Number Of People Responsible For Your Injury
If more than one person is responsible for your injury, this is known as multiple tortfeasors in legal terms. When this is the situation, each of the individuals involved will be represented by a different lawyer or an insurance company.
The more people there are that are responsible for your injury, the more complicated the process of arriving at a settlement or handling the claim in court. Multiple tortfeasors can lead to delays and complications in terms of determining how much each responsible party should pay in damages.
Ongoing Emotional And Cognitive Counseling
Brain injuries can also exacerbate anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Counseling may help you gain coping skills, enhance your relationships, and improve your overall emotional well-being.
Cognitive therapy may also help you achieve improved memory, attention, perception, learning, planning, and judgment skills.
Traumatic Brain Injuries Result In Expensive Damages
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke states that the prognosis for moderate to severe TBI is not good. There is not much that can be done to help those that have suffered brain damage. Often, even after expensive medical treatments and surgeries, victims are left to deal with disabilities or other lasting impacts.
The amount of medical care you will need varies, but it is often very expensive. Your brain is an extremely sensitive organ and performs the most vital function of your entire body. Even if you can physically repair some of the damages resulting from TBI, you still need to face the negative effects it can have on your body for years to come.
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Arrange A Legal Process
The first thing you should understand is that compensation can only be granted if you arrange for a legal process, sue the other party at fault, and ensure that legal technicalities are made clear in your favor.
This does help you to consider the way by which compensation can be granted and the amount can vary according to the condition of the person and the way medical statements approach it to get better terms and arrange for such a lump sum through a proper technical process.
Types Of Traumatic Brain Injury
Trauma to the brain are of two broad types:
- Closed Brain Injury: This happens when there is a non-penetrating injury to the brain with no break in the skull. It results from rapid forward or backward movement and shaking of the brain inside the bony skull, causing bruising and tearing of brain tissue and blood vessels. Closed brain injury is common in commercial vehicle accidents, falls, and sports. Shaking an infant can also result in this injury type .
- Penetrating Brain Injury: Otherwise referred to as an open brain injury, this wound happens when theres a break in the skull. For example, when a bullet pierces the skull.
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How Are Injury Claims Resolved In California
Resolving a claim privately â outside of the courtroom â saves both parties the time and expense of a trial, and thatâs how most TBI claims are settled in California. If a reasonable settlement offer isnât made in negotiations, your attorney may recommend taking your case to trial.
Calculating the damages for a TBI settlement can be complicated, and a number of factors must be considered. Economic damages compensate victims for quantifiable monetary losses like medical bills and lost income.
Is There A Deadline For Taking Legal Action
In California, the statute of limitations for personal injury cases gives the injury victim two years from the date of the injury to take legal action. Donât wait two years to seek a lawyerâs advice. It is critically important to put your case in the right attorneyâs hands as quickly as you can.
If you wait, evidence can disappear, the memories of the witnesses will fade, and the medical expenses will pile up. If you suffer a brain injury because someone was careless, a good lawyerâs prompt assistance is your right, and the law in California will be on your side.
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How Much Is Compensation For Brain Injury
The case value of a traumatic brain injury depends on a number of factors. Damages claimed for a typical brain injury case are almost always over $100,000 and claims in the millions are not uncommon. Awards of these amounts do not mean that you will receive this amount several expenses must be taken into account.
How much should I settle for a head injury?
The average verdict for headache injuries is $72,168. The median verdict is $13,359. The awards ranged from $1 to $14,810,734. One percent of the awards in headache cases were over $1 million.
How long does a brain injury claim take?
How Long Will Your Claim Take? Brain injury claims will usually take at least three years to settle. This is because it can take several years to fully understand the impact the injury will have on your life. While this might seem like a long time, settling a claim too early could lead to your case being undervalued.
What Else Must Be Considered When Tbi Victims Seek Damages
Noneconomic damages compensate victims for their personal pain and suffering, and in some cases, for the âloss of the enjoyment of life.â Depending on the severity of a brain injury, noneconomic damages typically amount to 1.5 to 5 times the sum of the economic damages.
What else must be considered when determining the value of a settlement or jury award in a TBI case?
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Improve Your Claim Value With Documentation
A brain injury may not be easy for an insurance company to recognize. Youll need evidence to prove the extent of your injury, and what youve lost besides your wages from work.
Organize all your claim-related documentation, including claim forms, correspondence with the insurance company, and all your medical records.
A good form of evidence for head injury claims is to keep a daily record, like a journal or diary, of your symptoms and activities. Your spouse or a trusted friend may need to keep this record for you.
Every day, write down the date and record anything significant or different from before the injury. Include detailed notes about your symptoms and changes to your activities of daily living.
Discuss the changes with your medical providers and your attorney. Many traumatic brain injury symptoms cant be validated by an MRI or blood test.
The workers comp insurance company will fight you every step of the way to avoid a large payout for your head injury.
For example, if your treating physician says you should not work because youre suffering from post-concussion syndrome, meaning youre continuing to suffer from concussion symptoms, the workers comp insurance company might hire an IME doctor to say theres no reason you cant go back to work.
Youll need good records and a good attorney to compel the insurance company to offer a fair disability settlement.
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
In this article, you will learn:
Data on traumatic brain injuries and how that data helps your car accident claim
What a TBI is, from an injury analysis point of view
The different categories and types of brain injuries
Signs and Symptoms that you might have a concussion or brain injury
Settlement examples for traumatic brain injury accident insurance claims
If you want to learn about who we are at the Injury Advocates Group, you can visit our about us page.
Otherwise, keep reading to learn more about traumatic brain injury accident claims and the potential value and pitfalls of your head or brain injury case.
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Case Value Of Traumatic Brain Injuries
Home » Case Value of Traumatic Brain Injuries
The case value of a traumatic brain injury depends on a number of factors.Damages claimed for a typical brain injury case are almost always over $100,000 and claims in the millions are not uncommon.Awards of these amounts do not mean that you will receive this amount several expenses must be taken into account.
Generally, an attorney who specializes in brain injury cases is willing to work on a contingent fee basisthis means that the attorney will only get paid if the suit is successful and the amount awarded is actually paid.An attorney working on a contingent fee basis will advance the money to pay for medical experts and other expenses out of his or her own pocket.The preparation for a traumatic brain injury case is very expensive and naturally, lawyers on a contingent fee will take only the cases they feel have an excellent chance of being successful.
Expenses Incurred During a TBI Case
Typical expenses incurred during a TBI case include:
- Fees for independent medical experts
- Fees for damage experts
- Fees for court expenses
- Costs of interviewing all the witnesses
A lawyer experienced in dealing with traumatic brain injury cases may advance between $10,000 and $100,000 on a case before it comes to trial.Lawyers willing to advance this much have a high degree of confidence that they can successfully advocate your case and recover a large enough amount to make it worth the time and expense
Experience Brings Rewards
What Losses Can You Be Compensated For After An Accident Causes Tbi
Even a mild TBI can have significant effects on the victim and, by extension, his or her family members and loved ones. When severe, TBI can render the victim incapable of performing basic mental and physical tasks, taking away their independence, freedom, and enjoyment of life.
Depending on how badly the tissue is damaged, and which part of the brain is injured, the victim might experience physical and mental effects such as shortened memory, difficulty speaking, chronic pain, incontinence, paralysis, difficulty balancing, numbness or tingling, vision problems, hearing problems, loss of smell, and other effects.
These types of complications can make full-time employment impossible, which only amplifies the financial hardship caused by medical bills and other care costs. However, the victim and their loved ones arent necessarily responsible for shouldering the financial burden. If the TBI was caused by another persons careless actions, that person or, in some cases, business may instead be liable for the resulting expenses.
In addition to getting compensated for monetary costs and losses like medication, hospital stays, in-home care, and lost income, the TBI victim may also be able to recover damages for physical and emotional hardships, which are called non-economic damages or pain and suffering. Non-economic damages include, where applicable:
- Loss of consortium
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Mental anguish and emotional trauma
- Physical pain
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We Only Get Paid If Our Client Wins
Our services are very affordable for you because we usually only get paid when our client wins. In fact, our number one goal is to help our clients get the best possible settlement for their case. Having an experienced California personal injury attorney on your side can be extremely helpful for your claim.
The level of insurance policy limits can also make a huge impact on the amount of money someone could ultimately collect from a claim. So, it is very important where and how the accident happened. Accidents and injuries occur in many different places such as on the road, freeway, schools, shopping centers, grocery stores, airplanes, and much more.
Aggressive attorneys are usually friendly and caring individuals who take the time to speak to you about all the facts of your case. At our law firm, we also go a step further and can review any photographs, documents, or other evidence that you may have. In addition, from our many years of experience we know that your medical bills can add up fast.
Concussion Average Settlement Amounts
A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that results from a sudden, forceful impact, hit or jolt directly to the head. In addition to direct head impacts, concussions can also result from a sudden collision to the body triggering reactive movement of the head and brain in a rapid back and forth motion.
These impacts or sudden movements cause damage to the brain as it essentially bounces around inside the skull impacting the front and back of the cranium .
Concussions Are Serious Brain Injuries
Concussions are generally viewed as a minor or non-serious injury mainly because they are quite common and typically not life-threatening or permanent. Doctors and other medical providers frequently refer to concussions as a “mild” brain injury. However, we are now beginning to understand that concussions are in fact a serious brain injury with potential long-term consequences.
Concussion Signs and Symptoms
The brain is the most complex organ in the human body and the symptoms and characteristics of brain injuries tend to be highly disparate and unique. Brain injuries can range from mild to severe.
The most common type of mild brain injury is a concussion. Concussions can be caused in car accidents by an impact to the head. But you can also suffer a concussion from the whiplash motion that makes your brain bounce or twist inside your skull. That can stretch your brain cells and cause harmful chemical changes that interfere with brain activity.
Medical Evaluation
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Costs Of A Brain Injury
Brain injuries are usually long-term and severe in nature, which means they may cost tens of thousands up to even millions of dollars to treat. Many of these injuries require a lifetime of treatment and ongoing care. In addition to potentially losing your job, you can even lose the ability to simply enjoy life as a result of such a debilitating injury. Psychological trauma can also result from brain injuries. Sadly, there is no compensation that can fix that.
What Are The Effects Of A Traumatic Brain Injury
A mild TBI might disappear over time with the right medical care and adequate rest. However, more severe TBIs may result in a permanent disability. The long-term effects or permanent results might require post-injury treatment or life-long rehabilitation. A person may need cognitive therapy, physical therapy, or occupational therapy to return to normal functioning.
A TBI might result in one or more of the undermentioned defects:
- Cognitive deficit
- Motor deficits
- Perceptual or sensory deficits
- Communication and language deficits
- Functional deficits
- Cost of medical equipment or assistive devices
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Cost of future care, etc.
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Damages You Can Recover In Head Injury Compensation
While the amount you are able to recover depends on your situation, there are common damages available in most injury cases:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Lost earning capacity
- Miscellaneous expenses, such as yard work, childcare, or the costs of renovating your home to accommodate your disability
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of consortium
- Funeral or burial costs if the victim lost their life
There are several other damages to which you may be entitled. A brain injury lawyer can help you determine a value for your case.
Theres No Such Thing As An Insignificant Brain Injury
When someone suffers a traumatic head injury as a result of an accident, its a fine line as to whether they suffer the disastrous consequences of a serious brain injury or whether they get concussion. The severity of the external force often plays a part in determining which it will be, but not always.
As personal injury solicitors, helping the family of a severely brain damaged accident victim to start on the long road to making a brain damage injury compensation claim, can be one of the most challenging aspects of the work that we do.
A catastrophic brain injury claim isnt just about the money that we can recover for the client, albeit that is important. Our job is to be there throughout the life of the claim and thereafter, for our clients and their families.
At the other end of the scale though its also important not to get drawn into the mindset of thinking that mild traumatic brain injuries are insignificant matters in themselves.
Whilst most people recover from concussion within a few weeks, for some people, symptoms can last for months or even as much as a year. This is known as post-concussion syndrome. One of the longer lasting effects of post-concussion syndrome can be depression, problems with concentration and loss of memory.
We usually handle brain damage claims and head injury compensation claims using a Conditional Fee Agreement, also known as a No Win, No Fee agreement.
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How Much Is A Brain Injury Case Worth
As you can see, brain injury compensation in California varies widely. This is why its crucial to evaluate every traumatic brain injury case independently. What determines the value of a brain injury claim? Here is a more in-depth look at the factors affecting the traumatic brain injury or concussion settlement value you can expect.
How Long Does A Mild Tbi Last
The majority of patients with mild TBI recover completely in a week to three months. If you are older than 40, it may take a bit longer to return to normal. The symptoms often disappear without any special treatment.
What are at least five symptoms of mild traumatic brain injury?
Mild traumatic brain injury
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