My daughter was assaulted by 6 males and a female. My daughter is 18. One of the males hit her in the head with a baseball bat. She has blod clot and had bleeding all to do with her brain. She is messed up from it. Difficulty talking,walking,bathing,brushi... hair,etc.Can she or I file a civil suit against them? They are looking at prison time.
Answers:
ABSOLUTELY! You can definately file suite against them to recover cost of medical bills, pain and suffering, etc. You can also try to get compensation for ongoing conditions that may have resulted from the attack.
If they are being charged in criminal court and are convicted, it will only help your case.
Yes ... BUT. Here is the story.
Criminal law is intended to punish the wrongdoer for violaiton of the community's rights.
Civil law is about ... money. If you win a lawsuit (as plaintiff), you get a judgment, which says the bad guys owe you money. It does not collect the money. It simply says that they owe the money.
So, the first question to figure out is -- will these guys ever have the money to pay the judgment. If not, it will take hard work and time to get ... nothing.
The second question is -- even if they do not pay, is it worth it. A judgment is good (depending on the state) for 10-20 years unless it is renewed, and it can prevent them from buying a house, or car, etc., until it is paid. But, in prison, that will not make much difference.
OJ Simpson, a rich ex-football player, was found liable in civil court for the murder of his ex-wife. The winners have received almost no money, and have made it their life's cause to pursue him. In some ways, I think that is sad, for they are not able to move on with their lives, for the kids of both, etc.
In your case, there may be a need to extract revenge, but trying to collect the judgment will simply keep you in the past.
OK, if you want to file a suit, its not so difficult. You need to draft a complaint. I do not know what state you are in, and there are different requirements. Some states have "Notice" pleading (simply complaint, stating who the defendants are, who the plaintiff is -- your daughter -- and what they did (BATTERY).
You also need to look to see whether or not YOU can sue. Your daughter is an adult. I am assuming that you are not her legal conservator (court judgment). So, while her mother, she might need to have a Guardian ad Litem appointed to file the suit. This is, normally, an attorney who then acts in the case and sues the defendants.
I suspect that you will have difficulty obtaining an attorney (unless you pay by the hour), because if the defendants will not have money to pay you, that would mean an attorney would not get paid either. Lawyers usually do not like that kind of arrangement.
But the bottom line is, that with some research, you can certainly sue. One more thing. Depending on your state, you may have as little as one year to file suit. Be sure that you find the statute of limitations for "Intentional" acts and "Personal Injury". Whichever statute (if there are two) which is SHORTER will control.
The good news is that, in a lawsuit for an intentional act (they INTENDED to strike her), punitive damages are available. So if these dolts ever come into money, you could get that too.
Good luck to you --- and to your daughter.
File a criminal case against the suspects who assaulted your daughter and pray that they pay all expenses and damages arising from their felonious act.
Given her medical condition, you could ask the court to appoint you as her guardian at litem (guardian at law). Then you could file the suit on her behalf.
But, you may want to wait until the criminal proceedings are further advanced. A conviction (or guilty plea) makes your civil suit much easier.
In either event, there's nothing stopping finding an attorney now to help you with the details.
you should, hopefully they have assets to pay for the medical bills, but get a personal injury lawyer and sue
Since your daughter is 18, you would have to be appointed as her guardian in this respect in order to do so, but yes, you can (and you totally should!) file a civil suit to recoup damages from the injuries. Or you can just find her a lawyer who will represent her. In addition to medical bills, those attackers owe her money for missed work and all of the things in her life that she can no longer do or do as well. Call your local Bar Association, or just look in the yellow pages, for a personal injury attorney who will work on contingency -- but do it quickly before the statute of limitations runs out. You totally have a case, especially with brain injuries.
You should also talk to the lawyer about suing other people or entities who might have been responsible. For example, if your daughter was assaulted on school grounds or in a parking lot that wasn't properly secured or well-lit, the owners of that property might be liable as well. Or if the police took too long to respond and that time lapse led to further damage -- there might be a lot of other people (with deeper pockets) who you can sue.
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