Category: Traumatic Brain Injury

There are quite a lot of different conditions which you might suffer from, after you have been involved in an accident. Regardless of the type, they are all likely to cause you certain damages and if the accident has been caused negligently by a third party, you are legally entitled to compensation. Of course, there are quite a lot of things that you would have to take into perfect consideration before this happens, but in theory, you can get properly compensated for your injuries. Legally, you can seek redress under the Tort laws. (more…)

Now, personal injury law consists of quite a lot of different accidents which are capable of causing all sorts of different injuries. From sprained body parts to broken bones and traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries and even death – the consequences are definitely various. However, particularly interesting topic of discussion is short term disability and the way to handle the overall compensation process in this situation. With this in mind, let’s take a quick look at the specifications and the proper approaches.

The first question that a lot of people ask is what exactly a short term disability is. This is a disability which stems from an injury and there are reasonable chances of recovery in a particularly and previously determined period of time. The term can vary but it’s usually no more than a year or two for the injury to be causing short term disability one. With this in mind, there are different compensatory claims that can be filed in these instances.

Compensation For Medical Expenses

Short term disability claims are always accompanied by claims for medical expenses. This is due to the fact that the amount of money that the victim is likely to spend is considerable. This is strongly dependent on the injury as well as the expected recovery term. However, in order to claim this particular line of expenses, the victim has to provide the insurance company with detailed documentation which includes medical bills, rehabilitation contracts, out-of-pocket expenses and basically all sorts of documents which acclaim the expenses.

Compensation for lost wages

Chances are that you are unlikely to be able to work for some time. This is going to result in loss of wages. What is more, you might not be able to fulfill your working obligations anymore because of your condition and disability. This is also going to subject you to losses. Luckily for you, there is a loss of wages compensation for this particular situation and it could amount up to 80% of the salary that you were getting. However, you have to present the insurance company with prove of active employment for the previous 24 months. It doesn’t have to be with the same employer.

Pain and Suffering

Even though short term disability is scheduled to go away in some time, the pain and suffering might persist afterwards. This is why you can claim damages for pain and suffering as a result of the injury that caused the disability in the first place. Keep in mind that apart from all these you can also claim rehabilitation expenses, expenses made for home helping services and many more of the kind in order to guarantee that you have a proper living environment.

Irrespective of whether you have suffered orthopedic injuries or other severe physical injuries, it is important to seek legal assistance of an experienced lawyer.

 

Brain injuries are without a doubt amongst the most common types of injuries which result from a variety of accidents. Apart from dog bites, a brain injury may derive from almost any other possible cause for a personal injury lawsuit such as car accidents, motorcycle accidents, slip and fall and many more of the kind. However, it’s important to note that not all brain injuries are the same. This is why we are going to take a look at the scale of severity of different injuries to the brain and their impact on the person.

1.    Traumatic Brain Injuries

Starting from the top – these are the most dramatic injuries that you are going to sustain. They are most commonly associated with loss of consciousness for a lot more than just an hour or two. However, some of the more typical symptoms include loss of short as well as long-term memory, speech impairment, amnesia, impaired sight as well as inability to heal promptly. They are also associated with other disabilities and are usually within the long-term spectrum.

2.    Moderate Injuries

These are not as traumatic but are also going to cause a great deal of inconvenience. They are usually associated with loss of consciousness for no more than a few minutes to maybe an hour or two. You have to make sure that there is a fine line between traumatic and moderate injuries. Traumatic ones can also cause little to no loss of consciousness but the overall symptoms down the line are going to be far more serious.

3.    Mild Injuries

This is the injury which is most commonly going to be associated with a brief consciousness loss for a few seconds and up to a minute or two at most. If you haven’t experienced any loss of consciousness, you can pay attention for some of the following indicative symptoms such as dizziness, disorientation, confusion and loss of very short-term memory. There are, of course, other symptoms such as being overly sensitive to lights, drowsiness and troubled ability to focus. These injuries are less dangerous but are also capable of causing a lot of complications.

Sustaining a brain injury is very dangerous. You need to seek out appropriate medical care and attention right away. This might help you prevent quite a lot of additional complications. The brain is by far the most important organ in your body and you need to ensure that its functioning isn’t compromised at all. The slightest bit of damage to your brain could cause tremendous complications and this is something that should be taken seriously. With this in mind, seeking out relevant and proper medical attention is absolutely paramount for your proper recovery.

Hiring the services of an excellent lawyer helps to ensure that your rights are safeguarded and it helps to file for compensation with ease. TBI is considered to be a catastrophic injury and the payouts are very high due to the associated disabilities.

Amongst the variety of different injuries that might result from different type of accidents involving motor vehicles, brain injuries are without a doubt the most dangerous. Not that the common orthopedic injuries are to be underestimated, but brain injuries pose significant threat to your entire existence. The truth is that a direct damage to your brain is certainly going to have long term impact on your entire functioning. The brain is the single, most important organ in our body and any kind of violent intrusion such as a direct injury would definitely leave you scarred for life.

However, what you need to understand is that the brain has the most responsibilities in our body and this is why an injury could result in a wide range of different harms and disabilities. The types of injuries that are commonly associated with our brains include:

• Concussions
• PCS or post-concussion syndrome
• Injury to your frontal lobe
• Coup-Counter coup Injury
• Contusions
• Closed Head injury
• Open Head injury

In any case, you have to be well aware of the fact that the direct physical damage to your brain is going to be the first series of what is definitely going to be a domino effect that’s going to impact your entire live. To put it in simpler terms, your brain is the organ that’s going to send out all the necessary signals to every single part of your body. For instance, the brain is responsible for you breathing right now as it’s sending signals to the lungs to function. If something happens to the part of the brain which is sending these signals – you are going to die, it’s as simple as that. It might sound a bit direct but the truth is that brain injuries are absolutely detrimental. From emotional and mental cripples, brain injuries have tons of negative consequences.

Pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages

This is why it’s important to know that if you or a loved one has suffered from an injury to the brain you are fully entitled to seek both pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages as you would certainly suffer from emotional trauma as well. In order to prove pecuniary damages you would need to provide the court with the documents that are stipulating expenses for medical treatment and medication directly related to your trauma. These are the so-called physical damages. You are also entitled to claim reparation for pain and suffering and in the case of brain damage the compensation is likely to be solid. Due to the aforementioned circumstances the courts are thoroughly inclined of providing victims of brain injuries with plentiful compensation for their pain and suffering as the injury is likely to have a permanent effect that’s going to last a lifetime.

The personal injury lawyer in Hamilton can be of assistance or you can enhance a trusted legal firm in Toronto to assist you through the whole process.

When the subject of personal injury claims in Cambridge is being discussed, the first thing that often comes to mind is compensation and general damages for a person’s pain and suffering.  A personal injury lawyer that specializes in this particular area of the law knows that compensation for pain and suffering is oftentimes significant.  However, there is much more involved in many personal injury cases.  So some cases will be considerably more lucrative for the plaintiff than just damages.

How much is Your Case worth?

One of the many responsibilities of personal injury lawyers aside from seeking monetary compensation is the establishment of value in claims that involve the pain and suffering factor.  Consequently, the question “How much is my case worth?” can be difficult to answer initially without a serious evaluation of the circumstances surrounding it.  The value of a personal injury case is calculated by taking a number of factors pertaining to the case into consideration.  These include:

• how well you recover if you do
• nature and extent of your injuries
• your health prior to the accident
• your life style prior to the accident

Unlike in the US where personal injury victims are oftentimes awarded millions of dollars for general damages, the largest amount of damages recorded in a Canadian personal injury case a couple of years ago (2014) was just under $360,000.  Although it sounds crazy to put that high of a price tag on the concept of pain and suffering, there was a reason why the Canadian Supreme Court established limitations on the award amount.

For any injury lawyer in Cambridge and their support team that is involved in a personal injury claim, measuring an individual’s pain and suffering is literally impossible.  After all, how can you put a price on an intangible object? As a result, a judge or jury will be concerned with answering questions such as “Why is person A’s pain and suffering greater than person B’s?” Suffice it to say, answering such a question and establishing a value can be extremely challenging and somewhat frustrating.  You have to wonder if it is calculated fairly under these circumstances. If you like, you can always get a second opinion by referring to another lawyer. That will help you get more clarity.

The Supreme Court of Canada made pain and suffering somewhat easier to quantify by capping or setting a ceiling on the amount of damages that could be awarded.  Also, the Supreme Court did not want to see a situation evolve like it has in the US where these damages could skyrocket into the millions of dollars.  Unfortunately, many personal injury lawyers along with their injured clients feel that the cap is unfair and that the person will not be adequately compensated for their pain and suffering.  As it currently stands, receiving the maximum award is a rare occurrence.