A traumatic brain injury, also referred to as TBI, can be a life changing injury. These injuries can cause serious changes in one’s life, and are often the result of a few different types of accidents. Car accidents, slip and fall accidents, and medical malpractice are just a few types of accidents that can cause these brain injuries.
While traumatic brain injuries can be minor, such as a concussion, they can also be severe, causing things like coma and in more unfortunate circumstances, death. These injuries can be hard to live with, with many doctors appointments and large bills following the accident.
Unfortunately, brain injuries are fairly common and result in about 3 million cases each year. Of those cases, about 300,000 of them require hospitalization. These injuries can also lead to a large number of disabilities, and they also may cause a financial strain on the patient and patient’s family.
Suffering a brain injury can be a traumatic event for both the patient and the family. These accidents, such as car accidents, are often caused by the negligence of another person. Having to pursue compensation from another person in the form of a lawsuit can add another level of stress to your situation. However, an experienced lawyer will help you to get the compensation—and the justice—that you deserve, without putting too much stress on you and your family.
How Does A Brain Injury Lawsuit Work?
Filing a brain injury lawsuit may seem like a daunting task, especially if you’ve never had to be involved in a lawsuit before. Having an experienced attorney at your side can help lessen the strain. An experienced attorney can help to take a lot of the weight off of your shoulders so you can focus on healing and feeling better after your accident
The first step in your case will be figuring out exactly what occurred that caused the accident. Once you’re certain that negligence was involved in your accident, you’ll be required to prove four things. These four things are:
- Duty of care
- Breach of that duty
- Causation (of your injuries)
- Resulting damages
Duty of care refers to the legal obligation that a person holds to exercise a reasonable level of care to prevent those around them from injury and harm. This duty of care can be as simple as not texting while driving, or even making sure to clean up spills after they happen to prevent accidents.
The breach of that duty of care refers to any negligence the party may have committed that breaches this legal obligation. This breach can refer to the opposing party texting while driving (and thus getting into a car accident with you) or failing to clean up a spill (causing a slip and fall accident). A breach of duty can refer to a doctor misdiagnosing you or giving you the wrong prescription. Duty of care can be breached in any number of ways, and that breach is what causes accidents like those that cause brain injuries.
Causation is the next step, and a simple one. Causation simply means that you are required to prove that the opposing party’s negligence directly caused your injuries. This means that if the other party was texting while driving, you will need to be able to prove that their texting caused the accident that caused your injuries.
You’ll need to be able to prove that you didn’t have the brain injury prior to your accident as well.
And finally, you’ll have to prove that the accident resulted in damages that you are seeking compensation for. This can include medical bills, lost wages, and many other types of damages.
Types of Brain Injury Cases
Brain injuries can occur in many different accidents, but most often occur from car accidents and slip and fall accidents. Accidents that cause traumatic brain injury can include:
- Car accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Commercial truck accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Medical malpractice
- Distracted driving
- Ridesharing accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Birth injuries
- Workplace accidents
- Wrongful death
- And many other incidents.
Getting Compensation For A Brain Injury
One files a lawsuit to receive compensation for the damages caused by their brain injury. This compensation is important as it can cover costs like medical bills, lost wages, and even pain and suffering. While we understand that receiving this compensation is a huge, important part of your case, we’re also here to help you get the justice that you deserve for your injury.
When it comes to economic damages, you can recover medical bills (including hospital bills, doctor’s visits, therapy bills, surgery costs, and any other treatment costs you may have needed), loss of wages, and any in-home care costs you may have needed, like child care.
You can also recover damages for non-economic costs, like pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium, and mental and emotional suffering. These damages can be harder to pursue, as there isn’t a direct monetary value attached to your personal pain and suffering costs. But your attorney can help you determine exactly how much you should ask for when it comes to your specific case.
Contact an Experienced Woodbury Brain Injury Attorney
If you, or someone you love, has experienced a traumatic brain injury, the lawyers here at Sand Law are ready and willing to help you get the closure, compensation, and justice that you deserve. We will not only advocate for you, but assure you that you don’t have to go through this alone. For more information and a free case evaluation, please contact our Woodbury office today at (651) 291-7263 or online.