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Spinal cord damage is one of the most devastating injuries a person could experience. Depending on its location, a spinal cord injury could leave a person unable to move their limbs or breathe without assistance.
These catastrophic injuries require significant medical intervention and long-term care. Some individuals with these injuries require in-home assistance for the rest of their lives, which can become costly. Fortunately, a skilled catastrophic injury attorney may be able to help you financially recover.
If you or a loved one has sustained this type of harm because of someone else’s negligence, you may be entitled to damages. Consulting a Houston spinal cord injury lawyer soon after an accident could increase the chance of a successful lawsuit.
Generally, accidents are the cause of most spinal cord injuries, and many of these incidents result from negligence. Parties whose recklessness contributed to someone suffering spine damage are obliged to pay damages for their negligence. A Houston attorney could scrutinize the circumstances of an incident to identify any acts of negligence that might have contributed to the claimant’s spinal cord injury.
If the injured person contributed to their own accident, they could still collect partial damages from other negligent parties under specific circumstances. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code §33.001 allows an injured person who is less than 51 percent responsible for an accident to seek damages. However, a judge will ultimately adjust the total award to reflect the plaintiff’s degree of fault.
Health insurance often does not cover all the needs a person might have following a spinal cord injury. As a result, seeking damages from the negligent parties could be the best means of securing adequate care.
A negligent party must compensate someone with a spinal cord injury for their out-of-pocket losses. These include lost income and diminished earning capacity, as well as the value of fringe benefits the claimant’s employer offered. These damages may also include the cost of home renovations and vehicle adaptations necessary to accommodate for the person’s new condition. Medical expenses typically the main component of economic damages. A person with spinal cord damage could seek compensation for:
State courts award non-economic damages for physical pain the plaintiff suffered and might still be suffering. An injured person also could seek damages for disfigurement if the accident caused scarring or deformity. Most significantly, damages may be available for physical impairment or loss of enjoyment of life.
If the injured person has a family, their family members may seek damages for loss of consortium. A local attorney in Houston could explain what proof is required to prove these types of non-economic damages in a spinal cord injury case.
The state allows injured people only two years to bring a lawsuit seeking damages for personal injury. This restrictive time frame means that many people with spinal cord injuries might still be in the early stages of adjustment when the statute of limitations runs out. You can preserve your rights and ease your burdens by retaining a Houston spinal cord injury lawyer soon after your accident. Schedule a consultation today.
Copyright © 2023 Crockett Law, P.C. | All rights reserved.