Atlanta Brain Injury Attorney

A large percentage of traumatic brain injuries in the United States occur because of another party’s negligence. In other words, the irresponsible actions of another individual are often the cause of a victim’s TBI. Some of the most common accident types that result in TBIs include:

• Car crashes.
• Slip and fall accidents.
• Assaults.
• Struck by/against something (i.e. sports related injuries, falling merchandise, construction accidents, work accidents, etc.).

A TBI results in myriad losses for the affected individual and their family. This includes medical expenses, lost wages, an inability to care for oneself, pain and suffering, and more. In many cases, it is possible to recover some amount of compensation if you can establish that another’s negligence caused or contributed to your injuries. Negligence can be broken down into four simple parts the plaintiff (person injured) must prove:

• The person named in the suit (the defendant) owed you a duty of care.
• The defendant breached the duty of care owed to you through an act of negligence.
• The breach of the duty of care was the legal cause of your injuries.

Negligence can refer to a wide range of actions or failure to act. For example, if your TBI occurred as the result of a car accident, the other driver may have been negligent if they caused the crash while operating their vehicle unsafely by speeding or drinking and driving. If your TBI was sustained during a slip and fall accident, you might seek to show the site of the injury was unreasonably dangerous, despite the property owner’s duty to maintain a safe premises.

The question of whether you are able to pursue damages will also hinge partially on the ability of responsible parties to pay. For example, if your TBI resulted from a violent attack, you may have a viable claim for intentional tort against the perpetrator. However, unless that individual is independently wealthy, you may have a tough time collecting anything. (This is partly why victims of violence often pursue third-party premises liability claims against property owners, often prevailing on legal theories like negligent security.) This should factor into your decision to pursue a claim.

Damage to the brain can significantly impair an individual’s life and certainly qualifies as catastrophic. Individuals who survive a traumatic brain injury may suffer:

• Cognitive difficulties.
• Immense pain.
• Paralysis.
• Personality changes.
• Reduction or loss of muscle control.
• Loss of sexual function.
• Diminished or loss of bladder and bowel control.

Per the CDC, moderate to severe brain injuries are a lifelong condition, and can lead to a life expectancy that is reduced by about 9 years. Many TBI sufferers find it difficult or impossible to return to work. In severe cases, TBI patients may need round-the-clock medical care and physical assistance.

Of course, the stress, emotional turmoil, caregiving duties, and financial strain stemming from a traumatic brain injury can also take an immense toll on the physical and mental health of the TBI patient’s family members. Spouses and children, especially, are deprived of the family relationship they came to rely on from the person who was injured. Frankly, they may feel they’ve lost their loved one, even while they’re still living.

As leading traumatic brain injury Attorneys in Georgia, Apolinsky & Associations, LLC offers free and confidential consultations to those interested in more information about their legal rights after experiencing TBI. With our experience obtaining millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for our clients, you can feel confident in contacting our team of Atlanta personal injury lawyers to learn about our ability to help those injured due to the negligent actions of another person, employer or business.

Injured victims deserve financial compensation that is equivalent to the full value of their losses. In Georgia, personal injury compensation is available for both direct economic losses and intangible (noneconomic) damages. Of course, most personal injury cases are defended by corporations or big insurance companies, and these companies will always fight aggressively to deny claims or limit settlement offers.

High-quality legal representation improves your chances of obtaining full and fair compensation. Our traumatic brain injury lawyers help victims seek recovery for:

• Emergency room costs and ambulance fees.
• Mental anguish.
• All other medical bills.
• Long-term disability (LTD).
• Lost current and future wages.
• Loss of life enjoyment.
• Pain and suffering.

Spouses and/or children may be able to pursue their own claims for loss of consortium.

Note that even if you were partially responsible for your own injury, Georgia follows a system of modified comparative fault with a 50 percent bar. What that means is you can still obtain compensation for a traumatic brain injury even if you were partially to blame – so long as you weren’t more than 49 percent responsible. If you are deemed comparatively at fault, your damage award will be proportionately limited. Our dedicated injury attorneys fight to ensure this does not happen, or that any evidence of your own liability for your TBI is significantly mitigated.

When the negligence of another person causes or contributes to the cause of a traumatic brain injury, it can be grounds to pursue financial compensation. Claims for damages in TBI cases commonly involve:

• Car accidents.
• Truck accidents.
• Construction accidents.
• Defective products.
• Dangerous conditions on another’s property (including foreseeable violence).

Negligence is understood to be the absence of ordinary care (when one has a legal duty to exercise it) resulting in serious injuries to another. Although we frequently use the word “accident,” the reality is so many of the circumstances that lead to Atlanta traumatic brain injuries involve careless actions resulting in preventable consequences. Establishing negligence doesn’t mean proving the other person meant you harm. Rather, it means showing that the injury was caused or exacerbated by a failure to exercise ordinary diligence, as defined in O.C.G.A. 51-1-2.

Essentially, the statute of limitations means the amount of time you have from when the criminal act causing a TBI occurs until you must file a lawsuit.  Your case does not have to conclude by the end of the statute, it just has to be filed before.

Under GA Code § 9-3-33, the statute of limitations holds that injured parties in Georgia have just two years to bring personal injury claims forward. After those two years, a court will dismiss your claim. It is important to remember that oftentimes, insurance companies will engage in stalling techniques to run out the clock and avoid paying you anything.

There are a number of complex factors that go into the statute of limitations in any individual case, so if you want to pursue a civil claim, you are advised to contact a personal injury lawyer experienced in traumatic brain injury cases to build your case.

As leading traumatic brain injury Attorneys in Georgia, Apolinsky & Associations, LLC offers free and confidential consultations to those interested in more information about their legal rights after experiencing TBI. With our experience obtaining millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for our clients, feel at ease in contacting our team of Atlanta personal injury lawyers to learn about our ability to help those injured due to the negligent actions of another person, employer or business.