personal injury suffered in a hospital

Posted on: 24 May 2016

Being a professional chef requires a lot of skills and hard work. If you've been involved in an accident that caused a severe injury to your hand, your abilities to perform as a chef may become extremely limited. When someone else is liable for your personal injuries, they are not only expected to compensate you for your initial medical bills, but for any other costs directly related to your injury. One way to help recuperate these costs is with a settlement case. By consulting and hiring a personal injury attorney, you can ensure that all of the financial impacts are addressed in your case. If you work as a chef, there four different impacts that could help you get extra compensation through your person injury settlement case.

1. Limited Work Hours

When working as a chef, one of your main cooking tools is your set of hands. An injury to them can limit movements and cut down on your ability to properly perform in the kitchen.You may have limited work hours during which you can actually use your hand for an extended amount of time. Instead of letting you lose out on income, an attorney can help calculate the hours that you have missed and include them as part of a settlement case. For example, if you typically worked 40 hours a week and have to cut it down to 20, then your settlement case will seek compensation for the missing 20 hours of work time. In some cases, the hand injuries you've sustained may prevent you from working altogether.

2. Chef Training Classes

A severe hand injury can often cause major physical changes. You may not be able to cook the same way that you used to when bones break or the basic foundation of your hand has changed. To help get you back to form, you may need to enroll in a variety of chef training courses. These courses will help you learn the techniques that you once knew and help you adjust back to the workplace. As your settlement case builds, the costs for these training classes will likely be included. These class costs are directly related to the injury and would not be necessary if you were not injured in the first place. Not only can a settlement case help cover the costs of the classes, but it can cover extras like books, cooking accessories, and supplemental materials that you need for the courses.

3. Physical Therapy

Cooking requires a wide range of motions and movements. Muscles and endurance are needed to stir items, lift large pans, and handle large foods, like heavy meats. After an injury, physical therapy sessions may be needed to help strengthen your body and prepare it for cooking again. With your arms and hands, physical therapy sessions may be needed to help regain full mobility in the area. If these sessions are not covered by your health insurance, then they may be included in your settlement case. An attorney can also use the physical therapy sessions to showcase the extent of your injuries and how they have impacted your cooking.

4. Cooking Tools for Disability

In some severe hand injury cases, you may have physical changes and ailments that are permanent. If this is the case and you still want to cook, you may have to purchase cooking tools meant for those with disabilities in order to complete a variety of tasks. There are a number of tools catered to chefs with limited mobility or strength. These include pivoting knives and utensils that compensate for grip issues. An attorney can use receipts and cost estimates for tools needed in the future to help build your settlement case. This will help you get the compensation needed to fully cook as a career when you're healed enough from the injuries.

By covering all of the impacts of a personal injury on your career as a chef, you can help receive the compensation you deserve for your injury. Find an attorney through a firm like Burke Schultz Harman & Jenkinson Attorneys at Law to get started.