Spinal cord injuries can change the victim’s life for good because your spine is responsible for how your brain and your entire body operate. It is only fair if the burden of the injury is taken up by the person responsible for it.
Keep in mind that the at-fault party retains their full working potential, while you struggle to fulfill your day-to-day activities. While compensation may not return you to your previous state, it will make life easier and more bearable. You need an Orange County personal injury attorney who will walk this journey with you.
How Do Experts Determine the Cause of a Spinal Cord Injury?
Any damage to the disks of the spinal column, the ligaments, the vertebrae, or the spinal cord itself is the reason one can suffer spinal cord injuries. However, spinal cord injuries can be further classified into traumatic and non-traumatic injuries based on the causes.
Non-traumatic injuries result from conditions such as:
- Disk degeneration
- Infections
- Inflammations
- Cancer
- Arthritis
On the other hand, traumatic injuries result from a sudden impact on your spinal cord. The traumatic blow can cause your vertebrae to:
- Compress
- Crush
- Dislocate
- Fracture
Notably, a lot of spinal damage occurs over time. Over the days and weeks, the injuries could develop into:
- Fluid accumulation
- Inflammation
- Swelling
- Bleeding
Fault can be determined once the experts have established that a pre-existing medical condition didn’t cause a spinal cord injury. If it is a traumatic injury, the negligent parties have to take responsibility.
How is Liability Established After an Injury?
Liability is usually established after proper investigations into the incident. Relying on the police report may not unearth the real cause of the accident and the parties that need to pay for their negligence. You need the help of an Orange County spinal cord injury attorney, who will incorporate the skills of top experts in biomechanical engineering, medicine, accident reconstruction, and forensics.
These experts can piece together each element of the puzzle to determine who failed to uphold the duty owed, or whose intentional, reckless, or negligent behavior caused your spinal cord injuries. Usually, the cause of the accident is connected to that party. For instance, an accident at work should link to your employer or another negligent employee.
Some of the common causes that can shape the liability discovery include:
- Assault (stabbing or shooting injury)
- Blunt trauma
- Sports accidents
- Construction accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Motor vehicle accidents
What is the Defendant’s Duty in Preventing a Spinal Cord Injury?
The type of defendant in a spinal cord injury varies from case to case, so are their responsibilities towards the victim. If they are a manufacturer, they needed to have made safe products and clearly advertise possible risks. Similarly, owners of premises ought to provide safe grounds, and put clear warning signs when necessary.
In a liability case, the defendant has to defend themselves against allegations of not doing their part to keep others safe from injuries. It is often complicated to develop a convincing defense, especially when experts have conducted proper investigations and the evidence shows negligence on their part. They may have to compensate the victim fully for the spinal cord injuries sustained. It can be in the form of:
- Medical bills
- Rehabilitative costs
- Loss of enjoyment
- Pain and suffering
What Are My Rights As the Accident Victim?
Another person’s negligence can give you permanent injuries that can be costly to treat and change how you do things. In such a case, you can legally seek financial compensation for those damages with the help of premises liability attorneys in Orange County. But you can only do these within a specific period because personal injury cases also have a statute of limitation. Failure to seek compensation before the expiry of that period equals waiving your rights.
It is advisable to reach out for legal counsel as soon as you or your loved one is injured in an incident. This also allows your Santa Ana personal injury attorney to coordinate timely investigations, which usually is more accurate since the crime scene won’t have been tampered with. Thus, the negligent person will be held accountable for what they did or failed to do, and your rights will be safeguarded.
You might be a victim of a spinal cord injury if you experience these symptoms:
- Altered or loss of sensation
- Pain or intense stinging sensation
- Loss of bladder or bowel control
- Exaggerated reflexes or spasms
- Numbness in the feet or hands
- Extreme pressure in your head, back, or neck
- Lack of coordination
- Weakness in any part of the body
- Breathing difficulties
- Changes in sexual sensitivity and function
- Challenges with walking and balance
- Loss of movement
- Severe back pain
Is Compensation Automatic if the At-Fault Party is Known?
Simply linking the at-fault party with the incident is not all you need to get your damages in full. The process is more complicated than people might think. And the chances are that their insurance company will deny the claim and poke holes in the evidence presented. Sometimes, the insurance company will try to offer way less money than you deserve. They can also claim that the spinal code injury resulted from another medical condition, and that the accident didn’t cause it.
The thing is, their attorney might not take your accusations lying down. They will strive to protect their client’s interests and ensure that they save their money. So, the best you can do is to get yourself aggressive spinal cord injury attorneys in Orange County, CA, and have your rights protected as well.
Honest and Personalized Legal Guidance
Personal injury cases are among the most complex cases in California. Compensation is awarded based on how your personal injury attorney represents the facts and disputes the defendant’s arguments.
An experienced and skilled PI attorney will protect you against being shortchanged and receiving less compensation than you deserve. The attorneys at Gibson & Hughes have been helping injury victims for years.
Get top-quality legal advice today. Call us at 714-547-8377 for a FREE case evaluation.
