Back Injury Lawyers in Austin

Call (512) 246-2224 to Speak with a Back Injury Lawyer for Free

Back injuries can be debilitating. They can prevent you from doing work and even prevent you from getting restful sleep. Though some back injuries are minor and recovery is possible without any major surgery, some back injuries may require surgery and may lead to permanent lifestyle changes. Back injuries often occur due to the back’s muscles and ligaments stretching beyond their capacity. This stretching may occur from accidents on the road, at work or a slip and fall in any public place.

If you or your loved one suffers from a back injury due to an unfortunate accident and wish to pursue a compensation claim, call Zinda Law Group at (888) 314-6671 for a free consultation with one of our personal injury lawyers.

YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO COMPENSATION

Back injuries can occur in many different scenarios. Below is a list of some of the more common ways back injuries occur. You may be entitled to seek compensation if you suffer from a back injury that arises from the list below.

Car accidents

Car accidents are one of the main contributors to back injuries. When you are hit by a car, there is a lot of force that gets transferred to your body. This force can shift the muscles and ligaments in your back into awkward positions. As a result, if one of your spinal discs end up pressing into your spinal canal and spinal nerves, you will likely experience severe pain in your back, neck, and legs. If the car accident was not your fault, you might be entitled to seek compensation from the person at fault.

Work accidents

Back injuries affect thousands of American workers. You do not necessarily have to be employed in work that constantly makes you move heavy objects to suffer from a back injury. For instance, even regular office jobs can cause back injury due to the poor postures that may result after sitting too long.

Scooter accidents

In Austin, you may have noticed electric scooters available for public use. However, did you know that in Austin, there are nearly 3 scooter-related accidents per day? In fact, according to the CDC study last year, between September 25 and November 29, there were 166 scooter-related injuries. Though some of these scooter accidents produce minor injuries such as scrapes and cuts, other scooter accidents can lead to more serious injuries like those that involve the back. If you are involved in a scooter accident that causes a back injury, you may have a right to sue the scooter rider or the scooter company. Some scooter riders do not know or perhaps ignore that there are many restrictions that scooter riders must follow in Austin. Some of these include that the scooter rider must not ride with any passengers, ride the scooter on the sidewalk, and carry any packages that may hinder the operation of the scooter. If you are involved in an accident involving an e-scooter rider or you were injured while riding an electric scooter, you may be entitled to compensation. You may also be able to sue the scooter company if you can show that the scooter was defective. Some defects include those involving the breaks and accelerators. On the other hand, if you are the scooter rider and get injured due to the negligence of others, you also have the right to a lawsuit.

Motorcycle accidents

As cars dominate the roads, one of the most common accidents involving a motorcycle is a car-related accident. In a collision between a motorcycle and car, the rider of the motorcycle will likely suffer much more than that car driver. Back injuries are common amongst motorbike accident victims as they are thrown off their bikes in an accident. If you are involved in a motorcycle accident that was not your fault, you may be entitled to seek compensation.

Truck accidents

Like automobile and motorcycle accidents, a collision with a truck can lead to life-altering injuries. If you have injured your back in a truck accident that was not your fault, you may be entitled to pursue compensation.

Who you can sue will depend on the specifics of your accident. First, you may be able to sue the driver if it can be shown that they acted negligently. You may also sue the trucking company because most employers are held responsible for their employees’ actions as long as they were done in the scope of their employment. Where a faulty truck caused an accident, you may be able to sue the manufacturer of the truck if you are able to show that there were defects in the truck and the manufacturer was responsible for those defects.

Slip and fall accidents

According to the National Floor Safety Institute, slip and falls result in more than a million emergency room visits each year. Whether you hurt your back in a slip and fall in a grocery store, in a public place or at work and the accident was not your fault, you have the may have the right to file a lawsuit.

How to prove a back injury was caused by an accident that was not your fault?

Proving to an insurance company or to a court that a back injury was caused by the accident at hand can be difficult. After all, the back injury could have been the result of something else before the accident. For instance, as we age, our spine naturally wears and tears. Insurance companies will try to use any information in your past life to show that your back injury is the result of something else other than the accident.

However, a lawyer will use a qualified medical specialist in order to show that the accident was the real result of the injury rather than some other variable. If you already had been suffering from a back injury before the accident, your lawyer will try to show that the accident has increased your suffering. This can be shown by expert testimony or even through graphics such as MRIs.

Your attorney will walk through your case and use their resources and contacts as needed to seek to prove that damage to your back was the result of your accident.

Back injury compensation

Compensation for a back injury will vary depending on the severity of your injury, the effects it has on your everyday life (long and short term), and your rehabilitation time. For more severe injuries, compensation would generally be higher. It is important that you have an attorney that will investigate your case thoroughly. Insurance companies will try to settle for less, however with an attorney on your side, they may be able to uncover aspects of your case that the insurance company may overlook and in doing so, this may increase the value of your case.

Compensation is provided for economic losses and non-economic losses and tends to include the following:

Economic losses:

past and future medical bills
– past and future lost wages
– damaged property
– past and future loss of earning capacity

Non-economic losses

– past and future emotional anguish
– pain and suffering
– loss of enjoyment of activities

Value of your claim

Insurance companies are known to play down a person’s injuries to save money. For instance, they may call an injury that gives you severe pain “soft damage” or give your injury other labels to make your injury seem less painful than it actually is. That is why a lawyer may be necessary in order to counter these tactics to seek fair compensation.

The amount of compensation you may seek from your back injury claim varies on how severe your injury is. For example, if you suffer from a herniated disk that causes you to undergo extensive physical rehabilitation and surgery, you will likely seek more compensation than someone who suffers from minor whiplash. Similarly, you might seek more compensation if you suffer from severe spinal cord injuries that result in quadriplegia and other paralysis because, in these situations, you may not be able to function normally ever again.

Establishing the potential value of your claim is an important step in the claims process. Your lawyer can help you make sense of this and put a potential value on your case and then proceed to negotiate with the insurance company to seek that figure.

How to file a claim

1. Determine whether an insurance company will cover your injuries

Even if the other person is responsible for your injuries, you should first find out if the other person has insurance coverage. If the other person does not have coverage, filing a claim may be fruitless as you would be unable to collect any compensation if even if you win in court.

2. Consult with Attorney

Even if you believe that you may be able to file a claim on your own without hiring a lawyer, it may be useful to at least consult with a lawyer in order to find out if there are any pitfalls in your case. Using an attorney also means that important deadlines are not missed and that your best interests are met at all times.

3. Deciding to file a lawsuit

Your lawyer can proceed to investigate your case, bring together all important evidence to build the strongest case possible for you, and negotiate with the insurance company. Most cases are settled before they reach a courtroom, meaning that a lawsuit is often the last resort.

Common back injury lawsuits

Auto Accidents

When insurance companies do not settle favorably, a lawsuit is generally the only other option to obtain just compensation for injuries derived from automobile accidents (Car, truck, motorbike accidents). In these accidents, the negligent driver is often liable for the injuries that result.

Work-related

Though Texas has a workers’ compensation program that compensates a worker for injuries received on the job, not all employers have agreed to participate in the program. If your employer does not provide workers’ compensation, you may be able to sue your employer if your employer’s negligence caused your back injury.

Slip and Fall

Lawsuits for slip and falls are extremely common. Often, the property owner is liable if the owner did not take sufficient care in making the property safe for people to travel upon.

Legal Time Limits

In Texas, you have two years from the date of injury to file a claim.

If you are filing on behalf of a child, however, you have until he or she reaches the age of eighteen to file a claim. Once your child reaches the age of eighteen, he or she has two years to file a claim. Note that there are claims that belong specifically to the child such as pain and suffering and claims that belong specifically to the parents such as those for the child’s medical bills. For the latter claims, you must file them within two years of the injury.

Talk to Zinda Law Group

When you are suffering from the aftermath of a serious back injury, it is in your best interest to get the involvement of an experienced Personal Injury lawyer from Zinda Law Group on your side so that you can protect your legal rights. At our firm, we know the difficulties that can be attributed to back damage, and we know the emotional and physical stress that can accompany it. For this reason, we are prepared to go the distance in our efforts to provide our clients with reliable legal assistance when it is needed most.

Should you choose to work with our firm, you can rest assured knowing that we will go above and beyond in our efforts to provide comprehensive representation. If your injury was from the result of a third party’s negligence or if it was caused by the error of an employer to provide an adequately safe workplace, then you could have grounds to file a claim and should be justly protected.

For a FREE consultation with a no win no fee Austin lawyer, call Zinda Law Group today on 512-246-2224 to get started.

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