When a serious accident leaves you or a loved one with life-altering injuries, the path forward becomes complicated. Medical bills mount. Recovery takes months or years. Your ability to work may be permanently affected. In these moments, you need more than a standard personal injury attorney—you need a lawyer who understands catastrophic injury cases and has the experience to fight for the full compensation you deserve.
At Turbak Law Office, P.C., we have represented catastrophically injured clients throughout Watertown and South Dakota for over 40 years. Our team includes board-certified trial advocates, forensic investigators, and attorneys who focus on long-term care insurance coordination. We work exclusively for injured individuals and never represent insurance companies or defendants, ensuring your interests remain our only priority.
What Constitutes a Catastrophic Injury
A catastrophic injury differs fundamentally from a typical personal injury. While a minor injury might heal within weeks or months, a catastrophic injury causes permanent, life-altering damage that affects your ability to work, care for yourself, and enjoy daily activities.
Catastrophic injuries typically involve:
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) – Including severe head trauma, diffuse axonal injuries, and long-term cognitive damage
- Spinal cord injuries – Resulting in partial or complete paralysis
- Severe burns – Covering large portions of the body and requiring extensive medical treatment
- Amputation or loss of limb – Requiring prosthetics and lifelong adaptation
- Permanent disfigurement – Causing significant physical and psychological impact
- Organ damage – Affecting vital body functions
- Severe internal injuries – Requiring multiple surgeries and ongoing medical care
What distinguishes these injuries is their permanence. Unlike a broken bone that heals, catastrophic injuries often result in permanent disability, chronic pain, and the need for lifelong medical care and support. This severity fundamentally changes how your case must be approached legally and financially.
How Catastrophic Injuries Happen in Watertown
Watertown’s location along the I-29 corridor and its role as a regional hub for agriculture and manufacturing create specific risks for catastrophic injuries. The accidents that cause these injuries often involve significant force or negligence.
Common causes of catastrophic injuries in our area include:
- Truck accidents – High-speed collisions involving commercial vehicles on I-29 and regional highways often result in catastrophic injuries due to the size and weight differential
- Motor vehicle collisions – Head-on crashes, T-bone accidents, and multi-vehicle pileups at high speeds
- Workplace injuries – Manufacturing equipment accidents, agricultural machinery incidents, and construction site falls
- Premises liability accidents – Severe falls from heights, inadequate security leading to violent attacks, or negligent maintenance causing serious injury
- Motorcycle accidents – The lack of protective barriers makes motorcycle riders vulnerable to catastrophic injuries even in moderate-speed collisions
South Dakota’s modified comparative negligence law (SDCL 20-9-2) applies to all these cases. Understanding how this law affects your claim matters, which is why early consultation with an experienced attorney is important.
Why Catastrophic Injury Cases Require Experienced Legal Representation
Catastrophic injury cases demand far more than standard personal injury litigation. These cases involve complex medical issues, substantial damage calculations, and often require expert testimony from multiple specialists. Insurance companies are aware of this, and they deploy their most aggressive tactics in catastrophic cases because the potential payouts are substantial.
A catastrophic injury case requires:
- Trial advocacy expertise – Many catastrophic cases proceed to trial because the damages are too substantial for routine settlement. Your attorney must be prepared to present your case persuasively to a jury.
- Forensic investigation capabilities – Reconstructing how an accident occurred often requires accident reconstruction experts, electronic data analysis, and detailed scene investigation.
- Medical coordination – Understanding complex medical conditions, working with treating physicians, and coordinating with medical experts to establish the full scope of your injuries.
- Long-term care planning – Calculating lifetime care costs, coordinating with long-term care insurance, and ensuring damages account for decades of future medical needs.
- Workers’ compensation coordination – When workplace injuries are involved, coordinating personal injury claims with workers’ compensation benefits requires important knowledge.
The Turbak Law Office, P.C. Advantage
Our firm brings specific capabilities to catastrophic injury cases:
- Board-certified trial advocates – Nancy Turbak Berry holds board certification in Civil Trial Advocacy and is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. She holds the South Dakota record for the largest personal injury jury verdict.
- In-house forensic investigation – Our investigator, Nic Ahmann, brings 13 years of law enforcement experience and focuses on forensic data retrieval and electronic evidence analysis.
- Long-term care insurance expertise – Partner Seamus Culhane trained with nationally recognized experts in long-term care insurance litigation and coordinates these complex benefits with personal injury claims.
- Workers’ compensation focus – Partner Liam Culhane brings deep expertise in workers’ compensation claims, critical when workplace injuries are involved.
- Plaintiff-only focus – We represent only injured individuals. We never represent insurance companies or defendants, eliminating any conflict of interest in how we pursue your case.
Damages You Can Recover in a Catastrophic Injury Claim
Understanding what compensation you can pursue is essential to evaluating your case. South Dakota law recognizes two categories of damages in personal injury cases: economic damages and non-economic damages.
Economic damages represent measurable financial losses:
- Medical expenses – All past and future medical treatment, including surgeries, hospitalization, rehabilitation, therapy, and ongoing care
- Lost wages – Income you lost during recovery and any permanent reduction in earning capacity
- Future care costs – The cost of long-term care, home modifications, assistive devices, and ongoing medical needs
- Vocational rehabilitation – Retraining costs if you cannot return to your previous occupation
- Transportation and accessibility modifications – Vehicle modifications, home accessibility improvements, and related expenses
Non-economic damages address the personal impact of your injuries:
- Pain and suffering – Compensation for physical pain and emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life – Damages for your inability to participate in activities you previously enjoyed
- Loss of consortium – Compensation to your spouse for the loss of companionship and support
- Emotional distress – Psychological impact, including anxiety, depression, and PTSD
In catastrophic injury cases, non-economic damages often exceed economic damages because the permanent nature of the injury creates lifelong suffering and lost opportunities. While we cannot guarantee specific amounts, we work toward substantial settlements or verdicts because the damages are genuinely significant.
The Catastrophic Injury Claim Process in South Dakota
Understanding the process helps you know what to expect. Most catastrophic injury claims follow this general timeline:
Investigation and Evidence Gathering – We investigate the accident thoroughly, collect evidence, interview witnesses, and work with experts to understand how your injury occurred. This phase typically takes 2-4 months.
Medical Documentation – We coordinate with your medical providers to obtain complete medical records and work with medical experts to establish the full scope of your injuries and prognosis.
Demand and Negotiation – We prepare a comprehensive demand package and present it to the insurance company. Negotiation typically takes 2-6 months, though catastrophic cases often take longer.
Settlement or Litigation – If the insurance company makes a fair offer, we may settle. If not, we file a lawsuit and prepare for trial. Litigation typically takes 1-3 years from filing to resolution.
South Dakota’s Statute of Limitations for Catastrophic Injuries
South Dakota Codified Law 15-2-14 establishes a three-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims. This means you have three years from the date of your injury to file a lawsuit. If you miss this deadline, you lose your right to pursue compensation entirely.
This deadline makes early consultation critical. The sooner you contact us today, the sooner we can preserve evidence, interview witnesses while memories are fresh, and begin building your case. In catastrophic injury cases, evidence preservation is particularly important because accident scenes change, witnesses move away, and memories fade.
Frequently Asked Questions About Catastrophic Injuries
How long do catastrophic injury cases take to resolve?
Catastrophic injury cases typically take longer than standard personal injury claims because the damages are substantial and insurance companies defend them aggressively. Most catastrophic cases take 18 months to 3 years from initial consultation to final resolution. Some cases take longer if they proceed through trial and appeal. The complexity of your specific injuries, the clarity of liability, and the insurance company’s willingness to negotiate all affect the timeline.
How much does it cost to hire a catastrophic injury lawyer?
We work on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay nothing upfront. We only receive a fee if you recover compensation through settlement or verdict. Our fee is a percentage of your recovery, typically 33% for settlements and up to 40% for cases that proceed to trial. This arrangement aligns our interests with yours—we only profit when you recover.
What evidence do I need for a catastrophic injury claim?
Strong evidence includes medical records documenting your injuries, accident scene photographs, witness statements, police reports, employment records showing lost wages, expert reports from medical professionals and accident reconstruction specialists, and insurance documentation. Our forensic investigator can help gather and analyze electronic evidence, including data from vehicle black boxes, traffic cameras, and other sources that establish how the accident occurred.
Can I still file a claim if the accident happened months ago?
You have three years from the date of injury to file a lawsuit under South Dakota law. However, waiting reduces the strength of your case. Witnesses move away or forget details. Evidence deteriorates or disappears. Medical records become harder to obtain. If you were injured months ago, contact us immediately so we can preserve evidence and begin building your case before critical information is lost.
What makes a case “catastrophic” versus a regular personal injury case?
A catastrophic injury involves permanent, life-altering damage that affects your ability to work and care for yourself. Regular personal injury cases involve injuries that heal within a reasonable timeframe. The distinction matters because catastrophic cases involve substantially higher damages, more complex medical issues, and more aggressive defense tactics from insurance companies. They require experienced legal representation and often proceed to trial rather than settling quickly.
Contact Turbak Law Office, P.C. for Your Free Consultation
If you or a loved one has suffered a catastrophic injury in Watertown or anywhere in South Dakota, contact us today. We offer free initial consultations with no obligation. During your consultation, we’ll evaluate your case, explain your legal options, and answer your questions.
We represent catastrophically injured clients on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you. Call today to schedule your free consultation.