What Compensation is Possible for my Spinal Cord Injury in Little Rock?

If you’ve suffered a spinal cord injury in a car, motorcycle, or any other type of accident, it can cause you devastating, life-changing consequences for the remainder of your life.

Although spinal cord injuries can vary in severity significantly, there is no absolute standard for compensation for this type of injury. In many cases, however, severe spinal cord injuries can cause lifelong disabilities, meaning that they can be worth over $1 million if you have an experienced Little Rock personal injury lawyer diligently fighting for your side. Spinal cord injury cases consistently rank among the highest-grossing claims for plaintiffs in personal injury cases.

Compensation is, of course, directly proportional to the details of your case, how the injury was obtained, and what your medical prognosis may be.

Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI’s) usually are catastrophic, and there are commonly 5 types of compensation you can sue for, simply, they are:

• Medical expenses – The medical expenses related to the primary injury can mount up to hundreds of thousands of dollars very rapidly. Many SCIs, however, require a lifetime of treatment, so all these costs must be calculated and compensated for as well.
• Loss of present and future wages – If you can even return to work, the wages you would have earned during your recovery period can be claimed, but in many cases, SCI injuries result in an ongoing partial or complete loss of your wage-earning capacity. You may not be able to work at your previous job and be forced to take a lower-paying job. In severe SCI cases, you may not be able to work at all.
• When your personal injury lawyer builds these cases on your behalf, they may hire outside experts to assess your residual, or expected, earning capacity. These experts help to determine just what you can and cannot do physically, providing the courts a sense of how much you’ll be able to work over your lifetime, and what your financial losses may be.
• Physical pain and suffering – SCI’s can cause varied long-term, life-long physical problems. Depending on the exact nature of your injury, you might have difficulty walking, be confined to a wheelchair, struggling with bowel and bladder control, suffer sexual dysfunction, or have a myriad of other medical issues and complications. Your costs and suffering may rise even higher if you’ve been confined to a wheelchair or your bed. Cases of this type demand an even greater level of care.
• Mental anguish – It’s easy to possibly overlook this component of a spinal cord injury. You can struggle to even verbalize the internal grief and frustration that you feel. Friends and family really can’t empathize with your pain unless they’ve endured an SCI themselves.
• Not only must you cope with your new physical limitations and pain, but you must also come to terms with all the ways your injuries may affect your relationships with those in your life.
• Loss of companionship – Unfortunately, you aren’t the only victim of your SCIs. Your wife and family can bring claims for loss of consortium and companionship as they also have suffered from this tragedy.

Without a partner to help manage the household, care for the kids, and contribute financially, your wife and family can face an enormous physical, psychological, and emotional burden. In the end, the goal of your spinal cord injury lawyer is to get your entire family compensation for all the losses they have suffered due to your injury.

What May be Considered as a Good Settlement Offer?

If the exact details of how fault affected your accident and SCI, including your involvement, are estimated to be around 80%, your personal injury lawyer should obtain about 80% of damages for your settlement. SCI cases can be extremely difficult, and involve detailed medical expertise, and calculations for losses you never expected to have. So, settlements do occur, but may not always be in your best interest.

Insurance companies in general will only pay what they are made to. This is an unfortunate fact, but one that your Little Rock personal injury lawyer is intimately aware of. You, your family, and your lawyer will decide exactly when and if a “settlement” is fair. If going to trial is advised, then your lawyer will explain why you need to go that route.

It is your life, and involves your family’s future, so follow the correct legal path to ensure the best future possible.

Can I Sue for Pain & Suffering Due to My SCI in Little Rock?

You or anyone, who is physically injured in any type of accident has the right to seek compensation for your pain and suffering. These accidents may include car crashes, slip & falls, medical malpractice, nursing home abuse, and any type of possibly preventable accident. Many of which can result in some type of spinal cord injury.

Damages in SCI (and other) cases are divided into two parts: economic and non-economic loss. Economic losses are tangible and can be verified, non-economic losses such as pain and suffering are not so easily calculated but can result in huge dollar settlements. Your professional spinal cord injury lawyer will be invaluable in this part of your case. Only through the proper documentation, representation, and presentation of your pain and suffering will you be able to get the financial rewards you are entitled to!

How Long Does an SCI Case take to Finalize?

Once your lawsuit is filed, the defendant will typically be served within 30 to 60 days and will have 30-45 days to file a response. Simply put, it takes an average of three months from the date you file your personal injury lawsuit to get the initial response from the insurer.

Many factors are involved in SCI cases, however, and only you and your personal injury lawyer will be able to accurately provide a timeframe. However long, you should begin treatment, and care immediately.

I Have Had a Spinal Cord Injury, How Should I Proceed?

The serious nature of this type of injury should never be underestimated. The Little Rock law firm of Denton & Zachary has been effectively maximizing compensation for spinal cord injury victims in a myriad of cases. Consult with them as soon as you can, and make sure you, and your family, get compensated to make your future the best it can be.