Car and motorcycle accidents, falls, sporting accidents, violence, and disease can cause spinal cord injuries. Those who are injured often face high medical bills and lost income.
To be awarded damages, a spinal cord injury legal help must prove that the person or business you are suing owed you a duty of care, breached this duty, and caused your spinal cord injury. This is known as negligence.
Statute of Limitations
In most states, there are time limits on when a lawsuit can be filed, known as statutes of limitations. These are meant to prevent frivolous claims from being brought in court, but they also help keep evidence, witness contact information, and memories fresh. That’s why asking about a statute of limitations is important when consulting with your spinal cord injury lawyer.
The main legal theory behind most personal injury cases, including spinal cord injuries, is negligence. To succeed, plaintiffs must prove that the defendant owed them a duty of care in the specific situation that led to their injury and then acted negligently or recklessly.
Spinal cord injuries can be devastating, affecting our economic and non-economic lives. The former can include lost wages and rehabilitative expenses, while the latter includes emotional distress, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. It’s also possible for defendants to argue that you shared some responsibility for your injury, in which case your damages award could be reduced.
Causation
Many expenses are associated with spinal cord injuries, including medical bills, rehabilitation costs, and long-term care needs. The injury may prevent you from working, further exacerbating your financial burden.
As with any personal injury claim, monetary damages are designed to return you to your pre-accident quality of life as much as possible. This means that your settlement will need to cover the economic losses you’ve suffered, such as medical bills and loss of income.
The first step to securing compensation is proving that the party you’re suing (called the “defendant” in legalese) directly caused your injury. Spinal cord injury lawyers use a process called causation to establish this link.
Damages
A person with a spinal cord injury often incurs staggering medical bills, including hospital and doctor’s bills, prescriptions, therapist sessions, rehabilitation, ambulance costs, and assistive devices. These expenses may be partially or fully compensated through a settlement.
In such situations, individuals may need to file a lawsuit for a spinal cord injury in order to pursue fair compensation and secure the financial support required for long-term recovery and care. A successful spinal cord injury lawsuit can also recover damages for past and future lost income. This is because many SCI survivors lose their ability to earn a living, directly impacting the household’s financial stability and ability to meet other obligations.
The severity of the spinal cord injury also plays a role in determining how much a plaintiff might receive in a settlement or verdict. The more permanent the damage, the higher the payout. This is true, especially for cases involving government employees or officials, such as correctional officers who caused spinal cord injuries to prisoners in their custody. The reason is that the public holds government workers and officials to a higher standard than private individuals.
Settlement Value
While many people are curious about the average spinal cord injury settlement, there is no set amount. Each case is different and involves various factors that influence the settlement value.
Medical expenses are the most obvious factor, and severe injuries tend to result in many bills. Moreover, these costs will likely continue for the rest of a person’s life. For this reason, the more expensive a spinal cord injury is, the higher the case’s settlement value will be.
Non-economic damages are also important in spinal cord injury cases. They can include a victim’s intangible losses, such as their loss of quality of life, pain and suffering, and lost income.
A successful lawsuit can provide victims with the compensation they need to cover their losses. A lawyer can help them determine the potential value of their claim and fight for the maximum recovery possible. They can also assist with structured settlements, which involve regular payments that may last for two years, five years, or even a person’s entire lifetime.