Long Island City Brain Injury Lawyer

Whether it’s a mild concussion or a debilitating blow to the head, traumatic brain injuries should not go untreated. If they are, victims could suffer additional complications and face an intensive, prolonged treatment period. Seeking medical care shortly after an accident is crucial to your health and well-being.

Don’t feel discouraged about taking time off work or piling medical bills, as you can seek compensation for these expenses and other damages stemming from your accident injury. While personal injury cases can be complex, you don’t have to face this alone. One of our brain injury attorneys in Long Island City, NY can support you throughout the process.

From gathering evidence to speaking to the insurance adjuster on your behalf, the Long Island City injury lawyers at Shulman & Hill are ready to serve you. Get in touch with our firm today to schedule your free case review.

Understanding Traumatic Brain Injuries

If you sustain a hard impact or sudden jolt to your head, you may also have suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI), according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. This injury can affect the immediate area that got hit or spread to other areas of the brain.

Medical professionals usually classify a TBI into one of two categories:

• A penetrating brain injury: This usually happens when an object penetrates and breaks the skull.
• A closed brain injury: The brain remains intact, but can still sustain damage. When an outside force strikes the head, it can rattle the brain in the skull, breaking blood vessels and tissue, and bruising the brain.

The effects of the injury can kick in immediately or take a few days to develop. Whenever you hit your head pretty hard, especially in an accident, seek medical help right away.

Common Traumatic Brain Injury Symptoms to Look Out For

Usually, the symptoms of a brain injury depend on the severity of the blow. For example, someone with a mild concussion may experience symptoms differently than someone with a serious traumatic brain injury. Common signs to look out for include:

• Reduced endurance and balance
• Changes in sensation
• Dizziness and fatigue
• Problems with swallowing
• Confusion
• Problems with holding attention
• Difficulty speaking and slurred speech
• Headaches
• Loss of bladder or bowel control
• Changes in personality

In the most serious cases, victims drift in and out of consciousness or experience seizures.

Common Causes of Traumatic Brain Injuries

The nature of a brain injury depends on how it occurred and the force of the impact. According to Mayo Clinic, common causes of TBIs include:

• Sports injuries: especially among kids
• Falls: particularly with kids and older adults
• Traffic accidents: such as car, bike, truck, motorcycle, and pedestrian accidents
• Violence: including gunshot wounds and physical assaults

Paying attention to your surroundings, avoiding drug and alcohol use, and taking proper safety precautions could help you avoid suffering a brain injury.

Diagnosing and Treating Brain Injuries

During your initial doctor’s visit, the physician may ask you different questions to better understand your condition and how it happened, including:

• When did it happen?
• Did you lose consciousness? If so, for how long?
• Did you notice any changes to your coordination or speech?
• Have you experienced other signs of injury?
• What part of the head got hit?
• What was the force of the hit like?

From there, they may perform a series of tests, like an MRI or CT scan, to get a clear diagnosis. If the TBI is mild, the doctor may recommend rest and have you follow up with them before you resume your pre-accident routine. However, in more moderate to severe cases, they could prescribe medication, recommend various therapies, or even suggest surgery.

Traumatic Brain Injury Statistics in the United States and New York State

Brain injuries are a problem throughout New York State and across the country. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an average of 176 people lost their lives to TBIs every single day in 2020, which amounted to roughly 64,000 deaths by the end of the year. Those most at risk of suffering a TBI include:

• Service members and veterans
• Racial and ethnic minorities
• Homeless people
• Domestic abuse survivors
• Those who live in rural areas

Half of the causes of TBIs are falls, followed by assaults and traffic accidents. These common causes don’t just affect TBIs on a nationwide scale but in New York State as well. Per the New York State Department of Health, over 400 incidents of TBI are recorded every day. Many of these result in emergency and hospital care. Every year, New York sees over 2000 fatalities, 112,000 emergency room visits, and 19,000 hospital stays.

According to the data, children, young adults, and the elderly are at the highest risk of sustaining a TBI. In addition, males have twice as many TBI hospitalizations as females.

Enlisting a Long Island City Brain Injury Attorney on Our Team to Take Your Case

Shulman & Hill has recovered millions of dollars for clients. Every case is unique, so no two outcomes will be exactly alike, but you can trust us to develop a strong case strategy when fighting for your compensation.

Our brain injury attorneys can do a lot for your case, including:

• Staying in contact with your medical team to keep up to date on your recovery
• Reviewing pertinent documentation, such as medical records and police reports
• Determining the negligent party and holding them accountable
• Handling communication with others involved in your case
• Speaking with and taking depositions of multiple witnesses
• Managing settlement negotiations
• Navigating your case through the complexities of court rules and procedures
• Representing you at trial if we can’t come to a settlement agreement

We keep our clients posted on how their case progresses. We can provide solid legal counsel, and answer your questions about how the claims process works or your case as a whole.

More on How We Defend You Against the Insurance Companies

Dealing with insurance companies can be tricky. Like any other business, they strive to protect their bottom line. So an adjuster may try to look for holes in your story and claim:

• The symptoms you experience aren’t a product of a TBI but rather a pre-existing condition.
• If you didn’t seek medical attention soon enough after your accident and your condition is worse because of it, you don’t deserve all the compensation you’re asking for.
• Something other than the accident caused your brain injury.
• If you didn’t suffer any other injuries, the insurance company may hesitate to compensate you since they think it’s rare to just sustain a TBI in an accident.

Our brain injury attorneys can combat these statements by proving their policyholder caused your TBI and using the standard of negligence.

The first element of the standard of negligence is the duty of care. Unfortunately, some breach or violate their duty of care. In turn, this particular breach causes an accident and, in your case, a traumatic brain injury. Your TBI has caused you monetary and non-monetary losses.

Showing that these components apply to your case gives an adjuster less room to dispute your claim.

Our Brain Injury Lawyers in Long Island City, New York Work on Contingency

We understand that traumatic brain injuries can be expensive to treat, especially while you wait for a settlement. On top of these bills and other household expenses, hiring an attorney may seem out of the question right now.

However, at Shulman & Hill, we finance the entirety of your case, as we work on a contingency-fee-basis. Other firms may charge clients an upfront or hourly fee, but not us. Our attorneys take their fees out of a pre-approved percentage of your total settlement package, and only if you win. If we somehow lose the case, you don’t owe us anything.

Brain Injury Survivors and Their Families May Be Entitled to Compensation

When another person causes your TBI, you may be able to hold them accountable for your losses. Every case is different, so how much you can seek depends on several factors, like the nature of the accident that caused your TBI, how serious your injury and prognosis are, and how it has affected your professional and personal lives.

Generally speaking, the more serious your condition, the more compensation you may be eligible to receive. Those who suffer a brain injury usually qualify to seek damages for:

• Medical bills for past and projected treatment: These damages should cover all medical expenses related to your TBI, such as imaging scans, surgeries, emergency care, medications, hospitalizations, and follow-up appointments.
• Lost income: Sometimes, the doctor has you take time off work to rest and recover. If you had to go on unpaid leave, you could recoup some of your lost income for that time.
• Reduced earning capacity: If you face a prolonged recovery, you may have to take months or years off work. Compensation for reduced earning capacity could make up for the pay you would have earned.
• Property damage costs: If your vehicle sustained damage in a traffic accident that caused your TBI, compensation can help cover the repair bills.
• Pain and suffering: Pain and suffering damages can help you access the resources you need to regain independence and comfort.

As we’ve seen, traumatic brain injuries can result in fatalities. If that was the case for your loved one, our lawyers can help you pursue a wrongful death claim or lawsuit. Typical damages surviving family members collect include burial and funeral costs, final medical bills, loss of financial support, and loss of care, household services, or companionship.

Meeting State Deadlines Following a Brain Injury in Long Island City, New York

You must be aware of the strict deadlines that New York enforces on filing lawsuits. For example, under CPLR § 214, in most cases, claimants must file their personal injury lawsuit within three years of the date of injury. On the other hand, those filing a wrongful death lawsuit generally have up to two years from the day of death to bring this action, per EPT § 5-4.1.

We cannot stress how important it is to act quickly. With very few exceptions, you only have the amount of time to file suit that the statute allows. Putting it off until the last minute can hurt your chances of recovering compensation, as the state typically bars claimants who try to file past the deadline.

We understand that dealing with deadlines like these can be stressful, especially when you’re injured and trying to recover. You don’t have to do this on your own. When you hire one of our attorneys, we can review your case, determine how much time you have to file, and help you comply within that given time frame.

Team Up With Our Brain Injury Lawyers in Long Island City, New York Today

Our brain controls everything about us—how we move, how we speak, how we think, and who we are. When it sustains trauma, it can upend our way of life. The person who causes this harm should be held accountable. Allow the brain injury lawyers at our Long Island City office to step in and work toward that while you get better. We can examine the facts of your case, evaluate your damages, and go after the at-fault party to help you get back to living as normally as possible. Contact Shulman & Hill today to schedule your free consultation with us.