Louisville Brain Injury Lawyers

One of the most common types of personal injury is a traumatic brain injury. This is associated with a wide range of accidents, since any impact to the head can cause a TBI. Your life may change completely as you recover from your injury and adapting could be costly. For this reason, it’s important to receive the compensation you are entitled to, which means proving who was responsible for your accident.

If you were injured in Louisville, KY, reach out to the injury lawyers at the Fleck Firm. We have worked with numerous victims in Kentucky to help them file successful claims after an injury. We can assist you in receiving compensation, too.

What Is a Traumatic Brain Injury?

A traumatic brain injury occurs when impact or indirect force (such as whiplash or violent shaking) to your head damages your brain. A traumatic brain injury can be either open or closed, which refers to whether or not the skull is punctured or broken.

Traumatic brain injuries are categorized according to their severity and type.

Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries

It’s important to receive medical care after any injury to your head because mild cases are often less obvious. A medical professional can find signs of brain injury by carrying out appropriate tests.

Even mild TBI often has long-term effects: symptoms include memory loss, headaches, dizziness, nausea, mood swings, and irritability. This means you may incur medical bills for a long time or experience other changes to your life that you should not need to pay for yourself.

Unfortunately, it’s easier for insurance companies to deny payment if there was no fracture to your skull and you didn’t lose consciousness after your accident. Injury lawyers, though, know what evidence to present to show you did indeed suffer a traumatic brain injury and are entitled to compensation.

Severe Traumatic Brain Injuries

The effects of a severe TBI can often last your entire life. Victims often lose consciousness — your loved one may still be in a coma. Even though brain scans will likely show that the person suffered a serious injury, working with injury lawyers can make a big difference to ensuring you gain full compensation.

In addition to the symptoms related to mild cases, severe TBI can lead to personality changes, fatigue, convulsions, seizures, loss of coordination or balance, depression, anxiety, confusion, paralysis, and vision problems. If a loved one has suffered a traumatic brain injury, stay alert for these signs.

Concussions

The most common form of traumatic brain injury is a concussion. Although this type of injury tends to be mild, many cases result in post-concussion syndrome, which has serious symptoms like memory loss, depression, sleeping problems, and difficulty concentrating.

Subdural Hematomas

A traumatic brain injury that results in a blood clot is called a subdural hematoma. Blood creates pressure in the skull, which can cause paralysis or even be fatal. An untreated blood clot could lead to a stroke, permanently impacting your speech, your motor skills, and other aspects of life. If you suffered a stroke due to your injury, it’s important to talk to Louisville brain injury attorneys to receive compensation to pay for your medical expenses.

Contusions

Bruising of the brain is called a contusion and can require surgery in serious cases. In moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries, there is often swelling a few days later. In addition to a contusion on the side of the head that suffered the impact, you may have a contrecoup injury. This is due to the force applied to the head causing the brain to hit the skull on the opposite side. The result is more extensive brain damage.

Diffuse Axonal Injuries

An event that causes the head to be jolted or twisted violently can lead to a diffuse axonal injury. You likely lost consciousness during the injury and may now have neuronal damage.

Penetrating Injuries

A gunshot or other object entering the skull is a penetrating injury. If it is not fatal, the damage almost always causes permanent disabilities.

Common Causes of Brain Injuries

There are many ways you may suffer a brain injury in Kentucky, including:

• Motor vehicle accidents, which could involve a car, motorcycle, truck, bike, or bus
• Slips and falls
• Injuries while playing sports
• Gunshot wounds
• Stabbing or assault

Compensation for a Traumatic Brain Injury

After a traumatic brain injury, you’ll require medical care — often long term. This can mean hefty medical bills that add to an already stressful situation. Filing a claim will allow you to recover these costs and other expenses through compensation paid by the insurance company of the responsible party.

Brain injury attorneys can also help you recover compensation for lost wages. You may have missed work due to your traumatic brain injury and the accident could have lowered your earning capacity. If you required vocational training to return to work, you can also receive compensation for these costs.

Finally, compensation can cover emotional pain — this is called pain and suffering. In TBI cases, pain and suffering can be significant due to the major impact your injuries will have on your life. You may receive compensation for mental anguish, loss of consortium, and other non-economic damages.

Caring for a Family Member with a TBI

After a traumatic brain injury, victims often require round-the-clock care to support their physical and cognitive disabilities. If a family member has suffered an injury, you may need to devote your time to tasks like personal care and driving to appointments. After a particularly severe injury, a loved one may even need to move into an assisted living facility, which could incur steep bills.

Such situations are complication — which is why talking to experienced lawyers about your specific case is necessary. It’s difficult for you to know how much compensation you deserve, but injury attorneys can assess your case and negotiate to ensure you receive a fair settlement.

Why You Need a Brain Injury Lawyer

More than almost any other personal injury, it’s difficult to prove fault in brain injury cases. You’ll need to demonstrate that your symptoms were due to the accident and that the accident was caused by someone else’s negligence. To achieve this, you need an experienced brain injury attorney on your side to do the following.

Determine and Prove Who Is at Fault

Your legal team will investigate who caused the accident that led to your injuries. There could be more than one party involved. For instance, in a car accident, another driver may have crashed into you, but this could have been partially due to poor highway design — meaning a Kentucky government entity may also be at fault.

After determining negligence, your lawyer will gather proof to support your claim, such as the police report, witness testimony, and video footage.

Negotiate with the Insurance Company

You should never communicate with the insurance company of the negligent party yourself. Allow your lawyer to do all the negotiating for you to ensure you receive a fair settlement. This is important because adjusters may claim that your traumatic brain injury was only minor or that you don’t have an injury at all. If you’re unsure of your diagnosis or how much you could receive, you may end up accepting a lowball offer.

The Fleck Firm can provide you with a Louisville brain injury attorney who has the expertise to handle your claim. The lawyers on your case will determine who is the responsible party, calculate the economic and non-economic damages associated with your accident (including future medical bills), and then present evidence to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve.

Contact us to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case with one of our attorneys.