressive dog. Mobility can be affected by a broken bone or nerve damage.
- Puncture Wounds and Avulsion – Bite wounds can go deep and tear soft tissue. Avulsion is the medical term for when an attack leaves layers of skin torn back and sometimes completely removed.
- Eye Injuries and Facial Injuries – Victims may be bent over where their face tissue is exposed to a bite. They may fall and be vulnerable to repeated bites. Eyes and skin can be torn away. Scarring may be permanent.
- Nerve Damage — A dog’s teeth can sever nerves that carry information throughout the body. A severed nerve could affect sensory functions and the control of body parts.
- Infection Threat – A dog’s bite can spread harmful bacteria to victims and cause infections that make healing all the more difficult.
- Rabies Threat – This virus leads to nerve damage, confusion, and weakness in victims. A round of shots may be necessary after a dog bite occurs.
These debilitating and sometimes life-threatening injuries can leave victims with months of difficult recovery time ahead. Even after victims heal, they’ll have to worry about how they’ll pay a stack of medical bills.
Your lawyer collects all proof of what happened so that victims and their families didn’t have to take on these debts alone. Insurance companies for dog owners sometimes aim to pay only for an emergency room, leaving victims to cover weeks of physical therapy or additional surgeries down the road. A skilled lawyer has a strong case backed with evidence prepared so that insurance adjusters can’t wiggle out of taking responsibility.
Who Is Liable for My Dog Bite Injury?
Fortunately, in California, dog owners are usually held liable for the consequences of a bite, in almost all circumstances. This means victims can usually ask for help with the costs of a trip to an emergency room and beyond.
California follows the concept of “strict liability” regarding dog bite injuries. State law holds dog owners accountable when their dogs bite someone, even if the dog has never shown aggression before. There is no “one bite rule” like in some states where a dog owner isn’t liable for the first bite incident a dog has.
The dog owner is financially responsible for the cost of injuries as long as a few things are true:
- The victim wasn’t trespassing at the time.
- The victim didn’t provoke the dog.
- The victim suffered an actual bite. A bite counts even if it doesn’t break the skin. If a dog attack doesn’t involve a bite, strict liability wouldn’t apply, but other personal injury laws would.
Your Maison Law attorney would be collecting evidence so that the circumstances of the accident were clear and couldn’t be questioned. Insurance companies can try to shift blame in a dog bite accident so they can get away with providing less in support or none at all. A strong case backed with evidence helps hold an insurer fully responsible for your damages.
What Kinds of Compensation Should I Seek After a Dog Bite Incident?
When serious injuries are present, the amount on a dog bite injury settlement check becomes crucial. If you settle for too little, you or your family may have to pay for some medical costs out of pocket. With any major injury, there will be other financial damages and emotional hardships that should earn support.
Your lawyer will demand help with these factors and for some things you may not have known could earn you additional support:
- Hospital expenses now and those expected in the future
- Physical therapy costs to help victims regain function in their hands or learn to walk on a damaged ankle
- Lifelong support for a permanent disability or a disfigurement
- Travel costs to and from doctor visits
- Support for physical pain
- Support for emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Past and future lost earnings
- Damage or destruction of property
- Wrongful death benefits
Families who lose a loved one in a dog attack can file a wrongful death claim. This claim seeks help for the family in paying burial costs and remaining medical invoices. Close relatives, like a spouse or children, who relied on the financial support of the victim would also earn support for the future. The support would help replace the income the deceased can no longer provide in the years to come. The emotional toll the loss of a beloved relative took on family members should also earn support.
Contact a Tulare Dog Bite Attorney
California law allows dog bite victims up to two years from the date of the accident to file an injury claim. You shouldn’t delay when you’ve suffered a serious dog bite injury. It’s easier for your lawyer to collect evidence to prove the fault of the dog owner in the early going. You also shouldn’t have to wait years to receive justice for what happened.
After you or a loved one has suffered a serious dog bite injury, contact a Tulare Dog Bite Lawyer to discuss your case, free of charge. It’s a no-risk opportunity to find out about all the benefits available to you and how to hold an insurance company fully responsible.
If you feel we can help you earn more for your injury recovery, you won’t need any upfront money to hire Maison Law. We don’t accept payment unless we win your case for you. Then our fee comes out of the award you receive from an insurance company.
