Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyer in San Antonio
Helping you pursue fair compensation after a serious brain injury in Texas
If you or a loved one was injured in an accident resulting in a serious brain injury, you should not hesitate to contact an experienced traumatic brain injury lawyer. To put it mildly, a traumatic brain injury (or TBI) can radically change not only your life but that of everyone in your family. Traumatic brain injuries can have many symptoms, including mood swings, headaches, and memory issues. They can affect your personality and cognitive function, as well as the ability to move your body as you wish.
In severe cases, loss of consciousness and memory can result. Even if you or a loved one survives, some level of medical care is typically needed for the rest of your life. Medical costs of brain injuries can pile up very quickly, especially if the accident victims do not have health insurance.
Learn more about your options from a San Antonio traumatic brain injury attorney when you call our offices today.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is a traumatic brain injury?
- What are the types of traumatic brain injury?
- What are the causes of a traumatic brain injury?
- What are the expenses associated with TBI?
- What is the value of my San Antonio traumatic brain injury case?
- How long will it take to secure compensation for my TBI case?
- Do you have a traumatic brain injury attorney near me?
What is a traumatic brain injury?
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) can refer to any damage the brain sustains due to external forces, such as a blow to the skull. A common example of a traumatic brain injury is a concussion.
Any jolt or bump to the head that is strong enough to impact the brain can cause a TBI. TBIs range from mild to severe depending on the situation and the patient. Most TBIs are mild concussions, but some are much more serious.
A traumatic brain injury can cause many symptoms for a patient, including:
- Headache
- Blurred vision
- Sensitivity to light or sound
- Nausea or vomiting
- Slurred speech
- Memory loss
- Dizziness
- Confusion
- Tingling in the limbs
- Loss of balance
- Convulsions or seizures
- Coma
- Death
A patient may experience one, some, or all of these symptoms with a traumatic brain injury. Each patient is unique. It is important to see a doctor after any accident that impacts your head in case you have a TBI. Some brain injuries do not display symptoms right away, but rather hours or days after the accident. Seeing a doctor right away can help you diagnose a TBI in its earliest stages for prompt treatment and a better prognosis.
What are the types of traumatic brain injury?
At Pat Maloney: Accident & Injury Attorney, we have years of experience negotiating and litigating all types of traumatic brain injury cases throughout Texas. We have helped clients with many kinds of traumatic brain injuries, ranging from minor to catastrophic. We know how to investigate these injury cases, search for defendants, and pursue maximum compensation for our clients.
We can take cases involving many different types of brain injuries, including:
- Concussions
- Open or closed brain injuries
- Coup-contrecoup injuries
- Contusions
- Penetrating injuries
- Diffuse axonal injuries
- Hematomas
- Hemorrhages
- Edemas
- Permanent brain damage
- Fatal brain injuries
The effects of a brain injury can last for days, weeks, months, or life. A serious brain injury can change a patient’s moods, behaviors, sleeping patterns, motor skills, and cognitive function, with long-term ramifications. Any type of brain injury deserves attention from a personal injury lawyer.
What are the causes of a traumatic brain injury?
Brain injuries are some of the most common unintentional injuries in the country. Many different accidents and circumstances can damage the head, skull, and brain. At Pat Maloney: Accident & Injury Attorney, we have experience helping brain injury survivors and their families seek restitution after many different types of accidents throughout Texas. Whether you know the identity of the defendant or not, we can investigate your case and help you bring a TBI claim in Texas.
Falls are the leading cause of traumatic brain injuries, accounting for almost half of all TBI-related hospital visits, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Children and the elderly are more at risk than other age groups for fall-related brain injuries.
Common causes include:
- Motor vehicle accidents. Car, truck, motorcycle, bicycle, and pedestrian accidents are another leading cause of traumatic brain injuries and related hospitalizations. A TBI can occur in an auto accident if the head strikes the steering wheel, dashboard, window, windshield, another occupant, or the pavement.
- Being struck by objects. Falling or flying objects striking victims in the head cause thousands of TBIs each year. Struck-by object accidents can happen in grocery stores, shopping centers, at work, sports games, in explosions, and due to criminal assaults.
- Intentional acts of violence by criminals cause many TBIs and brain-injury-related deaths. A victim can suffer a serious or deadly brain injury from a gunshot wound, stabbing, blow to the head, or other physical assaults.
- Sports impacts. Many different sports come with a risk of head and brain injuries. Contact sports, such as football, can cause TBIs through player-to-player impacts. Sports with flying objects such as baseballs and hockey pucks can also lead to head injuries. Other victims get TBIs from diving head-first into shallow waters.
If someone else caused you or a loved one’s brain injury, that person may owe you compensation. Texas’ civil laws hold at-fault parties financially responsible for the injuries and damages their negligence cause. We can investigate your accident case and search for evidence of someone else’s misconduct or intent to harm. Then, we can take the evidence collected and turn it into a claim for damages on your behalf. With our assistance, you may be able to obtain fair compensation for your traumatic brain injury, regardless of what type of accident caused the TBI.
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What are the expenses associated with TBI?
Seeking compensation for a brain injury is important due to the various expenses relating to the treatment and care of a patient with a TBI. As someone with a TBI or the caretaker of an injured loved one, you and your family may go deep into debt with medical care. The average TBI patient can spend tens of thousands to a few million dollars in lifetime costs of care.
This does not include other expenses, such as lost wages, lost productivity, lost household services, loss of consortium, and property damages from the accident. If you or someone you love has a TBI, pursue maximum compensation with a lawyer to help your family move forward with financial stability.
Just a few of the expenses associated with TBI include:
- Extremely high upfront medical bills
- Surgeries and medical treatments
- Medications such as pain relievers
- Disability accommodations
- Home or vehicle modifications
- Rehabilitation and therapies
- Live-in care
- Medical devices
Filing a brain injury claim can help you recover compensation for all these medical expenses and more from the party or parties that caused your injury. Patients with catastrophic brain injuries may have medical costs for life. In the initial aftermath of a serious accident, your health insurance company might pay to cover your medical bills. Then, your insurer may pursue reimbursement from the at-fault party. Meanwhile, you can file your own claim in pursuit of compensation for your damages.
What is the value of my San Antonio traumatic brain injury case?
Deciding to proceed with a TBI civil claim can be a tough choice. It may seem easier to accept your losses and move on without legal legwork. Yet, if you did not cause your TBI, you should not have to pay for your damages. The civil justice system may give you the right to obtain financial relief from an at-fault party.
A traumatic brain injury settlement or jury verdict in Texas could compensate you for many different economic and noneconomic losses, such as:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Lost wages and future earnings
- Loss of productivity and social services
- Emotional and mental distress
- Physical pain and suffering
- Loss of consortium
- Wrongful death damages
- Punitive damages
The award you and your family obtain in a successful personal injury case could allow you to move forward in more comfort and confidence. Holding the defendant financially responsible can also bring you justice and closure, as well as push for safety changes on an institutional level. Making a product manufacturer pay for a defective product, for example, could motivate the company to improve its safety measures in the future. Use an attorney to help strengthen your claim for damages for a TBI.
How long will it take to secure compensation for my TBI case?
An average TBI settlement timeline does not exist. The amount of time it might take for a claimant to recover compensation varies significantly depending on several factors. One factor that often delays the TBI settlement process is reaching the point of maximum medical improvement (MMI). MMI is the point at which a physician believes the patient has recovered as much as he or she is ever likely to recover. Until a patient with a brain injury reaches MMI, it will be hard to accurately estimate what his or her case is worth.
Before achieving the point of maximum medical improvement, a brain injury victim may not have spent everything he or she is likely to on health care. Settling a claim early, therefore, could rob the victim of compensation he or she should otherwise receive. Settling before a brain surgery you did not realize you needed, for instance, could mean not recovering compensation for the cost of the operation. It is important to wait until the point of maximum medical improvement before resolving a TBI case. Other factors that could delay a traumatic brain injury claim include insurance bad faith, lack of evidence, and comparative negligence.
Hiring a lawyer can help you expedite the TBI claims process as much as possible. Your lawyer will know tricks and tips to speed up your case, as well as how to correctly fill out all paperwork the first time around. Avoiding common mistakes at the filing stage can reduce the number of issues and delays that make your claim take longer than necessary to resolve. If your case does take a year or longer to resolve, your lawyer can keep you informed on its status and any updates every step of the way.
Do you have a traumatic brain injury attorney near me?
Pat Maloney: Accident & Injury Attorney is located at 239 E Commerce St. in the center of Downtown San Antonio, TX. We are the owner of one of the most beautiful and historic buildings in San Antonio. There’s plenty of parking nearby. If you cannot travel, we can arrange a phone or video conference, or an in-hospital visit.
Request a free consultation with a San Antonio TBI attorney today
Whether traumatic brain injuries occurred on the job, in a car accident, or in a case of medical malpractice, an experienced traumatic brain injury lawyer at Pat Maloney: Accident & Injury Attorney can help you seek compensation. This compensation helps pay for medical costs and lost wages due to being unable to work.
Our experienced law firm will make sure that your rights under the law are always protected, and we will do our best to make sure the responsible party is held accountable. Call our San Antonio offices or fill out our contact form today.
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