Brain Injury Lawyer
Along with spinal cord injuries, brain injuries are often the most devastating consequence of an accident. They can result in prohibitive medical costs and impact many of your activities of daily living. When you can prove that someone else was to blame for your brain injury, you may be entitled to substantial financial compensation. However, brain injuries are not always obvious and can be difficult to prove. With the amount of money at stake, you should have experience on your side to guide you through what is likely to be a difficult legal process.
Contact the personal injury attorneys at Howard Stallings Law to learn more about your legal options for financial compensation after a brain injury. We are standing by and ready to speak to you during a free initial consultation.
Causes of Brain Injuries
A single moment of impact or trauma can cause a serious brain injury that could take away your quality of life. While time will heal many wounds, those who have suffered a traumatic brain injury may never fully recover from the injury.
Common causes of brain injuries can include:
More than 50% of traumatic brain injuries are the result of a motor vehicle accident. You can suffer a traumatic brain injury from either impact with a hard surface or a sudden and violent whiplash movement of your head and neck.
A medical mistake can cause an infection that may result in a high fever. Mistakes during the labor and delivery process can cause birth injuries when there has been trauma to the head or when the baby’s oxygen is cutoff or depleted for some period of time.
You may fall and hit your head, causing a concussion or a blunt-force trauma injury. Sometimes insurance companies will minimize injuries from a slip and fall but hitting your head can change the course of your life forever.
When you have been struck by a motor vehicle, there is nothing to protect your head from direct impact with the car or pavement. Pedestrians frequently suffer severe injuries in these accidents.
Motorcyclists also have little to protect them other than safety gear or a helmet. They may suffer a traumatic brain injury when they are thrown to the pavement after being struck by a car.
Commercial vehicles weigh far more than your passenger car. A tractor-trailer that weighs up to 80,000 pounds fully loaded will unleash a tremendous amount of force in a crash, potentially causing a brain injury.
Types of Brain Injuries
The type of brain injury that you have suffered can determine your prognosis and future. Some types of brain injuries are more severe than others, although every brain injury is serious in its own way. You should never ignore any symptoms of a brain injury, and you should seek immediate medical treatment.
Accident victims may suffer the following types of brain injuries:
- Diffuse axonal injury: When the brain shifts inside the skull, the long connecting nerve fibers may tear. This type of injury usually happens from blunt force trauma to the brain.
- Coup-contrecoup injuries: When the brain moves inside the skull and slams against the base, you can suffer an injury, both at the site of impact and on the opposite side of the brain.
- Penetrating brain injuries: A sharp object, such as a bullet, May penetrate the brain, destroying brain tissue with which it comes into contact.
- Concussions: When the brain experiences a sudden impact or a sharp movement, the blood vessels in the brain may be stretched, and the cranial nerves damaged. A concussion can also change the brain’s chemical nature. Some concussions may heal after a period of time, while others may result in prolonged symptoms.
- Contusions: A blow to the head may cause bruising. Depending on the size of the contusion, it may need to be removed through a delicate surgical procedure.
- Hematomas: An impact to the head could cause blood to pool under the brain. If the blood pools for a substantial amount of time, it can lead to the death of brain cells. Hematomas can result in permanent brain damage and even death.
Brain Injuries Can Change the Course of Your Life
Studies show that brain tissue and cells do not regenerate when they have been destroyed. Therefore, you may never fully heal from a brain injury that has caused damage. In some cases, you may be able to relearn some of the functions that you have lost. However, many brain injuries are permanent, and they will change the rest of your life. Even if you have suffered a so-called mild brain injury, you may be dealing with the effects for a long time to come.
Each year, there are roughly 500,000 Americans who become permanently disabled from some type of brain injury. Approximately one in every 60 Americans is living with the long-term effects of a brain injury. They may suffer a reduced life expectancy and an inability to work as they did before the injury. Roughly half of people who suffer a traumatic brain injury will either die within five years or experience a further decline in their abilities.
You could be left to deal with the following effects of a brain injury:
- Fatigue
- Sensitivity to noise and light
- Memory loss
- Mobility problems
- Chronic migraines
- Trouble with focus and executive functioning
- Depression and anxiety
- Susceptibility to conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy
Therefore, you must understand your exact prognosis before you seek compensation for your injury. Brain injury victims would usually wait until they reach the point of maximum medical improvement to file their claim or lawsuit.
How Is Your Brain Injury Compensation Determined?
It is essential that you get the calculation of your brain injury damages correctly before you file a claim or lawsuit. Because you may be owed a large amount of money, you need to know exactly how much to seek. You only get one chance to get compensation for your brain injury.
When you hire an experienced brain injury attorney, they will work with experts to determine the amount of your potential compensation. Your lawyer may work with the following experts before you file your claim:
- Medical experts
- Life Care planning experts
- Vocational experts
- Economic experts
Since your brain injury may remain with you for a long time to come, you also need to know the full extent of your future damages. You do not want to run out of money when you need both financial support and care in the future.
If you are concerned about the average amount of a brain injury settlement, you should think again. Your compensation is determined by the specific nature of your injuries and how your life has been affected.
Brain injury compensation can consist of the following:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- The cost of caregivers
- Medical equipment
- Pain and suffering
- Embarrassment and humiliation
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Emotional distress
Once you file a claim or lawsuit, your attorney must either persuade the jury of your damages or negotiate compensation with the insurance company or defendant. It takes a tough lawyer to get you every dollar you deserve in the face of the insurance company’s recalcitrance and opposition. Remember that once you have signed a settlement agreement, you are waving the right to seek any further compensation in connection with your brain injury. Therefore, it is crucial that you get the legal process right the first time around because there will not be a second opportunity.
How Howard Stallings Law Can Help You
When you hire the personal injury attorneys at the Howard Stallings Law Firm to handle your brain injury case, we will provide you with comprehensive and determined legal representation. There is little that you can do on your own when you are dealing with the aftermath of a brain injury. You can trust our attorneys to handle all the details of your case and fight for you to receive full compensation.
Our personal injury attorneys can do the following for you:
- Counsel you on your legal options and explain your potential pathway to a settlement or award
- Investigate the facts of your accident and gather evidence that could establish your entitlement to compensation
- Review the specifics of your case to help you learn how much you can receive in compensation
- Deal with the insurance company on your behalf and handle all communications
- Prepare a claim or lawsuit that seeks money for your injuries
- Negotiate a settlement on your behalf or try your case in front of a jury
Punitive damages may even be a possibility in a drunk driving case. Usually, punitive damages are very rare in a car accident case, but angry juries may want to send a message to the driver. Punitive damages are a reason why you have more power than you think in a drunk driving civil case because the insurance company knows that they may fare very poorly in front of a jury.
Contact a North Carolina Brain Injury Lawyer Today
The brain injury attorneys at the Howard Stallings Law Firm are just a phone call away when someone else’s actions have harmed you. We understand the stakes, and we are ready to fight for you. All you need to do is contact us to schedule a free initial consultation to begin the legal process. You can send us a message through our website, or you can call us today at 919-821-7700. There is no charge to you unless you resolve your case by receiving a settlement or a win in court.
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