- Understanding Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)
- Why Having a Proper Spinal Cord Injury Attorney Is a Good Idea
- Causes of a Spinal Cord Injury
- Spinal Cord Injury Types
- Quality of Life Changes Synonymous with Spinal Injury
- Frequently Asked Questions For Spinal Cord Injuries
- Contact a Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer At Schuerger Shunnarah Trial Attorneys For A Free Consultation
A spinal cord injury lawyer is fundamental to helping you get through one of the most traumatic situations to deal with. Often, these injuries are caused by the negligence of other parties, and they lead you to have a reduced quality of life.
As a leading personal injury law firm, our attorneys at Schuerger Shunnarah Trial Attorneys have witnessed the devastating effects of spinal cord injuries. By taking informed legal action, you can recover the compensation you need to readjust to life following an unexpected accident.
If you or a loved one suffered a spinal cord injury, we would first like to express our empathy for what you are going through. Receiving compensation from a negligent party may not restore your spine, but it can prove to make things bearable and to help you more easily adjust to your new standard of living.
Traumatic blows to the spine are no laughing matter, and such situations must be dealt with decisively. We encourage you to speak to a professional personal injury lawyer before signing anything or speaking to any insurance company.
Even if you have not yet retained an attorney when an insurance company calls, let the representative know that you don’t wish to have a conversation without your attorney present.
That’s because insurance companies are only dedicated to helping themselves reduce costs. So, they may attempt to offer you a much smaller settlement than you deserve with the condition of your inability to claim additional compensation in the future.
Alternatively, they may even attempt to compassionately speak to you, getting you to say that you’re not feeling too bad, so they can use it against you. It’s best to speak with an experienced lawyer to learn more about your spinal cord injury case.
Understanding Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)
What makes some spinal cord injuries so much more serious than others? Well, depending on where the injury occurs and the kind of trauma that causes it, you find various levels of impact and severity.
Typically, the easiest way to quantify the injury is to ascertain the lowest point of the spinal cord that still works as intended. Additionally, incomplete and complete injury classifications are used to describe the amount of feeling and functionality that are lost.
Paralysis is when there’s a total or almost complete loss of feeling and control below the injury level. Depending on where the injury is on the spinal cord, it can control many areas of the body, including pelvic organs, legs, arms, and hands.
Some of the symptoms victims may notice include loss of motor function, loss of sensation, spasms, loss of bladder control and bowel control, changes in sexual function, difficulty breathing or coughing, or intense pain and stinging in the spinal area.
Why Having a Proper Spinal Cord Injury Attorney Is a Good Idea
While some injuries are straightforward to navigate, spinal cord injuries are not. Instead, they are complex, sometimes permanent, and can become incredibly expensive.
Notice that the heading here referred to a proper spinal cord injury attorney. Emphasis is on the word “proper.” you don’t want the kind of lawyer who looks at you like a potential trip to the bank.
You need a lawyer who is here to represent and cater to you. The team at Schuerger Shunnarah Injury Lawyers wants to be there for you as you navigate this complex world. We also want to fight for you.
It’s a tough path to endure, and if we can be the reason that your quality of life is better going forward, then we’ve done our job well.
When it comes to a life-altering injury like this, it is essential to hire a spinal cord injury lawyer who has the legal expertise to get you compensation.
Maybe it’s a single irresponsible drunk driver. Alternatively, it could be a whole corporation. An expert spinal cord injury lawyer doesn’t care, as the core focus is on your needs. While you take the time you need to process your feelings and recovery, your attorney is on the offensive on your behalf.
A proper lawyer for spinal cord injuries also understands the science behind it. Yes, you are not dealing with a doctor, but the discipline requires expertise to support you through such a phenomenon.
Causes of a Spinal Cord Injury
The CDC indicates that about 11,000 people suffer spinal cord injuries annually. Note that while diseases and disorders can cause spinal cord injuries, these are not covered here as they are rarely, if ever, because of someone else’s negligence.
The most common causes of spinal cord injury cases attorneys see are due to:
- motor vehicle accidents
- medical malpractice
- birth injury
- workplace accidents
- premise liability accidents
- sports Injuries
- construction accidents
Spinal Cord Injury Types
As indicated before, spinal cord injuries can fall under complete or incomplete umbrellas. Let’s further discuss these two types of injuries and the syndromes that are indicated under incomplete.
While some injuries are straightforward to navigate, spinal cord injuries are not. Instead, they are complex, sometimes permanent, and can become incredibly expensive.
Notice that the heading here referred to a proper spinal cord injury attorney. Emphasis is on the word “proper.” you don’t want the kind of lawyer who looks at you like a potential trip to the bank.
You need a lawyer who is here to represent and cater to you. The team at Schuerger Shunnarah Trial Lawyers wants to be there for you as you navigate this complex world. We also want to fight for you.
Incomplete spinal cord injuries have a broad spectrum of severity types, and these are based on the site of the injury and the symptoms that occur. There are 4 incomplete spinal cord injury syndromes we look at in the following tabs.
This is when the center of the spinal cord becomes damaged. Some level of leg movement is preserved, while there is a bigger loss of function in the arms.
This is characterized by damage to the back of the spinal cord. This categorization tends to result in poor coordination.
This is the opposite and speaks of the damage at the front of the spinal cord, which means movement is impaired, as is sensitivity to temperature, pain, and touch below the site of injury.
This injury is one in which one side of the spinal cord is damaged while the other remains fine. In this case, one side of the body preserves its sensation but loses movement while the other loses sensation but preserves movement.
Typically, doctors use a physical examination to conclude where along the spine the injury has occurred. The spinal cord is divided into five sections known as the cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal regions. It’s the combination of understanding the symptoms and the site that helps the medical professional to provide accurate advice.
A Spinal cord injury lawyer is able to use the diagnosis and medical records of the spinal cord injury and the recommendations of the doctor for treatment to calculate the damages to recover financial compensation for victims.
Quality of Life Changes Synonymous with Spinal Injury
Though you’re getting all this information about what a spinal cord injury looks like, it wouldn’t be the first time you’ve come across the concept of such an injury and what it may mean. However, without being in the situation or at least taking some time to think about it, people don’t often realize how debilitating such an injury can be.
Spinal cord injuries can change your life in an instant. You may have had hobbies that you enjoy participating in, which get removed from the table. Even everyday tasks such as preparing breakfast change seemingly overnight, especially where there may be items stored high in a cupboard.
Your life must change to accommodate your injury, considering how many things become more difficult or impossible. Even your life expectancy can become thrown off by a spinal injury.
Life expectancy reduction comes from the kind of injury that occurs and what it means internally. For example, those who lose their ability to breathe effectively tend to require a ventilator. Alternatively, another person may experience depression.
Both persons would not have the same kind of life expectancy. Note, however, that depending on the treatment administered, living beyond the statistical numbers is well within the realm of possibility. The challenge, of course, is consistently getting treatment and the high costs associated with doing so.
Frequently Asked Questions For Spinal Cord Injuries
What Are The Initial and Ongoing Medical Costs Of A Spinal Cord Injury?
If you suffered a life-altering spinal cord injury, you can hardly live without the prescribed course of care. Unfortunately, the care does not come cheap and is likely to make a huge dent in your finances. Some people find that they must spend millions for consistent care if they don’t wish to suffer.
Of course, the younger someone is when the injury happens, the more that person is going to be reasonably expected to pay throughout life.
It’s not hard to see how you could easily end up falling into some serious debt just trying to live as normally as possible. If your spinal cord injury was caused by a negligent party, then you may not need to worry about financing this expensive journey.
Instead, and let a spinal cord injury attorney help you to recover the compensation you deserve
What Qualifies As Spinal Cord Injury Damages?
Spinal Cord Injury Lawyers work hard to get victims to get the maximum compensation for their injuries. A spinal cord injury is considered a catastrophic injury and deserves financial compensation if it was caused by the negligent action of someone else. Below we will list some of the compensation you can receive:
Medical Expenses
As you’d expect, this category covers the medical bills you incur from your injury. Medical care for a spinal cord injury is expensive and having these bills paid by the party responsible means that you can access the treatments you need without the hassle of worrying about where the money is going to come from.
Therefore, this category factors in all medical costs such as hospital bills, medical care, rehabilitation or occupational therapy bills, etc. This includes any current and future medical expenses directly related to the spinal cord injury.
Lost Wages
Based on how severe these injuries can be, it’s not hard to understand why those dealing with them are often unable to work. This may be for some time, or it could be permanent. A claim for a loss of wages aims to ensure the victim is adequately paid for any time missed from work because of the injury.
Note that the missed time would have to negatively impact earnings. For example, an injured person may have a job where pay is hourly and dependent on attendance. Therefore, missing a couple of hours to go to a doctor’s appointment would constitute missed wages.
Throw recovery time in, and there would be even less pay to receive. Additionally, this clause also considers future wages that may be lost.
Loss of Consortium
Spouses of injured parties tend to claim this one. While not easily financially quantifiable, it speaks to the loss of the victim’s ability to meet marital obligations including companionship and intimacy.
Pain and Suffering
Pain and suffering here may speak to physical, psychological, or emotional effects associated with the spinal cord injury. With something that can change your life this much, there is going to be a consistent sense of mental anguish.
Some people manage to adjust to their new normal quite well, while others feel as if they are consistently suffering for as long as they live. They could suffer physically with chronic pain, or with emotional distress such as depression.
Loss of Enjoyment of Life
This class speaks to activities you previously enjoyed that are no longer possible because of your injury. For example, you may have been heavily into endurance cycling with a group of friends. After having lost use of and feeling in both legs, you can no longer cycle.
Wrongful Death
When a spinal cord injury results in the death of the victim, the spinal cord injury claim can also include wrongful death damages. Along with the other damages listed above, wrongful death damages include funeral and burial costs.
How Much Does A Spinal Cord Injury Attorney Cost?
Spinal cord injury victims have a lot on their plate. Many spinal cord injuries have other serious injuries such as a traumatic brain injury, broken bones, nerve damage, and more. Victims may require surgery or ongoing medical care. Personal Injury Lawyers understand this is a difficult time physically, emotionally, and financially.
To start a spinal cord injury lawsuit against the negligent party costs you nothing. That’s right, you pay nothing upfront and no out-of-pocket expenses. This is considered a contingency fee. Once the settlement is agreed upon, a percentage will be charged for your attorney’s legal fees.
You can focus on recovering while your attorney works on obtaining your spinal cord injury compensation from the liable party. Call today for a free case evaluation from one of the experienced spinal cord injury attorneys to see if you should take legal action for your injury.
Contact a Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer At Schuerger Shunnarah Trial Attorneys For A Free Consultation
There is no doubt that suffering a spinal cord injury is incredibly difficult to deal with. Not only is there a huge adjustment required in most cases, but simply trying to live comfortably seems to become expensive almost overnight.
How are you expected to legally navigate such a situation, when the physical, mental, and financial elements are already so difficult? You don’t necessarily have to.
Instead, you can depend on an injury law firm such as Schuerger Shunnarah Trial Attorneys. Reach out today to schedule a free consultation so an experienced spinal cord injury attorney can evaluate your claim and advise you on how to proceed effectively.
