Enjoying time on the lakes and waterways around Conyers should be a leisurely activity. When marred by someone’s carelessness, a leisurely day could turn into months of recovering from injuries and recouping lost income.
A Conyers personal injury lawyer can fight to make this process less stressful. Our Conyers boating & watercraft accident lawyers at Kaine Law can put our decades of experience to work and seek a fair settlement or judgment on your behalf.
Damages for Boating & Watercraft Accident Injuries in Conyers
Our Conyers boating & watercraft accident lawyers don’t treat every case with a one-size-fits-all approach. We’ll instead look at your unique experience in the following areas:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Rehabilitation costs
- Psychological support
- Long-term care
- Lost income
- Reduced earning ability
- Job retraining or career change
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
Your future medical expenses could last six weeks, six months, six years, or a lifetime. The accident may have completely upended your life, forcing you to train for a new job and abandon a hobby you had turned into an additional revenue stream.
These variables are what insurance companies and liable parties may try to ignore, and they’re what we’ll focus on to seek appropriate financial recovery.
Wrongful Death in Boating and Watercraft Accidents
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, 658 people lost their lives in boating accidents in the U.S. in 2021, with alcohol use being a leading contributing factor. If you lost a loved one due to impairment or another form of negligence, you may be able to file a wrongful death claim or lawsuit on their behalf.
Wrongful death cases allow surviving spouses, children, parents, or the estate’s executor to file a lawsuit for damages (O.C.G.A. § 51-4-2). Compensation could cover the cost of remaining medical expenses, funeral and burial services, and lost income your family member would have provided.
In addition, you could recover pain and suffering compensation. Specific family members could be eligible for other considerations, such as compensation for the loss of parental guidance or loss of consortium. Our Conyers boating & watercraft accident lawyers can review how this loss has affected you and pursue damages that reflect that.
For a free legal consultation with a boating & watercraft accident lawyer serving Conyers, call 404-214-2001
How Our Conyers Boating & Watercraft Accident Lawyers Serve Victims
Our Conyers boating & watercraft accident lawyers at Kaine Law provides:
- Free initial consultations
- Contingency-fee representation
- Regular access to your attorney
- Frequent case updates
- Understandable explanations of legal terms
- An independent investigation of your accident
- Assistance in getting treatment and repairs
- Representation in all communication
The common theme of our legal services is care. We care about your time, health, finances, and future. We can explain the process, answer your questions, and ensure you aren’t tricked, intimidated, manipulated, or pressured into anything.
Who Can Be Held Responsible for Your Expenses?
Simply knowing who to hold accountable can be a struggle. Your Conyers boating & watercraft accident lawyer could investigate:
- Watercraft owners
- Watercraft operators
- Rental or charter companies
- Designers or manufacturers
- Maintenance crews
In some cases, more than one party could be responsible for your accident. For instance, a boat owner may have failed to replace a defective part, leaving the owner and the part manufacturer open to liability.
You could also be partly at fault. Georgia’s contributory negligence laws mean you could still pursue compensation, as long as you were less than 50 percent at fault (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33). However, your compensation will be reduced by your level of fault—for example, if you are deemed 15 percent responsible, your damages will be reduced by that same percentage.
Not only can your Conyers boating & watercraft accident lawyer at Kaine Law identify liable parties, but we can also defend you against accusations that you were primarily at fault.
The Statute of Limitations and Maximum Medical Improvement
You typically have two years from the date of the injury to file a personal injury lawsuit in Georgia (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33). This deadline gives you and your attorney time to preserve evidence and assess your losses.
Insurance adjusters may push you to accept a settlement early on. However, we generally advise waiting until you reach maximum medical improvement (MMI), so we can fully understand your losses and expenses. If you don’t know those factors, how can you be sure a settlement covers everything?
While you focus on reaching MMI, your Conyers boating & watercraft accident lawyer will focus on building your case. Although many cases settle out of court, that settlement process can still require investigation and legal analysis. We also want to be prepared to file your lawsuit if the time comes. For those reasons, we advise that you reach out for information as soon as possible.
Conyers Boating & Watercraft Accident Lawyer Near Me 404-214-2001
How a Conyers Boating & Watercraft Lawyer Will Build Your Case
Boating and watercraft injury cases are based on negligence. The four elements of negligence are:
- Duty of care – Someone involved in your accident should have taken precautions to avoid causing you harm.
- Breach of duty – That person did not take those precautions.
- Causation – Because they did not take precautions, they caused an accident.
- Damages – Because of the accident, you were injured and deserve compensation.
When your Conyers boating & watercraft accident lawyer builds your case, their goal will be to illustrate all four of these elements.
Evidence Is the Connective Tissue
In a personal injury case, you don’t need to prove your case “beyond a reasonable doubt;” you just need a “preponderance of evidence” on your side. According to the Legal Information Institute, that means you need enough proof to show there is more than a 50% chance that what you claim is true.
To do this, we could use:
- Records of your injuries and treatment
- Reports from the Coast Guard or other authorities
- Eyewitness testimony, photos, and video
- Social media postings
- Phone and text records
- Blood alcohol content or drug test results
- Accident reconstruction and analysis
Expert Testimony to Support Your Claim
We may utilize expert testimony to shed light on the accident circumstances and add authenticity to your account.
For example, we could ask a doctor to explain the nuances of your injuries, a mechanic to illustrate what went wrong with equipment, or even an authority on a topic specific to your case, like a specific type of boat and or watercraft.
Determining Your Damages
Evidence also underlines what kind of damages you deserve. We’ll consider your:
- Age
- Health history
- Career
- Dependents
- Expenses
- Hobbies
- Quality of life
Highlighting how the accident has affected these aspects of your life further illustrates that you deserve compensation.
Click to contact our Boating & Watercraft Accident lawyers today
Contact Our Conyers Boating & Watercraft Accident Lawyers Today for a Free Consultation
With no fee for a case review and no charge unless we win or settle, you can contact our office without worrying about hassle or expense. A Conyers boating & watercraft accident lawyer can start working on your case today. Please contact us now to get started.
Call or text 404-214-2001 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
