Dog bites are painful, and the experience can result in mental and physical trauma. You may have suffered because the dog’s owner failed in their duty to prevent an attack, or their negligence resulted in your injuries and losses. A Grand Rapids dog bite lawyer from Christensen Law can review your case for compensation.
We will help you build a strong case to pursue your damages that can help you cope with all aspects of the attack’s aftermath. We find the words for you to talk about what happened. Call us now at 248-900-9000 for a free case review.
What Can You Recover for a Dog Bite in Grand Rapids?
You didn’t just suffer a bite. An animal attacked you, maybe one you trusted. That attack caused you physical harm as well as psychological damage. On top of that, recovery costs you time and income from work.
These aspects of your situation are compensable, meaning you could recover monetary damages for them. With the help of our personal injury attorneys, you can seek compensation to cover your bills and more personal losses associated with the dog attack.
Bills, Income, and Other Economic Losses
These damages are tied to specific dollar amounts, reimbursing you for tangible economic expenses like:
- Medical care for the dog bite and secondary conditions like infections
- Maintenance costs like prescriptions, rehabilitation, and follow-ups
- Psychological treatment like counseling and medication
- Lost income, including hourly, salaried, or freelance work
Medical bills can include the cost of cosmetic surgery to diminish scarring. You may have suffered additional injuries in the attack, like broken bones or head injuries from a fall. These are also part of your medical compensation. Mental health compensation is particularly important in dog bite cases. Victims may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, fear of dogs, and other mental health conditions that can impact their quality of life. The physical harm can also cause mental distress, especially in the cases of severe scarring or disfiguration.
Finally, we catalog all income you missed during your recovery and will miss in the future. We will even include damages to cover the transition into a new job if you can no longer work at your old one.
Noneconomic Losses
The tangible bills and losses can help us make a case for your intangible, or noneconomic, losses. Our animal attack attorneys don’t just seek reimbursement for that bill for anti-anxiety medication—we use it to point out that you suffered emotional distress and deserve additional damages.
These forms of compensation include:
- Pain and suffering
- Disfigurement
- Emotional distress
- Mental anguish
- Loss of enjoyment
It can be difficult to quantify how much physical and psychological pain you suffered from a dog attack, or what the price tag is for your loss of enjoyment of life. However, we will work to assign value to the intangible harm caused by the negligent party. This means working with experts to help calculate these losses to seek the maximum possible damages.
What Support Do Our Grand Rapids Dog Bite Lawyers Offer in Cases Like Yours?
Christensen Law is determined to help you speak out about your experience. To act as your voice, we start by listening to yours. Our firm takes the time to understand what you went through and are still experiencing, starting with a free evaluation and following up with regular consultations.
If speaking up for you means taking your case all the way to court, so be it. We prepare for this eventuality even as we negotiate with the other party in an attempt to pursue a settlement out of court. We walk the walk, too—our lawyers have recovered multimillion-dollar awards in settlements and trial cases.
We Identify the Grounds for a Case
Pets are property, and property owners owe others a duty of care to make sure their property doesn’t cause harm. Violating this duty of care could look like:
- Letting the dog off their leash
- Lack of fence maintenance on their property
- Lack of precautions and warnings
This doesn’t mean an owner has to behave carelessly to provide grounds for a case. In fact, if you were lawfully on someone’s property and did not provoke the dog, only to suffer an attack, you can potentially pursue legal action against the owner.
We can identify and then defend your right to pursue an insurance claim or lawsuit following a dog attack. We won’t let the owner try to blame you for your injuries.
We Apply State and Local Laws
We have represented Michigan clients like you since 1991, so our Grand Rapids dog attack attorneys are familiar with the laws that apply to your case. We can navigate them as well as explain them to you in understandable terms.
For example, according to Michigan Compiled Law § 287.351, you can pursue legal action even if the dog did not show any prior aggression. We won’t let a liable party avoid responsibility by brushing off the incident as a “one-time thing.”
In addition to specific animal laws, we are familiar with the deadlines that apply to your case. Michigan Compiled Law § 600.5805 generally allows victims three years to file, during which time we can develop a strategy for your case. We can also follow any filing requirements for insurance claims.
We Represent You and Take Care of Your Entire Case
Representation means several meanings regarding how our lawyers work for you. At Christensen Law, we represent you by:
- Talking to any parties involved in the case
- Investigating and researching the attack
- Drafting and filing paperwork and court documents
- Interviewing witnesses and experts
- Helping you with daily case-related tasks
- Negotiating settlement offers that seek a favorable outcome for you
- Monitoring your case’s status
As your legal representative, a lawyer from our firm is your spokesperson, investigator, intermediary, and advocate. What’s more, you receive support from our entire team, not just your attorney.
Call Us Today for a Free Consultation After a Dog Bite Injury in Grand Rapids, MI
Call Christensen Law now at 248-900-9000 to set up a free case review. Our dog bite lawyers in Grand Rapids start by listening to you, setting the tone for our partnership—the focus starts on you and stays on you. Don’t wait until you’re out of time to preserve evidence or file a claim or suit. Reach out to us today and explore your legal options for recovery.
