Every year, between 250,000 and 500,000 unfortunate people suffer some type of spinal cord injury. Spinal cord injuries are one of the most critical injuries that could be suffered during personal injury accidents. Nearly 40% of all spinal cord injuries suffered each year are caused by vehicular accidents. About 30% of spinal cord injuries are caused by falls. There are many other causes of spinal cord injuries; no matter how you suffered your injury, the injury is bound to be a traumatic experience. Almost half of all spinal cord injuries (47%) result in quadriplegia.
If you became a quadriplegic after sustaining a spinal cord injury, you might have grounds to file a lawsuit and receive compensation. You must contact Normandie Law Firm today and speak with a Los Angeles attorney with experience in helping quadriplegic injured victims. Our experienced attorneys have spent many years fighting for the rights of quadriplegic victims.
To learn more about your rights after suffering a spinal cord injury that resulted in quadriplegia, you must contact our quadriplegia injury attorneys in Los Angeles as soon as possible. Our attorneys will evaluate your claim and provide you with all the information necessary to ensure that you can file a successful claim. Do not hesitate; contact Normandie Law Firm as soon as possible.
About Spinal Cord Injuries
The spinal cord is a delicate and essential part of the body; it sends signals from the brain to the rest of the body allowing for the signal communication necessary for physical movement. The function of the spinal cord is vital to one’s health; therefore, a spinal cord injury can have devastating effects on the victims. Common effects of spinal cord injuries include the following: debilitating pain; extreme pressure near the site of injury; weakness and inability to walk or balance oneself; lack of coordination and loss of sensation; numbness in extremities; respiratory problems; and paralysis. Spinal cord injuries often result in two forms of paralysis—the most severe being quadriplegia.
About Quadriplegia
Quadriplegia—often referred to as tetraplegia—is the inability to move all limbs or paralysis of the neck down. Quadriplegia is a common result of severe spinal cord injuries in the neck—or the cervical spine. The severity of the cervical spine injury determines the level of quadriplegia present in the victim—incomplete or complete. In addition to losing mobility in all extremities, those with quadriplegia could experience the following:
- Loss of bladder control
- Loss of bowel control
- Pressure sores
- Blood clots
- Respiratory issues
- Autonomic dysreflexia
- Muscle spasms
- Extreme pain
- Loss of sensation
- Loss of muscle volume
In addition to the complications mentioned above, those with quadriplegia often suffer mental and emotional distress due to the trauma of suddenly losing all physical abilities. If you were left with quadriplegia after suffering a spinal cord injury in an accident caused by the reckless or negligent actions of another party, you must contact a Los Angeles quadriplegia injury law firm to learn more about your right to file a lawsuit and receive compensation.
Establishing Negligence and Liability
Who is liable for your spinal cord injuries? Could you sue the liable party? To file a successful personal injury claim for your quadriplegic injuries, you must establish negligence. With the help of a spinal injury attorney in Los Angeles, you must establish that the negligent or reckless actions of a party caused your accident and your injuries.
Negligence consists of four elements—duty of care, breach of duty, cause, and harm. If you suffered an injury, you must prove the following:
- A party owed you a duty of care.
- A party breached the duty of care owed to you.
- A party’s breach of duty caused your accident.
- You suffered injuries as a result of the accident caused by the breach of duty.
If the four elements of negligence are present in your spinal cord quadriplegic injury claim, you could sue and recover the compensation to which you are entitled. You must contact a quadriplegia lawyer Los Angeles immediately to begin your legal process.
Compensation Available for Quadriplegia Injuries
If you file a claim, you might be eligible to receive compensation for your quadriplegia injuries. There are many categories of compensation available for recovery, including medical care, lost income, and pain and suffering. You might also be compensated for projected medical care and lost income, for example. Claimants who file for their family members that were affected by severe quadriplegia injuries could also be compensated for the loss of consortium. There are many factors that affect the value of your claim; therefore, you must speak with a lawyer for quadriplegic people for a comprehensive case evaluation and a discussion of the factors that affect the value of your claim.
Past Settlements and Verdicts for Quadriplegia Claims
If you are interested in filing a quadriplegia injury lawsuit, the potential value of your claim could be vital for your decision to take legal action against the party liable for your injuries and your quadriplegia. Below, you can find a few examples of past settlements and verdicts for quadriplegia claims:
- $12 million—the victim, a 16-year-old, sustained a critical spinal cord injury after the driver of the vehicle in which they were traveling lost control of the vehicle, and the vehicle flipped over. The victim’s severe spinal cord injuries resulted in paralysis from the neck down and dependence on a ventilator.
- $9.5 million—the victim, a 29-year-old man, sustained a spinal cord injury that left him quadriplegic as a passenger in a rollover crash.
- $5 million—the victim, a high school student, was involved in a theater accident which resulted in quadriplegic injuries.
- $2.1 million—the victim, a 66-year-old woman, was involved in a trip and fall accident at a shopping mall. The trip and fall accident resulted in quadriplegic injuries.
- $1.5 million—the victim, a 19-year-old male, was involved in a rollover accident that resulted in a severe injury that caused quadriplegia.
As you can see, the past settlements and verdicts listed above range from $1.5 million to $12 million. However, you should not expect your quadriplegic injury claim to be worth the same as the cases discussed above. Since every spinal cord injury and injury claim is different, you might not be entitled to receive the same amount of compensation as the example cases above. For more information about the specific value of your claim, you must contact Normandie Law Firm and speak with our Los Angeles spinal cord quadriplegia injury attorneys as soon as possible.
The Time to Sue
If you were left quadriplegic after sustaining a spinal cord injury in a personal injury accident caused by the negligent or reckless actions of a party, you have the right to sue. However, your right to sue is time-sensitive. Your claim is subject to a statute of limitations. A statute of limitations is a deadline that establishes the time you have to file a lawsuit. Personal injury claims are often subject to a two-year statute of limitations. What does it mean to have a two-year statute of limitations? If your claim is subject to a two-year statute of limitations, you have two years to file your claim. If you do not file your claim within the two years allowed by the statute of limitations, you could lose your right to sue. In addition to the time allowed by the statute of limitations that applies to your claim, some exceptions might also apply and toll or extend the time you have to file your claim. For more information about the time that you have to file your claim, you must contact our lawyers as soon as possible.
Normandie Law Firm
If you suffered a spinal cord injury that resulted in quadriplegia, you have likely asked yourself whether you could take action against the party liable for your injuries. If your injuries were caused by the negligent and reckless actions of a party, you might have grounds to file a lawsuit and receive compensation. You must contact an experienced law firm as soon as possible to speak with our attorneys and begin the legal process. Our firm offers free consultations and free second opinions to ensure that all injured victims have access to our legal assistance regardless of whether they are starting their claims or trying to get their claims back on the right track. During our free consultations and free second opinions, our experienced quadriplegia lawyers will answer all your questions, address all your concerns, and provide you with all the information you need for a successful lawsuit. You must contact our law firm and request to schedule a free consultation or free second opinion as soon as possible.
Our free consultations and free second opinions are available as parts of our Zero-Fee guarantee. Our Zero-Fee guarantee ensures that our clients have access to our legal guidance without ever having to worry about paying any upfront legal fees for our services. Our Zero-Fee guarantee also establishes our contingency status. Since our firm is strictly based on contingency, our clients will never be required to pay any legal fees until after our attorneys win their claims. If our attorneys do not win your claim, you will not be required to pay. Contact our law firm as soon as possible to speak with our attorneys and file your claim.
