Brain injuries are serious. The party who caused the accident that led to your brain injury is responsible for paying for your injuries, but how long will a brain injury claim take to settle?
While there is no guaranteed timeline for your case, having a brain injury attorney working for you can guarantee that it will not linger and take longer than necessary to conclude.
You deserve the legal representation that will let you relax and focus solely on your physical recovery. You have enough on your plate after an accident. Let an experienced accident attorney help navigate the legal process toward full and fair financial compensation.
Contact an attorney today to learn more about your legal rights and options after a brain injury.
Brain Injury Statistics
Unfortunately, brain injuries are a common occurrence throughout the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have published the following statistics:
- Men were twice as likely as women to be hospitalized because of a traumatic brain injury.
- Men are three times as likely as women to die from a traumatic brain injury.
- People aged 75 and older represent 32 percent of all traumatic brain injury-related hospitalizations.
- More than 200,000 people were hospitalized for a traumatic brain injury in a recent year.
- Many traumatic brain injuries are treated through outpatient care, like in the emergency department or urgent care, or they are left untreated.
An attorney can help you recover from the financial loss that comes with a traumatic brain injury. Having the right legal team can ensure that you can get full and fair compensation. You deserve to recover from a loss after an accident. Let your lawyer take care of the legal side of recovery while you focus on your physical health.
Key Factors That Affect The Brain Injury Claim Timeline
There are no guarantees after a brain injury. While your goal is to fully recover from your injury, including a monetary recovery for your losses, there is no set timeline. No two cases are the same. One accident victim might resolve their claim quickly, and yet another victim might need the courts to get involved to bring the case to an end.
Here are some of the critical factors that affect the timeline of a brain injury case.
Severity of Your Injuries
The severity of your injuries can have a significant impact on the timeline of your brain injury case. Typically, the more severe the injuries are, the longer it takes to fully treat and get back to normal. It is unlikely that you will know the full extent of your losses until you reach maximum medical improvement. Your attorney will likely advise against accepting a settlement offer until your injuries heal.
State Laws
The applicability of state law can cause your case to take longer to settle. Speak to a personal injury attorney to ensure compliance with any state laws.
Gathering Evidence
Some evidence can be hard to find. When evidence is hard to come by, the investigation phase of the brain injury claim can hold up resolution. Working with an attorney is the best way to access hard-to-find evidence and build your case.
Settlement Negotiations
Insurance companies are not inclined to pay out settlement offers. Insurance adjusters sometimes intentionally delay the claims process to bully you into accepting a lowball settlement offer. Do not fall prey to greedy insurance companies. Working with an attorney helps you avoid these underhanded insurance company tactics.
Court And Other Legal Proceedings
If your case does not resolve through settlement negotiations, then it might continue through the court system. The court system can present unique challenges. No matter your challenges, interacting with the courts significantly slows down the brain injury claim.
How Can a Brain Injury Lawyer Help Me?
Brain injury cases can get quite complex. An experienced brain injury lawyer can help in the following ways.
Legal Experience
Attorneys understand the unique challenges that brain injury cases present, like the medical, legal, and insurance aspects involved. Relying on an attorney for their legal experience is the best way to ensure you don’t miss anything.
Case Evaluation
After hiring an attorney, your lawyer will evaluate your case properly. A brain injury lawyer can assess the specifics of your case to determine the best course of action and potential compensation available to you after an injury.
Evidence Gathering
A brain injury attorney and their team will investigate the accident’s cause and gather evidence to help build a strong case. Having enough proof for your accident claim is essential to the success of your case. Examples of evidence that might help build a strong case include accident reports, expert witness testimony, and medical records and bills.
Negotiation With The Insurance Company
Negotiating with the insurance company alone can be an uphill battle. However, having an experienced brain injury lawyer is the best way to ensure that you do not leave any money on the table during settlement negotiations.
Litigation
Sometimes, litigation is necessary if settlement negotiations fail. Facing the inside of a courtroom alone can be scary. Hire an experienced brain injury attorney to help get the most out of your courtroom experience. Your attorney will advocate for your rights and ensure your case is presented effectively.
Support For Long-Term Needs
Brain injury victims often require long-term care and support. A lawyer can help assess your needs and collect the compensation necessary to meet your needs for ongoing treatment.
Legal Guidance
Undoubtedly, you will have many questions during the claims process and, certainly, if your case makes it to court. An experienced brain injury lawyer will help by answering your questions about the law. You can also rely on your lawyer to help decide the best course of action at each step of the legal process.
Ultimately, having an attorney on your side means you are in the best position to receive fair compensation for your losses.
Unique Challenges In Brain Injury Cases
Brain injury accident cases present unique challenges to injured people. Here are some of the most difficult challenges that accident victims and their attorneys must overcome to access full and fair compensation.
Legal Capacity
Brain injuries can cause significant cognitive decline. Some accident victims may lose the capacity to make important decisions. Your legal team can help you handle the complexities of losing legal capacity as you pursue financial compensation after an accident.
Insurance Limitations
The only money available to compensate the victim after an accident is often contained in the party’s insurance policy at fault. However, given the nature of most brain injuries, insurance policies often do not cover the complete cost of treatment. Working with an attorney can help you understand your rights under the insurance policy. If the insurance limits are not enough to pay for your losses, an experienced attorney can help you understand other options for financial recovery.
Long-Term Effects
There is no way to predict the long-term effects of brain injury. Your attorney will help assess and calculate your damage, including the cost of your long-term needs. Examples of the long-term effects of a brain injury can include lost earning capacity and income, reduced quality of life, and the cost of ongoing medical care, among other losses.
Subjective Symptoms
It can be hard to pin down the symptoms of brain injury. Because many brain injury accident victims experience nebulous symptoms, insurance companies can easily argue that their symptoms were not caused by the accident. Examples of the subjective symptoms that you may deal with can include mood swings, difficulty concentrating, cognitive decline, etc.
If you have suffered a brain injury, contact an attorney to discuss your losses. Your brain injury accident attorney will help present your case for compensation.
Causation Issues
You must connect your injury to the accident to recover from your injury. Brain injuries present complex causation issues. It can be difficult for an individual to connect the accident with your injuries. The defendant or defendants might argue that other factors contributed to the injury. An attorney will review the evidence and determine if there is a causal link between the accident and your injury.
Complex Medical Evidence
Having a legal professional review of the complex medical evidence that comes with a brain injury can be the best way for you to recover after a brain injury. Your attorney might also enlist the help of other professionals to gain a complete understanding of your losses after an accident.
Emotional and Psychological Impact
A severe injury, like one to the head, can bring a significant emotional and psychological impact with it. You deserve compensation for your emotional losses. Contact an attorney to discuss your options for recovery after suffering from a brain injury.
Common Brain Injuries
A brain injury includes any damage to the brain that disrupts its normal function. Brain injury symptoms can vary based on the severity of the impact on the brain. Typical symptoms of brain injury include:
- Physical impairments
- Headaches
- Confusion
- Memory issues
- Difficulty concentrating
- Mood changes
Treating brain injury can get expensive. Typical treatment options for brain injury can include hospitalization, surgery, rehabilitation, and long-term care for physical and cognitive challenges.
There are many types of brain injuries, including the following:
Traumatic Brain Injury
Traumatic brain injuries are one of the most common types of brain injuries. These injuries happen, typically when there is a direct impact on the victim’s head. Traumatic brain injuries can have a long-lasting effect and cost a lot of money to treat. Accident victims deserve to pursue compensation for their losses, and an attorney can help them do that.
Concussions
A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that usually happens after a blow to the head or a sudden movement of the body. A concussion can disrupt normal brain function. Diagnosing a concussion can require expensive tests. Victims might be entitled to recover for the cost of these tests.
Contusions
A contusion is a bruise on the brain. Contusions form when small blood vessels are damaged due to trauma.
Skull Fractures
A skull fracture is a break in one or more bones that make up the skull. Skull fractures happen after a severe impact on the brain.
Penetrating Injuries
A penetrating brain injury happens when an object penetrates the victim’s skull and enters the brain tissue. The penetration causes damage. A penetrating brain injury can have significant complications, including permanent disability or death.
Cognitive Impairment
Cognitive impairment refers to the victim’s mental decline after an accident. Cognitive decline can encompass many mental processes, including attention, memory, problem-solving, reasoning, and language skills.
Emotional And Behavioral Changes
A brain injury can leave the victim with emotional and behavioral changes. The impact on the brain has the ability to alter the victim’s personality. It is hard to quantify the value of the emotional and behavioral changes and how much you should be compensated.
How Long Do I Have To Sue After a Brain Injury?
You do not have an unlimited amount of time to sue a defendant after a brain injury. Each state has a statute of limitations that creates a deadline to sue after a brain injury. You must comply with the statute of limitations to keep your case from being dismissed on a technicality.
An experienced accident attorney will help ensure you will not lose your case based on noncompliance with the statute of limitations or other procedural rules.
Contact a Brain Injury Accident Attorney Today
Contact an attorney immediately after an accident. You deserve legal assistance each time you have a claim. You also deserve a legal team to support you as you pursue the full and fair compensation that you deserve after an accident.
Brain injury claims can be difficult and time-consuming, requiring knowledge and experience. A skilled personal injury attorney will be able to handle the legal process, gather necessary evidence, and negotiate with insurance companies on your behalf.
There is no need to delay. Contact a lawyer today if you or a loved one has suffered an injury in an accident.
James Wayne Holliday
James Wayne Holliday has been practicing law since 1995. He has been named as a “Best Attorney” Lifetime Charter Member in Florida, an honor awarded to less than one percent of the nation’s lawyers.
Mr. Holliday has earned a reputation as a relentless trial lawyer because of his outstanding work ethic and thorough preparation of his cases for trial.
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