Los Angeles Brain Injury Attorneys

Complex brain injuries lead to complex medical care. Victims often consult with a wide variety of medical specialists such as neurologists and neurosurgeons. You may also have complex rehabilitation needs involving a team of occupational therapists, speech pathologists, and physical therapists. In some cases, victims may need medical care for the rest of their lives. Throughout all of this, you will need to continue to coordinate your complex medical care through a primary care doctor. These medical costs become very expensive, very quickly.

Severe brain injuries can impair your ability to take care of your own daily needs. Grocery shopping, driving, and even bathing might not be possible for a person who has physical limitations as a result of a brain injury. If you have cognitive impairments, you might not be able to manage your finances or medical care. Many brain injury victims require full-time nursing care, social services, or case management. When these services continue for years and decades, the costs become enormous. Your attorney will likely need expert testimony from a life care planner to project these expenses.

In the case of a mild brain injury, you might only miss a few days or weeks from work. In this case, your employer will document the exact number of hours you missed and the wages you would have earned for these hours. (If you are paid on a salary basis, your wages will be prorated based upon a forty-hour workweek.) The defendant is then obligated to compensate for these lost wages.

In the case of more severe injuries, you might be left permanently unable to work. Even if you can work, you will likely have to take a significant pay cut due to working reduced hours or taking on fewer responsibilities. This creates a difference between the wages you are earning and the wages you would have received if you had not sustained a brain injury. A negligent defendant must compensate you for this difference. The defendant must also pay you for lost employment benefits (like health insurance, or employer contributions to a retirement fund). In these cases, your brain injury lawyer will need to hire an economist to act as an expert witness and project these costs.

You are entitled to compensation for your pain and suffering. In the case of a lifelong brain injury that permanently affects your ability to work and manage your daily life, this is significant. Unfortunately, insurance companies like to take advantage of the fact that damages for pain and suffering are not a specific expense. You can almost guarantee that you will get a lowball offer for your pain and suffering. This is why it is so important to consult with your own brain injury lawyer.

In some simple cases (such as a mild concussion after an auto accident), it might be possible to negotiate a fair settlement for your pain and suffering. In the case of long-term injuries, your pain and suffering will be far more complex. You might no longer be able to play a sport you enjoyed or engage in other hobbies. You might lose the self-confidence you felt from working every day. You might not be able to hold your own children or walk across the stage at your graduation. These are genuine, tangible losses. If the insurance company does not make a fair offer to compensate you for them, you can take your case to a jury. Jurors understand how painful it can be to lose out on the big and little moments of life.