Call Us atYour spinal cord transmits commands from your brain throughout your body, enabling you to walk, wave, and dance. If it is crushed or severed, the degree of paralysis will depend on where along the cord the injury occurs. Although modern medicine is working on giving patients back the ability to move, recovery is a difficult and often impossible journey.
When your injuries result from another’s negligence, you have a right to compensation. You may not be able to perform the job you trained for, pay your bills, or care for your family. You may be depressed or in pain. A Kent spinal cord injury lawyer can present your case to a jury to seek a monetary award. Money cannot reverse the damage done to you, but it can help stabilize your family finances. A catastrophic injury attorney is ready to support you.
Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries
Spinal cord injuries can happen in a variety of circumstances, but they are the most common in motor vehicle accidents. Additionally, vehicular accidents could involve drunk drivers, which can be overwhelming proof of negligence. Other causes of spinal cord damage include:
- Pedestrian and bicyclist accidents
- Construction site mishaps
- Violent acts
- Boating accidents
- Contact sports
Seek immediate medical attention after a head, back, or neck injury. Then, consult a spinal cord injury lawyer in Kent who can work to build a case supporting a sizeable damages award.
Types of Spinal Cord Injuries
Once a person is injured, the medical team will conduct an assessment of completeness to determine where the spinal cord injury is located. A patient has incomplete injuries when there is slight movement or feeling in limbs, hands, or feet. Patients who cannot move limbs and do not show an ability for motor function in certain areas of the body have complete injuries. Paralysis of the lower body is called paraplegia and quadriplegia if the entire body below the neck is paralyzed.
Spinal cord injuries are often catastrophic, requiring not only specialized medical care and help with everyday tasks but retrofitted vehicles and homes to accommodate patients. A spinal cord injury attorney in Kent will factor these lifelong and expensive requirements into a suitable compensation award.
Two Sides to Negligence
A plaintiff’s injury attorney must prove the defendant acted negligently and caused the tragic accident. Compensation awards pay for quantifiable losses such as ongoing medical care, retrofitting the plaintiff’s space, and wages lost after the accident, including future wages when the injured person cannot return to work. Awards also cover subjective losses in which the jury assigns a dollar value, such as the emotional trauma of knowing one will never walk again, disfigurement, and loss of consortium.
Pure Comparative Negligence
Washington is a pure comparative negligence state, which means a plaintiff can recover damages even when they are mostly at fault for an accident. Since defendants try to get their damages awards reduced, they have the burden of proving negligence by the plaintiff, according to Godfrey v. State, 84 Wash.2d 959, 965, 530 P.2d 630 (1975). Any award to the plaintiff will be reduced by the percentage of fault the defendant can show should be allocated to them. A lawyer in Kent can work to get maximum compensation for a spinal cord injury.
A Kent Spinal Cord Injury Attorney Offers Compassionate Representation
After suffering a devastating injury because someone else was reckless, you need time to heal and adjust to any changes. Our dedicated legal professionals will answer any question you have about the legal process.
We are dedicated to you and your future well-being, including fighting to get you enough money to ease your financial burden in this time of stress and healing. Call today and let a Kent spinal cord injury lawyer advocate for you.
