Damage to the spinal cord is among the most devastating injuries a person could suffer. Because the spinal cord houses the nerves that allow the brain to communicate with the body, these injuries can leave a person unable to move below the damaged area. When someone else’s negligence causes an accident that results in another person suffering a spinal cord injury, the injured person could seek compensation from the negligent party. Our DC spinal cord injury lawyers assist people in claiming damages from negligent parties.
Whether damages are available in a specific case depends on several variables. A Washington, D.C., spinal cord injury lawyer could consult with an injured person and their family to determine whether damages could be available in their particular circumstances.
The spinal cord supports the entire skeletal structure of the human body, but it is surprisingly fragile. Spinal cord injuries can occur in various ways.
Motor vehicle accidents are the most common cause of spinal cord injury in persons under age 45. Falls are the most likely way for older Americans to sustain a spinal cord injury. Gunshot wounds, diving accidents, surgical accidents, and birth injuries also could result in spinal cord injuries.
Negligence could be at the root of many accidents that lead to spinal cord injuries. For example, negligence is often behind car accidents and falls in public places. Diving accidents in pools might result from negligence, and medical malpractice is a form of negligence. An experienced DC attorney could identify incidents of likely negligence that might have contributed to a client’s spinal cord injury and prepare a claim for damages from the negligent party.
Traffic accidents are infamous for causing severe injuries. Whether you caused the accident or are a victim of another driver’s negligence, you may suffer significant injury and require assistance from a DC spinal cord injury lawyer. Particularly when you are driving at high speeds, like on the highway, you are in danger of suffering a spinal cord injury. This may be due to no fault of your own. If you wish to recover compensation for your injury, it is imperative that you did not contribute to causing the accident.
You are barred from recovery when you are a proximate cause of your injury. If you suffer a spinal cord injury in a traffic accident, a critical component of your case will be whether there is sufficient coverage. Our DC spinal cord injury lawyers will leave no stone unturned in our investigation for coverage. First, we must always exhaust the coverage on the car you are in.
It should come as no surprise that a fall from high enough up can cause a spinal cord injury. However, the fall must be due to someone else’s negligence to have a viable claim. Most commonly, a fall caused by someone else’s negligence occurs when you slip on a wet floor. If this happens, it is common to suffer injuries necessitating a DC spinal cord injury lawyer. However, there are less commonly occurring injuries that affect your spine. For example, if you are using a ladder and someone negligently holds the ladder for you and you fall and fracture your spinal cord, you have a claim against the person who was supposed to help you. Of course, if you work during the accident, you also have a worker’s compensation claim.
A worker’s compensation claim is the exclusive remedy against your employer. However, you still have options against the person holding the ladder, which may be more lucrative. You may also fall from a faulty staircase or attic if you are in someone’s home. If this happens in someone’s private residence, you can make a claim under their homeowner’s policy only if they knew or should have known of the dangerous condition and failed to warn you. The resident is not obligated to inspect for hazardous conditions as a private homeowner, not a business. However, if they know the hazard, they should inform you so you do not injure yourself. Failure to meet this duty is negligent.
Whether recreational or organized, sports include football, rugby, and hockey. You may also be hurt while performing a water sport like diving or jet skiing. Whichever sport it is, our DC spinal cord injury lawyers have experience resolving these claims. However, we need an apt defendant to make a claim against. If you decide to go swimming in the Potomac River and injure your spine, it is possible we will not have anyone to sue. We must have a negligent party that we can argue is liable for your injuries. All of the sports above are uniquely dangerous due to their high-impact nature. Games like football, rugby, and hockey may include waiver forms requiring your signature before participation.
However, these waivers do not waive your right to sue for anything. Some rights are not waivable. Moreover, the contract is not enforceable if the signor is a minor. While some organizations are intelligent enough to have the minor’s parent or guardian cosign, many do not think to include that detail.
A catastrophic event like a spinal cord injury can tax even the most well-resourced family. Most health insurance providers do not cover all expenses that go along with the treatment and rehabilitation of a spinal cord injury. Copays alone could amount to thousands of dollars.
An award of damages from the negligent party could help support an injured person and their family through rehabilitation and adjustment to living with a spinal cord injury. Damages can cover past and future medical expenses and rehabilitation, loss of earnings, the injured person’s pain and suffering, and all the costs associated with adapting a family’s home and vehicle to accommodate the injury. A seasoned lawyer could help a family document all the losses and expenses related to the spinal cord injury.
Family members also might be entitled to damages due to their loved one’s spinal cord injury. If the injured person can no longer contribute financially to the household as they once did, family members could seek damages for loss of support. If the injured person can no longer participate in family life, family members could seek damages for loss of companionship. Spouses might seek damages for loss of consortium if the injury interferes with the couple’s sexual relationship.
The goal of a DC spinal cord injury lawyer in these accidents is to get you back to whole. Of course, in many ways, this is impossible. The civil justice system does not directly provide medical treatment. Instead, it values your damages and attempts to compensate you for your injuries adequately. When you suffer a spinal cord injury, you may lose the ability to walk. You may require a wheelchair, a walker, or home modifications like ramps and widened doorways. You may even need a new vehicle that can fit a wheelchair in the back. We aim to compensate you for your injuries so you pay nothing out of pocket. This means accounting for details that you may not think about but are related to the spinal cord injury you suffered. This may also include accessible bathrooms, adaptive kitchens with lowered countertops, and even replacing carpeted flooring with hardwood floors.
As you can tell, there is a lot to account for. Thus, not only do we consider the down-the-line costs of these modifications, but we must consider the financial compensation appropriate to cover the additional effort and time you must spend getting these modifications done to your house and the energy to use them daily for the rest of your life. The reality is that no amount of money can compensate you for this injury. You would give it all back to have a functioning spinal cord and be able to function on your own without assistance.
Our DC spinal cord injury lawyers are acutely familiar with the emotional and psychological impact of spinal cord injuries. Your initial emotional reactions to such an injury may be denial, anger, sadness, grief, or anxiety. These are all normal and can come in any order. A brief overview of the home modifications and assistive technologies necessary for a spinal cord injury points to the level of psychological impact that may come with such a severe injury. Once you are grieving, you may come to terms with your new reality. With that may come depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, social withdrawal, and identity issues. So long as you are diagnosed with one of these psychological issues, and your doctor causally relates the diagnosis to your spinal cord injury and the action of the defendant, we can attribute it to your case and seek additional compensation on your behalf.
Dealing with such a physically and emotionally debilitating injury requires robust coping mechanisms and support. If supported by your treating doctor, we recommend psychological counseling to help you cope with life after a severe spinal cord injury. They can provide strategies for managing emotional distress and adapting to new life circumstances. This is a critical part of moving forward after a significant life change. Additionally, support groups of people in similar circumstances can provide a sense of community at a time when you may otherwise feel alone. Knowing you are not the only one going through a difficult time can help.
Under the category of support, caregiver support may be helpful. Caregivers are essential for those suffering from debilitating spinal cord injuries. Whether this is compensable by the plaintiff depends on the severity of your injuries and how much coverage the defendant has on their insurance policy. If applicable, we can get an expert witness to testify that a caregiver is necessary to help return your life to normal. As you might imagine, this can significantly increase the value of your case. Thus, hiring a DC spinal cord injury lawyer to build as strong a case as possible is essential.
Washington, D.C., continues to follow a harsh doctrine that most states have abandoned. The pure contributory negligence doctrine prevents a negligent plaintiff from collecting damages from any other party, even when the plaintiff’s negligence is minimal compared to another party’s.
Negligent parties and their insurers might try to use this doctrine to their advantage by arguing that a plaintiff’s negligence contributed to their spinal injury. An aggressive legal professional in Washington, DC, could present evidence showing that the plaintiff bore no responsibility for the accident that injured their spine, and all the blame rests with the defendant. One such way we do this is via the last clear chance doctrine. The last clear chance is also known as the humanitarian doctrine. It is a narrow loophole to the contributory negligence affirmative defense that allows you to recover despite contributing to your injury.
This doctrine states that the person with the last clear chance to avoid an accident who fails to do so is liable for negligence. This is true even if you were negligent at some point before the accident. This is a doctrine that we raise if it is to rebut the defense of contributory negligence. The court will not apply the last clear chance if the defendant’s negligence occurred long before the injury. This is a narrow loophole, but it is effective in instances such as pedestrians jaywalking outside a crosswalk. While you are technically negligent and a proximate cause of your injury, the driver likely has the last clear chance to avoid the accident and fails to do so. The court will focus on this failure to prevent the accident.
For many families, the weeks and months after a spinal cord injury are a time when all of their energy is directed toward adjusting to their new life. Dealing with the financial implications of the injury is something they might put on the back burner. However, this could be a grave mistake because the Code of the District of Columbia §12-301(8) allows injured people only three years from their accident to bring a lawsuit.
Do not risk losing your right to get damages from the negligent parties who caused the accident that injured you or your loved one. Contact a Washington, D.C., spinal cord injury lawyer as soon as possible to begin the process of seeking fair and appropriate compensation.
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