Staten Island Brain Injury Lawyer
Did an accident cause you or a loved one to suffer a brain injury in Staten Island? If the accident was caused by negligence of another party, you could be entitled to financial compensation. Medical bills, lost wages, lost future income, pain and suffering, and other losses can be the subject of a New York personal injury claim. An experienced Staten Island brain injury lawyer can help you move forward after suffering a brain injury.
A brain injury can have devastating and long-lasting effects on you or your loved one. With such a serious injury often comes serious financial hardship along with physical and emotional suffering. When you deserve compensation for your injuries, you don’t have to fight that battle on your own. Our experienced and compassionate Staten Island brain injury lawyers at Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers can help. Contact our law office to schedule your free consultation at (212) 514-5007.
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How Can Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers Help You After Suffering a Brain Injury in Staten Island?
The Staten Island brain injury attorneys at Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers are here to help you after you’ve been through a serious accident. A knowledgeable brain injury lawyer will understand the complexities involved, will thoroughly analyze all aspects of your claim, and will fight to secure the compensation that addresses your losses due to the accident.
A Staten Island personal injury attorney will investigate not only what happened but how it happened and who is responsible. Your lawyer will then work to prove that the at-fault party is legally liable for your damages. Our job will include any of the following goals and more:
- Sitting with you for a free, no-risk consultation to talk about your case;
- Gathering evidence to build your claim, including medical records, police reports, eyewitness statements, expert reports, physical evidence, video surveillance, photos, and more;
- Developing a strong case strategy;
- Getting tough with insurance companies that seek to downplay or deny your claim;
- Filing a personal injury lawsuit to pursue damages in a court of law;
- Handling every stage of your New York personal injury case and keeping you involved at every turn;
- Negotiating settlement options with the opposing attorney;
- Taking your case to a jury trial whenever necessary.
Our brain injury lawyers have the dedication and experience to help put you in the best position possible to recover financially after a catastrophic accident involving brain injury. Your case is of utmost importance to us, and we will help make a difficult process easier to handle.
How Much Does It Cost To Hire a Staten Island Brain Injury Lawyer?
If you are worried about paying for a lawyer, it will help to know that an experienced brain injury lawyer in Staten Island will normally represent you on a contingent fee basis. Contingency fee agreements mean that you do not pay any attorney’s fees unless you win your case. Only when you receive a financial award will attorney’s fees and costs be paid. This will generally be an agreed-upon percentage of the overall payout.
Contingent fees allow you to have a skilled brain injury lawyer on your side without worrying about upfront fees. After all, you will face financial uncertainty after suffering a brain injury – you should not be expected to pay attorney’s fees out of your own pocket just to fight for what you deserve.
Our Staten Island personal injury attorneys can talk with you about how contingency fees work and how to get your case started as soon as possible.
What Are Brain Injuries?
Traumatic brain injuries involve serious trauma to the head and can be caused by many types of impact and injury. Traumatic brain injuries (or TBI) generally include two types–closed-head trauma and open-head trauma.
Closed Head Trauma
Closed head injuries are those that do not involve fractures or penetration of the skull. In these circumstances, blunt force trauma is usually involved, and the brain sustains internal damage. Internal bleeding, bruising, or hemorrhage can result from closed head trauma.
At times, blunt force trauma is not involved, but the brain is injured due to toxic chemicals, oxygen deprivation, or other sources of internal trauma.
Open Head Trauma
The skull serves as a protective shield for the brain. The skull encases the brain and all vital tissue and fluids underneath the skull’s protection. When anything hits the head forcefully enough to break the skull, open head injuries can result. Violent blows, slips and falls, blunt force, and flying objects can cause fractured skulls and severe damage to the tissue underneath. Serious medical harm from open head trauma can carry long-term or even permanent consequences for accident victims.
What Are Different Types of Brain Injury?
Brain injuries are complex and can result from a range of traumatic incidents, leading to various types of damage that affect the brain and its functions. Types of brain injuries we handle include:
- Concussions
- Edema (swelling of the brain)
- Intracranial hemorrhage
- Oxygen deprivation
- Diffuse axonal damage to the brain’s cells
- Linear skull fractures
- Depressed skull fractures
- Basilar skull fractures
- Diastatic skull fractures.
Brain injuries can have catastrophic consequences for those harmed. After suffering a brain injury, you might find it hard to get your life back to normal or even do the things that once brought you happiness. Brain injuries can cause long-term and permanent disability–carrying with it serious financial consequences for you and your family. You deserve full compensation if someone else caused your injuries.
How Common Are Brain Injuries?
According to the CDC, over 200,000 people are sent to the hospital with traumatic brain injuries annually across the United States. TBI can happen to anyone, regardless of age or physical condition. Brain injuries are especially dangerous since they can happen suddenly and without warning.
Frequent causes of brain injury include:
- Falls: Falls cause about 50% of all TBI-related hospital visits, per the CDC. While falls can be purely accidental, they can also be the result of someone’s negligent act. Slip and fall accidents are often associated with brain injuries.
- Motor vehicle accidents: Car crashes involve heavy machinery and high impacts. This is a dangerous combination that can lead to severe injuries for vehicle passengers.
- Gun-related injuries: Firearms can cause disastrous head injuries. The negligent operation of firearms is a frequent cause of brain injury for gun operators and bystanders.
If you sustained any type of head injury, you must seek prompt medical treatment and follow-up care. Your medical treatment records can also serve as valuable evidence in a New York personal injury claim.
What Is My Brain Injury Claim Worth in a Personal Injury Case?
You can seek two types of damages in a New York personal injury case: economic damages and non-economic damages.
Economic damages are the actual monetary damages suffered due to your injuries, including medical bills, lost income, and out-of-pocket costs.
Non-economic damages include pain and suffering, mental distress, long-term and permanent disability, and reduced quality of life. Your lawyer will seek compensation for these damages, which are often calculated as a “multiplier” of your economic damages. (In other words, courts might take your total economic damages and multiply it by 2 to 5 to calculate non-economic damages).
Your claim’s value will depend on the nature of the accident, the injuries involved, and the combination of both economic and non-economic damages.
How Do I Prove Negligence in a Brain Injury Case?
Negligence is the legal theory supporting most personal injury claims. To collect damages, you first have to prove the four elements of negligence, which are:
- Duty of care owed by the other party to you
- Breach of duty by the other party
- Causation between the breach of duty and the brain injury
- Damages such as medical expenses and lost income.
Your Staten Island brain injury lawyer will rely on evidence to support your claim, such as:
- Medical records
- Photos
- Video footage
- Police reports
- Accident reports
- Eyewitness testimony
- Expert witnesses and expert reports
- Accident reconstruction experts
Your Staten Island personal injury lawyer will seek to prove the other party’s negligence using all evidence available.
Can I Still File a Claim if I Shared Fault for an Accident in New York?
Yes, you can still file a personal injury claim even if you shared some blame for the accident. In fact, even if you are mostly liable, you can receive financial compensation. New York is a pure comparative negligence state, allowing accident victims to collect damages even if they were partly at fault. However, your payout would be reduced according to your percentage of liability. If you were found 40% at fault, for example, your payment would be reduced by 40% (in a $100,000 claim, you would then receive $60,000). Even if you are 99% at fault, you can recover for the 1% you are not.
What is the Deadline to File a Brain Injury Lawsuit in New York?
In most cases, the New York statute of limitations for personal injury is three years from when the accident happened. Your attorney will make sure your case is solid and ready to file within the New York statute of limitations.
Contact a Staten Island Brain Injury Lawyer for a Free Consultation
If you or a loved one suffered a brain injury due to the negligence of someone else, you could pursue a personal injury claim to obtain financial compensation. The knowledgeable and understanding Staten Island brain injury lawyers at Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers will fight for your full financial recovery. Contact our law office to set up a free consultation.
