Traumatic brain injury refers to any change in brain function or pathology caused by an external force. This is a very clinical description of something that can dramatically alter the course of your or your family’s lives. If you or someone you love has suffered a traumatic brain injury from an accident, we can help.
If the accident that caused your injury was due to another party’s negligence, you may be able to obtain compensation by filing a personal injury claim. The Oklahoma City personal injury attorneys at Abel Law Firm have experience helping people like you recover after a traumatic brain injury. We can put that experience to work for you. Call us today at (405) 239-7046 for a free, confidential consultation, and let us show you how we can get results for your personal injury claim.
Why Should I Hire Abel Law Firm for My Traumatic Brain Injury Claim?
Since 1976, Abel Law Firm has been helping clients across Oklahoma get compensation for personal injury claims. We’ve helped thousands of people and their families through a community-first approach. Abel Law Firm provides hours of pro bono legal representation to Oklahoma Lawyers for Children. A non-profit organization that provides help and support for Oklahoma children currently in the foster care system.
As well as giving back to the community, we are good at what we do. The founder of our firm, Ed Abel, is a frequent lecturer at the Oklahoma Bar Association and the Oklahoma Association for Justice. He has been practicing law for over 50 years. He is the recipient of multiple awards and honorary degrees. Under his leadership, our firm has secured hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and damages for our clients.
Abel Law Firm is a family firm. We believe in helping other families reclaim their lives after an accident or injury.
Do I Need an Attorney for My Traumatic Brain Injury Claim?
We won’t mince words: hiring a lawyer can be expensive. You may wonder if hiring an attorney to assist in filing your claim is truly worth it. While you can go through the process yourself, when you use Abel Law Firm for your personal injury representation, you benefit from our decades of combined experience and knowledge. We will do the hard work for you and allow you to focus on the healing process after your injury. We will investigate your accident, negotiate with insurance companies, and help you avoid the legal pitfalls and novice mistakes that could delay your claim and make it more difficult for you to get compensation.
When you work with Abel Law Firm, you’re not just getting our legal experience. You’re working with a family. We understand how a traumatic brain injury can affect Oklahoma families. Letting us handle your claim allows you to get back to the important things, like spending time with loved ones and rebuilding your life.
How Will I Pay for a Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney in Oklahoma?
No one expects or prepares for an accident that causes a traumatic brain injury. At Abel Law Firm, we get it. You’re facing loads of unexpected expenses, and possibly you’re unable to work. So the salary you’re accustomed to may not be arriving. Household expenses might be in danger of not getting paid.
It’s not our job to add to your financial distress. Here at Abel Law Firm, we work on a contingency-fee basis. That means you pay nothing upfront for our services. We believe everyone deserves a high-quality defense, regardless of their economic circumstances. Our contingency-fee arrangement allows individuals and families that couldn’t usually afford to hire an attorney to get justice for their case without going into debt.
Don’t let worry over the cost of an attorney keep you from hiring Abel Law Firm. You won’t owe us anything if we don’t win compensation for you.
What Is Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)?
According to the CDC, a traumatic brain injury (TBI) is any injury that affects how your brain works. This designation applies to several different injuries and disabilities. TBI is a major cause of death in the United States.
There are two main types of TBI. Penetrating TBI refers to an object penetrating the skull’s outer surface and causing brain damage. Closed Skull TBI refers to any brain injury where the skull remains intact.
Traumatic brain injuries can be further divided into primary and secondary injuries. Primary TBIs include injuries sustained during impact, such as a skull fracture or hematoma (brain bleed). Secondary injuries manifest hours or days after the initial impact, such as a concussion.
Following is a list of some common types of TBI and surrounding circumstances:
- Concussion: The most common form of TBI. Concussions can occur in conjunction with penetrating or closed-skill TBIs and can appear with or without violent impact. Although concussions are considered mild TBIs, they can sometimes have effects lasting months.
- Contusion: A type of TBI characterized by the brain’s bruising, swelling, or bleeding. Contusions can happen with or without violent impact and can sometimes require surgery to correct.
- Coup-contrecoup: Refers to a TBI that is essentially a double concussion, where an impact to the head causes the brain to strike the skull’s interior with such force that it bounces back and strikes the other side.
- Skull Fracture: An injury often seen together with a TBI. A skull fracture occurs after a violent impact on the head with enough force to break the bones of the skull.
TBIs have many causes. Data from the CDC shows that falling is the most common cause, leading to nearly half of hospitalizations for the injury. TBIs can range in severity from a mild concussion caused by a fall that will heal on its own to a penetrating TBI, such as a gunshot wound, that causes severe brain damage.
Common causes of TBI include the following:
- Falls
- Car accidents
- Firearm-related injuries
- Assault
- Sports Injuries
- Falling objects
- Workplace injuries
TBIs have a wide range of causes, and this is by no means an exhaustive list.
Some many signs and symptoms could point to a potential TBI. If you or a family member has been in an accident recently and exhibits symptoms that could indicate TBI, you should seek medical help immediately. Symptoms to watch for include blurred vision, dizziness, disorientation, loss of balance, headache, memory loss, nausea, and slurred speech.
What Types of Damages Can Be Recovered by Filing a TBI Claim?
Personal Injury Law works differently than criminal law. A personal injury attorney is not trying to convict anyone of a crime. They work to get compensation for accident victims that suffered injury due to another party’s negligence. The compensation could be an insurance settlement or an award of damages from the court. This type of compensation is designed to provide relief for losses suffered during and after the accident that caused the injury.
The following losses may be eligible for compensation by settlement or at trial:
- Medical bills: This is usually the largest expense after a debilitating accident. You can recover losses related to hospitalization, surgical procedures, medication, emergency transport, rehabilitation, or long-term treatment for your injuries.
- Lost wages: If you’re unable to work due to a traumatic brain injury, you and your family could recover any wages lost during the time you were being treated, either for the time you had to miss work to go to medical appointments or for periods where your physicians wouldn’t allow you to work at all. This can apply to the person who suffered the injury or any family member forced to leave work to care for the injured party.
- Property Damage: If your TBI was caused by a motor vehicle accident, you could be compensated for repairing or replacing your vehicle or other personal items damaged, such as a laptop.
- Pain and Suffering: Pain and suffering are not intended as repayment of direct costs you incur after the accident. An award of these damages, or their inclusion in your lawyer’s demand for settlement from the insurance company, is intended to compensate you in part for the emotional damage caused by your injury. A TBI can inflict extreme stress on a family, causing marital strife, mental distress, anxiety, or depression.
- Permanent Disability: A traumatic brain injury may sometimes be so severe that the victim requires constant medical care throughout their daily life. When your lawyer evaluates your claim to determine an appropriate value to demand from the insurance company, we will consider any permanent disability you’ve sustained. Whether your disability means you’ll be unable to work in any capacity again and will need full-time at-home care or whether it means that you won’t be able to work in a job with a similar earning capacity as your pre-accident employment, we will analyze the potential long-term costs and be sure to include them in any settlement demand we make.
What Should I Do if I or a Family Member Suffers a Traumatic Brain Injury?
Traumatic brain injuries can be hard to detect at first glance and require expert medical care to treat. If you or someone you love was in an accident that involved an impact to the head, violent shaking of the head, loss of consciousness, or loss of oxygen, you should seek emergency medical attention immediately.
Even if the affected person does not exhibit symptoms and feels no pain, TBIs can sometimes take days to manifest and can have severe long-term health consequences if left untreated. Many TBIs have no outward symptoms and are only detectable through X-ray or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
When you or your family member does get treatment, make sure and document everything. Get copies of medical records, pictures of X-rays, and any other documentation demonstrating the severity or cause of the injury. If the accident that caused the injury resulted from another party’s negligence, you’ll want to retain legal representation as soon as possible, and this information will be invaluable when building your personal injury claim.
TBI Information and Statistics
TBI affects Americans of all ages and backgrounds, though data is suggesting that certain groups are more susceptible to TBI than others. Racial and ethnic minorities with limited access to healthcare, high rates of suicide, or high rates of substance abuse may be more likely to suffer a TBI at some point in their life.
Survivors of domestic violence, military service members or veterans, inmates of correctional facilities, and people experiencing homelessness all have higher rates of TBI than the national average.
People with incomes lower than the national average and the uninsured are less likely to fully recover after a TBI, probably due to their inability to access or afford long-term care after their injury.
In 2017, there were approximately 224,000 hospitalizations for TBI in America. Adults age 75 years or older are the most likely to suffer a TBI, with data showing that just over 30% of TBI hospitalizations fall into this age group.
The same study showed that the most common causes of TBI hospitalizations were unintentional falls (49.1%) and motor vehicle crashes (24.5%).
Males are far more likely to suffer a TBI than females. Rates of TBIs in 2017 due to motor vehicle accidents, being struck or hit by an object, or intentional self-farm were two times higher for men than for women. TBIs due to assault were four times higher for men than women.
Call Abel Law Firm Today for a Confidential Consultation
Abel Law Firm is standing by to assist you and your family with getting your life back after a TBI. Call us today at (405) 239-7046 for a free, no-obligation, confidential consultation, and let us show you how we can put our family to work for you.
