Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) devastate millions of American lives annually, with an estimated 5.3 million Americans living with TBI-related disabilities. Beyond initial treatment and diagnosis, these injuries often lead to permanent impairments that fundamentally alter a person’s ability to work, maintain relationships, and enjoy daily activities.
The intricate process of establishing liability and determining damages demands experienced legal representation. While medical professionals focus on your treatment and recovery, skilled attorneys at The McGarity Group ensure brain injury victims receive the maximum compensation for bodily injury claims.
Read on to learn more about the types of brain injuries and their causes, our investigation process, and how we secure the various forms of compensation available to victims and their families.
The Role of Legal Expertise
Victims seeking fair compensation face significant hurdles when dealing with legal issues related to traumatic brain injury cases. Insurance companies often undervalue these bodily injury claims because many TBI symptoms are not immediately visible on diagnostic tests, and the full impact of the injury may not be apparent for months or years. Victims frequently struggle to document cognitive changes, emotional challenges, and the impact on quality of life while dealing with mounting medical bills and inability to work.
Hiring a traumatic brain injury attorney who is well-versed in navigating Georgia’s complex legal process can help you:
- Gather crucial evidence to support your bodily injury claims, including detailed medical records documenting the full scope of your injuries.
- Interview expert witnesses such as neurologists and medical specialists on your behalf to establish the severity and future impact of your condition.
- Work with insurance companies and medical billing systems to ensure all injury-related expenses are properly documented.
- Prepare and file the necessary documents before the Georgia statute of limitations expires, ensuring compliance with all legal requirements.
- Present medical evidence in a way that clearly demonstrates the impact of your injury.
Given how TBI symptoms can evolve over time, our experienced attorneys’ understanding of the long-term implications helps to secure compensation that covers current and future medical needs.
Traumatic Brain Injuries and Their Causes
TBIs represent a spectrum of damage that can occur when the brain experiences sudden trauma. These injuries can range from mild concussions to severe, life-threatening conditions requiring immediate medical intervention. The impact and severity of a TBI often depend on the force involved and the nature of the injury-causing event.
Some of the most common and well-documented types of traumatic brain injuries include:
- Concussions: A mild form of a TBI that occurs from direct blows to the head or sudden jolts, commonly seen in sports injuries and motor vehicle accidents. While often considered “mild,” concussions can lead to temporary cognitive dysfunction, including confusion, memory issues, and headaches. Some patients may develop Post-Concussion Syndrome (PCS), where symptoms persist beyond the expected recovery period.
- Second Impact Syndrome: This occurs when a person sustains a second head injury before fully recovering from an initial concussion. It’s most commonly seen in vehicle accidents. For example, if someone gets into a minor fender bender and suffers a mild concussion, then experiences another collision a week later before their brain has healed.
- Contusions and Coup-Contrecoup Injuries: Brain contusions are essentially bleeding or bruises on the brain tissue resulting from direct impact trauma. In more severe cases, such as a coup-contrecoup injury, contusions can occur at both the site of impact and on the opposite side of the brain. Think of it like shaking a maraca; when it’s jolted suddenly, the beads inside strike one side of the instrument and then bounce to hit the opposite side. Similarly, the brain can be injured on both sides during sudden trauma as it collides with the inner walls of the skull. These traumatic injuries are particularly common in high-velocity accidents, such as car crashes or falls from significant heights.
- Diffuse Cerebral Edema: A severe condition where the brain tissue swells throughout the brain rather than in just one area. This widespread swelling can occur after severe traumatic head injuries, particularly in high-impact motor vehicle accidents or falls from significant heights. The generalized swelling puts dangerous pressure on delicate brain tissue and can contribute to increased intracranial pressure, requiring immediate medical intervention.
- Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI): One of the more severe forms of TBI, DAI involves widespread damage to the brain’s nerve fibers caused by the brain rapidly moving backward and forward inside the skull due to acceleration and deceleration. This type of injury frequently occurs in high-speed motor vehicle accidents, where the brain experiences powerful shearing forces within the skull.
- Penetrating Injuries: Penetrating injuries occur when objects break through the skull and enter brain tissue during violent collisions. These traumatic injuries are most commonly seen in high-impact vehicle accidents where crash debris pierces the skull. The severity depends on the object’s path through the brain and the specific areas damaged. Penetrating injuries can also result from industrial accidents, falls onto pointed objects, or violence involving weapons.
- Hematomas and Skull Fractures: These injuries involve bleeding in or around the brain in various locations:
- Subdural: blood vessels burst between the brain and the outermost of three protective layers that cover the brain
- Epidural: blood vessel bursts between the outer surface of the dura mater and the skull
- Intracerebral: blood pools in the tissues of the brain
Hematomas typically result from ruptured blood vessels following significant head trauma, such as falls or direct impacts. Skull fractures are breaks in the skull that can occur alongside hematomas due to a direct, strong blow to the head. These TBIs require immediate medical attention as they can lead to increased intracranial pressure that builds up inside the skull, potentially causing further damage to the brain or spinal cord.
Prompt medical evaluation is essential following any head trauma due to the potential severity and long-term implications of traumatic brain injuries. The changes in the brain can be detected using CT or MRI scans. Therefore, it is important to document these medical assessments with your personal injury lawyer to ensure you get maximum compensation for bodily injury claims.
Building Your Case
Success in traumatic brain injury lawsuits hinges on methodical evidence collection and expert collaboration. At The McGarity Group, our extensive experience has refined our approach to building compelling cases demonstrating liability.
Our evidence-gathering methods include:
- Conducting thorough investigations of accident scenes, collecting photographic evidence, surveillance footage, and witness statements to reconstruct the events leading to the injury.
- Meticulously reviewing police reports and official documentation to identify details supporting your claim.
- Preserving all physical evidence and documentation related to the incident, ensuring nothing valuable is overlooked.
Working with medical experts and proper documentation forms the cornerstone of building a strong case for bodily injury claims. The McGarity Group maintains strong relationships with leading medical professionals, life-care planners, and rehabilitation specialists who help establish the full scope of your injuries.
Our attorneys ensure all medical records are properly obtained, organized, and analyzed to demonstrate the direct connection between the incident and your traumatic brain injury. We work closely with healthcare providers to document ongoing treatments, future medical needs, and long-term prognosis.
To further strengthen your case, we collaborate with accident reconstruction specialists, vocational experts, and economists who provide comprehensive testimony about the impact of your injury. These professional relationships, developed over decades of practice, allow us to effectively quantify economic and non-economic damages, ensuring you receive full compensation for your losses.
The McGarity Group’s network of resources, combined with our decades of courtroom experience, allows us to build the strongest possible case for our clients while they focus on recovery.
Compensation and Damages
When an individual suffers a brain injury due to another’s negligence, they may pursue compensation for various types of damages. Common areas of compensation in brain injury cases include:
- Medical Expenses: Both current and future costs, including emergency treatment, hospitalization, surgeries, medications, specialized therapies, and follow-up care
- Lost Income and Capacity: Compensation for missed work, reduced earning potential, lost job opportunities, and career limitations resulting from cognitive or physical impairments
- Rehabilitation Costs: Expenses for physical therapy, occupational therapy, cognitive rehabilitation, speech therapy, and psychological counseling needed to maximize recovery
- Long-term Care Needs: Costs of in-home care, medical equipment, home modifications, assistive devices, and ongoing medical monitoring required for severe brain injuries
- Pain and Suffering: Monetary compensation for physical pain, emotional distress, mental anguish, diminished quality of life, and loss of enjoyment of normal activities
- Loss of Consortium: Traumatic brain injuries can powerfully impact relationships due to loss of companionship and result in awarded damages. However, in Georgia, a loss of consortium claim can only be filed by the spouse of the injury victim. In other states, this legal right extends to the children, parents, or domestic partners. However, the case of W.J. Bremer Co. v. Graham established that a child cannot pursue a claim for loss of consortium due to injuries to a parent.
- Wrongful Death: In fatal brain injury cases, families may seek compensation for funeral expenses, lost financial support, and the loss of care and companionship their loved one provided.
Securing fair compensation for these damages often requires in-depth legal knowledge and resources that most victims can’t access. Insurance companies frequently attempt to minimize payouts, particularly for long-term costs and non-economic damages like pain and suffering.
The McGarity Group’s experienced trial attorneys are well-versed in calculating and documenting these damages accurately. They collaborate with a network of medical specialists, rehabilitation experts, life-care planners, and economists to build cases that reflect the full scope of traumatic brain injuries.
Get Maximum Compensation for Your Traumatic Brain Injuries
Brain injury cases present profound challenges that affect victims and families facing mounting medical bills, lost income, and the emotional toll of adapting to cognitive and physical limitations. Early legal intervention can be the difference between accepting an inadequate settlement and securing proper compensation for current and anticipated medical care, rehabilitation, and lost earnings.
With insurance companies often pushing for quick settlements before the full extent of injuries becomes clear, having an experienced legal team will put you in the best position to fight for the maximum compensation available.
Contact The McGarity Group and experience the dedicated advocacy your case deserves. Call 770-932-8477 for a free consultation.