Atlanta Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer
An injured spinal cord is a terrifying diagnosis to face, with life-altering implications for the victim. When the accident was preventable and occurred due to someone else’s careless, reckless, or violent actions, the victim may seek a sense of justice and accountability as well as financial compensation for the catastrophic consequences of the injury. These consequences are known as the victim’s “damages” in a personal injury claim. For spinal cord injuries, the damages are substantial and ongoing.
If you or a close family member sustained a spinal cord injury due to another party’s negligence or wrongdoing, a spinal cord injury lawyer in Atlanta is ready to help. While no amount of financial compensation can undo the injury, it opens doors to the best medical care available and relieves the financial burdens associated with catastrophic injuries.
Call the Atlanta spinal cord injury attorneys at Piasta, Walker, Hagenbush, LLC today for a free consultation so we can begin a strategic plan for your financial recovery while you focus on maximizing your physical recovery.
Why Choose Us for Your Spinal Cord Injury Attorneys in Atlanta?
With our decades of combined experience, the Atlanta personal injury attorneys at Piasta Walker Hagenbush, LLC, have successfully navigated spinal cord injury cases with a track record of success in recovering substantial compensation for our injured clients. We have deep compassion for those suffering from the trauma of a life-altering injury and facing the challenges ahead. By choosing a lawyer from our spinal cord injury legal team, you’ll have the following advantages for your claim:
- A free confidential case evaluation and no fees for our legal services until after we secure your compensation
- Access to the best medical experts to provide key testimony to the impact of the injury on your life
- Skilled investigators to determine the negligent action that caused the injury and the correct liable party and insurance policy
- A results-oriented approach through a firm that will negotiate from a position of strength with the insurance company or take your claim to court if required
No one should take on a legal case alone while dealing with life-altering injuries. Your Atlanta spinal cord injury lawyer is ready to advocate aggressively for your best interests and protect your rights.
What Damages Are Available for Compensation in Spinal Cord Injury Claims?
Spinal cord injuries are costly to the victim in many ways. The physical and financial consequences are life-altering. Common damages claimed in spinal cord injury cases help victims recover compensation for the following:
- Medical expenses
- Costs of future medical care for the extensive rehabilitation required as well as treatments for related medical conditions
- Lost income
- Diminished earning capacity due to disability
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional trauma
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium (a full emotional and physical relationship with a loved one)
When someone else causes you serious injury through their careless actions, you shouldn’t be left with the burden of undue expenses as well as the trauma of severe physical injury.
Common Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries in Atlanta
Despite the bony protection of the row of vertebrae surrounding the spinal cord, when an accident or violent incident causes significant trauma to the back or neck, the delicate nerves in the spinal cord could sustain damage. Severe trauma may cause sharp fragments of broken vertebrae to pierce, crush, or severe the spinal cord, causing paralysis below the level of the injury. Causes of spinal cord injuries cited in Atlanta claims include:
- Car accidents
- Commercial truck accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Falls from heights and slip-and-fall accidents
- Workplace accidents
- Contact sports injuries
- Diving injuries
- Defective product injuries
When diagnosed with a spinal cord injury, the victim faces severely limiting mobility issues, a higher risk of related medical conditions, and often substantial or total disability. If another party’s negligence caused the injury, the victim shouldn’t be left with the undue burden of financial consequences as well as physical ones.
Proving Liability in Spinal Cord Injuries
Like all states, Georgia bases its personal injury law on the premise that all people owe a general duty of care to others in their orbit. This general duty requires them to take reasonable measures to prevent causing injury to others. When injury claims like spinal cord injuries go to trial, the jury must ask themselves if a reasonable person would have behaved the same way under the same circumstances. Proving liability requires investigating all aspects of the injury to collect evidence. Your attorney from Piasta, Walker, Hagenbush, LLC will document the evidence to prove the following:
- The at-fault party owed a duty of care to take reasonable measures to prevent causing injury to others
- They breached this duty through an act of negligence, recklessness, or wrongful behavior
- The negligent breach of duty directly caused the spinal cord injury
- The victim suffered serious economic and non-economic damages from the injury
After documenting evidence of negligent liability on the part of an individual or business, your Atlanta spinal cord injury attorney will carefully calculate your damages and send an evidence-backed demand package to the appropriate insurance company. After presenting the demands for compensation, a period of negotiation takes place between the at-fault party’s insurer. During these negotiations and mediation attempts your lawyer will advocate aggressively for your full compensation for damages.
Most spinal cord injuries end with a settlement from the insurer of the party at fault for the injury. Only in cases of an insurance company’s failure to offer an acceptable settlement or an unjust denial of the claim does the case proceed to court.
Statute of Limitations for Atlanta Spinal Cord Injury Cases
Georgia has a two-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims. The timing of your claim is important. If the case goes to court, your lawyer must file a petition for damages within two years from the date the injury occurred. Only in cases of delayed discovery or the injury of someone under the age of 18 does the state extend the time limit for filing a lawsuit.
Call the Attorneys at Piasta Walker Hagenbush, LLC Today
No one should take on a complex injury claim while dealing with the life-altering consequences of spinal cord damage in Georgia. Your Atlanta spinal cord injury lawyers are ready to navigate your claim so you can focus on reaching your maximum medical improvement and moving forward with your life. Call our Atlanta law office today for a free evaluation of your case.