Indemnification of personal injury and handicap
Anyone affected by bodily or psychological injury can receive indemnification from an insurer or from a national solidarity fund (the “Fonds national de solidarité”) in accordance with specific legal and medical criteria.
The task of the lawyer will be to support and accompany the victim during the whole process. He will assure that the medical dossier is properly and fully communicated, be present and give input at expert meetings, negotiate with the insurance company and oversee the judicial procedure from beginning to end.
Statistically, insurers pay greater amounts when the victim is assisted by a lawyer and amounts awarded by a court are greater than amounts decided through settlements.
Mr MOUTET has extensive experience in the field of medical law and accidentology. He holds a certificate of specialization in “Legal remedies for personal injury”. He is now a jury member for the grant of said certificate.
He also holds a diploma from the Montpellier Medical Faculty, “medical and social aspects of traumatic brain injury”, which has allowed him to broaden his expertise and strengthen his reflections regarding handicaps related to bone marrow and brain injury.
Eric Moutet has been a motorcyclist for 25 years. He’s appointed in the legal committee of the “Angry Bikers”, a nationwide organization of motorcyclists. He is well acquainted with litigation involving the liability of manufacturers, constructers and mechanics, defective vehicles, procedures regarding driving licences, etc
He regularly participates in seminars and conferences throughout France, and undertakes traineeships in institutions where his contacts within the health sector enable him to be updated and exchange ideas about the best way to take care of handicaps. Good understanding of handicap is an asset when assessing damages and seeking total indemnification.
The very name of this area of practice – “medico-legal” – shows that it requires a transdisciplinary approach.
This is why Eric MOUTET has surrounded himself with a network of technical, medical and social consultants with whom he works closely (such as physicians, ergotherapists, anesthesists , neuropsychologists, psychiatrists, social workers and other paramedical specialists).
He goes to the site of accidents and, if necessary, makes a visit in the home of the victim or his/her family, participates in expert examinations and hearings before French bodies for conciliation and/or indemnification (eg CCI for injuries caused by health professionals and CIVI for victims of crime).
He co-wrote the medical chapter in a practitioner’s guide on conciliation (“La conciliation”, Edilaix, 2011)
Indemnification of bodily injury will in general occur in the following situations:
- traffic accidents
- public transport accidents (railroad, maritime, air transport)
- accidents occurring in daily life or sport activities
- accidents at work, commuting accidents and occupational diseases
- medical accidents of the following two types:
- - accidents caused by medical malpractice
- no fault-inherent medical accidents, commonly called “therapeutic hazards”
The choice of procedure will depend on the type of medical accident and the legal status of the health professional. The time for suit is ten years from the date of consolidation, which is the moment when injuries stabilize and become of permanent character, ie a state where no treatment is necessary except to avoid that the condition worsens and it is possible to assess whether a permanent physical or mental impairment is present.
- vaccination accidents
- defective health products – a product is defective if it does not provide the safety one can legitimately expect
The victim needs to act within three years from becoming aware of the injury, the defect or the manufacturer’s identity and, in parallel, within 10 years from the product’s release on the market.
A plastic surgery procedure is a specific medical procedure, which requires that a quote be signed in advance and the cost of which exceeds 300 €. Article L 6322-2 of the Public Health Code provides for a minimum reflection period before any decision is made.
- environmental, industrial and accidental pollution (of air, grounds, water)
- violence and physical assaults