An injury to the spinal cord is life-changing. New treatments are helping many people retain some control and movement below the injury site, but a spinal cord injury is devastating, even if you are not permanently paralyzed.
If someone else caused the incident that led to the spinal cord injury, they may owe you compensation. Talk to a DeLand spinal cord injury lawyer at Colling Gilbert Wright as soon as you can to discuss your legal options. Our injury attorneys have an outstanding record of securing fair compensation and accountability for people who have suffered catastrophic injuries.
Consequences of Spinal Cord Damage
The spinal cord is a bundle of nerves that runs between the brain and the extremities. The nerves conduct electrical signals that allow your brain to interpret the sensations your extremities feel and direct your extremities to move in response to the brain’s direction. An injury to the spinal cord disrupts this communication.
Doctors classify spinal cord damage as complete or incomplete. A complete injury means that there is no communication between the brain and the body below the site of the injury, which typically results in the loss of sensation and the inability to control movement. When an injury is incomplete, you retain some sensation in the affected areas, and some people retain some ability to control their movement.
Whether your injury is complete or incomplete, you may require months of medical treatment and rehabilitation to learn how to get the most out of your remaining functioning. The attorneys and other team members at The Florida Firm’s DeLand office can make payment arrangements with your medical providers, negotiate with your creditors, and help you apply for disability benefits you are entitled to receive due to your spinal cord injury.
What Are Your Rights When Someone Else’s Negligence Harmed You?
When the negligent conduct of a person, company, organization, or government agency causes you harm, you can hold them legally responsible for your losses. Negligence is the failure to act with reasonable care, resulting in harm to others.
Spinal cord injuries usually result from accidents, which are often caused by someone’s negligence. Some of the most common causes of spinal cord injuries are:
- Car and truck wrecks
- Motorcycle, ATV, e-scooter, and dirt bike crashes
- Sports mishaps, including diving accidents
- Falls, especially falls from a height
Gunshot wounds, stabbing, and impalement are other common causes of spinal cord injuries.
Our experienced attorneys in DeLand can investigate the situation that caused your spinal cord injury and collect evidence of others’ negligent conduct. They will contact the negligent parties and make a demand for compensation. These cases often settle before trial, but we are skilled litigators and will always bring a case to trial when doing so best serves your interests.
Calculating Your Damages
When another party’s negligence caused your injury, the negligent party is responsible for all the losses, also called damages, you suffer as a result. You can collect reimbursement for your expenses and compensation for the injury’s impact on your quality of life.
Economic damages are out-of-pocket losses. You can claim your medical expenses, including any co-pays or deductibles, and your future healthcare costs. You can claim your diminished income, and if you cannot return to the same job after your spinal cord injury, our DeLand lawyers will engage an economist to determine the income you will lose over the rest of your working life.
Non-economic losses compensate for the changes in your quality of life—they are often called pain and suffering damages. When someone else’s negligence leads to a spinal cord injury that causes permanent paralysis, your non-economic losses are likely significant. Lawyers at The Florida Firm have obtained numerous settlements and verdicts for clients with spinal cord injuries, some of them reaching millions of dollars.
Damages When You Share Blame for the Incident
If you were partially responsible for the accident, Florida Statutes § 768.81 may impact the damages you can collect. The law states that each party must pay only for the damages they caused, so if you were 20 percent responsible for the accident, you can collect only 80 percent of your damages.
Contact Our DeLand Attorneys After a Spinal Cord Injury
A spinal cord injury is a devastating event, and you need time to recover and adapt. Allow a DeLand spinal cord injury lawyer to support you through your recovery, ensuring you can access the benefits you need and prepare a robust case for compensation.
At The Florida Firm, consultations are free, and we do not charge expenses or legal fees until we secure a financial award for you. Contact us today to discuss your legal options after a spinal cord injury.