Damage to the spinal cord can lead to some of the most devastating injuries a person can experience. Even seemingly minor spinal cord injuries can lead to years of chronic pain, reduced mobility, and the need for future surgeries. When a spinal cord injury is severe, you may find yourself permanently paralyzed. It takes a skilled spinal cord injury attorney to recover fair compensation for a life-altering injury like this.
Choosing the right spinal cord attorney isn’t always easy. However, when you know the right questions to ask during your free consultation, it’s easy to identify which lawyer has the experience and skill you want on your case.
Are There Specific Documents I Should Collect or Retain to Support My Claim?
Evidence might be the single most important element of a successful personal injury claim. Your lawyer will need to collect evidence in two main areas. The first relates to the cause of the injury. To recover personal injury compensation for a spinal cord injury, you need to prove that someone’s negligence directly led to your injuries.
The type of documents a lawyer needs to prove this can differ by case. As a general rule, you should save all documentation related to the accident and your injuries, including the following:
- Police reports
- Accident/incident reports
- All medical documents
- Insurance documents
- Legal documents
- Emails or letters about the accident or injuries
Your lawyer will also need proof of your injury expenses to prove how much compensation you should recover. Specifically, they’ll need documents like bills and receipts for medical care, assistive devices, and prescription medications, as well as W-2s or pay stubs to show proof of lost wages.
What Kind of Compensation Could I Seek for a Spinal Cord Injury?
Spinal injury compensation is designed to cover the costs associated with your spinal injury. However, spinal cord injuries tend to involve expensive treatment, and they often have a significant impact on things like your quality of life and earning ability. As a result, it’s common for severe spinal injury compensation to reach six or seven figures.
The more severe the impact, the greater the amount of compensation you can usually recover. For instance, suppose that a spinal injury requires surgery, but the long-term prognosis is a full recovery. In this case, you can recover the medical costs you’ll incur as well as lost wages and benefits from your time off work.
If a spinal injury leads to paralysis, the lifetime costs of care will be much higher. In such instances, a lawyer can help you recover compensation for items like lifetime attendant care costs and anticipated lifetime earnings.
What Can You Do to Support My Case?
It’s not easy to recover adequate spinal injury compensation without a lawyer’s help. A spinal injury lawyer will typically:
- Investigate the accident
- Collect evidence
- Build a case
- File an insurance claim
- Negotiate a settlement
- Take your case to court if necessary
During your consultation, you can use this question to assess a lawyer’s ability to communicate clearly and help you understand the process. If you notice poor communication during your consultation, it’s a sign that working with that particular lawyer may be difficult or frustrating.
What Experience Do You Have With Spinal Cord Injury Cases?
Spinal injury claims require in-depth knowledge of spinal injuries and the long-term effects they have on a person’s life. It’s important to choose a lawyer with a track record of successfully working on similar cases.
During your consultation, you should ask about a lawyer’s experience. If they can’t demonstrate that they’ve worked on similar cases in the past, you might want to continue looking for one with more experience that’s relevant to you and your case.
Are There Challenges You Can Foresee With My Case?
Spinal injury claims often involve significant compensation. As a result, insurance companies often work hard to dismiss your claim or keep your payout as small as possible. Often, they do this by investigating the accident to prove that you are to blame for your injuries.
Elements that can complicate a case include:
- Shared liability
- Multiple liable parties
- Not following a doctor’s instructions
- Not receiving medical care immediately after the injury
A lawyer should be able to review your case, identify potential challenges, and have a plan for how to address them.
Who Might Be Responsible for My Injuries?
A key part of a spinal injury lawyer’s job is to prove that someone else is liable for your injuries. Exactly how they prove negligence depends on how the accident occurs. If you sustained a spinal injury in a car crash, they’ll work to prove that the other driver is responsible.
However, after a slip and fall injury, they might build a case showing that a property owner was negligent in maintaining a property in a safe state. During your initial consultation, a lawyer should be able to identify which party they’ll attempt to hold responsible for your injury.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I Need a Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer to Recover Compensation?
You can nearly always recover more compensation with a lawyer than without one. Spinal injuries in particular often lead to extensive and lifelong costs. Being able to afford living and medical expenses requires an experienced lawyer’s help.
How Much Is My Spinal Cord Injury Case Value?
Every spinal injury claim has a unique case value. A lawyer should be able to give you a ballpark estimate of your case value during your initial consultation.
How Much Does a Spinal Cord Injury Attorney Cost?
Most spinal injury lawyers work on contingency. With this arrangement, you only pay their fees if and when they win your case.
Schedule a Consultation With a Spinal Cord Injury Attorney Today
Dunn Sheenan is a Dallas-based catastrophic injury law firm. Our experienced spinal injury attorneys carry a long track record of successfully recovering multimillion-dollar settlements and verdicts for our clients.
Contact Dunn Sheehan today to learn how we can help with your spinal injury case.