Columbus Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer
Our Columbus spinal cord lawyers at GB Law represent spinal cord injury victims where negligent, reckless, or intentional actions caused an accident, resulting in the spinal injury and disability. This could be from:
Our Columbus spinal cord injury attorneys can help you recover the compensation you need to cover medical expenses and care these serious injuries cause.
Contact us today to discuss your case with a spinal cord injury lawyer in Columbus.
What is a Spinal Cord Injury?
Damage to the spinal cord that results in loss of mobility, feeling, or function is a spinal injury. Unlike other injuries that can partially or fully heal when damaged, the spinal cord is not able to repair itself. The result of spinal cord injuries can be temporary or permanent.
Spinal cord injuries are one of the most catastrophic injuries a person can endure, frequently resulting in permanent disability. In the United States, there are 17,000 new cases of spinal cord injuries each year, and more than 282,000 people live with spinal cord injuries (1).
Common Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries and Accidents
Motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of spinal cord injuries in the U.S., accounting for 38% of new spinal cord injuries each year (2).
Other causes of spinal cord injuries are (3):
- Falls (30%)
- Acts of violence such as physical assaults, gunshot wounds, and knife wounds (13%)
- Sports and recreational injuries (9%)
- Medical and surgical (5%)
Statistically, spinal cord injuries predominately affect people under the age of 30 (4), with men accounting for about 80% of spinal cord injuries (5).
Types of Spinal Cord Injuries
Just as there are many causes of this type of catastrophic injury, there are also many types of permanent spinal cord injuries:
- Paraparesis: a slight degree of paralysis affecting the lower extremities
- Paraplegia: complete paralysis of both lower extremities and usually the lower trunk
- Quadriparesis: partial paralysis in all four limbs
- Quadriplegia or tetraplegia: complete paralysis in all four limbs
The severity of these injuries varies based on the location of spinal cord damage. When the spinal cord is completely severed, everything below that area will no longer be able to communicate with the rest of the body.
Paraplegics, for example, often experience an injury to the spinal cord at their hips or waist, as they are still capable of moving their arms and upper body.
Recovering Compensation for Your Spinal Cord Injury
When our law firm takes on spinal cord injury cases, we work with life-planning experts to determine the lifelong needs of the victim and their family members.
Accident victims are entitled to have the best and most comprehensive medical options available to help them with their recovery. They may need surgeries, extensive rehabilitation services, therapies, and caregivers for decades into the future.
Damages considered in a Columbus spinal cord injury lawsuit may include:
1. Medical Expenses
You may recover compensation for all expenses related to the immediate aftermath of your accident, including:
- Ambulance transport
- Emergency medical care
- Hospitalization
- Surgeries
- Rehabilitation
These damages are considered economic and are simple to calculate because you have received bills for many of these services.
With some assistance from experts, we can estimate and calculate the costs of future medical care for your expected lifetime and request those costs as financial compensation in your lawsuit.
2. Loss of Earning Capacity
Spinal cord injuries are unique in that they are permanently life changing and may be career ending. When someone suffers a spinal cord injury and becomes permanently disabled, a vocational expert can calculate the expected impact the injuries will have on the work life of the injured, and an economist can calculate the lifetime earnings a person would have earned had they not been injured.
You can still recover for loss of earning capacity even if you hope to return to the workforce. For example, if the individual retains some upper body control and is eventually able to work in some capacity, it may be a lower paying position or only part time.
For those who do not work outside of the home but contributed to their family, the amount that it would cost to pay for childcare and domestic help can also be calculated and recovered from the at-fault party.
GB Law can help you apply for Social Security Disability and, if the accident occurred on the job, file a workers’ compensation claim.
3. Costs Associated with Future Life Care
If you need domestic help, a part-time aid, a housekeeper, or a full-time nurse over the course of your lifetime, compensation for the costs of care may be part of your spinal cord injury claim.
4. Pain and Suffering Caused by Spine Injuries
The physical pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life following a permanent injury is significant, and juries and judges place tremendous focus on this. Monetary damages recovered from a personal injury claim can be significant and make a meaningful improvement to the injured victim’s remaining quality of life.
How Much Does a Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer Cost in Columbus, Ohio?
Our Columbus spinal injury lawyers understand the struggles accident victims and their families face after an accident causes a serious spinal cord injury. That’s one reason we work on a contingency fee basis. This means that you won’t have to pay any costs or fees unless we recover financial compensation for your case.
Experience Counts in Columbus, Ohio, Spinal Cord Injury Lawsuits
Experience, knowledge, and skill are essential in spinal cord injury cases because the attorney has the duty to demonstrate the full emotional, mental, physical, and financial impact of an injury. Proper case preparation can ultimately be the difference between hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.
Working with life care planners and expert witnesses, the experienced attorneys at GB Law can demonstrate the full impact of an injury and advocate for maximum compensation.
We have been handling cases involving spinal cord injuries in Columbus and throughout central Ohio for more than 40 years and have recovered more than $200 million for our clients.
Our lawyers are more than Columbus personal injury attorneys; they are award-winning trial lawyers who go above and beyond for clients.
Contact Us for a Free Consultation
GB Law offers a free consultation for spinal cord injury victims and their families in Columbus, Ohio. We are happy to answer your questions, offer guidance, and share our unique experiences handling personal injury cases similar to yours.
For more information, feel free to call our Columbus office at 614-222-4444 or fill out a case evaluation form.
Sources
- Spinal Cord Injuries, National Library of Medicine
- Spinal Cord Injuries, National Library of Medicine
- Spinal Cord Injuries, National Library of Medicine
- Spinal Cord Injuries, National Library of Medicine
- Sex and gender gap in spinal cord research, Maturitas