Spinal cord injuries can be absolutely devastating, resulting in significant pain, suffering, and lifelong impairment. If you or a loved one has suffered a spinal cord injury because of someone else’s negligence or wrongdoing, you have the legal right to pursue compensation. For residents in the Richmond area, reaching out to a Richmond spinal cord injury lawyer is a good way to get started on the road to recovery.
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At Brooks & Baez, our attorneys have decades of combined experience advocating for injured people. We believe our clients deserve the compensation they need to move forward with their lives, and we tirelessly work toward justice for them. We are a bilingual law firm, offering services to both English- and Spanish-speaking clients. No matter how complicated your case seems, we are ready to rise to the challenge.
A spinal cord injury is an injury that can cause temporary or permanent damage. The spinal cord is responsible for transmitting nerve signals from your brain to every other part of your body, including the nerve signals that control involuntary processes like breathing and digestion. Spinal cord injuries often result in partial or total paralysis.
These injuries are not rare. Up to 390,000 Americans live with some kind of spinal cord injury. Every year, around 18,000 new spinal cord injuries are reported. Around 79% of newly injured individuals each year are male, and the average age at the time of injury is around 43 years old. According to the World Health Organization, the most common causes of new spinal cord injuries are falls and car accidents, followed by acts of violence and athletic injuries.
When a person has sustained a spinal cord injury because of the negligence or wrongful actions of another person, such as a distracted driver who was liable for a car accident that caused the injury, the injured person can pursue compensation for their injuries. A settlement for a spinal cord injury should include the following components:
Depending on the circumstances surrounding your spinal cord injury, you may begin to seek compensation by filing a claim against the liable party’s insurance company. However, filing an insurance claim is unlikely to result in a settlement that sufficiently offsets your losses.
Before you even file an initial claim for a spinal cord injury, it is a good idea to hire a spinal cord injury lawyer to help you. Your attorney can gather information about the accident and file your insurance claim for you. Sometimes, simply asking a lawyer to facilitate all of the communication is enough to encourage an insurance company to pay a claim that should be covered.
If the insurance company denies your claim or offers an insufficient settlement, your attorney can move forward by filing a personal injury claim against the insurance company, the liable party, or both. The defendant in your claim and your lawyer can then participate in negotiations to try to reach a satisfactory outcome. If the case does ultimately go to trial, your attorney can go to court to present your side and represent you.
Yes, there is a statute of limitations for spinal cord injury claims in Virginia. For most personal injury claims, including the majority of spinal cord injuries, the statute of limitations is two years, as established in Section 8.01-243 of the Code of Virginia. After this window of time has passed, the case is no longer legally actionable, so it is important to hire a lawyer and file a claim in a timely manner.
There is no way to predict how long it will take for your spinal cord injury claim to resolve. Personal injury cases generally cannot reach a final settlement until the injured party has either fully recovered or reached a point of maximum recovery, as determined by their doctors. Until then, medical bills cannot be accurately estimated for the purpose of a settlement.
It is very unlikely that your spinal cord injury case will go to court, although it is possible. The vast majority of personal injury cases settle long before reaching the inside of a courtroom. Courtroom proceedings are expensive and time-consuming, so if a plaintiff has a legitimate case, most defendants are highly motivated to reach a resolution.
Pain and suffering are usually calculated using the multiplier method or the per diem method. The per diem method uses the injured person’s typical daily earnings to calculate pain and suffering. The multiplier method multiplies the total of the victim’s financial losses by a number, which is chosen based on the overall impact of the injury on the person’s life.
If you or a loved one has suffered a spinal cord injury because of another person’s negligence in Richmond, you can pursue compensation to help you move forward with life. The prospect of getting a settlement may seem daunting, but you do not have to do it on your own. Contact Brooks & Baez today to find out how we can help you.
Our team is comprised of Jesse Baez and Noel Brooks, two attorneys with decades of combined
experience handling legal matters for clients throughout the state of Virginia.
Whatever your legal issue, we will answer your questions and offer you peace of mind as we work to guide
you through the process to resolution.
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