A spinal cord injury may affect your future in virtually every way imaginable, especially if the injury causes paralysis or other long-term symptoms. The specific injury and symptoms you experience may determine how significantly your injury interferes with your life.

You may suffer mental health problems, financial hardship, and physical symptoms because of your spinal cord injury. A spinal cord injury lawyer can work with you to identify every way your injury has caused you harm, then seek a fair financial recovery based on your damages.

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The Wide-Ranging Effects of a Spinal Cord Injury

A spinal cord injury can affect virtually every aspect of a victim’s life, with fallout from an injury potentially including:

Immediate and Long-Term Expenses

The lifetime cost of a paralyzing spinal cord injury can reach nearly $5 million, depending on the victim’s age and extent of paralysis.

Direct expenses related to a spinal cord injury may include:

• Emergency care following the injury
• Surgery
• Medications
• Personal caregiver services
• A wheelchair, walker, and other mobility-assistive devices
• A vehicle that accommodates someone with a spinal cord injury
• Ramps, lifts, and other disability-related home alterations
• Rehabilitation
• Vocational retraining

Each spinal cord injury requires personalized treatment and care plans. Your attorney will work with medical professionals—including spine injury specialists—to determine the cost of your injury-related expenses.

Secondary Health Ailments

Those who suffer spinal cord injuries (especially paralyzing injuries) may face a heightened risk of secondary health problems, including:

• Pressure sores
• Blood clots
• Bone loss
• Urinary tract infections
• Respiratory problems
• Chronic pain

Secondary health conditions can further your pain and suffering, increase medical costs, and even prove fatal. Your attorney will account for the possibility of future health complications when calculating the value of a fair settlement.

Psychological and Emotional Hardship

Severe spinal cord injuries can cause psychological and emotional harm as devastating as physical symptoms.

When someone suffers a spinal cord injury and faces the reality of long-ranging symptoms, they may endure:

• Depression
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (which may occur if the event that caused the injury was traumatic)
• Loss of self-esteem
• Anxiety
• Suicide

Paralysis can be especially excruciating for someone to cope with. Suddenly losing one’s ability to use their extremities can be devastating beyond explanation, sometimes destroying a person’s joy, sense of self, and will to live.

Personal injury lawyers work with mental health professionals to diagnose their client’s psychological and emotional symptoms. Those mental health experts may help your lawyer develop a treatment plan and related cost projection.

Loss of Your Ability to Work

Those who suffer spinal cord injuries may never return to the job they did before the injury. Some never work again.

When an injury disrupts your professional life, you may:

• Lose your current income
• Lose future income, as well as earning power
• Miss opportunities for promotion, pay raises, and bonuses
• Lose the fulfillment you receive from working
• Lose valuable years which can elevate your professional status and lead to higher income in the future

Such damages can be immensely costly, compounding the cost of caring for a spinal cord injury.

Loss of Physical Abilities

If your spinal cord injury causes paralysis, loss of sensation, or other symptoms that affect your physical abilities, you may suffer immensely. Being unable to move without pain, exercise, and live as you normally can contribute to your pain and suffering. Your health may also suffer further because of your lack of mobility.

Unwanted Changes in Your Personal Life

A spinal cord injury may:

• Affect your dating life
• Require loved ones to help care for you
• Affect your housing circumstances
• Cause other problems in your personal life

Your attorney will work with you to understand the full scope of your spinal cord injury. They will consider economic and non-economic damages as they calculate the value of a fair settlement.

A Lawyer Will Identify Your Recoverable Damages

Attorneys weigh the effects of spinal cord injuries and assign damages into categories.

Some of the categories of damages in your case may include:

• Medical expenses: Medical bills are common in all personal injury cases. In spinal cord injury cases, medical expenses may stem from emergency treatment, diagnostic imaging, surgery, rehabilitation, and any other medical services related to the injury.
• Pain and suffering: This category of non-economic damages can include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), pain, lost quality of life, depression, and other symptoms resulting from the spinal cord injury. Your attorney may also see compensation for the treatment of such symptoms.
• Professional damages: Your attorney will include lost income and other professional damages in any claim or lawsuit they pursue for you.
• Property costs: If your spinal cord occurred during a motor vehicle accident (or other circumstances involving property damage), your lawyer will seek fair compensation for your damaged property.

Attorneys understand legal jargon and how to describe damages in legal terms. When you allow a lawyer to rely on their legal knowledge and experience in spinal cord injury cases, you reap the benefits of such knowledge and experience.

A Fair Financial Recovery May Help You Overcome the Effects of a Spinal Cord Injury

You will face several unavoidable hardships when you suffer a spinal cord injury. No treatment may allow you to reverse paralysis or completely dull the pain of a spinal cord injury, and money may not allow you to return to work immediately.

Still, a financial recovery can help spinal cord injury victims because:

• The settlement or judgment may allow you to pay for all necessary treatment without worrying about out-of-pocket expenses or increased premiums for healthcare
• The settlement or judgment may cover all direct expenses (such as an in-home caregiver, disability-friendly vehicle, and replacement income) resulting from the spinal cord injury
• A financial recovery may provide a sense of justice for the liable party’s negligence

In some cases, like drunk driving accidents, those responsible for a spinal cord injury face criminal charges. In many other cases, a liable party who causes a spinal cord injury commits no criminal act. In both cases, you can ensure justice and improve your personal circumstances if you secure a financial recovery.

What Should I Do After a Spinal Cord Injury?

Only you can determine the best course of action after suffering a spinal cord injury. You may consider both your health and your desire for financial recovery and may, therefore:

Visit a Trustworthy Medical Professional

If you have pain, discomfort, visible injuries, or any other indication that you can have a spinal cord injury:

• Seek emergency care and identify medical providers in your area
• Visit a qualified medical professional as soon as possible (being careful not to cause additional injuries in the process)
• Insist on receiving a clear diagnosis for all injuries
• Request copies of medical images, diagnoses, and bills related to your spinal cord injury

While you may need to pursue a financial recovery, always place your health first. In fact, you will need to obtain documentation of your injuries if you hope for financial recovery, so visiting a medical professional serves both your health and your potential settlement.

Hire a Lawyer to Fight for Your Financial Recovery

Once you receive all necessary medical care, hire a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible.

Those with back injuries hire personal injury attorneys because:

• Lawyers understand the process of completing insurance claims and lawsuits.
• Many personal injury lawyers have lengthy experience with spinal cord injury cases, so they understand the damages victims suffer.
• An attorney can protect you from insurance companies and civil defense attorneys who want to violate your rights (and thwart your financial recovery in the process).
• A back injury (and related symptoms) often prevents someone from even trying to begin their own claim or lawsuit.

With the right attorney leading your case, you can continue to prioritize your health. Your lawyer will fight for your settlement or judgment, meaning you don’t have to sacrifice your health to pursue the money you deserve.

How Do I Choose a Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer?

Finding the right lawyer for a spinal cord injury case requires time and research. You should not delay seeking a lawyer, as you may face a deadline for filing your spinal cord injury claim.

As you research personal injury lawyers serving your geographic region, you should consider:

• Whether the law firm has won spinal cord injury cases: The firm may post case results on its site. You can also ask during your free consultation what experience (and results) the firm has with spinal cord-related cases.
• Whether the firm garnered generally positive or negative client reviews: Weigh both glowing and critical reviews when evaluating a law firm. If you find a common theme (such as a law firm going above and beyond or ignoring clients), you may use this information in your search.
• Where the law firm is located: A law firm with an office in or near your geographic area may be best suited to lead your case.
• How the firm treats you during a free consultation: Most personal injury firms offer free consultations. These complementary calls come with no obligation to hire the firm. You can use a free consultation to ask questions about the firm, determine if the firm will lead your case, and get a feel for the firm’s client service.

Each client must find the law firm that is the right fit for them. You may prefer a larger firm with substantial resources and a large legal team, or you may value the personal feel of a smaller firm.

Ultimately, you want to choose a firm you’re confident can obtain the settlement or verdict you deserve.

How a Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help Those with a Spinal Cord Injury

Once you hire your personal injury lawyer, they will set out to secure the compensation you deserve.

First, they must identify liable parties, calculate the cost of your damages, and build a case to present during settlement discussions.

Your attorney will likely:

• Investigate the cause of your spinal cord injury, gathering evidence of negligence and learning all relevant facts about the incident.
• Speak with any witnesses who saw the injurious event.
• Document your damages using medical records, expert testimony, and all other proof of your damages.
• Calculating the monetary cost of your damages will set expectations for your settlement.
• Engage liable parties in settlement discussions.
• Take your case to court if your case warrants a trial.

Your lawyer will also lead all communications, complete paperwork, and ensure your claim or lawsuit moves forward promptly. A personal injury attorney should go above and beyond to make their client feel important and secure the financial recovery they deserve.

Find Your Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer as Soon as Possible

Most states impose a statute of limitations on spinal cord injury cases. This is a filing deadline that any capable personal injury lawyer will know. Even if your lawyer does not ultimately file a lawsuit, they will want to keep the option of filing a lawsuit—even just as a negotiating tactic.

Don’t wait to find a personal injury lawyer to represent you. If you wait too long, you can forfeit your right to pursue the compensation you need and deserve. As soon as you know someone is working on your case, you can focus on your treatment and adjusting to life with your spinal cord injury.