San Diego Child Injury Lawyers

Child Injury Cases We Handle

The Mason Firm represents children and families in cases involving:

• car accidents;
• truck accidents;
• pedestrian accidents;
• bicycle accidents;
• motorcycle accidents;
• rideshare accidents;
• school injuries;
• unsafe playgrounds;
• dangerous property conditions;
• dog bites and animal attacks;
• swimming pool injuries;
• drowning and near-drowning incidents;
• sports and recreation injuries;
• traumatic brain injuries;
• concussions;
• broken bones;
• spinal injuries;
• burns;
• scarring and disfigurement;
• medical malpractice;
• birth injuries;
• delayed diagnosis;
• nursing negligence;
• unsafe products;
• negligent supervision;
• civil rights violations;
• catastrophic injuries;
• and wrongful death.

Child injury cases require careful attention because children are still growing and developing. An injury that appears manageable at first may have long-term consequences that become more obvious over time.

Why Child Injury Cases Are Different

Cases involving children are different from adult injury cases. A child may not be able to explain symptoms clearly, describe pain accurately, or understand how an injury has affected them. Parents, teachers, doctors, therapists, and family members may be important witnesses to changes in the child’s behavior, function, mood, school performance, and daily life.

Child injury cases may involve:

• long-term medical care;
• future surgery;
• physical therapy;
• occupational therapy;
• speech therapy;
• neurological care;
• developmental evaluations;
• educational accommodations;
• emotional trauma;
• scarring;
• permanent limitations;
• life-care planning;
• and future loss of earning capacity.

Because children have many years ahead of them, future damages must be evaluated carefully. The full impact of the injury may not be known immediately.

Common Causes of Serious Child Injuries

Children can be injured in many different ways. Some injuries are unavoidable, but many happen because an adult, business, driver, school, medical provider, property owner, or other responsible party failed to act safely.

Common causes include:

Car Accidents
Children may be injured as passengers, pedestrians, bicyclists, or occupants in rideshare vehicles. Serious crashes can cause brain injuries, fractures, internal injuries, spinal injuries, scarring, and emotional trauma.

Truck Accidents
Commercial truck crashes can cause catastrophic injuries to children because of the size and force involved. These cases may require investigation into the truck driver, trucking company, vehicle maintenance, driver logs, training, and safety practices.

Pedestrian and Bicycle Accidents
Children are especially vulnerable when walking or riding bicycles near streets, intersections, schools, driveways, parking lots, and neighborhoods. Drivers must use reasonable care to avoid harming children.

Unsafe Property Conditions
Dangerous stairs, broken flooring, poor lighting, missing guardrails, unsafe playgrounds, swimming pools, unsecured hazards, and dangerous public property can cause serious child injuries.

Dog Bites and Animal Attacks
Dog bites can cause puncture wounds, nerve damage, infection, scarring, emotional trauma, and permanent disfigurement. Children are often bitten on the face, head, neck, arms, or hands.

School and Daycare Injuries
Schools, daycares, camps, and youth programs may be responsible when children are harmed because of negligent supervision, unsafe facilities, dangerous equipment, or failure to respond to known risks.

Medical Malpractice and Birth Injuries
Children may be harmed by delayed diagnosis, failure to diagnose, surgical errors, medication errors, birth injuries, delayed C-section, failure to respond to fetal distress, neonatal negligence, or other medical mistakes.

Sports and Recreation Injuries
Recreational activities can involve preventable injury when facilities, coaches, organizers, equipment providers, or property owners fail to follow reasonable safety practices.

Traumatic Brain Injuries in Children

A traumatic brain injury can be especially serious for a child. Because a child’s brain is still developing, symptoms may evolve over time and the full impact may not be immediately clear.

Child TBI symptoms may include:

• headaches;
• dizziness;
• nausea;
• memory problems;
• concentration problems;
• sleep changes;
• irritability;
• mood changes;
• sensitivity to light or noise;
• school difficulties;
• behavioral changes;
• fatigue;
• balance problems;
• vision issues;
• and developmental concerns.

A child may not describe these symptoms clearly. Parents may notice that the child is acting differently, struggling in school, sleeping more, becoming more emotional, avoiding activities, or having trouble with tasks that were previously easy.

Child brain injury cases often require medical records, school records, therapy records, family observations, teacher observations, neuropsychological testing, and expert review.

Birth Injury and Medical Malpractice Cases Involving Children

Some child injury cases begin before or during birth. Birth injury cases may involve allegations that health care providers failed to recognize fetal distress, delayed a necessary C-section, failed to respond to concerning fetal heart tracings, failed to properly resuscitate a newborn, or failed to diagnose and treat serious conditions.

Birth injury and pediatric medical malpractice cases may involve:

• fetal distress;
• delayed C-section;
• hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy;
• neonatal brain injury;
• cerebral palsy;
• seizures;
• developmental delay;
• infection;
• delayed diagnosis;
• medication errors;
• surgical errors;
• and wrongful death.

These cases are complex and require careful review of prenatal records, labor and delivery records, fetal monitoring strips, neonatal records, imaging, expert opinions, and the child’s long-term medical and developmental needs.

Dog Bite Injuries to Children

Dog bite cases involving children can be especially serious. Children may suffer physical injury, permanent scarring, nerve damage, infection, emotional trauma, and fear around animals.

In child dog bite cases, important evidence may include:

• photographs of injuries;
• medical records;
• animal control reports;
• witness statements;
• information about the dog’s owner;
• prior incidents involving the dog;
• homeowner’s or renter’s insurance information;
• and documentation of scarring or future treatment needs.

The Mason Firm handles serious dog bite and animal attack cases involving children throughout San Diego and California.

School, Daycare, and Negligent Supervision Cases

Parents trust schools, daycares, camps, and youth programs to reasonably protect children. When children are harmed because adults fail to supervise, ignore known risks, or allow dangerous conditions to exist, there may be a legal claim.



These cases may involve:

• playground injuries;
• falls;
• assaults;
• bullying-related injuries;
• sports injuries;
• unsafe equipment;
• inadequate supervision;
• failure to follow safety policies;
• failure to respond to known threats;
• transportation injuries;
• and delayed medical response.

Cases involving public schools or public entities may involve special rules and shorter deadlines. Early legal review is important.

Damages in Child Injury Cases

The damages in a child injury case depend on the facts, injuries, medical treatment, future care needs, permanent effects, emotional harm, and impact on the child’s life.

Recoverable damages may include:

Medical Expenses
This may include emergency care, hospitalization, surgery, imaging, medication, specialist visits, therapy, rehabilitation, and follow-up care.

Future Medical Care
Serious child injuries may require future surgery, therapy, medications, neurological care, orthopedic care, counseling, assistive devices, or long-term support.

Pain and Suffering
Damages may include physical pain, emotional distress, anxiety, fear, inconvenience, loss of enjoyment of life, and the impact of the injury on childhood activities.

Permanent Injury or Disability
Some injuries cause permanent limitations, chronic pain, scarring, disfigurement, developmental issues, brain injury, mobility problems, or loss of independence.

Educational Impact
A serious injury may affect school performance, attendance, concentration, behavior, learning, accommodations, and future educational opportunities.

Future Loss of Earning Capacity
When an injury affects a child’s future ability to work, damages may include reduced earning capacity.

Life-Care Needs
A child with catastrophic injuries may need therapy, equipment, home modifications, attendant care, transportation support, and long-term medical planning.

Wrongful Death Damages
When negligence causes the death of a child, surviving family members may have wrongful death claims under California law.

Minor’s Compromise and Court Approval

When a child’s injury case settles, the settlement may require court approval through a minor’s compromise. This process is designed to protect the child and ensure that the settlement funds are handled appropriately.

Depending on the case, funds may be placed in a blocked account, structured settlement, special needs trust, or other court-approved arrangement. The appropriate method depends on the child’s injuries, age, needs, settlement amount, public benefits issues, and family circumstances.

The Mason Firm helps families navigate the settlement approval process in child injury cases.

Insurance Companies May Minimize Child Injury Claims

Insurance companies and defendants may try to reduce the value of child injury cases by arguing that:

• the injury was minor;
• the child recovered quickly;
• symptoms are unrelated;
• medical treatment was unnecessary;
• the child’s school or behavior issues are unrelated;
• the injury will not affect the child long-term;
• the child had pre-existing issues;
• the parents are exaggerating the impact;
• or the case is worth less than claimed.

These defenses can miss the reality of what families experience after a serious child injury. A strong case requires medical support, expert review, witness testimony, documentation, and a clear explanation of how the injury affected the child and family.