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Your Catastrophic Injury & Amputation Attorneys

Georgia Catastrophic Injury & Amputation Lawyers

When the Injury Lasts a Lifetime, So Should the Recovery.

A traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, amputation, or severe burn doesn’t just change a day — it changes every day that follows. Morrison & Hughes builds the medical, economic, and life-care proof Georgia juries need to fund a lifetime of care. We don’t settle for the insurer’s first number.

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Injury cases: no fee unless we win
Life-care planners & vocational experts
6 office locations statewide
0+
TBI Deaths / Year (U.S.)
~190 per day, 2023 (CDC)
$0M+
Lifetime Cost of Tetraplegia
Age 25, high tetraplegia (NSCISC)
0M
Americans Living with Limb Loss
Projected to double by 2050 (Amputee Coalition)
0K+
Burn ER Visits / Year (U.S.)
$1B+ in annual care costs (ABA)
Representing the Catastrophically Injured Across Georgia

A Catastrophic Injury Demands a Lifetime View — and a Lawyer Who Takes One.

“Catastrophic” is not marketing language — it is a legal and medical category. It describes injuries so severe they permanently alter the ability to work, to move, to think, or to live independently: traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and paralysis, amputations, severe burns, multiple fractures, and disfigurement. The medical bills don’t stop when the hospital discharges you. They follow you for the rest of your life.

Insurance companies understand this better than anyone — which is why they move fast to close these files cheaply, before the true cost of a lifetime of surgeries, prosthetics, therapy, home modification, and lost earning capacity is ever calculated. Morrison & Hughes works the other way. We retain life-care planners, treating physicians, vocational experts, and forensic economists to put a defensible, future-discounted number on what your injury will actually cost — and we prepare every case as if it will be decided by a Georgia jury.

Tell Us What Happened
Person in a wheelchair in a hospital rehabilitation hallway after a catastrophic injury
The Numbers Behind a Lifetime of Care

Catastrophic Injury by the Numbers

These figures come from the CDC, the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC), the Amputee Coalition, and the American Burn Association. They explain why catastrophic cases must be valued over a lifetime — not a year — and why an early insurance offer almost never covers the real cost.

Lifetime Cost of Spinal Cord Injury

Estimated lifetime cost by injury level, age 25 at injury (U.S. dollars)
Source: National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC) / MSKTC, “Spinal Cord Injury Facts and Figures at a Glance,” 2024. Figures exclude lost wages and productivity.

Leading Causes of TBI Hospitalization

Share of traumatic brain injury hospitalizations, U.S.
Source: U.S. CDC, Traumatic Brain Injury surveillance — falls (~49%) and motor-vehicle crashes (~25%) lead TBI hospitalizations.

Americans Living with Limb Loss

Prevalence of limb loss in the U.S., with 2050 projection
Source: Amputee Coalition / Avalere Health, U.S. limb-loss prevalence estimates — ~2.3M in 2019, projected to roughly double by 2050.

First-Year vs. Lifetime SCI Cost

High tetraplegia: cost in year one vs. total lifetime (age 25)
Source: NSCISC / MSKTC, 2024 — first-year costs for high tetraplegia exceed $1.1M; lifetime costs exceed $5M for a 25-year-old.
What We Handle

Types of Catastrophic Injury We Represent

Each of these injuries carries its own medicine, its own experts, and its own lifetime cost curve. We have handled them all — and we know how insurers try to undervalue each one.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

From severe concussion to diffuse axonal injury, TBIs disrupt memory, mood, speech, and executive function. The CDC links falls and motor-vehicle crashes as the leading causes. Damages turn on neuropsychological testing, future care, and lost cognitive earning capacity.

Spinal Cord Injury & Paralysis

Paraplegia and tetraplegia (quadriplegia) require attendant care, adaptive equipment, and home modification for life. NSCISC data put lifetime costs in the millions — which is exactly why these cases demand a full life-care plan.

Amputation & Limb Loss

Surgical or traumatic loss of a limb means a lifetime of prosthetics — devices that wear out and must be replaced every few years — plus revision surgery, therapy, and lost function. More than 2.3 million Americans now live with limb loss.

Severe Burns

Second- and third-degree burns require grafts, reconstructive surgery, and years of scar and contracture management. The American Burn Association reports more than 400,000 burn ER visits a year and over $1 billion in annual care costs.

Multiple & Crush Fractures

Polytrauma — pelvis, femur, spine, and complex joint fractures — often means internal hardware, multiple surgeries, and permanent loss of mobility or grip. Many victims never return to the physical work they did before.

Disfigurement & Scarring

Permanent scarring and disfigurement carry real, compensable harm in Georgia — both the cost of reconstructive care and the human toll of how an injury changes a person’s life, relationships, and sense of self.

Why the Lifetime View Wins

Future Medical Costs & the Life-Care Plan

The single biggest mistake in a catastrophic case is settling on today’s bills. The real exposure is decades of future care — and Georgia law allows you to recover it, but only if you prove it. That proof is the life-care plan.

Future Medical & Surgical Care

Revision surgeries, prosthetic replacements every few years, implant maintenance, and ongoing specialist treatment — projected across your life expectancy and reduced to present value.

Attendant & Home Health Care

For SCI and severe TBI, around-the-clock or daily attendant care is often the largest single line item — frequently larger than all the medical bills combined.

Rehabilitation & Therapy

Physical, occupational, speech, cognitive, and vocational rehabilitation — measured in years, not weeks, for catastrophic injuries.

Adaptive Equipment & Home Modification

Power wheelchairs, lifts, ramps, accessible bathrooms and vehicles, and assistive technology — all of which wear out and must be replaced.

Lost Earnings & Earning Capacity

A forensic economist values not just the wages you have already lost, but the career you can no longer have — discounted to present value for the jury.

Pain, Suffering & Loss of Enjoyment

Georgia’s “general damages” compensate the human cost — chronic pain, disfigurement, depression, and the loss of the life you planned to live.

Free Case Evaluation

Do You Have a Catastrophic Injury Case?

Answer a few quick questions. We’ll tell you whether you have a potential case, and a Morrison & Hughes attorney will call you. Free, confidential, no obligation.

Step 1 of 6

What type of serious injury occurred?

If you’re not sure it qualifies, choose the closest option — we’ll evaluate it.

Was the injury caused by someone else?

A driver, a property owner, a company, a product, or a medical provider — anyone other than you.

When did the injury happen?

Georgia’s statute of limitations is generally two years (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33).

Is ongoing or future medical care expected?

Surgeries, rehab, prosthetics, attendant care — future care is central to a catastrophic case.

Are you currently represented by another attorney for this injury?

If yes, please contact your attorney first.

One last step — send this to our team

Your answers are already written into the message below. Add your contact details, tell us anything else in your own words, and press Send Message. Nothing is sent until you do.

Know the Statutes

Georgia Law That Governs Catastrophic Injury Claims

In a catastrophic case, the law decides not just whether you can recover, but how much — and for how long. These are the Georgia statutes that shape every life-altering injury claim.

O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33

Two-Year Statute of Limitations

You generally have two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit in Georgia. Catastrophic injuries can keep a victim hospitalized for months — do not let the clock run out. Claims involving government defendants carry much shorter ante litem notice deadlines.

O.C.G.A. § 51-12-2

Special & General Damages

Georgia recognizes special damages — provable economic losses like medical bills, future care, and lost earnings — and general damages for pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. Special damages must be proven, which is why expert life-care and economic projections are essential.

O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33

Modified Comparative Negligence

You can recover if you are less than 50% at fault, with your award reduced by your share of fault. At 50% or more, recovery is barred. In high-value catastrophic cases, defendants fight hard to shift blame — and we fight back with reconstruction and expert testimony.

O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1

Punitive Damages

When a defendant’s conduct shows willful misconduct, wantonness, or conscious indifference — proven by clear and convincing evidence — punitive damages may be awarded. Georgia caps most punitive awards at $250,000, but there is no cap in product-liability cases or where the defendant acted while impaired by alcohol or drugs.

Future Damages / Present Value

Recovering a Lifetime of Care

Georgia allows recovery of reasonably certain future medical expenses and lost earning capacity, reduced to present cash value. Proving them requires a life-care plan and a forensic economist — the heart of how we value a catastrophic case for trial.

Life-Care Plan as Evidence

The Proof Behind the Number

A certified life-care planner translates your medical future into a year-by-year cost schedule — surgeries, therapy, equipment, attendant care. Paired with treating-physician testimony, it is the evidence Georgia juries use to award the full cost of your injury, not the insurer’s estimate.

Our Approach

How We Build a Catastrophic Injury Case

Catastrophic cases are won with evidence and expert proof, not arguments. Here is how Morrison & Hughes builds the file the insurer can’t dismiss.

1. Preserve the Evidence

We move quickly to secure the scene, the vehicle or product, surveillance, and electronic data before they disappear or are altered.

2. Identify Every Defendant

Drivers, employers, property owners, manufacturers, and contractors — catastrophic cases often have multiple at-fault parties and multiple insurance policies.

3. Document the Full Medical Picture

We work with your treating physicians and specialists to establish diagnosis, prognosis, and the care you will need for the rest of your life.

4. Build the Life-Care Plan

A certified life-care planner produces a year-by-year cost schedule for future medical care, equipment, and attendant services.

5. Prove the Economic Loss

A forensic economist values lost earning capacity and reduces future damages to present cash value, the way Georgia law requires.

6. Prepare for Trial

We build every catastrophic case as if it will be tried. Insurers pay full value when they believe we are ready — and willing — to go to a jury.

Common Questions

Catastrophic Injury FAQs — Georgia

What counts as a “catastrophic injury” in Georgia?
A catastrophic injury is one that causes permanent, life-altering harm — traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury and paralysis, amputation, severe burns, multiple or crush fractures, and serious disfigurement. The defining feature is that the injury permanently affects your ability to work, move, think, or live independently, which is why these cases must be valued over a lifetime rather than by today’s medical bills alone.
How long do I have to file a catastrophic injury claim in Georgia?
Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33, you generally have two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit, and two years from the date of death for a wrongful death claim. Claims against a city, county, or the State of Georgia require a written ante litem notice far sooner — six months for cities and twelve months for the State — so it is critical to involve an attorney early.
How are future medical costs and lifetime care proven?
Through a life-care plan prepared by a certified life-care planner, supported by your treating physicians, plus a forensic economist who reduces those future costs to present cash value. Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-2 and related case law) allows recovery of reasonably certain future medical expenses and lost earning capacity — but only if you prove them with this kind of expert evidence. It is the single most important part of a catastrophic case.
What is a catastrophic injury case worth?
There is no average — value depends on the injury, your age and life expectancy, your earning capacity, the available insurance, and the strength of the liability evidence. National data show why these cases are large: the NSCISC reports lifetime costs exceeding $5 million for a young person with high tetraplegia. The only reliable way to know your case’s value is to have the future damages professionally projected, which is exactly what we do.
Can I recover punitive damages?
Possibly. Under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1, punitive damages may be awarded where the defendant’s conduct showed willful misconduct, wantonness, or conscious indifference to consequences, proven by clear and convincing evidence. Georgia caps most punitive awards at $250,000 — but there is no cap in product-liability cases or where the at-fault party was impaired by alcohol or drugs.
The insurance company offered a fast settlement. Should I take it?
Almost never in a catastrophic case. Early offers are designed to close the file before the lifetime cost of your injury is ever calculated — and once you sign a release, the case is over. With injuries this severe, the future medical and care costs typically dwarf the bills you have already received. Have an attorney review any offer before you sign anything.
What if I was partly at fault for the accident?
You may still recover. Georgia follows modified comparative negligence under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33: you can recover as long as you are less than 50% at fault, with your award reduced by your percentage of fault. Insurers aggressively try to shift blame in high-value cases — we counter with accident reconstruction and expert testimony to keep your share of fault accurate and low.
Is it free?
We handle catastrophic injury cases on a contingency fee — you pay no attorney’s fees unless we recover compensation for you. The initial consultation is free and confidential, and we advance the cost of the experts your case needs. There is no risk in calling.
From the Morrison & Hughes Blog

Catastrophic Injury Resources

Guidance for Georgia families facing a life-altering injury, written by attorneys who handle these cases. Read before you talk to an insurance adjuster.

Related Reading

Visit the Morrison & Hughes Blog

Service Areas: Find Your Local Catastrophic Injury Attorney

We handle catastrophic injury cases statewide. Six office locations across Georgia.

Marietta Alpharetta & Roswell Decatur Hiram Fayetteville LaGrange All Service Areas

Related Practice Areas

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Wrongful Death

When a catastrophic injury becomes fatal, surviving family members have rights under Georgia’s Wrongful Death Act. We help families pursue the full value of the life.

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Truck Accidents

Commercial truck collisions are a leading source of catastrophic injuries on Georgia roads — and they involve multiple defendants and high-limit policies.

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Workplace Catastrophic Injuries

Catastrophically hurt on the job? Georgia workers’ comp offers lifetime catastrophic benefits — and a third party may also be liable. We pursue both.

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Living with a Catastrophic Injury? Call Now.

Free, confidential consultation — 24/7. We’ll listen, explain what a lifetime of care should be worth, and walk you through what comes next. No fees unless we recover for you.

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