Iowa Child Injury Lawyers

Yes, and choosing to hire a lawyer is even more critical for children than adults.

Some families don’t realize that children’s injuries can have devastating long-term consequences that don’t appear for years. A lawyer can help you avoid settling too early and for too little. Settling before you understand the full impact on your child’s development, education, and future earning capacity could potentially cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Your child’s future depends on decisions that you make today. Don’t do this on your own. Speak with an Iowa child injury attorney about what happened. A lawyer will protect your child’s rights and help you avoid mistakes that could cost your family down the road.

Here are the seven costliest mistakes that Iowa families make with child injury claims.

1. Not Understanding Iowa’s Unique Medical Malpractice Deadlines for Children: Iowa has special timing rules for children affected by medical malpractice. For children under the age of 8 when the malpractice happened, you have until the child’s 10th birthday or two years from when you discovered the injury, whichever gives you more time. This extended deadline exists because medical injuries in young children often don’t show up for years. But here’s the critical trap. Iowa also has an absolute six-year deadline to act from when the malpractice actually occurred. This means that even with the special rules for young children, you can’t wait forever. The only exception is if a foreign object, like a surgical tool, was left inside your child’s body.
2. Believing the Insurance Company About Legal Deadlines: Insurance companies will send you official-looking letters about legal deadlines designed to mislead you into missing out on thousands of dollars. For example, the mother of a child hurt in a car accident got a letter from the other driver’s insurance company saying that she had until her child’s 19th birthday to file a claim for all damages from the accident. The letter left out a huge detail. In Iowa, parents only have two years from the accident to settle or file a lawsuit to recover medical costs for a minor child. After that, compensation for medical bills from before the child turns 18 are lost forever. If she had trusted that letter and waited, she could have missed out on reimbursement for over $10,000 in medical bills. 
3. Not Understanding Iowa’s Age-Based Liability Rules: Your child’s exact age at the time of the injury can determine whether they receive full compensation or have their settlements slashed by thousands of dollars. Under Iowa law, children 3 years old and younger cannot be assigned fault for their injuries. If your child is 4 or older, insurance companies may argue that they contributed to their own accident. But here’s what they won’t tell you: for children older than 3, Iowa uses a special legal standard for what qualifies as fault, asking what a reasonable child of the same age, intelligence, and experience would do in the same or similar situation (not what an adult would do). Iowa also has laws that place special duties on drivers when children are present.
4. Not Knowing What Your Child Can Actually Recover: Iowa recognizes damage categories for children that many parents overlook. For example, your child can recover for loss of earning capacity for their entire adult life from age 18 to retirement. They can recover for future medical expenses that they’ll likely need as adults. They can recover for loss of function of their body or their mind. Insurance companies will focus only on immediate medical costs, hoping that families don’t understand the full scope of what Iowa law allows children to recover.
5. Accepting Settlement Offers Too Early: Children are still developing, which means that injuries that seem minor initially can have devastating long-term consequences. A brain injury in a 5-year-old might lead to learning disabilities in middle school. A broken bone may cause growth problems that only appear in adolescence. Insurance companies know that the longer a case remains open, the more expensive it becomes. Iowa law understands that you can’t properly evaluate a child’s injuries until you see how they affect development and future potential, which is why children have until age 19 to pursue their claims for harms and losses that will last beyond childhood.
6. Falling for the $50,000 Settlement Trap: Under Iowa law, any settlement under $50,000 can be paid directly to the custodian of a child without court approval. Insurance companies sometimes exploit this by rushing to offer exactly $49,999, just $1 under the amount that would trigger a judge to review the settlement. They’ll tell you that it’s quick, easy, and avoids all the complicated court paperwork. In reality, this avoids the one thing that protects your child: having a judge review whether a settlement is fair. Insurance companies hate this oversight because they can’t lowball you while a judge is watching.
7. Not Exploring Settlement Options: Most families accept lump sum settlements for their children without ever hearing about structured settlements. Structured settlements can provide guaranteed income for your child for a set period of time instead of a single payment when they turn 18. Think of a $200,000 lump sum at age 18 vs. $2,000 a month for life starting at age 25. The lifetime value of those monthly payments could exceed $1 million, but it costs the insurance company roughly the same. Insurance companies prefer lump sum settlements because it allows the company to close their books on your claim forever. 

If your baby is seriously injured because the delivery doctor or nurse did something they should not do or they failed to do something they should have done, this can be considered medical malpractice.

There are many types of birth injuries that can occur during delivery. They can happen when the baby is deprived of oxygen (usually because of a prolonged labor), shoulder dystocia (where the baby’s shoulders become lodged during delivery), and skull fractures or brain injuries if there is too much force when using forceps or a vacuum.

Birth can be traumatic for both the mother and baby. However there are monitoring systems to use and procedures the OB-GYN can and should follow to keep the baby safe throughout delivery. Birth injury claims are best handled by a skilled Iowa medical malpractice lawyer.

After a dog attack involving a child, you need to take steps to prove that your child was attacked by a dog, establish who is the dog’s owner, and show the full extent of injuries from the dog attack. Here’s what to do if your child is hurt by a dog in Iowa:

Report the Dog Bite to Local Authorities: Iowa’s strict liability rule may apply if the dog attack is documented properly. Make sure the attack is reported to local animal control or local law enforcement. help if the driver who hit you wasn’t insured or did not have enough insurance to cover your bills..

Get Your Child Medical Attention:  Even if your child does not seem seriously hurt, it’s they must receive a medical evaluation. Dog bites need to be cleaned thoroughly and checked for infection. A series of rabies shots may also be necessary if there is no proof of the dog’s vaccination history.

Take Clear Photos of Your Injuries Right Away: We recommend you get photos of injuries, photos during the healing process, photos of the dog (if possible), and photos of any property damage or blood. Also keep any clothes that were torn in the attack; do not wash them, and place them in a plastic or paper bag with the date attached.

Get the Dog Owner’s Name and Contact Information: Even if the dog owner is a neighbor, get their name, contact information, and policy number for their homeowner’s insurance immediately.

No, the chance of your child ever seeing the inside of a courtroom is very small. Over 90% of child injury cases settle without having to go to trial. When we prepare cases properly, insurance companies would usually rather pay a fair settlement than face an Iowa jury.

When a case settles for over $25,000, Iowa law requires a judge to approve the settlement to protect your child. This is a good thing. It stops insurance companies from taking advantage of families. Usually, neither you nor your child has to attend this approval process. Your child doesn’t have to testify. Your child never goes to court. It’s handled entirely on paper.

The only time your child would actually go to court and possibly testify is if their case goes to trial instead of settling. And here’s what’s important: you decide that. As the parent, you choose whether to accept a settlement offer or go to trial. It’s always your decision.