A spinal cord injury can have a devastating effect on your life, your livelihood, and your future. After suffering a spinal cord injury, you may find yourself facing expensive medical treatment and rehabilitation. A serious spinal cord injury could force you to miss significant time from work. A catastrophic spinal cord injury could prevent you from returning to the job you previously held – or even ever working again.
If your spinal cord injury was caused by someone else’s carelessness, you could be entitled to compensation for your medical expenses, lost wages and earning potential, pain and suffering, and more. A spinal cord injury lawyer can help you seek the financial compensation that you need as you begin your recovery from a life-altering spinal cord injury.
You need a lawyer with Kentucky Courage to fight for your rights as a spinal cord injury victim. Our lawyers have the courage and experience to stand up for you.
Contact Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer today to speak with one of our dedicated, knowledgeable spinal cord injury attorneys about how our firm can fight for you and help you to pursue the compensation you are rightfully owed.
How a Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer Can Help with Your Case
When you have suffered a spinal cord injury through no fault of your own, you may wonder whether you should hire an attorney to help you seek compensation for the losses you’ve incurred as a result of your injury.
Some of the ways that a spinal cord injury lawyer can help you pursue spinal cord injury claims for compensation include:
- Investigating Your Accident – An attorney can help you uncover all relevant evidence for your claim. In certain kinds of accidents, such as truck accidents, medical malpractice, or product liability, there may be other pieces of evidence beyond the facts and circumstances of the accident that are necessary to establish the other party’s negligence or liability for your injury.
- Determining All Liable Parties – In many cases, there may be multiple parties that share some fault or liability for your injury. For example, in a medical malpractice case, liable parties may include not only the doctors and nurses who treated you but also the medical practice or hospital that employs those professionals. An attorney can review contractual provisions and corporate structures to identify all potentially liable parties and sources of insurance coverage.
- Documenting Current and Future Losses – Although it may seem easy enough to tally up the bills and invoices you receive to treat your injuries and calculate the time you’ve missed from work, it is important that your claim also compensate you for future losses as well. An attorney will have the experience needed to properly calculate your future medical expenses and future lost wages and earning potential.
- Negotiating for a Settlement – The first settlement offer you receive from an insurance company is almost never the maximum amount of compensation that can be offered. An attorney will advise you to decline a spinal cord injury settlement unless it represents fair and full compensation for your losses. Your attorney can negotiate from a position of strength for a sum that fairly represents all your losses.
- Taking Your Case to Trial – Sometimes, it is necessary to go to trial to get compensation from the parties liable to you for a spinal cord injury. An attorney can ensure that your case is properly filed with the court, that all other filings are timely made, and that your case is persuasively presented to the judge and jury.
Common Causes of Spine Injuries in Kentucky
Spinal cord injuries can arise from a wide variety of accidents. Some of the most common causes of spinal cord injuries that our personal injury attorneys help our clients with include:
No matter the circumstances of your or your loved one’s spinal cord injury, our Kentucky personal injury lawyers are prepared to help you and your family seek the compensation you need and deserve to help you recover and put your life back on track.
Compensation for Spinal Cord Injuries
If you’ve suffered a spinal cord injury that was someone else’s fault, you may be entitled to compensation for the damages that you suffered as a result of your injuries. Some of the common types of damages that you could recover compensation for in a spinal cord injury lawsuit include:
- Medical expenses – This includes hospital bills, surgery, doctor’s office visits, prescription medication, physical and occupational therapy, mobility equipment, and home alterations to help accommodate your injuries
- Lost wages – If your injuries keep you out of work while you recuperate, you may be entitled to compensation for the wages you miss out on.
- Lost earning capacity – If your injuries preclude you from returning to your old job and you suffer a reduction in your wages as a result, you may be entitled to be compensated for the loss in earnings.
- Pain and suffering – These include the emotional and physical anguish caused by your injuries.
- Lost quality of life – This involves the emotional distress caused by disability or disfigurement from your injuries, or the inability to perform tasks of daily living or to participate in activities you enjoyed prior to your injury.
- Loss of consortium – This type of damage provides compensation to your spouse for the loss of your companionship and intimate relationship.
How Long Do You Have to File a Spine Injury Lawsuit in Kentucky?
If you have suffered a spinal cord injury due to an accident or some other incident that was no fault of your own, you typically have one year from the date of your injury to file a lawsuit for compensation. However, if your injury occurred in a motor vehicle accident, you have two years from the date of your accident to file a lawsuit to seek compensation for your spinal cord injury.
In addition, if a minor suffers a spinal cord injury from an accident or incident that was no fault of their own, they have one year from the date they turn 18 to file a lawsuit for compensation for their spinal cord injury, regardless of how long ago the injury occurred.
If your spinal cord injury arising from medical malpractice, you have one year from the date that you knew or should have known that medical malpractice caused your spinal cord injury to file a lawsuit for compensation.
Contact Our Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Law Firm Now
If you have suffered a spinal cord injury due to no fault of your own, you may wonder whether you may be entitled to compensation and how an attorney can help you obtain a financial recovery in a spinal cord injury lawsuit.
Contact the Kentucky personal injury attorneys at Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer today to schedule a free consultation to learn more about your legal rights and options.
