If you or a loved one has suffered a traumatic brain injury, you can, unfortunately, anticipate a fight. Insurance companies look out for their own financial interests, and you should look out for your own. You may hire a traumatic brain injury attorney familiar with insurance companies and prepared to fight for every dollar your injury entitles you to.
What Anyone with a Traumatic Brain Injury Should Know
Whether you personally suffer a traumatic brain injury or have witnessed a loved one suffer a TBI, there are several essential points that you must know, including:
There Is No Such Thing as a Mild Brain Injury
There are many areas of our culture where a shake-it-off mentality is a norm. From sports injuries to workplace accidents, there can be an expectation that you should tough out certain injuries. This culture implies that many injuries, including brain injuries, are minor enough to ignore.
Remember this well: There is no such thing as a minor brain injury. While brain injuries vary in severity, you should treat every potential brain injury as if it is life-threatening—because many are.
After a brain injury, watch for:
- Persistent or recurring headaches
- Nausea
- Apparent confusion
- Speech problems
- Vomiting
- Drowsiness
If you have not already received a thorough medical exam, do so as soon as possible.
Symptoms Often Take Time to Appear
You may expect to feel shaken up after a motor vehicle accident, fall, or another event that causes a brain injury. Therefore, you may not immediately recognize the signs and symptoms of a TBI. Some symptoms may not be apparent immediately, even if you look for them.
This means that brain injury symptoms may be connected to a specific event, even if those symptoms did not emerge immediately after the event. For example, if you were in a car accident but did not experience headaches until two days after the accident, this can indicate that you suffered a brain injury during the accident.
It Is Not Always Easy to Prove TBI Symptoms Without Medical and Legal Expertise
Some symptoms associated with traumatic brain injury may not be easy to prove.
Such symptoms can include:
- Mood changes
- Behavioral changes
- Dizziness
- Memory problems
- Fatigue
- Agitation
- Sensory sensitivity
These and other symptoms will not appear on a scan, as nobody experiences them except the person with a brain injury. However, a competent lawyer can prove these symptoms of brain injury.
By working with experts, interviewing loved ones who have witnessed the TBI victim’s symptoms, and proving that the brain injury occurred (through medical imaging, for example), an attorney may connect all symptoms to the injury.
Furthermore, the lawyer will seek to prove the connection between a specific event (like a fall) and the injury, establishing a defendant’s liability for all TBI-related symptoms.
Stress Is Your Worst Enemy When After a TBI
Once you know that you have suffered a TBI, your health becomes the priority. Stress can worsen the symptoms you are experiencing, so it may be wise to hire an attorney.
A lawyer will fight for the compensation you need and deserve. Such compensation may go towards medical care, replacing lost income, and covering other damages related to your TBI.
Why Traumatic Brain Injuries Can Lead to Fights With Insurance Companies
The symptoms of traumatic brain injuries are well-known. In an ideal world, insurers will cover all medical expenses and other recoverable losses for those with TBIs. However, you will find that this is not always a perfect world and that insurance companies often place their own financial interests over the policyholder’s rights.
What makes seeking fair compensation for a TBI particularly difficult?:
- Many symptoms are difficult to prove: How do you prove that your personality has changed because of a brain injury? Or that you are sensitive to light, prone to headaches, or experiencing a lesser quality of life? An insurance company or other liable party may ask you to prove these things. With a lawyer’s help, you can.
- TBIs can present an uncertain recovery time frame: When you break a bone, doctors have a fairly definitive timeframe for your recovery. Brain injuries, on the other hand, may vary drastically. Therefore, it can be challenging to determine just how long your symptoms (and related damages) will persist. An insurance company may want to issue a quick settlement and rid itself of a TBI case, fearing that the policyholder may suffer long-term (and costly) symptoms.
- Valuing the cost of a TBI is not always easy: When a policyholder can present clean, undeniable records of injuries and property damage, negotiations may be simpler. However, when negotiations involve an injury as complicated and unpredictable as a TBI, negotiations are naturally more difficult.
An insurance company should cover your injury-related losses without a fight. However, throughout our years of representing clients with brain injuries, we have learned to anticipate a battle with insurers.
Steps to Follow if You or a Loved One Has Suffered a TBI That Someone Else Caused
If you have suffered a brain injury in any circumstance, getting medical attention should be your first priority.
If you have yet to receive an extensive medical examination:
- Visit a trusted medical provider and discuss your symptoms in detail
- Get copies of scans, diagnoses, and medical bills
- Keep all documentation safe
Having documentation of your injury and medical care can be critical to your case’s success. After you have received a diagnosis and recovery plan from a medical provider, hire a traumatic brain injury attorney.
Speak With an Attorney About Your Brain Injury
Most personal injury lawyers offer free consultations. These consultations ensure that anyone with a brain injury can get legal advice at no cost. These calls also come with no obligations, so you do not have to hire a law firm just because you consult with them.
Speaking with an attorney can:
- Determine whether to file a claim or lawsuit
- Give you general clarity during a confusing time
- Provide someone to handle your claim or lawsuit, allowing you to focus on your health
If you determine that you have reason to pursue a claim or lawsuit, you can then seek the right law firm to handle your case.
Events That May Warrant a Brain Injury Lawsuit or Claim
Several incidents commonly cause brain injuries, including:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Sports injuries
- Slip and falls
- Trip and falls
- Falls from heights
- Being violently shaken
- Explosions
- Physical assaults
These are just a few of the incidents that can cause a brain injury, and each of these may warrant bringing a lawsuit or insurance claim. Boat accidents, falling items, and nursing home or assisted living facility abuse or other circumstances can lead to brain injuries.
If you suffered a brain injury under any circumstance that can be someone else’s fault, you might hire a lawyer to seek compensation for you. Even events that don’t initially seem like someone’s fault, including sports accidents, may involve negligence.
Negligence Is Often the Standard for Taking Legal Action After a TBI
Clients often ask: How do I know if someone is responsible for a traumatic brain injury? The answer is negligence.
Negligence typically occurs not because someone is trying to cause harm but because they merely act unreasonably. In many cases, acting unreasonably increases the risk that you will cause harm to another person.
Examples of negligence that may lead to a TBI are:
- A motorist speeding, driving while drunk, ignoring traffic signals, driving while distracted, or engaging in any other risky behavior.
- A sports coach fails to provide adequate protective equipment or fails to remove a player with a possible brain injury from a match.
- A business installing slippery flooring or failing to clean up spills
- A nursing home fails to monitor residents, exposing them to falls.
There are countless scenarios that can lead to a brain injury. For this reason, it is essential to tell your story to an experienced lawyer. They can help you determine if negligence caused your brain injury and how you can seek compensation from liable parties.
How an Attorney Can Help With a Traumatic Brain Injury Case
Personal injury lawyers seek compensation for those who suffer harm because of other parties’ negligence. This generally requires a lawyer to:
Work With Doctors and Experts
Your attorney will need a firm grasp of your injuries, symptoms, and recovery timeline. They will work with your doctors and possibly their own experts to get this understanding. Those experts may help your lawyer project your medical expenses.
Calculate the Cost of the Client’s Damages
Your lawyer will also assign a monetary value to each of your damages. This includes damages related to the event that caused your injury (damage to a vehicle, for example) and damages from the injury itself (like pain and suffering).
Document Damages Caused by the TBI
An attorney can document damages using:
- Medical bills
- Testimony by medical experts about your symptoms
- Payment records that indicate lost income
- Any other documentation that demonstrates how your injury has affected your life
Documentation can be drastically different from one case to the next. Your lawyer will identify and gather anything they believe proves your damages.
Negotiate for Compensation on the Client’s Behalf
An attorney negotiates for the compensation their client deserves. A good attorney negotiates relentlessly, explaining their reasoning and rebuffing any lowball settlement offers.
Decide Whether to Take a Case to Trial
There comes a time in many cases when a lawyer must decide whether to proceed to trial. The client should have a key voice in this decision.
Going to trial is generally only necessary if liable parties refuse to provide a fair settlement.
What Damages Should Someone with a Traumatic Brain Injury Get Compensation For?
A brain injury can be life-changing, and your financial recovery should reflect the severity of your symptoms.
Recoverable damages in a traumatic brain injury case may include:
- Medical bills: The cost of any medical care for your traumatic brain injury should be recoverable. Someone with a TBI may need ambulance transport, imaging to diagnose the injury, surgery, hospitalization, painkillers and other medications, and rehabilitative services.
- Pain and suffering: The pain of a brain injury may include physical pain, emotional distress, lost quality of life, lost physical and cognitive abilities, personality changes, depression, anxiety, suicidality, and more. Each person with a TBI endures a unique struggle. Your lawyer may work with mental health professionals to diagnose your pain and suffering.
- Professional damages: If your brain injury affects your work, you may lose income, earning power, benefits, bonuses, promotions, and other professional perks. Your attorney will seek compensation for each of your professional damages.
The circumstances that led to your brain injury will factor into your financial recovery. If you were in a motor vehicle accident, for example, your recoverable damages may also include the cost of repairing your vehicle.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Brain Injury Lawyer?
Personal injury attorneys generally offer their services for a contingency fee. They only receive this type of fee if they win for the client. You pay no upfront or out-of-pocket cost to hire the firm, and they cover the entire cost of your case.
If your lawyer wins, they will get a percentage of your financial recovery. If they do not win, you won’t owe them anything.
Do Not Wait to Get Legal Help Following a Traumatic Brain Injury
Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney, Phillip J. Barkett
An injury attorney may have a brief window for filing your claim or lawsuit. Don’t wait to find a local personal injury lawyer in Missouri and have them start your case.
You may deserve significant compensation for your injury, and you want a skilled lawyer to handle the fight for your settlement or verdict. Call a traumatic brain injury lawyer for your free consultation and case evaluation today.