Three Things You MUST Know If You Are Suing For Brain Injury

I’m Chris Brasure. And today I’d like to talk about three things that you need to know if you’re considering suing somebody because of a brain injury, whether your own or that of a loved one.

Those three things are: who is responsible, what prove you have that that person is responsible for the injury, what it is going to cost and what are the damages from that injury.

Now, let’s break it all down. We have clients or potential clients come to us all the time. And we have to break this down as we’re evaluating the case and before we can accept the case. So I thought I’d do something similar here for the group.

Who is responsible

First, we need to determine who is responsible. To do that, let’s start by looking at the most common causes. And those are falls, motor vehicle accidents, and somebody striking their head against an object at work.

Now, it’s not enough that these things just happen. There has to be somebody who violated a rule or a duty. For example, let’s look at a motor vehicle crash. Somebody runs a red light. They’re supposed to stop and they don’t. That’s pretty easy and straightforward.

But some cases are more complicated. Most people are not aware that doctors have to perform up to a certain standard of care. And if they don’t, then…

Just by way of our example, if the doctor does something that causes an injury like a brain injury, then that doctor or that hospital or that medical provider may be responsible.

Did the action cause the injury?

So first you have to prove that somebody is responsible for failing to act in a certain way. But then, you also have to prove that the action caused the brain injury. And there’s a lot of litigation about this. In a lot of the cases we handle, this becomes a big issue.

For example, in the motor vehicle crash that I’ve mentioned before, we need o determine whether the impact from the crash was enough to cause a brain injury. And that’s an important thing to know and find out as you’re evaluating whether or not you can sue somebody in court.

What are the damages?

The third thing I want to talk to you about is what the damages are, as lawyers call them. This means, what will it take to properly care for somebody in the future?

That’s an important component, particularly for traumatic brain injury cases because the needs are so different for each person with a brain injury. They also can get very expensive because of the amount of the care that’s required over a long period of time.

For example, if you have an elderly person who falls and their life expectancy is maybe five to 10 years, that’s going to be different from a baby or a young child who suffers a traumatic brain injury and needs care for the rest of their live.

So, I hope that’s helped in your evaluation of whether or not you think you or your loved one may have a claim. If you have any questions, feel free to message me or just post in the group. And I hope you’ll stay safe and healthy.