How Does a Personal Injury Attorney Help With a Brain Injury?

Personal injury attorneys are strong, positive advocates for their injured clients, but never more so than with a client who’s suffered a brain injury. A skilled, experienced San Diego brain injury attorney can not only help the injury victim recover compensation for the medical costs they’ve already experienced, but they can also help the victim find the best possible medical professionals to evaluate the injury victim’s future medical needs to provide ongoing care and document these continuing future costs to maximize compensation.

Common Causes of Brain Injuries

The brain is the center of all human experience as well as the mechanism controlling our bodily functions. Despite a cushioning layer of fluid and the protection of a bony skull, the human brain is formed of millions of delicate neurons that are easily damaged by trauma. A traumatic brain injury results from a blow to the head, a strong jarring motion that causes the brain to bump against the inside of the skull, or a penetrating wound to the head that damages sensitive brain tissue. Even mild concussions—the most common brain injury—can have significant impacts and cumulative long-term effects. More serious brain injuries can leave victims with moderate to severe impairment.

Common causes of brain injuries include the following:

• Car accidents
• Pedestrian accidents
• Motorcycle accidents
• Slip-and-fall accidents
• Contact-sports injuries

When a brain injury occurs due to another party’s negligence, reckless behavior, or intentional wrongdoing, the distress of the injury is even more overwhelming since the victim and their family know it could have been prevented if only another party had taken reasonable care. A personal injury attorney cannot undo the damage or erase pain and suffering, but they can help the victim and their family achieve both reimbursement for their tangible economic damages and compensation for pain and suffering—but also a sense of justice and accountability.

What Compensation Can a Personal Injury Attorney Help A Brain Injury Victim Recover?

Brain injury victims require expensive, highly-specialized treatment in order to reach their maximum possible recovery. Often, this requires significant ongoing care, such as rehabilitation, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and home health aid. A successful claim brings compensation for damages such as the following:

• Medical expenses
• Future medical expenses
• Lost income
• Future income loss
• Diminished future earning capacity due to disability
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Loss of consortium (a full emotional and physical relationship with a loved one)

Why a Personal Injury Attorney Is Critical After a Brain Injury

Despite their compassionate tones, insurance companies are rarely on the victim’s side. They hire adjusters whose job it is to find ways to undervalue or deny claims. In brain injury cases, it takes some time and many visits to specialists to determine the extent of the injury and impairment. Many insurance companies offer low settlements to brain injury victims very soon after the injury when victims and their families are frightened, confused, and not yet fully aware of the true scope of the economic and non-economic damages they have ahead.

A San Diego personal injury attorney with years of navigating brain injury claims has access to the best possible resources, medical professionals, and expert testimony to assist brain-injured clients and their families. While nothing can erase the harm, having a skilled attorney aggressively advocating for your financial recovery after a brain injury allows the victim to focus on maximizing their physical recovery.