Daycare facilities must stick to a high standard because they’re looking after the most precious thing you have — your child. Understandably, you would feel great dismay if your little one came home with an unexplained injury and the center did not have answers or take responsibility.
In such scenarios, you and your child deserve justice. Learn how to find a lawyer for your child’s daycare injuries in New York and why Cellino Law makes the grade.
What Kind of Lawyer Handles Daycare Injuries?
You can find a lawyer for your child’s daycare injuries by searching for a personal injury firm with experience in that particular area. While these cases fall under the larger categories of personal injury and premises liability, not all PI attorneys will accept these cases or have the skills to handle them.
Presenting a strong daycare injury claim is about more than filing a suit, knowing the law or being an aggressive litigator. You’ll need a team that knows how to retrieve and investigate convincing evidence. Don’t forget that you’ll also need to follow certain procedures for reporting to avoid harming your case.
Though these details and others are a lot to cover, especially while you manage your daily routine, you can handle them confidently with the help of an experienced daycare injury lawyer. When you work with us at Cellino Law, you’ll get such support.
What Does Negligence in Daycare Injuries Involve?
To win your case, you have to prove that your child’s injuries occurred because of some type of negligence by the staff. Negligence always involves a person not upholding a “duty of care” (or responsibility) that they have toward you.
Such carelessness can be an instance of the person knowingly committing a wrong act or failing to do something they should have. Since daycare facilities have strict regulations to follow, ignorance is no defense. If a worker made an error that caused your child’s injuries, the facility is usually liable, and your attorney should help you prove that.
What Types of Negligence Are Common in Daycare Injury Cases?
Negligence in daycare injury cases typically falls into one of three areas.
Failure To Properly Supervise the Children
Children may harm themselves or each other when the staff is not paying attention. For example, kids can attack each other and cause permanent injuries. Also, children might wander away and hurt themselves.
Dangerous Conditions
A daycare facility might have hazardous items or equipment on which the children can harm themselves. Broken toys that the staff should have discarded or repaired are a common example.
Likewise, kids should not have access to any item that is inherently dangerous. Little ones should not be able to reach cleaning supplies or sharp tools.
This also applies if your child has an allergy that you warned the daycare about. If the school agreed to keep your child from a certain type of food and failed to do so, that negligence can warrant a claim.
Poor Training or Management
A case is also possible if the staff themselves do not have the qualifications to work in a daycare. You might ask:
- Did the facility do a thorough background check on employees?
- What kind of training or oversight do workers receive?
- Are the responsible adults on duty physically capable of watching the children and protecting them from foreseeable harm?
Many times, all three of these elements contribute to daycare injuries and a valid claim. Working with our team to prove each factor and responsible party helps you build the strongest case.
What Types of Evidence Do You Need for Daycare Injury Cases?
Your lawyer must not only prove that the negligence occurred but also demonstrate how that negligence contributed to your child’s injuries with clear evidence.
Video Surveillance
A good place to start is any surveillance footage, which daycares must have according to the law. However, you could have a hard time getting all of the relevant footage because a negligent facility may find excuses not to supply you with the full recording.
You can’t just see the few seconds when the injury occurred. The events that led up to the incident could show how well the staff were supervising the children. Additionally, you need footage from the moments after the injury to show how it affected your child. You might even see proof of how someone tried to cover up what actually happened.
Video recordings from the past can also be helpful. There may be proof that the staff knew about a dangerous condition long before an incident occurred.
Expect the facility to not be forthcoming with any of this information. With the help of our daycare injury attorneys, you have someone on your side to discover and demand any relevant footage.
State and Facility Records
If there were previous reports of carelessness or negligence, these can show a pattern that supports your case. Again, the daycare won’t offer this to you willingly in many cases. You don’t have to fight through red tape alone. Our lawyers have experience digging up official records and will help.
Personal Notes, Photos and Recordings
As soon as you see signs that your child experienced an injury, record as many details as possible with notes or pictures. Find out who the supervisor or manager at the time was. You should also note which adults saw the event and get their story.
Your own photos of where the injury happened can also be helpful. Take pictures or videos of your child’s injuries, too, because bruising or indications of pain may fade over time. Retain copies of any medical records or assessments as well.
How Can Daycare Injury Settlements Differ From Other Personal Injury Cases?
A portion of the settlement should serve to help you get treatment for your child’s injuries and compensate you for other damages, such as lost wages. However, your child may also receive a payout for their injuries, but they will not be able to access the money until turning 18.
While you won’t have access to these funds, you likely want to do what you can to ensure your child uses the money wisely. That might involve creating an annuity or a trust that disburses the money over time. While a judge has to approve this arrangement, find a daycare injury lawyer who can advise you on your options to help your child have a good financial foundation for the future.
How Long Do You Have To File a Daycare Injury Case?
If the daycare is a private organization, you usually have three years to file a claim. However, you only have 90 days to file a claim against an institution that operates as part of a government agency.
In either case, you need to move quickly to avoid losing any valuable evidence. Contact our daycare injury attorneys as soon as possible to fight for justice.
Find a Qualified and Sympathetic Lawyer for Daycare Injuries at Cellino Law
New York residents have been able to turn to Cellino firms for over 65 years for assistance with legal matters, including various personal injury cases. Today, you can still count on experienced and supportive counsel from Cellino Law if your child has daycare injuries.
Contact us for a free case review to see how we can guide you through this stressful situation. There’s no obligation, and you won’t pay anything unless we can win.