Lexington Hazing Injury LawyerIf you’ve been injured or lost a loved one because of a hazing incident in Lexington, Kentucky, don’t hesitate to call Minner Vines Injury Lawyers, PLLC. You have rights, including the ability to take legal action in pursuit of compensation for your financial losses and harder-to-value trauma. Our experienced Lexington hazing injury lawyers want to help you fight for the life-changing monetary award you need and deserve. Call us at (859) 550-2900 to get started.

Injury victims and families in Lexington trust Minner Vines Injury Lawyers, PLLC because we’re passionate litigators who are determined to make a difference in the lives of the people we represent. As award-winning Kentucky trial attorneys with over 100 years of combined experience, we’ve successfully won over $1 billion in settlement agreements and jury awards.

Now, we’re here to help you put the pieces of your life back together after you or your child was hazed. Contact our law offices in Lexington, KY, today to schedule a time for an initial consultation at no charge.

How Minner Vines Injury Lawyers, PLLC Helps Hazing Victims in Lexington, KY

How Minner Vines Injury Lawyers, PLLC Helps Hazing Victims in Lexington, KY

Even though you may have the right to seek compensation after a hazing incident at a university in Lexington, the claims process can be daunting, stressful, and time-consuming. You don’t have to seek monetary justice on your own. In fact, one of the best things you can do to support yourself is to hire an experienced Lexington personal injury lawyer to fight for you.

Choosing Minner Vines Injury Lawyers, PLLC means working with attorneys who’ve been recognized as leaders in personal injury litigation by notable organizations such as the National Law Journal, Benchmark Litigation, LawDragon, Martindale-Hubbell, and The Best Lawyers in America.

You’ll be able to count on our top-rated legal team to handle all aspects of your hazing injury case, including:

  • Investigating the circumstances of the hazing incident
  • Determine who can be held legally accountable for damages resulting from your hazing injuries
  • Gather key pieces of evidence during the discovery process, including witness statements, photographs, video footage, medical records, and police reports
  • Bring in expert witnesses to weigh in as we build your case
  • Calculate what your hazing injury case is worth
  • Help you understand your legal rights and options as we move forward with your claim
  • Seek the best possible settlement offer during settlement negotiations with the defense
  • Have a top-rated Lexington trial attorney bring your hazing injury lawsuit to a compassionate jury in Fayette County, if necessary

You’re going through an incredibly difficult time right now. Our hazing injury attorneys in Lexington want to help you move on with your life. Focus on your recovery, and trust us to take care of the rest.

We represent hazing injury victims in Lexington on contingency. You pay nothing unless we win compensation for you.

Contact our Lexington law office today to schedule a time for your free, comprehensive, confidential case evaluation.

What Is Hazing?

Hazing can be broadly defined as forcing a person to engage in dangerous, embarrasing rituals before they can be permitted to join an organization. 

Common examples of hazing include:

  • Binge drinking
  • Drinking games
  • Being publically ridiculed by members of an organization
  • Engaging in intentionally embarrassing behavior in public
  • Beating and paddling
  • Public nudity
  • Drinking large quantities of water, often to the point of toxicity
  • Burning
  • Forced tattoos and brandings

While hazing can occur anywhere, it’s most typically associated with high school and college organizations, including fraternities, sororities, and sports teams. 

Typically, schools and universities have the power to make their own rules and regulations about hazing. However, in Kentucky, hazing is formally recognized as a criminal offense.

Kentucky’s anti-hazing law, also known as Lofton’s Law, defines hazing as “a direct action which substantially endangers the physical health of a minor or student for the purposes of recruitment, initiation into, affiliation with, or enhancing or maintaining membership or status within any organization.”

KRS 508.180 specifically designates the following actions as hazing:

  • Violating a state or federal criminal law
  • Consuming food, alcohol, or drugs to the point of causing serious physical harm
  • Enduring brutal physical punishment, such as exposure to the elements, whipping, and beating
  • Sexual brutality

Ultimately, anything that can cause serious physical harm can be considered hazing if it has to do with membership in or affiliation with an organization.

In Kentucky, hazing can be a felony or a misdemeanor. It can also expose a person who hazes another to civil liability for resulting injuries and/or deaths.

What Are My Rights if I’ve Suffered Hazing Injuries in Lexington?

There are more than 115 colleges and universities in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Several are located in Lexington – including the University of Kentucky, Transylvania University, and Bluegrass Community & Technical College (BCTC). 

While hazing is illegal, it still happens on college campuses. In fact, an estimated 1.5 million high school students and 47 percent of college students are believed to experience hazing in some capacity every year. Rates of hazing are highest for student-athletes (74 percent) and those pledging Greek organizations (55 percent).

In some cases – as with Thomas “Lofton” Hazelwood, who died while being hazed by a University of Kentucky fraternity – it has a tragic end.

If you have been the victim of hazing in Lexington, or if your child has been hazed while pledging a Greek organization at a local college, it’s important to know that you have rights. Specifically, you can file a personal injury lawsuit against the person (or people) who hazed you, as well as any organizations or entities that might share responsibility for your injuries.

This can, in some cases, give you the right to sue the organization or school where the hazing took place.

What Damages Can Be Awarded to Lexington Hazing Victims?

As the victim of hazing in Lexington, KY, you may have the right to file a personal injury lawsuit to recover compensatory damages.

Compensatory damages can include two types of awards: economic and non-economic.

Economic damages help you handle the verified and reasonably projected costs of your hazing injuries, such as:

  • Medical bills related to hospitalization, surgery, medical devices, medication, follow-up care, and rehabilitation
  • Diminished earning capacity
  • Lost wages and benefits
  • Disability
  • Out-of-pocket expenses
  • Nursing assistance
  • Costs of a funeral if hazing results in wrongful death

Non-economic damages help you deal with the trauma and life changes you experience as a victim of hazing, such as:

Hazing is intentional. As a result, it can give rise to punitive damages if a hazing injury lawsuit goes to trial. A jury can award these exemplary damages when there’s clear and convincing evidence of gross negligence or conduct intended to inflict harm.

Helping You Seek Compensation for Your Severe Hazing Injuries

At Minner Vines Injury Lawyers, PLLC, we understand that hazing can cause debilitating, potentially life-changing trauma.

When you ask for our help, our hazing injury attorneys in Lexington will committed to  helping you recover compensation for all of the physical injuries you’ve suffered, including:

If you’ve been injured due to hazing, get to the closest emergency room in Lexington as soon as you can. You’ll want to make sure all of your injuries are promptly diagnosed, treated, and documented promptly. This will not only help to protect your health, but also create critical pieces of evidence to support your future hazing injury lawsuit.

What’s the Statute of Limitations on Hazing Lawsuits in the Commonwealth of Kentucky?

Kentucky’s one-year statute of limitations applies to hazing injury lawsuits. This gives you one year from the date you were hazed or suffered the wrongful death of a family member to formally take legal action against a negligent or otherwise liable party.

You give up the right to seek compensation once the statute of limitations expires. However, exceptions do exist that can change the time limit. So, it is important to get a jumpstart on your legal claim. Minner Vines Injury Lawyers, PLLC is available to take your call 24 hours a day.

Schedule a Free Consultation With an Experienced Lexington Hazing Injury Lawyer

Hazing may be a tradition for many high school and college organizations in Lexington, Kentucky, but the consequences can change a victim’s life forever. If you’ve been the victim of hazing, it’s important to explore your legal rights and options. 

Minner Vines Injury Lawyers, PLLC can help you make the most of your fight for compensation.

Our experienced Lexington hazing injury lawyers have over 100 years of collective experience navigating serious legal claims like yours. Through determined advocacy and a tireless pursuit of justice, we’ve won billions in monetary awards.

Now, we’re here to help you move forward from your hazing incident. Call our Lexington, KY, law office today. Your first consultation is free.