Whether they arise from a car crash, a boating accident, a slip and fall, or another harmful incident, spinal cord damage is one of the most devastating injuries that a victim can sustain. Unlike other injuries that heal over time or that can be addressed through reparative procedures and therapies, these are often permanent and forever alter the victim’s life.
For those with families or active lifestyles, the results can be catastrophic. The Athens spinal cord injury attorney Joshua W. Branch fights for the rights of Georgia accident victims. If you have been harmed because someone else acted carelessly, you should not hesitate to vigorously pursue the compensation that you need.
Dial (706) 850-4994 or complete an online form now to speak with the Athens spinal cord injury attorney.
Spinal cord injuries can be caused by a variety of accidents, though most injuries of this type are the result of some form of negligence. An attorney can help you understand your legal options and pursue full compensation for your damages. Spinal cord injuries are commonly caused by:
The most serious of spinal cord injuries often cause immediate, dramatic physical changes and symptoms like paralysis. In some serious cases, though, the effects of a spinal cord injury are not immediately apparent. Some people have a serious spinal cord injury but don’t realize it for days, weeks, or even months, suffering from serious pain and discomfort the whole time.
If you were in an accident and are experiencing any of the following symptoms, you may have a spinal cord injury:
Unexplained pain or pressure in the head, neck, or back
To detect a spinal cord injury and seek the right treatments to potentially limit its symptoms, you should always see a medical provider as soon as possible after being in an accident. Even if you feel fine, you could have an underlying spinal cord injury that will start to worsen and could become much more serious than it already is. Please prioritize your health and get medical care as soon as you notice any symptoms of a spinal cord injury.
When you reach out to our team, you speak with someone who is ready to listen. We offer free consultations and are available 24/7, because we know injuries don’t follow a schedule.
When it comes to classifying different types of spinal cord injuries, they are usually divided into two categories: complete and incomplete.
What is a Complete Spinal Cord Injury?
A complete spinal cord injury results in the complete loss of all movement and sensory abilities in areas below the level of the injury. The American Spinal Injury Association’s Impairment Scale designates these types of injuries as “ASIA A” injuries.
What is an Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury?
An incomplete injury generally refers to someone who still maintains some degree of sensory feeling or movement in the areas below the injury.
This can be designated in one of three ways on the ASIA scale:
Whether your injury was complete or incomplete, it will have a significant impact on your life. Whether your injury prevents you from returning to work, or from carrying out the same everyday tasks you were formerly able to accomplish, you should not have to bear the weight of your injury on your own.
Radiculopathy is a condition that occurs when one has a bulging/herniated disc that causes a nerve in the spine to become pinched, compressed, or irritated or for pressure from a ruptured disc to be placed upon the spinal canal. Cervical radiculopathy occurs in the neck, thoracic radiculopathy occurs in the upper middle back, and lumbar radiculopathy occurs in the lower back.
It is not uncommon for radiculopathy to be caused by an accident, such as a car crash. The impact of such an accident causes damage to the nucleus pulposus which causes it to rupture and results in pressure upon the nerve roots or upon the spinal canal.
Symptoms of radiculopathy can include but are not limited to the following:
If you are experiencing radiculopathy after an accident, it is imperative for you to see a spine specialist. Time is of the essence. Sometimes these situations require emergency medical treatment. If pressure on your spinal canal from a ruptured disc occurs for an elongated period of time, then your chances increase for permanent damage to occur.
If you have suffered from these symptoms from a car crash or other type of incident where injury was caused by another then you should explore your legal options to see how an injury claim can help set things right.
Radiculopathy may be curable, but it generally requires a decompression procedure on the spine. This makes sense because the radiculopathy was caused by a herniated disc putting pressure on either a nerve or the spinal canal.
The spine consists of 33 different bones stacked on top of one another, muscle tissues connecting the bones and keeping them aligned, and ligaments. Not only does the spine provide the central support column for your upper body, but also it facilitates bending, twisting, and leaning. Deep inside the bones, the spinal cord connects your brain with the rest of your body.
Since the spine is such a complex and intricate system, it is susceptible to a wide variety of injuries. Paralysis and quadriplegia are two of the most common disorders, permanently preventing the victim from walking or using his or her limbs.
Imagine you are healthy and strong, working at a job you love and living in a pleasant residential community in the first home that you own. You engage in a variety of hobbies like tennis and jogging while also participating in the school and sports events of your two children. When you are driving home from work one day, you are rear-ended by a truck driver who sped through a red light.
Although you survive the accident, you need to undergo five operations over the next year. Also, you discover that you will need to change careers because you cannot physically return to your job. Somehow, you still need to pay for your children’s education and complete the mortgage payments on your house, while looking for a new field of work. What can you do to protect your loved ones?
In many situations, an accident victim can bring a negligence claim against the party that caused his or her injuries. This usually requires proving the four elements of duty, breach, causation, and damages. Most people are expected to take the same precautions that a reasonable person would take in a certain situation to avoid posing foreseeable risks of harm to others.
This is known as the duty of care, and any conduct that falls short of this standard is known as a breach. The victim must have been harmed as a direct result of the breach in order to establish his or her right to compensation. Since spinal cord injuries can be so devastating, these cases often result in a substantial award of damages, which may be both economic and non-economic.
Some common examples include medical and hospital bills, the costs of future treatment, lost income and earning capacity, pain and suffering, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment. Also, Georgia law allows a victim’s spouse to bring a loss of consortium claim, which seeks to compensate the spouse for the loss of his or her loved one’s society, companionship, and support.
A complete spinal cord injury means the cord has been fully severed or damaged to the point where no motor or sensory function exists below the level of the injury. An incomplete spinal cord injury means some function remains below the injury site, and the degree of impairment varies widely depending on the location and extent of the damage. Even an incomplete injury can result in significant permanent limitations. The distinction matters in a personal injury case because it directly affects the calculation of future medical needs, care costs, and lost earning capacity.
Spinal cord injury cases involve some of the highest damages seen in personal injury law. Recoverable compensation may include all past and future medical expenses including emergency care, surgery, hospitalization, rehabilitation, and long-term medical management, the cost of assistive devices such as wheelchairs, home modifications, and specialized vehicles, in-home nursing or personal care assistance, lost wages and significantly diminished future earning capacity, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and permanent disability. A life care planner is typically retained to calculate the full lifetime cost of care, which in serious cases can reach into the millions of dollars.
Accurately valuing a spinal cord injury claim requires expert analysis from multiple specialists. Life care planners project the cost of all future medical care, therapy, equipment, and assistance the victim will need over their lifetime. Economists calculate the present value of lost future earnings based on the victim’s age, education, and career. Medical experts establish the permanence of the injury and its projected progression. Building this expert foundation is critical to ensuring that a settlement or verdict fully accounts for the lifelong financial impact of the injury.
The majority of traumatic spinal cord injuries in personal injury cases result from vehicle collisions. In car accident cases, the at-fault driver and their insurance company are typically the primary targets of a claim. In truck accident cases, liability can extend to the trucking company, the vehicle owner, the cargo loader, and the truck manufacturer, significantly increasing the pool of available compensation. Given the severity and cost of spinal cord injuries, pursuing every available source of recovery is essential.
It is not uncommon for spinal cord injury symptoms, including pain, numbness, weakness, or loss of function, to emerge or worsen in the hours or days following an accident as swelling and inflammation develop around the injury site. This is one of the most important reasons to seek medical attention immediately after any serious accident, even if you feel relatively normal at first. Delayed diagnosis can complicate both your medical outcome and your legal claim, as insurance companies may argue that the delay suggests the injury was not caused by the accident.
Yes. Georgia’s eggshell plaintiff rule holds that an at-fault party is responsible for the full extent of harm they caused, even if the victim had a pre-existing vulnerability that made them more susceptible to injury. If you had a prior back condition and an accident caused a spinal cord injury or significantly worsened your existing condition, the at-fault party can be held responsible for that aggravation. Thorough medical documentation comparing your condition before and after the accident is key to establishing this in your claim.
Georgia’s statute of limitations for personal injury claims is generally two years from the date of the accident. However, given the complexity and high value of spinal cord injury cases, it is important to begin building your case well before that deadline. Retaining medical experts, gathering accident scene evidence, and identifying all liable parties takes time. If a government entity was involved in the accident, the deadline may be considerably shorter. Consulting with an attorney as early as possible protects your rights and gives your case the best possible foundation.
In most cases, you only have two years from the date of the accident to bring a personal injury claim in Georgia. If you fail to file a lawsuit within that time, you may be prohibited from recovering compensation for your injuries. There are certain circumstances that may extend the statute of limitations, but these should be reviewed by an experienced Georgia car accident attorney on a case-by-case basis. It is crucial to reach out quickly to ensure that your legal options remain available; The Law Offices of Joshua W. Branch is prepared to offer detailed guidance on these intricate legal timelines.
Yes, Georgia follows a modified comparative negligence rule. This means you can recover compensation as long as you are less than 50% at fault for the accident. However, your compensation will be reduced by your percentage of fault. For example:
If your total damages are $100,000 and you are found 20% at fault, you would only be eligible to recover $80,000 (your total damages minus 20%). However, if you are found to be 50% or more at fault, you cannot recover any compensation.
Because insurance companies often try to shift blame onto victims to reduce their payouts, having an experienced Athens car accident attorney on your side can help ensure you are not unfairly assigned excessive fault. We dedicate ourselves to effectively countering such tactics, presenting compelling evidence that accurately reflects the circumstances of your accident, thus minimizing your attributed fault and maximizing your deserved compensation.
In cases where a car accident results in a fatality, Georgia law allows surviving family members or representatives of the deceased’s estate to pursue both a wrongful death claim and a survival action. While both claims seek justice for the deceased, they serve different legal purposes and provide different types of compensation.
Because wrongful death and survival actions involve different legal considerations, working with an experienced Athens car accident lawyer is crucial to ensuring fair compensation and justice for the deceased and their loved on es. With our strategic approach and comprehensive understanding of these legal pathways, The Law Offices of Joshua W. Branch supports families through every step of this challenging process, aiming to secure a measure of justice and closure for the loss endured.
If you’ve been involved in a car accident in Athens, it’s essential to take the right steps to protect your health and your potential claim. Here’s what to do:
An MRI can clearly show the precise extent of your injury, which in turn supports claims for greater compensation for pain, suffering, and long-term impacts of the injury, but most importantly allows the medical provider to understand what is going on with your injured body part. MRIs are most commonly used on the spine and brain. If you want to confidently show just how much your injury has cost you—not just in terms of medical expenses—you should let The Law Offices of Joshua W. Branch handle your case, calculate your damages, and represent you. We can argue for the full and fair value of your case, including in settlement negotiations and trial if that becomes necessary. The evidence provided by an MRI aids in comprehensively establishing the degree of your physical trauma and potential for recovery, which is crucial in strategic legal planning. A Georgia car accident attorney will often request MRIs when medical records alone are insufficient to prove your injuries.
This commonly asked question (and understandably so) is met with an honest yet probably unsatisfactory answer: it varies greatly. The time between being injured in a car accident and then getting the case resolved varies greatly from case to case. Simple cases may be resolved in a few months, while more complex ones could take years, depending on factors like case complexity, the willingness of both sides to negotiate, and court schedules. One of the initial key factors in this equation are the injuries suffered, and the duration/extent of medical treatment required to allow the client to, hopefully, obtain a full recovery. However, if a full recovery (i.e., a return to their baseline health) isn’t able to be obtained through medical treatment then we can have the medical providers give testimony about the prognosis and the future limitations of these injuries so that the defense counsel, jury, and even the insurance adjuster understand the severity of these injuries. At The Law Offices of Joshua W. Branch, we do everything possible to ensure the best recovery for our clients, whether that comes in the form of a settlement or a jury verdict. The unpredictability in resolution times underscores the importance of proactive communication and engagement with your legal team, which can help expedite proceedings while focusing on achieving a satisfactory resolution for your claim.
If you or someone you love has suffered a spinal cord injury as the result of another person’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation. The Athens spinal cord Injury Attorney Joshua W. Branch has counseled many victims and their families in matters involving devastating accidents.
Our team has the knowledge and dedication that you need to bring a strong claim. Mr. Branch also represents residents of Savannah, Decatur, Marietta, and other Georgia communities who need a car accident attorney or guidance with another type of personal injury claim.
Call us at (706) 850-4994 or contact us online to set up a free initial consultation.
Make our local law firm your legal family when choosing your personal injury attorney in Athens, GA. At The Law Offices of Joshua W. Branch, we are your local and trusted personal injury firm in Clarke County. You will always know you are cared for and that you will receive the utmost in justice.
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