At Compass Law Group, LLP in Los Angeles, our skilled attorneys are dedicated to helping victims of car accidents receive just compensation for their serious injuries. Unfortunately, some of our clients have sustained brain injuries which often have catastrophic consequences. If you or a loved one has suffered a brain injury as a result of another’s negligent or reckless driving, you are entitled to the best possible legal representation. Contact the offices of Compass Law Group to make sure you receive it.
While brain injuries typically occur in car accidents involving high-speed impact, they may also happen in accidents that seem less dramatic. Any accident in which there is a blow or extreme jolt to the head can result in a brain injury. Much depends on where the victim is sitting in the car, whether the individual is belted in, whether the car has airbags, and the angle of impact. No matter what the circumstances are, suffering a brain injury is frequently a life-changing event.
Head & Brain Injuries Always Require Emergency Care
Though you may be fortunate enough to leave a car accident with a mild concussion, in too many cases brain injuries have devastating long-term effects. Any car accident in which you receive a blow to the head requires urgent medical attention. Because the brain affects your thinking and perception, your conviction that you “feel fine” after a head injury is not sufficient. You need a thorough physical examination in order to safely return to normal activities.
Types of Traumatic Brain Injuries
There are two basic types of brain injury: closed and penetrating. In a closed brain injury, the head is hit or violently shaken, resulting in bruising and tearing of brain tissue and blood vessels. In a penetrating brain injury, there is a break in the skull and the brain is actually pierced. More specific types of brain injury include:
- Concussions — in which the brain bangs against the skull
- Hematomas — in which blood vessels in the brain clot after bleeding
- Edema — in which the brain swells
- Hypoxia — in which the brain is deprived of oxygen
Depending on which type of brain injury you have suffered and how severe that injury is, you may experience physical, cognitive, psychiatric, and/or social symptoms as a result. Brain damage may be focal (confined to one area of the brain) or diffuse, and the severity of a brain injury can range from a mild concussion to a long-lasting coma or death.
Symptoms of Car Accident Brain Injuries
Because the brain controls all body functions, its injury can cause just about any dysfunction. Below is a partial list of symptoms you may experience after a brain injury.
Physical Symptoms:
- Dizziness, headache
- Paralysis, weakness, or loss of sensation in certain areas
- Spasticity
- Poor balance and/or coordination
- Tremors, swallowing problems
- Sensual deficits (e.g. impaired hearing, vision, taste)
- Sleep difficulties
- Loss of bowel and bladder control
- Traumatic epilepsy (seizures)
Cognitive Symptoms:
- Confusion
- Shortened attention span
- Memory problems, amnesia
- Lost sense of time and space
- Difficulty speaking and understanding speech (aphasia)
- Difficulty reading (alexia) or writing (agraphia)
- Difficulty performing common actions, like dressing (apraxia)
- Problems identifying objects and their function
Psychiatric Symptoms
- Apathy
- Decreased motivation
- Mood disorders
- Irritability, anxiety, depression
- Disinhibition (e.g. temper flare-ups, inappropriate sexual behavior)
Social Symptoms
Nearly all of the above brain injury symptoms can and do interfere with interpersonal relationships, even with close, long-standing ones. This is especially true of problems communicating, understanding directions, interpreting social signals, and behaving aggressively or inappropriately.
What Kind of Care May Be Required for Victims of Car Accident Brain Injuries
Brain injury victims may lose the ability to drive, work, do household chores or even maintain personal hygiene. Beyond possible loss of income, the cost of patient care may be astronomical. Home health care, assisted living, or round-the-clock nursing care quickly depletes even substantial savings.
This is why it is crucial to have a knowledgeable car accident attorney at your side to fight for your rights. The experienced brain injury attorneys at Compass Law Group are not only agile negotiators and aggressive litigators; they are also deeply compassionate individuals, eager to obtain the damages you need to restabilize your life.
What Compass Law Group Will Do to Help
Whether you are a car accident victim or a close relative, chances are you are frightened and overwhelmed by the way your life has suddenly been overturned. Having successfully handled many cases like yours, we know just how taxing filing a lawsuit while juggling physical and emotional trauma can be. Compass Law Group is well-prepared to take over all logistical matters so that you can concentrate on health and recovery.
Once you become our client, you can rest assured that our brain injury attorneys will:
- Handle all communications with opposing attorneys and insurance adjusters
- Investigate and photograph the site of your accident
- Examine police records and medical reports
- Check the defendant’s prior history of any similar negligence or misconduct
- Interview witnesses
- Consult with medical/mechanical/accident recreation experts
You can trust us to protect your interests every step of the way and should be aware that we will fight to win you maximum damages even if you are found to be partially responsible for the accident that harmed you.
Damages Compass Law Group Will Fight to Obtain for You
As highly competent negotiators and litigators, we will work tirelessly to win you both economic and non-economic damages.
Economic damages are replacement costs for:
- Medical and rehabilitation expenses
- Property damage
- Lost income (present and future)
- Long-term home or nursing home care
- Alterations to make your home accessible
- Replacement services (e.g. housecleaning, childcare)
Non-economic damages, on the other hand, cover intangibles, such as:
- Physical pain
- Emotional suffering
- Disfigurement
- Permanent disability
- Loss of consortium
- Loss of enjoyment of life
In cases in which you have lost a loved one to wrongful death in a car accident brain injury, we will fight to obtain compensation for final medical costs, funeral/memorial costs, and substantial damages for financial and emotional support the deceased would have provided if she/he had survived.
If the other driver, or another party, such as the government agency responsible for keeping the road clean and navigable, behaved in a particularly egregious manner, we may also be able to win you punitive damages over and above the other awarded economic and non-economic compensation you receive.
Contact Us for Powerful, Personalized Legal Assistance When You Need It Most
When you are faced with the devastating reality of a car accident brain injury, call on Compass Law Group. Our fine reputation in California and throughout the nation attests not only to our competency but to our commitment to our clients. Contact us today. You have nothing to lose since we will only charge you attorneys’ fees if we recover damages for you.
