Parents want their children to receive a decent education and not be harmed when they attend school. However, many school-age children are often injured while at school. When a child is injured at school, is there an adequate remedy? Who is responsible? Those are the kinds of questions experienced education defense attorneys will answer. Here are some things to consider before filing a lawsuit against a school.
Take care of the child first
It will be difficult for education defense attorneys, as well as the court, to assess the potential harm until the course of the injury is completed. A physician will ultimately release a student seeking medical treatment for an injury. At this point, all medical bills should be recorded. Medical bills will become the basis of the claim even if they have not been paid. If there is a prescribed treatment in progress, such as physical therapy, those costs may also be factored in. Those medical records help move the lawsuit forward.
Government immunity
Schools are the responsibility of local municipalities for legal matters. The destination school that is filing a lawsuit may have immunity against certain types of injuries sustained by students while on school grounds. Education defense attorneys will know immediately if the nature of a particular injury would warrant further legal action.
Please note that any government immunity would only apply to public schools. A private school has a different set of standards regarding neglect.
A matter of negligence
With the demands involving schools, the central issue becomes supervision. Was there adequate supervision for the child at the time of the injury? For example, if a teacher leaves a classroom to make a personal phone call, then he is not supervising his students.
The other possible problem of negligence concerns taking reasonable steps to prevent an accident from occurring. A perfect example of neglect would be the school’s physique. A student could trip over peeling tile or a slippery floor due to a plumbing leak. If the school was aware of the situation and did not take immediate action to correct the problem, then they could be negligent.
Fixing the case
Often times, education defense attorneys can recommend resolving a case with the school district. A claim can be filed against the particular school’s insurance company, but only if it is preferable for the school district to resolve an issue without lengthy court proceedings. This is especially true if the only issue at stake may be reimbursement for medical expenses.
It is important to resolve the claim within the statute of limitations. Nobody wants to see their child hurt at school. When an accident occurs, a quick and effective solution is found. That way, a student’s education will no longer be disrupted.
