Maryland Child Injury Lawyer

Representing children who have been injured is substantially different than representing adults. Regardless of how seriously a child has been injured, no minor wants to sue a friend, a friend’s parents, a neighbor, or a teacher. Even more challenging, children are not as articulate as adults, especially when the minor has suffered post traumatic stress disorder from his or her injuries.
Stewart A. Sutton represents children in personal injury and accident cases throughout Maryland. He is a graduate of Cornell University and UCLA School of Law; and he has over 20-years of experience. His office is locate at 8 Executive Park Court in Germantown, MD 20874. He can be reached at ssuttonesq@aol.com and (301) 916-5000.

Or on the web at Maryland Child Injury Lawyer

A. TYPES OF INJURIES TO CHILDREN

Children can suffer serious injuries in numerous ways. 1. Automobile accidents

Children are more likely than adults to suffer a serious injury in an automobile accident, because their small bodies cannot efficiently absorb and dissipate a physical impact. Stewart A. Sutton has successfully represented numerous minors who have been injured in automobile accidents as both passengers and pedestrians.

2. School

Children are often injured at school, because they spend much of their waking hours at school.

a. Classroom

In a class room, a teacher can violate a student’s right to privacy by disclosing confidential medical information. Stewart A. Sutton successfully represented a minor whose HIV condition was disclosed by a Montgomery County public school teacher, because the teacher erroneously believed that AIDS could be transmitted by sharing lip balm.
b. Recess

Each year, countless students are injured in playground fights. Teachers can be held liable for their failure to properly patrol the playground to stop fights between students. Besides physical injuries, it is common for a child who has been hurt in a school yard fight to suffer persistent emotional distress caused by post traumatic stress disorder.

c. Gymnasium

Many children are excused from participating in physical education

due to medical conditions, such as asthma. Unfortunately, it is all too common that these children suffer exertion related injuries when their physical education teachers coerce them to participate in strenuous physical exercise.

5. Sleepover parties

When parents hosts a sleepover party, the parent expressly assume the

responsibility of caring for their minor overnight guests. Stewart A. Sutton has successfully represented a minor who broke her ankle at sleepover parties due to the failure of the hosts to properly supervise the use of a trampoline. He also has successfully represented the parents of 2 children who died in a house fire in Gaithersburg, Maryland during an overnight sleepover.

6. Pools

Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages 1 to 14. An adult host’s duty to supervise minor guests’ use of a pool is inversely proportional to the child’s age.

7. Dog bites

Thousands of children are seriously injured and scarred each year by dog bites.

They are usually bitten by a neighbor or friend’s dog. Stewart A. Sutton successfully represented a girl who was bitten on the face at a friend’s house by the family dog.

8. Daycare Centers

Children are frequently injured at daycare centers due to understaffing and/or misuse of playground equipment. Stewart A. Sutton successfully represented a minor who finger was partially severed at a daycare center. The child was riding inside a wooden wagon that was being pushed by another child. The child’s finger was crushed between the side of the wagon and an outdoor post. The daycare center was liable for the child’s injuries, because the wooden wagon was never designed for outdoor use.

9. Babysitters

Stewart A. Sutton represented a mother whose son suffered third degree burns when the babysitter held the child’s hand in a pot of boiling water. The babysitter pled guilty to assault, battery, and cruelty to a minor; and she is serving a long prison sentence.

10. Psychiatric Hospitals

When a child is hospitalized to treat mental illness or substance abuse, the hospital’s primary duty is to protect the minor from harming himself or herself as well as protecting the child from other patients. Stewart A. Sutton has successfully represent a minor who was injured as a result of the hospital’s failure to properly monitor the minor patient.

11. False arrest and false imprisonment

Security guards often stop and hold children, despite the lack of probable cause to believe that the child committed a felony or breached the peace. Stewart A. Sutton has sued security guards and their employers for detaining children without justification.

B. DAMAGES

When a child is injured, the child and the parent can recover 3 types of damages.

1. Medical Bills

The parents are entitled to recover the child’s medical bills, because the parents are responsible for providing medical care for their children. Even if the child has health insurance, the parents are still entitled to be reimbursed for their child’s healthcare costs.

2. Pain and suffering

Anytime a child is injured from a physical impact, the child is entitled to compensation for his or her pain and suffering.
The minor is also entitled to be compensated for his or her emotional distress in situations where there has not been a physical impact, such as when a teacher discloses the child’s confidential medical condition.

3. Lost Wages

If the child’s injuries prevents him or her from working at a regular job, the child can recover his or her loss wages. If the child suffers a permanent injury, the child may be entitled to be compensated for his projected future lost wages.

C. WRONGFUL DEATH OF A CHILD

For a wrongful death of a child, parents can collect damages for their emotional distress as well as for their child’s pain and suffering. As of October 1, 2009, the total amount of emotional distress (also known as non-economic damages) is capped at $1,087,500 in Maryland; and this amount increases by $22,500 on October 1st of each succeeding year.
For unmarried child between the ages of 18 and 21, the parents can recover their emotional distress damages as long as the parents provided more than half (50%) of child’s support within 12 months before the child died.

As of October 1, 2009, the total damages the child’s estate can recover for pain and suffering is capped at $725,000 in Maryland; and this amount increases by $15,000 on October 1st of each succeeding year.

The parents are also entitled to reimbursement of their child’s medical and funeral expenses.


D. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

Adults have 3-years to file suit to recover for their personal injuries. This is known as a statute of limitations. In Maryland, the statute of limitations for children extends to the day before their twenty-first birthday. However, it is a better practice for a parent to file a lawsuit on behalf of their child as soon as practical. Otherwise, memories of the accident will fade and documentation of the child’s medical bills may be difficult to find.

If a parent or guardian is unable or unwilling to file a lawsuit on behalf of a child, any relative or unrelated adult can file a lawsuit on the child’s behalf.

E. COURT’S APPROVAL OF A SETTLEMENT

Over 90% of all personal injury lawsuits are resolved with the parties entering into a settlement. In Maryland, it is a common practice for the parties to ask the Court to approve the settlement as being fair to the child by entering a consent judgment for the amount of the settlement.
F. SETTLEMENT AND JUDGMENT PROCEEDS
When a minor receives more than $5,000 as a result of a settlement or judgment, the parents are required to deposit the proceeds into a trust account. The child may withdraw the money from the trust account when he or she turns 18, or if the Court approves a withdrawal prior to the child reaching the age of 18 upon a showing of good cause.

Seventy percent (70%) of the child’s trust fund must be invested in zero risk obligations, such as AAA- or AA-rated government bonds, Treasury Notes, or Certificates of Deposit. Only 30% may be invested in a mutual stock fund or money market fund, as long as the prospectus of the fund states that its objective is long-term growth or capital appreciation.