Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyers in El Paso, Texas
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Call (800) 863-5312 to Speak with El Paso Brain Injury Lawyers for Free
Brain injuries can be some of the most serious types of bodily injuries. A traumatic brain injury (TBI) can cause a wide range of disabilities and dramatically alter your quality of life.
If your injury occurred as a result of someone else’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation. At Zinda Law Group, our experienced brain injury lawyers are ready to handle TBI claims, and we can help you build the strongest case possible and pursue maximum recovery for your injury.
If you or a loved one has suffered a traumatic brain injury, call Zinda Law Group at (800) 863-5312 for a 100% free case evaluation with our brain injury attorneys in El Paso.
Do I Have a TBI Case?
Whether you have a case depends on various factors, including what kind of accident caused your brain injury. For example, if it was a car accident, a slip and fall, or a medical injury.
Who was at fault also matters. Was it another person? A defective product? A bad drug? The damages you may be entitled to can be affected by the severity of the brain trauma, how long it will take you to recover, whether you missed work, whether you were hospitalized, and other considerations.
You may be able to receive damages that cover your past and future medical expenses, your lost income, your loss of normal life, mental pain and suffering, caretaking costs, and more.
Each accident is unique. Speaking with a personal injury attorney will help you strengthen your case and determine what damages you may be entitled to.
Why Should I Hire a Brain Injury Attorney?
Hiring a brain injury lawyer is the best way to ensure you receive compensation following an accident.
An attorney can investigate your claim, protect your rights, and help you recover the money you deserve. Most importantly, you will know you have someone on your side during this difficult time.
An attorney can also help you calculate your estimated past and future costs to better plan your future care. Traumatic brain injuries are difficult because the injury is often “invisible.” As a result, it is hard to know what future medical care you will require.
An experienced TBI lawyer can compare your injury to past cases to better estimate what compensation you may be entitled to. An attorney can also work with you and your doctor to craft a plan for your future medical care, including medication, treatment, home modification, and more, which can influence the amount of damages you can receive.
What is a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)?
A traumatic brain injury is a brain dysfunction caused by outside, usually violent, force to the head. TBIs happen in various circumstances, some of the most common occurring by a slip and fall accident or car crash.
The brain is one of the most fragile yet critical bodily organs. Because the brain is vital for all of the body’s functions, brain injuries can be incredibly problematic and dangerous.
While some minor brain injuries may be healed by rest, other more serious injuries will need significant medical attention. We at Zinda Law Group can help victims of TBIs seek maximum compensation through experienced legal counsel. If you or a loved one has suffered a brain injury, call our experienced El Paso brain injury attorneys for a free consultation today at (800)-863-5312.
Symptoms
Our brains control bodily functions as well as nerve impulses in many ways that are not obvious to the naked eye. Thus, brain injuries and their severity may only be properly diagnosed and treated via expert licensed medical professionals.
While medical experts will need to take a closer look to diagnose brain injuries as well as their severity properly, some common symptoms of traumatic brain injury include:
• Confusion • Blurry vision • Difficulty concentrating or multitasking • Sensitivity to light • Loss of consciousness • Forgetfulness • Slurred speech • Ringing in the ears • Increased irritability
If you have suffered or suspect you have suffered from a traumatic brain injury, seek expert medical help immediately. Upon getting adequate medical attention, it is strongly advisable to consult with an experienced brain injury attorney to learn your legal rights and to seek maximum compensation from the party that caused your injury.
Long-Term Effects
Like any significant injury, TBIs can have long-term effects. While, in some cases, the natural bodily healing process completely or near-completely repairs the damage, mitigating any long-term effects, it is common for some symptoms to endure.
Some potential long-term effects of TBIs are:
• Headaches • Nausea • Dizziness and lightheadedness • Memory loss • Depression and anxiety • Higher likelihood of degenerative brain disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease • Potential vegetative state or death
Common TBI Claims
Traumatic brain injuries can occur in various ways. Over 200,000 traumatic brain injuries occur annually in the United States. As such, victims of TBIs can rightfully seek compensation from the at-fault negligent or reckless party through lawsuits and insurance claims. Some of the most common TBI claims are:
Car Accident TBI Claim
A car accident TBI claim typically occurs when a person suffers a traumatic brain injury from a car accident. Typically the force of the collision causes an extreme blow to the head area or by causing the airbag to strike the head swiftly. In these cases, a car accident victim who suffers a traumatic brain injury can bring a lawsuit against the person, party, or company that caused the car accident.
Truck Accident TBI Claim
A truck accident TBI claim usually occurs when the accident occurs not with a truck, or when a truck driver receives a brain injury in a truck driving accident. In many cases, the trucking company may be held liable if they were negligent in not properly maintaining their truck, or overworking their truck drivers, or the truck manufacturers may be held liable if there was a faulty truck part, resulting in the accident.
The ability to sue the negligent party or parties will help the victim attain greater chances of full and adequate monetary compensation, as the trucking company or manufacturer will likely have greater funds and insurance available to cover the TBI damages.
Work Accident TBI Claim
If you have been injured on the job, you may be entitled to significant compensation from your company and their insurance company, as thousands of work-related injuries occur in the United States each year. When a traumatic brain injury results from a work-related injury, the victim worker may typically bring a work accident TBI claim in order to seek damages. You may also be covered by workers’ compensation in order to capture financial assistance for medical costs, disability, or lost wages.
Premises TBI claim
Unfortunately, people slip and fall or have other injuries sustained at a business or someone else’s private residence due to the negligence of another. Some common places where the negligence of the business or other person causes injuries are at supermarkets, commonly, but not limited to, a slip and fall incident, and at shopping centers, hotels, apartment buildings, and private residences.
Many of these injuries result in trauma to the brain. In some cases, the victims will need ongoing medical attention and treatment. If you have been injured due to the negligence of another at a business or private residence, you may be entitled to sue the business or homeowner for compensation through a premises liability traumatic brain injury claim.
What To Do After a TBI Accident?
After an accident, you should immediately seek professional medical attention and call the police if necessary. Next, you should document the accident in order to protect yourself and preserve key details necessary for a potential lawsuit, insurance claim, or workers compensation claim surrounding the incident.
After adequately documenting the accident, it is strongly advisable to consult with an experienced brain injury attorney immediately. An attorney will inform you of your rights and help preserve and acquire crucial evidence necessary in seeking maximum compensation for your injuries.
Next, your attorney will conduct in-depth investigations to acquire any evidence proving the other parties suspected fault and will navigate the legal system on your behalf and to your benefit.
Additionally, an experienced brain injury attorney will know how to most accurately and maximally calculate and prove your damages to applicable insurance companies and, importantly, to a jury. Your attorney will know how to delicately deal with a tragic situation such as an accident leading to a TBI and effectively advocate on your behalf with the opposing parties, insurance companies, workers’ compensation departments, and the court.
A brain injury needs special care, rest, and recovery, and an attorney will alleviate some stress of the incident by fighting on your behalf to seek your maximal compensation from all applicable parties.
Filing a TBI Lawsuit
Speak with an experienced attorney about your specific accident, and your attorney will guide you through the legal system in order to seek maximum compensation for your injury. It is advisable to immediately consult with an attorney not only to preserve and gain crucial evidence in proving your damages through an in-depth investigation but also in not missing the statute of limitations period for bringing a claim. The statute of limitations period is a time limit in which you must bring your TBI case, typically two years from the time of the accident in Texas.
After your attorney conducts an in-depth investigation of the incident and acquires evidence showing the other party’s fault and negligence, your attorney may use legal subpoenas and discovery in order to obtain further information crucial in proving your TBI injury and the negligence of the opposing party or parties.
Your attorney will also utilize official records such as police reports and medical expert testimony to establish the gravity of your injuries in order to seek your full damages and establish your core TBI claim. In some cases, the evidence your attorney gains will be so indicative of the other parties’ fault that the other parties or insurance companies may attempt to settle the case in order to avoid extended legal costs or a loss at trial. Your attorney will know which option to take for your best interests and highest monetary compensation. Importantly, your attorney will take care of all the communications with other parties and insurance companies, so you can relax and focus on your recovery and health.
TBI Treatment
Depending on the type and severity of your brain injury, you will likely require a combination of rest, recovery, medication, treatment, and therapy. As a TBI may cause physical, emotional, and psychological damage, a combination of various recovery therapies may be necessary for your recovery. Upon admittance into a medical facility, the staff may use a CT scan or an MRI to help identify any brain trauma.
For mild TBI, such as a concussion, immediate medical attention and rest are most commonly used for rehabilitation. In these cases, the doctors will usually prescribe a rest period and abstain from high-concentration activities such as computer work and momentarily pausing from sports activity. It is very important to get clearance from your doctor before resuming any of these activities in order to maximize recovery.
For more severe TBIs, immediate medical intervention is usually necessary, including stabilizing skull pressure, removing any skull fragments or blood clots from the brain, as well as emergency surgery to stop or prevent brain bleeding. The medical staff will work to ensure the brain is receiving sufficient oxygen to promote healing and prevent any further damage or trauma.
As the brain is the control center of the body, physical therapy as well as speech therapy and cognitive therapy, are commonly used to return TBI victims to full, healthy bodily functions. This can be a short-term intervention lasting just a few weeks or can be consistent long-term therapies depending on your specific injuries. Like any form of rehabilitation, it will likely require dedication in order to have maximal positive results. In some cases, the severity of the brain injury will prevent the TBI victim from returning to their line of work and may require vocational training to learn skills necessary to return to the workforce.
An experienced brain injury attorney will be in a position to help advocate for your maximum compensation for these medical therapies as well as lost wages and future lost wages from not being able to work at full capacity, or having to get an entirely new job.
Compensation
Traumatic brain injury damages are unique in that the severity or multitude of symptoms do not always manifest immediately and are not usually visible to the naked eye. Some symptoms may not show until much later in life, for instance, later life dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Thus, it is crucially important not to understate past, present and future medical and emotional damage, as after damages have been awarded in court, they can not usually be renegotiated. The stress of dealing with brain injury recovery can be compounded by not receiving adequate monetary compensation to cover your expenses caused by the accident.
An experienced brain injury attorney will know how to calculate and seek maximum compensation for your brain injury. These damages will likely include all past, current, and future medical bills, treatments, and medications. Damages also take the form of emotional pain and suffering. In many cases, your quality of life will be lowered by your traumatic brain injury, and your attorney can seek damages for this emotional and psychological suffering. For traumatic brain injuries, these types of damages may be significant.
Additionally, your attorney will help you seek monetary compensation for any missed wages or future lost earnings because of your traumatic brain injury. Your attorney will work on your behalf to seek full compensation for your injuries.
Legal Time Limit
Like most injury claims in Texas, a TBI claim is bound by a statute of limitations. A statute of limitations is a time period in which you may bring your brain injury claim, but after which you will not be able to bring your injury claim. In El Paso, Texas, you generally have two years from the date of your brain injury to bring your claim.
Therefore, it is imperative to seek experienced legal counsel who will advise you of the applicable Texas statute of limitations and take steps to file your claim within the time limit.
Involvement of an experienced brain injury attorney on your behalf will help ease anxieties as your attorney will pilot your case so you can rest and recover while your attorney is handling the complex, difficult, and tedious legal work such as filing your claim, negotiating with insurance companies, filing any applicable workers compensation claims, and communicating with all adversarial parties and the court.
FAQ
Pain and Suffering
In El Paso, Texas, damages incurred as a result of a TBI are not limited to tangible losses, such as obvious medical treatments and property damages. More accurately, the courts allow pain and suffering that have resulted from the accident to be converted into monetary damages.
While money may not fully restore a victim to their pre-accident condition on a physical, emotional, and psychological level, allocating monetary damages for pain and suffering can assist you in leading a more comfortable life.
Some factors that typically factor into your pain and suffering damages are emotional trauma, anxiety, depression, fear, the pain involved in applicable medical treatments (e.g., surgery), and loss of quality of life that result from the accident. As anyone who has experienced a serious injury or traumatic event knows, these experiences are incredibly difficult to live through and can be even more troublesome than the initial accident itself.
Thus, Texas allows for pain and suffering damages on top of your obvious and tangible economic damages such as incurred medical costs and lost wages. Your experienced injury attorney will use both tangible and intangible damages in advocating for your maximum compensation.
How Long to Settle?
Like most legal cases, the facts and evidence in the case will generally dictate how long it takes to settle or complete a case at trial. Upon retaining an experienced brain injury attorney, your attorney will quickly conduct investigations to acquire crucial evidence in proving the other party or parties negligence and fault in your accident, as well as collecting evidence to prove the extent of your damages.
Thus, depending on the evidence, insurance companies may seek to settle quickly, potentially within weeks and months, and the other party, upon seeing the initial evidence, may seek to do the same in order to avoid a protracted legal case or loss at trial.
Some cases take longer if they go to trial, but may potentially yield higher compensation. Your attorney will work on your behalf and in your best interests to get both the greatest and quickest monetary compensation for you.
Get Help from Our Brain Injury Lawyers
At Zinda Law Group, we have helped thousands of injury victims get their lives back on track after an injury. We have the knowledge and resources necessary to help you seek maximum compensation for your injuries.
If you or a loved one has suffered a TBI, call Zinda Law Group at (800) 863-5312 to receive your free consultation with our El Paso brain injury lawyers.