New York Spinal Injury Lawyers
Suffering injuries during an accident can alter the course of an individual’s life. Hobbies, future careers, and other opportunities may not be available to someone who suffers serious bodily injury. Spinal cord injuries are among the most serious injuries that accident victims can suffer.
Motor vehicle accidents are not the only accident capable of causing these injuries. Slip-and-fall accidents, medical malpractice, and sports accidents may injure your back. If you or a loved one suffered a spinal injury due to another party’s negligent actions, contact Harris Keenan & Goldfarb today to schedule a free case evaluation.
Retaining a personal injury lawyer is the most important thing you should do after seeking medical treatment for your injuries. Harris Keenan & Goldfarb has years of experience representing clients who suffered spinal injuries through no fault of their own from different types of accidents.
You will pay no fees before or during the time in which we provide you with legal representation. You will pay for legal representation by paying a contingency fee out of any financial compensation we obtain on your behalf. If we don’t get compensation for you, you won’t owe us anything.
Don’t wait. Call 800-724-6529 today so we can start working for you.
What Type of Compensation Might I Recover?
People who are injured due to someone else’s negligence can recover compensation for non-economic and economic losses associated with their injuries. Punitive damages may also be awarded based on whether the defendant’s negligent actions were particularly egregious. Courts typically order defendants to pay punitive damages to punish the defendant and deter the defendant from committing the same negligent act in the future.
Economic losses are losses that have a dollar amount substantiated by a medical record, medical bill, or other record. The following are some of the most common types of economic losses claimed in spinal injury cases:
- Past medical expenses
- Future medical expenses
- Lost future earnings
- Lost wages
- Costs of rehabilitation
- Property damage costs
Non-economic losses are intangible in nature and are based on the subjective experience of the person who suffered a spinal injury. The following are some of the most common types of non-economic losses claimed in these cases:
- Disfigurement
- Temporary disability
- Permanent disability
- Emotional trauma
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of consortium
- Psychological distress
Medical professionals are often called expert witnesses during personal injury cases. Often, only an expert witness can understand and explain a spinal injury’s true nature and extent. Physicians and medical specialists may be called expert witnesses and consultants during personal injury cases.
If an individual needs rehabilitative care for years after the injury, then disability experts are often consulted to assist attorneys with calculating economic damages. An injured person may undergo training to adapt and learn a new employment skill or trade. A spinal injury may prevent an individual from performing their regular job duties.
The cost of adapting to your injury
An individual who suffered a spinal injury may have to remodel their home to make it wheelchair accessible. Automobiles may need to be augmented to enable operation by a disabled individual. Expert witnesses can help calculate these costs and include them in the compensation we seek.
Both economic losses and non-economic losses are important in spinal injury cases. Recovering from injuries may require months or years, but the more victims can document injuries and treatment, the more likely they can pursue the full monetary compensation they deserve.
The Types of Accidents Commonly Associated with Spinal Injury Cases
Spinal injuries can occur during many different accidents. Thousands of spinal injuries happen each year in the United States.
The following are some of the most common accidents associated with these injury cases:
- Medical malpractice accidents involving improper surgeries.
- Contact sports injuries.
- Accidents involving firearm injuries and bullet wounds.
- Slip-and-fall accidents.
- Workplace accidents
- Motor vehicle accidents
- Construction accidents
- Blunt force trauma
Spinal cord injuries may not produce immediately noticeable symptoms. These types of injuries may not produce symptoms until days or weeks after the date of the injury. You must seek medical treatment immediately if you suffered spinal injuries during any accident.
The Most Common Types of Spinal Injuries
Complete and incomplete spinal injuries are the two main categories physicians use to analyze and treat these injuries. A complete spinal injury causes a 100 percent loss of control below the injury site. An incomplete injury causes some loss of control, but some movement and feeling remain below the injury site.
No two incomplete spinal injuries are identical. Incomplete spinal injuries produce different symptoms depending on the nature of the injury. The injury’s precise location on the body is an important element to consider when determining the long-term consequences of an incomplete spinal injury.
People with incomplete spinal injuries may experience a variety of symptoms. Brown-Sequard syndrome occurs when only one side of the spinal cord is injured during an accident. A typical consequence of Brown-Sequard syndrome is for one side of the body to have sensation but no movement. The other side of the body may have no sensation but stable movement.
Types of spinal cord injuries
Posterior cord syndrome occurs when an individual suffers an injury to the back of the spinal cord. Poor movement and muscle control are often caused by posterior cord syndrome.
Central cord syndrome arises when the spinal cord’s cervical section suffers injury during an accident. An injured victim with central cord syndrome may be able to move their legs but not their arms.
Anterior cord syndrome occurs when an individual injures the front 2/3 of the spinal cord. Symptoms that may arise with anterior cord syndrome include a lack of sensation below the injury site, hypotension, neurogenic bladder or bowel, and sexual dysfunction.
The spinal cord is divided into distinct sections. These five sections are denoted by the terms coccygeal, sacral, lumbar, thoracic, and cervical. The five terms correspond to the tailbone, pelvis, lower back, chest, and neck. Injuries at these different spinal cord sections may produce unique types of paralysis.
Types of paralysis
Complete spinal injuries can cause severe forms of paralysis. Paraplegia denotes a loss of movement and sensation in the legs. Injuries in the sacral, thoracic, and lumbar spine sections cause paraplegia. Quadriplegia, or Tetraplegia, is the loss of movement in all four extremities. A complete spinal injury in the cervical spine causes quadriplegia.
Hemiplegia is paralysis that affects one side of the body. Triplegia is a form of paralysis affecting sensation in two legs and one arm. Spastic quadriplegia produces spasms in all four extremities.
Individuals with spinal injuries may also experience lumbar and cervical disc herniations.
Spinal Injuries and Their Effect on a Person’s Life
Spinal injuries affect every part of an injured person’s life. An individual with a severe injury may be unable to participate in any hobbies or interests that gave their life meaning. A spinal injury can end a person’s career and deprive them of a source of income, meaning, and pride in their life.
Actions and behaviors an injured victim formerly performed almost unconsciously, and might have taken for granted, can be impossible to perform after a significant spinal injury. Depression, anxiety, and other psychological symptoms may arise in someone with a severe spinal injury. An injured person’s relationships with family and friends may deteriorate if their accident-related depression is untreated.
Life expectancy also may decrease after an individual suffers a spinal injury. Those with significant injuries may lose sensory control, depression, impaired digestion, and difficulty breathing.
The toll a spinal injury takes on an individual’s life is unknowable. Courts attempt to calculate amounts of compensation that will make the victim “whole” after the negligent actions of another party injured them. No exact dollar amount can be placed on the experiences and opportunities someone loses after a spinal injury.
Age matters
A younger spinal injury victim may never have the chance to procreate and experience the joy of raising children. Older victims may experience rapidly deteriorating health due to their lack of mobility.
Retaining a personal injury lawyer will help an injured victim pursue compensation for medical equipment, psychological treatment, vocational training, and home nursing care. Do not let the expenses associated with a spinal cord injury cause you to file for bankruptcy. Contact Harris Keenan & Goldfarb today for a free case evaluation.
Who Can Be Responsible for Causing a Spinal Cord Injury?
If you or a loved one suffered spinal injuries during an accident caused by another party’s negligence, then you need to make sure that you understand how to gather evidence and establish their liability.
Negligence is a subtopic within the area of tort law. If someone injures you in an accident, you’ll have to prove that their conduct caused the accident that injured you. You’ll also have to show that you suffered losses from the injury.
This proof usually starts with a demonstration that the person who injured you was supposed to have acted reasonably and not caused injuries to others. Then you’ll need to show that they did not act reasonably and that their unreasonable actions caused the accident.
Next, you must show that the accident caused your spinal injury. Then you’ll also have to show that the injury caused you to have actual losses, whether they are economic losses, such as medical bills, lost wages, or lost future earnings, or non-economic losses, such as pain and suffering, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, disfigurement, or a disabling condition.
How a personal injury lawyer helps your case
A personal injury lawyer understands how to gather and analyze evidence to establish the at-fault party’s liability. Insurance companies and large corporations do not want to pay large settlement amounts, and you must get a personal injury lawyer to fight these battles for you after you’ve suffered a spinal injury.
If you were struck by a commercial truck in a motor vehicle accident, your spinal injury case might be more complex. Business entities are responsible for the wrongdoing of their employees if those employees, during the accident, were acting within the course and scope of their employment.
A single spinal injury case may involve several plaintiffs and multiple defendants. These parties may file crossclaims and counterclaims against each other. Litigation can become more complex over time, and you may quickly feel overwhelmed and unprepared if you do not retain the expertise of a knowledgeable and skillful personal injury lawyer.
Harris Keenan & Goldfarb
Common Symptoms Caused by Spinal Injuries
Individuals who suffer spinal injuries often experience a range of symptoms, including the following:
- Sharp pain.
- Labored breathing.
- Inability to cough.
- Alterations in libido, fertility, and sexual arousal.
- Unable to control bowel movements or bladder .
- Uncontrollable muscle spasms.
- Sensitive reflexes.
- Inability to move the extremities.
- Decreasing physical sensation.
- Tingling sensations in the legs or arms.
What Documents Should I Bring to My Personal Injury Lawyer?
If you or a loved one suffered spinal injuries during an accident, you need to begin gathering documentary evidence from the moment you leave the emergency room after seeking medical treatment. Collecting the following items of evidence after you receive medical treatment will help your case:
- Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of witnesses
- If your injuries were caused in a motor vehicle accident, copies of the traffic collision report prepared by the responding officer
- Medical records associated with diagnosis and treatment of injuries
- Photographs and videos of the accident scene
Contact Harris Keenan & Goldfarb Today to Schedule a Free Consultation
Suffering a spinal injury is painful and disheartening. Do not attempt to pursue financial compensation for your injuries on your own. Retaining a personal injury lawyer will enable you to move forward with your life and the period of adjustment that follows spinal injuries.
Contact Harris Keenan & Goldfarb today to schedule a case evaluation. We can discuss the facts of your case and help you understand the legal options available to you. You do not have to face this journey alone, and we have the experience, skills, and knowledge necessary to seek monetary compensation for your injuries. Call us at 800-724-6529 now. You can also fill out our intake form, and a member of our team will call you.
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