Napa Brain Injury Lawyer

The human brain is extraordinary in its complexity and capability, but it is also highly vulnerable to traumatic injuries. When a traumatic brain injury occurs, the victim can face a very difficult road to recovery, and the likelihood of them developing long-term or permanent complications is quite high. Even a seemingly mild brain injury can potentially result in lifelong medical problems. In such a case, the victim and their family need to know their rights when such an injury occurs due to the negligence of others.

Representing Victims of Brain Injuries in Napa, CA

If you or a loved one recently suffered a brain injury due to the actions of another party, a Napa brain injury lawyer will be the best asset for you to have as you work toward holding the responsible party accountable for their actions. The victim of a brain injury is likely to require extensive medical care and be unable to work for an indeterminate amount of time. Some victims will be unable to work at all or even live independently due to their brain injuries.

Rush Injury Law has years of experience representing Napa, CA, clients in many personal injury cases. We understand the stress and anxiety any family is likely to feel when a loved one has suffered a traumatic brain injury. If you believe any other party bears fault for a brain injury you or a loved one recently suffered, we can assist you in holding them accountable.

Why Should I Hire a Napa Brain Injury Attorney?

Attempting to represent yourself in any personal injury case is risky and unlikely to succeed. Any person with minimal experience in the civil court system would be likely to make various mistakes in the early stages of a personal injury case, potentially jeopardizing their ability to recover compensation. Additionally, if you attempted to resolve your claim without an attorney, you could unintentionally settle for less than you legally deserve, and you would need to manage the procedural requirements of your case while simultaneously handling recovery.

The Right Lawyer Improves Your Chance of Winning

Hiring an experienced Napa brain injury lawyer to present your case significantly improves your chances of securing compensation for your damages. Your legal team can also make it much easier to approach your case proceedings, helping you understand the legal mechanisms in play and enhancing your overall recovery. Many personal injury claimants are surprised to learn their claims are worth much more than they expected once they have legal counsel advising them.

Rush Injury Law provides compassionate and client-focused legal representation in every case we accept. We’ll take time to learn how your brain injury occurred, the parties who may bear fault for your damages, and the full range of effects the injury has had on your life and your loved ones. Our goal is to help you recover the fullest possible amount of compensation for your damages allowable under California law.

How Do Brain Injuries Happen?

Brain injuries can occur unexpectedly from a wide range of causes. However, some of the typical types of brain injuries and their most common causes are:

• Concussions, which occur when physical trauma causes the brain to hit the inside surface of the skull. These injuries are common among professional athletes who play contact sports, such as ice hockey and football. They can also occur from slip and fall injuries, interpersonal violence, and car accidents.
• Contusions, which are brain injuries that involve bruising and bleeding on the brain’s surface. These injuries commonly result from many things that often cause concussions, such as any direct and robust blow to the head.
• Axonal brain injuries, which occur when the brain is deprived of oxygen. Brain injuries sustained during childbirth often result from oxygen deprivation to the child’s brain during delivery. These injuries may also occur from drowning and exposure to certain chemicals.
• Penetrating head injuries. This is one of the most extreme types of head injury that anyone can suffer and entails an external object physically penetrating the skull and rupturing brain tissue. Explosions, gunshots, and high-speed car accidents are the most commonly reported causes of these brain injuries.

Most brain injuries require immediate emergency treatment and ongoing therapeutic care. In some cases, the victim’s full scope of effects from a brain injury are not immediately noticeable. It can take some time for the full range of damages to be calculated after someone receives an injury to their brain. The sooner you secure legal counsel, the easier it will be for your legal team to compile your case.

Potential Long-Term Effects of a Brain Injury

Brain injuries are difficult to treat and often result in long-term problems for the victim. These injuries are also unpredictable, as two people might appear to suffer identical brain injuries and have vastly different experiences in terms of the long-term effects of those injuries. Brain injuries can potentially cause:

• Chronic pain, such as persistent headaches.
• Migraine or cluster headache disorders.
• Sensitivity to light and sound.
• Sensory processing disorders, such as impaired vision or hearing.
• Language processing difficulties.
• Memory loss.
• Personality changes and mood disorders.
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health conditions like anxiety disorder or depression.
• Cognitive impairment.
• Loss of mobility and motor coordination.
• Increased susceptibility to future brain injuries.

Many brain injury victims will require months or years of recovery before they can regain a semblance of a normal life again, and some brain injuries are permanently life changing. If another party is responsible for causing any such brain injury to you or a loved one, your Napa brain injury lawyer will be invaluable for holding them accountable for all the losses your injury entails.

What Is My Traumatic Brain Injury Case Worth?

If you identify another party as responsible for your recent brain injury, you have the right to seek full accountability for the damages you experienced from their actions. In California, the economic damages listed in a brain injury case are likely to include:

• Medical treatment expenses. The defendant who caused the brain injury in question is liable for the costs of all medical treatment the victim requires. This will include their immediate emergency costs and any ongoing treatment costs they may incur. Many brain injuries cause lasting damage, and victims will need various forms of rehabilitative care to recover as fully as possible.
• Lost income. The victim of a brain injury could be left unable to return to their job, forcing them to accept lower-paying work or undergo new job training. It’s also possible for a severe brain injury to leave the victim unable to work. In addition, one of the victim’s immediate family members may be forced to leave their job to provide the daily in-home care the victim requires, resulting in lost income. Therefore, the defendant is liable for lost wages and lost earning potential resulting from their actions.
• Property damage. If the defendant’s actions also damaged the victim’s personal property, the defendant is liable for repair or replacement costs.

Your Napa brain injury lawyer can assist you in calculating all the economic damages you can include in your claim, but your recovery may not end there. California law provides a personal injury plaintiff with the right to claim compensation for the pain and suffering a defendant caused them. There is no limit to the amount a plaintiff can claim in pain and suffering compensation. Your attorney will assist you in determining a fair amount based on the seriousness of your injury.

In most cases, a personal injury lawyer will multiply their client’s claimed economic damages by a factor representing the severity of their injury. For example, if a victim suffered a permanent disability from their brain injury that is likely to negatively impact their ability to work and live independently, their attorney may seek five times their claimed economic damages in pain and suffering compensation. For most plaintiffs in brain injury claims, pain and suffering compensation forms the bulk of their recoveries.

How to Prove Fault in a Brain Injury Claim

To succeed with any personal injury claim in California, the plaintiff must not only provide the court with a complete and accurate list of all of the damages they intend to claim but also identify the defendant or defendants they believe responsible for those damages. In addition, proving liability in most personal injury cases requires establishing the essential elements of negligence, or a failure to exercise the care that would be reasonable in a particular situation:

• First, the plaintiff must identify the defendant responsible for the injury in question and establish that they owed a duty of care but their actions resulted in the injury. For example, if your brain injury occurred due to an accident caused by a drunk driver, you would need to establish that the driver had a responsibility to drive safely.
• Second, the plaintiff must provide evidence showing the defendant in their claim breached their duty of care. Following the previous example, the plaintiff would need to prove the defendant failed to meet their duty of care due to driving under the influence of alcohol.
• Third, the plaintiff must prove they suffered actual harm from the defendant’s actions. This requires providing proof of the economic damages resulting from the incident in question, as well as compelling evidence establishing pain and suffering.
• Finally, the plaintiff needs to show a clear link between the defendant’s actions and the damages the plaintiff is claiming. The plaintiff must prove their damages were directly caused by negligence on the defendant’s part and not some other cause.

If you can successfully establish these elements of negligence, success with your claim is likely. However, it is essential to keep California’s pure comparative negligence law in mind as you begin working on your claim. Under this rule, if a plaintiff bears partial responsibility for causing their claimed damages, they must lose a percentage of their case award to reflect their comparative fault. For example, if a plaintiff is found 10% at fault in a $1 million claim, they would lose $100,000 to reflect their comparative negligence.

Your Napa brain injury lawyer can not only assist you in proving the elements of negligence and holding the defendant appropriately accountable but also in counteracting any claims of comparative negligence levied against you. Success with your claim may require effective leveraging of eyewitness testimony, physical evidence from the location where your injury occurred, and statements from various expert witnesses.

What to Expect From Your Napa Brain Injury Attorney

Facing a complex injury claim like a brain injury case in Napa, CA, will be much easier when you have an experienced legal team assisting you. Your Napa brain injury lawyer can assist you in gathering the evidence you will need to establish liability for the injury and to prove the full extent of your claimable damages. If necessary, your legal team can arrange for expert witness testimony on your behalf that can assist you in proving liability for your damages and proving your right to recover the damages listed in your claim.

Most personal injury cases end in settlement negotiation. The plaintiff, defendant, and their respective legal representatives will meet privately to negotiate a mutually agreeable resolution to the claim. However, if the defendant contests their liability or disputes the scope of damages sought by the plaintiff, the case may proceed to litigation. If you must take a brain injury claim to trial, Rush Injury Law can provide the comprehensive legal representation you will need to approach this difficult series of legal proceedings with confidence.

Our team has extensive experience handling catastrophic injury claims on behalf of our Napa, CA, clients. We understand the extreme toll that any brain injury can take on the victim and their family. If you know another party is responsible for causing a life-changing injury to you or a loved one, our team will help you hold them accountable with a civil suit. The sooner you start working on your case, the more likely you will succeed with it, so contact Rush Injury Law today to schedule your consultation with our team.