An attorney can help in significant ways and often makes the difference between receiving a low-ball settlement and fair compensation.
After any serious accident, it’s important to hire legal representation to help ensure you obtain fair compensation for damages. But having a lawyer is especially critical if you suffer a spinal cord injury (SCI). With over 18,000 new cases of SCIs every year, an estimated 300,000 Americans are living with an SCI, according to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC). Additionally, car accidents are the leading cause of SCIs in younger people, according to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.
Because of the severe trauma that accompanies an SCI, this type of injury can seriously change a victim’s life. Along with the catastrophic costs for medical care that often create extreme financial stress, victims of a SCI face mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, and PTSD, as they adjust to their loss of mobility and the limitations of this injury.
The experienced personal injury lawyers at Peterson Law Firm know that victims of an SCI will usually require life-long medical care. So, it’s important to hold the negligent party accountable and fight for maximum compensation to help ensure your future care needs are met and you get the financial support you’ll need. Here, we discuss why you need a personal injury lawyer, how they can help you prove negligence, and the many ways they can help you rebuild your life as you face an uncertain future.
Why SCI Cases Are Complicated
Victims can suffer any number of injuries in an accident—a broken arm or leg, whiplash, a concussion, bruises, lacerations, and other wounds or damages. Many of these injuries heal over time. However, when an accident victim suffers an SCI, this type of injury impacts almost every part of their life. Depending on the severity of the SCI, they may likely lose mobility, lose independence, and suffer permanent damage that will affect them for the rest of their life. Spinal injuries can cause the following:
- Partial or full loss of motor function.
- Additional health complications. These can include chronic pain, respiratory issues, and bladder dysfunction.
- PTSD, depression, and anxiety. These psychological and emotional traumas are often overlooked or downplayed when valuing a claim.
It’s important that when damages are calculated for an SCI victim, that calculation includes the following:
- Future medical treatments and adaptive equipment
- Home and vehicle modifications
- In-home care or assisted living
- Lost future earnings and career potential
- Loss of quality of life
An Experienced Personal Injury Lawyer: Your Best Defense When You Suffer an SCI
When you suffer an accident-related SCI, it’s possible that the insurance company for the negligent party will contact you right away—even while you’re still in the hospital. They may seem kind and sympathetic and make you a settlement offer early on.
It’s important to know that an insurance adjuster who contacts you won’t have your best interests in mind. Insurance companies are for-profit businesses, and their goal is to pay you as little as possible. Usually, their compensation offer won’t support your long-term recovery. Many use unethical tactics to get you to make statements that can hurt your claim; they may misrepresent the facts; they may blame you for the accident; and/or they may try to get you to sign medical release forms, so they can access your entire medical history.
The attorneys at Peterson Law Firm understand these tactics and how to fight them. They also know how to protect your legal rights when pursuing a personal injury claim for an SCI. When you’re injured, we can do the following:
- Review every settlement offer made by the insurance company and help ensure you don’t accept unfair compensation
- Calculate the full value of your claim, using experts to help establish the real cost of your injuries—now and in the long term
- Handle all communication with insurers, so you don’t inadvertently damage your claim
- Ensure you meet all legal deadlines
Additionally, our SCI lawyers will advocate on your behalf because they understand what’s at stake. We know how to fight for what you deserve and will work hard to help you by doing the following:
- Investigate what caused your injury. Proving negligence is critical in any personal injury case. Our attorneys will investigate the incident that caused your injury to determine who or what was responsible.
- Collect and preserve important evidence. Evidence in a personal injury case can disappear quickly, and eyewitnesses can forget what they saw. It’s important to gather surveillance footage, photos, eyewitness statements, and expert opinions soon after the accident.
- Work with specialists. All parts of your life can be negatively affected by an SCI, and it’s important to talk to specialists who will explain and help determine the current and future impact of the injury. We may use medical and economic specialists, as well as qualified professionals who will create a comprehensive, evidence-based plan forecasting the long-term medical, financial, and personal care needs of individuals who suffer catastrophic injuries.
- Handle litigation, if necessary. If the insurance company refuses to offer a fair settlement, our lawyers will take your case to court.