Queens Brain Injury Lawyer
Have you or a loved one suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) or another head injury in Queens, NY? You may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. The skilled and experienced Queens brain injury lawyers Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers will help you fight for the compensation you deserve.
At Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers, we have been helping injury victims like you for over 40 years. Our Queens, NY brain injury attorneys can help you maximize your physical and financial recovery.
Reach out to our law office today to speak with a member of our legal team. We offer a free consultation, so there’s no risk in calling today.
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How Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers, Can Help If You’ve Sustained a Brain Injury in Queens, NY
We know it can feel like an impossible task to recover from catastrophic injuries, like brain injuries. Not to mention the mounting expenses for medical care. You deserve a legal team that fights the insurance companies for you, giving you time to focus on your recovery.
At Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers, what we do is so much more than offer legal advice.
When you hire our Queens personal injury lawyers, you can expect us to:
- Handle every aspect of your case. When you are living with a brain injury, we know you may struggle with organization and communication. We provide administrative support and ensure that all filings are submitted before or by their deadlines.
- Investigate and determine fault and liability. We know what it takes to get to the facts of the accident that caused your brain injury. Our team of experienced attorneys will evaluate the parties involved to assign fault and ascertain liability.
- Work with experts to develop your strongest case. We work with a variety of experts depending on the case, from accident reconstructionists in truck accidents to construction site specialists in construction accidents. Together with medical experts, these professionals are essential to presenting a strong case.
- Negotiate aggressively on your behalf while preparing to litigate. If we cannot get you a fair settlement, we will be prepared to take your case to trial.
If you or someone you love is living with a brain injury caused by an accident that was not your fault, reach out to our experienced Queens brain injury lawyers today. We can get started with your case 24/7 and your first consultation is entirely free.
How Common Are Brain Injuries?
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the incidence of traumatic brain injury-related emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths increased from 1.88 million in 2006 to 2.88 million in 2014, an increase of 53%. Over 837,000 of these incidents were related to child injuries.
Most recent numbers indicate that about 155 people die each day in the U.S. from injuries that include a TBI. Among TBIs suffered in workplace injuries, construction workers are the most commonly injured workers.
Overview of Brain Injuries
Brain injuries can range from relatively minor, like a concussion, to disabling. A traumatic brain injury is one that can change the way the brain works normally. TBIs result from a bump, blow, or violent jolt to the head, although not all blows to the head result in TBIs.
Types of Brain Injuries
Brain injuries can range from mild to severe. On the mild end of the spectrum, an injured victim will experience a brief change in consciousness or mental status. On the other hand, severe injuries can bring long periods of unconsciousness or amnesia after a head injury.
What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Brain Injuries?
The signs and symptoms of brain injuries fall into two categories: observable and reported. Since brain injury victims cannot always understand unusual behaviors, observable symptoms are those that others can see.
Observable signs and symptoms of brain injuries include:
- Appearing dazed or confused
- Forgetting simple instructions
- Moving in a clumsy manner
- Responding slowly to questions
- Loss of consciousness (even briefly)
- Showing changes in mood, behavior, or personality
Another classic sign is the inability to remember events before or after a hit or fall causing a jolt to the head.
Other side effects are experienced by those with brain injuries and reported by them.
Signs and symptoms typically reported include:
- Headache or uncomfortable “pressure” in the head
- Nausea or vomiting
- Problems with balancing or dizziness
- Blurry or double vision
- Sensitivity to light or noise
- Confusion
- Concentration or memory problems
Many victims of brain injuries also report:
- Not “feeling right”
- Feeling “down”
- Mood changes
- Irritability
- Sadness
- Nervousness or anxiety
In general, changes in mood or acting more emotional than usual are warning signs for brain injuries.
What Are the Long-Term Consequences of Brain Injuries?
According to official estimates, as many as 5.3 million people in the U.S. may be living with permanent long-term consequences of TBIs.
These injuries can affect:
- Cognitive function (impaired memory or attention)
- Motor function (weakness in limbs, poor coordination, and balance)
- Sensation (senses of hearing, vision, perception, or touch)
- Emotion (depression, anxiety, aggression, loss of impulse control, personality change)
Obviously, brain injuries can lead to lasting consequences in all aspects of a person’s life. In some cases, the consequences of a brain injury can, ultimately, be fatal.
What Causes Brain Injuries?
Brain injuries can be caused by a wide variety of incidents. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the majority of TBIs reported in the U.S. were caused by:
Falls
Falls make up the leading cause of traumatic brain injuries in the U.S. A full 40% of all TBIs are caused by falls, including slip-and-fall accidents.
Among adults aged 65 and older, falls account for 81% of all TBIs. Occasionally, these incidents reflect larger concerns of nursing home neglect or even nursing home abuse.
Strikes
This broad category is the second-leading cause of traumatic brain injuries.
It includes strikes received in a variety of situations:
- Being struck by a person
- Being struck by an object
- Colliding with a stationary object
- Colliding with a moving object
Basically, any combination of movement and positioning that causes a blow to the head can lead to these kinds of injuries.
Motor Vehicle Accidents
It could be surprising to some that motor vehicle accidents are only the third-leading cause of traumatic brain injuries. Severe brain injuries can result from:
Delivery vehicle accidents, as well as Uber accidents and Lyft accidents, may have become more common since the emergence of two-day delivery as a near-standard of shipping for online commerce.
Assault
Up to 10% of all TBIs are caused by assaults. For purposes of data collection, assaults are incidents of injury inflicted by another person with the intent to kill or seriously injure.
Assaults can include situations such as:
- Fights
- Child abuse
- Intimate partner violence
- Elder abuse
In these situations, the extent of the injury can depend greatly on the physical condition of the victim and the assailant, as well as their relative size.
What is My Brain Injury Case Worth?
It can be hard to pinpoint a monetary value for personal injury cases. But brain injury lawyers can help you understand the factors that influence the value of your potential settlement or judgment in your brain injury case.
Serious brain injuries can increase the value of a personal injury case. This is because of the expert medical treatment and number of appointments required to bring a person to their optimal medical recovery. These medical expenses can be counted and recouped.
In addition, brain injuries increase the risk of future complications.
After a brain injury, a person is at higher risk of:
- Stroke
- Parkinson’s disease
- Dementia
When considering the value of a brain injury, the potential of future complications can weigh in favor of a greater settlement or judgment.
What Compensation For My Brain Injury Can I Recover in New York?
When you are entitled to legal compensation, it is meant to put you back in the situation you were in before you were injured. Damages to compensate injured victims are of two types: economic and non-economic damages.
Economic damages are meant to make a person financially whole.
They cover expenses such as:
- Medical bills
- Lost wages
- Cost of future medical care and rehabilitation
These losses are easily countable and an injured person can be made whole for these on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
Non-economic damages are equally important in restoring an injured victim. However, they are more difficult to quantify.
Non-economic damages make a person whole after losses like:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of future quality of life
Since brain injuries can deeply disrupt an injury victim’s emotional, sensory, cognitive, and motor function, sometimes permanently, non-economic damages can be significant in these cases.
How Long Do I Have to File a Brain Injury Case in New York?
Under New York’s statute of limitations for personal injury claims, a person has three (3) years from the date of a brain injury to file a lawsuit. While three years might sound like a long time, often the process begins with one or more insurance claims. A lawsuit may be filed before or after settlement negotiations begin.
However, once this deadline passes, a person can lose their right to recover forever. Since insurance companies know this, it can be impossible to negotiate for compensation once the deadline passes.
Contact Our Queens Brain Injury Lawyers for a Free Consultation
If you or a loved one suffered a brain injury, reach out to our Queens brain injury lawyers to learn more about your legal options. Our office is available 24/7 and the first consultation is free.