I never thought I would be the type

[siliconbauhaus]

I wish your son and your family best wishes for a quick and full recovery.

[MikeR]

Our prayers for a rapid and complete recovery. Please keep us posted of his progress.

Mike and Frances

[Warren]

If a felony has been committed, the crime is against the state not you, your son, or your family. The State will make that determination and decide what course to follow.

My advice regarding suing is to secure the services of an attorney to evaluate the situation as it stands now. Not knowing where you live I have know idea as to the local government's usual response to such incidents. My guess is that the school district will fall all over its self to do two things: 1. keep it as private as possible and 2. throw money at the problem.

I suspect that you will not have to go to court to have all costs recovered. The district's insurance company, or self insurance will probably pay all reasonable costs. Of course they will try to not pay what they consider to be unreasonable costs. This is where an attorney is invaluable, as a negotiator.

Damages are another matter. The district is probably ready, and indeed expects to pay a damage amount. What you will consider a reasonable amount and what they will consider the correct sum to be will be wildly different at the start. A situation like this can go crazy at times, again a good attorney will take much of the pressure on his shoulders
and allow you to concentrate on getting your boy well.

My suggestion is to secure a competant attorney (do a little research, preferable in a few days, after the shock and anger have subsided a little) and let him delve into it and offer suggestions. Get someone you can trust and . . . trust him!

Forget about the instructor and his part in this. The school district is culpable, not the instructor. The criminal case, if it goes to court, will most likely remedy the wrongs. If not, again your attorney will be best positioned to determine a course of action.

Your job, right now, is focus on the boy. Leave the punishment's up to the court and the financial recovery to your attorney.

As things return to close to normal, you will be able to sort your thoughts and reactions more logically. You will be able to evaluate your attorney's actions better. Courts, suits, etc. are off in the not too distant future. You need to concentrate on the boy right now.

This is all new to you and is old hat to your attorney. Let him do his job and you, do yours. Best wishes for a full recovery on your son's health.

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Financial recovery from the adverse party is practically impossible. Your medical insurance company has the information on the adverse party and will attempt recovery of the medical against the childs parents who are liable for his actions. If you are lucky enough to find that the parents have homeowners insurance (the policy would respond to this act), the limits of liabilty are likely insufficient to even cover the medical, much less anything else. Any judgements against the parents in excess of the insurance (if present) would easily be dismissed in bankruptcy court in most jurisdictions.

What basis of liability do you have against the school? I need to take time and read your post more closely. I see in other posts there is a hold harmless. You would need gross negligence to over ride a hold harmless.

[jessrice]

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers,

I am not sure there is a hold harmless agreement in effect, but it could be part of the whole school registration process.

As far as responsibility, the other student is the primary cause, but in talking to others that are familiar, the school dropped the ball with the fact that the teacher wasn't in the main classroom, but in his office. The fact is made worse since it was a metal shop, which should have better supervision than English or math. This actually may be considered gross negligence, since their wasn't enough supervision in the actual classroom to prevent any type of incident.

I am guessing that if the teacher was present he would have seen the initial interaction over the machine, and put a stop to it before it got this far.

As far as the other student, i understand they have an attorney already, and are already working on a defense for the criminal part of it. I don't really know anything else about them, and my son only knew him from this class.

The school is keeping everything quite as possible, and really haven't asked or stated much, as anyone would expect. They seem to be ready to accommodate any extra needs for the time though, and that is what I wanted for now. I've instructed my son not to talk to anyone at the school about it, as recommended by the officers.

Sounds like I should probably start researching local attorneys, and i have a family attorney that i have used for the last 5 years, that has been practicing in our area for 30 years, so i will ask him for suggestions as well.

In the meantime i have gotten my son a tablet computer that uses a stylus point pen, and handwriting recognition, so that he can work on his fine motor skills, reading and writing. As i sit here and write this he is playing a fairly interactive game that requires some thought, as well as lots of movement with the stylus. He is only using his left hand, but he said he is becoming more accurate with it, and that its recognizing his writing.

Again, thanks for your thoughts

Jesse

[thestinker]

I'll be praying for your son. I would consult an attorney for sure. I would also consult a pastor....they have been with lots of people in dificult situations like yours beforem and could offer ideas or contacts in the legal profession.

RS

[mpc]

Don't feel the least bit guilty about hiring proper legal representation for you and your son especially since the others have representation already. So much of the bad sue happy culture today is from the mindset of "protect me from my own stupidity. You didn't tell me wet floors might be slippery." Such people sue to see what they can get after they screwed up. And this bunch keeps the ambulance chasers in business. Unfortunately, in the public's eye, this is what the majority of the legal system seems to be - ambulance chasers and money grubbers looking for opportunities.

Your son was attacked, a totally different situation and exactly what the legal system was intended to address. As a result, your family now has expenses and potential future care needs that are not of your son's doing. The party responsible for creating the situation should be held accountable; that's as close to justice as humans can get. Ideally somebody would wave a magic wand and your son would be 100% cured instantly... but we can't do that. Modern medicine, amazing as it is, can't do everything. So the party responsible for the situation should be required to foot the bill now and in the future.

Others on this thread have given you good advice on finding the right lawyer for your family... I can't add anything other than try to find one that understands the concept of ethics. Such people know the difference between "right & wrong" compared to "what can I get?" which was the original intent of the legal system - to protect one's rights. You never know what type of person the other side has hired... so protect your family.

Best wishes for your son and whole family.

mpc

[scmhogg]

Jesse,

My thoughts are with you and your son.

I am a lawyer who limits his practice to criminal defense. I agree that you need to find a really experienced lawyer in your area. I can't help you much since I don't know what area of the country/world you live. For example, here in CA we have an awful med-mal law that makes it really difficult to pursue a claim.

It is not unusual for me to be hired to try and fix the felony conviction the client got with their divorce or business lawyer.

That said:

1. Find a "local" lawyer. One that practices in the county seat or the city where the superior court is located. Local knowledge of the judges and opponents can be as important a legal skill.

2. Do not pay a retainer. Injury and med-mal case are usually taken on a contingency basis. The attorney will take 20-50% of the judgment or settlement. Here, 25-33% is pretty standard. If they don't feel your case is good enough to justify advancing expenses why hire them. If they lose, they get nothing and they are out their time and expenses.

3. Hire a firm that is large enough to absorb the expenses of litigation. Since it is a contingency case, you can usually pay the same percentage to a big established firm as you would to the solo in the mini mall. They simply have to be large enough to handle the onslaught of paper they will receive from the big defense firms. It is not unusual for a firm to have to advance over $100K in litigation expenses. [Experts, investigators etc.]

When I look for an out of state criminal lawyer to help me or to refer to, I go to the NACDL [National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers] For a big civil case, the Million Dollar Advocates might no be a bad place to start.

http://www.milliondollaradvocates.com

Steve

[ChrisD]

Jesse,

Sorry to hear about your son. Not much I can offer right now but prayers and support. I think the best advice has been given in the previous posts.

I totally agree with Warren on breaking the situation down to a set of different responsibilities. Let the other parties do their job. Taking on too much would only make you less effective in meeting your primary responsibility at the moment, which is to focus on your son. He needs you now the most.

Again, my prayers go out to your family. Please keep us posted. Let us know if there is anything -- anything at all -- that we can do.

[Warren]

Jesse: Steve's advice is right from the horse's . . . ah, mouth (sorry, I had a problem finding just the right word Steve.). You can't beat it. Free legal advice which is right on the money. That's what I was trying to say and he has the qualifacations which add weight to his advice.

[JTimmons]

As Pappy pointed out your lawsuit wouldn't be one those questionable lawsuits like we see so often now a days.

Regardless of the incident that happened with your son, I was sickened to read that the teacher wasn't even with the class while they were using equipment. The shop environment is the most dangerous of places to be in any school, a teacher not in there is just ridiculous.

I pray that your son has a complete recovery, but sue the cr@p out of both the parents of the other kid and the school and don't look back.

[Texas splinter]

Dittos on the above comments. Plus keep in mind that, unless there are some MAJOR changes in the medical insurance business, your son may well never be able to get any kind of health insurance that he can afford "...due to pre-exsisting conditions..." Just something else to consider.
Your son and your family will be in our prayers.

[Mrs. Wallnut]

Jess I hope that your son recovers well. Sounds like he has a loving environment that will help him along.

IMO I think that the teacher is just as much at fault as the other student and his parents. And I don't believe in the "I just lost it" part. I feel that is not a valid excuse or one that should be used when it comes to the injuries that your son received. Also the school should have immediately called an ambulance if he was bleeding that badly.

We had an issue with our son at the start of winter when there was ice on the ground. He came home and he had fallen on the playground and hit his left cheek on a pole and had a cut on it as well. His cheek was swollen and was really surprised that the school didn't call me about it. When I asked about it the next day the secretary was apologetic and said she had 3 or 4 other kids in there with something wrong and just gave our son a band-aid for his face. Needless to say I think that she will call me from now on. I also don't think they staff schools as well as they need to these days. If his injuries would have been worse I know that we would have raised a BIG stink over it.

I hope that you take the advice of others here and do retain a lawyer to look out for YOUR interest in this case that may get to be too much for you to handle.

[gad5264]

Jesse,
First I have to wish your son a full healthy recovery. Secondly I do understand your aprehension to think about suing but in this day and age you have to do what you have to do.

Whatever you decide I am sure that all of us here at BT3 will be thinking of you and your family.

Best wishes,

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Dittos on the above comments. Plus keep in mind that, unless there are some MAJOR changes in the medical insurance business, your son may well never be able to get any kind of health insurance that he can afford "...due to pre-exsisting conditions..." Just something else to consider.
Your son and your family will be in our prayers.

You can't use pre-existing conditions exclusion for someone who has a policy in force. It would be important that your son continuously have health insurance to avoid gaps in coverage that would allow denial based upon pre-existing conditions. One can normally continue providing health coverage under parents policy as long as they are in college up to the age of 24. It would be important that anytime your son comes off your policy to have a pre-underwritten and approved prior to taking him off your policy. Even if it is a cheap policy with $10,000 deductible it would be what is referred to as "credible coverage".

One thing to check on is your lifetime maximum of your policy. A lot of policies still have $1 mil lifetime limits.

Good luck on your litigation. The "I just lost it" defense is terrible. I wouldn't be surprised to see them come up with another defense. From a civil suit view, I think you have a good case. Based upon the limited information you have provided you have a pretty valuable case. I adjusted private and public school system liability claims full time for 3 years. If the school system is privately insured then a relatively quick settlement is likely. If the school system is self insured through local government you may have a very long road to fiscal recovery. Medical expenses, amount of brain activity that is limited, level of clear negligence and the amount of scarring will determine the amount of damages. From a insurance company stand point I think your case is pretty decent.