Spinal cord injuries are among the most traumatic, life-altering, and expensive injuries anyone could suffer. No matter if your injuries occurred in a fall, traffic accident, or another type of incident, you likely face a long, expensive road to recovery—if a full physical recovery is possible. It becomes even more frustrating when someone else’s actions cause these injuries. Our Atlanta spinal injury lawyer may be able to help.
The Atlanta Personal Injury Law Group offers free consultations with one of our lawyers. We know spinal cord injuries, the necessary treatment and recovery, related expenses, and how they can change your life forever. We believe no one should have to pay the financial price of injuries suffered in an accident they did not cause. We cannot reverse your injuries, but we could hold the negligent party legally responsible. Call us today to discuss your legal options.
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Atlanta Personal Injury Law Group Is on Your Side After an Atlanta Spinal Cord Injury
Our Atlanta firm’s catastrophic injury lawyers want you to know you do not have to fight alone after a spinal cord injury. We help frustrated and stressed-out clients navigate the legal process and pursue money for their bills, lost income, and other damages. We believe you should not have to worry about the cost of your treatment after someone else causes a serious accident.
As a victim of someone else’s negligence, you deserve compensation for your injuries and the related expenses. If someone else’s carelessness or recklessness caused your life-altering spinal injuries, we want to hold them responsible and get justice for you.
As a victim of someone else’s negligence, you deserve compensation for your injuries and the related expenses. If someone else’s carelessness or recklessness caused your life-altering spinal injuries, we want to hold them responsible and get justice for you.
Suffering a Spinal Cord Injury in Atlanta
Like other major cities, Atlanta has many locations with high accident potential. Add to that the high traffic volume and number of collisions in and around the city, and you will realize you are not alone in dealing with devastating injuries.
Spinal cord injuries in Atlanta can occur in:
- Traffic accidents
- Slip and falls and other premises liability injuries
- Boating accidents
- Pool injuries and other recreational causes
Medical Treatment for Spinal Cord Injuries in the Atlanta Area
Depending on the severity of the spinal cord injury and where your accident occurred, you may receive treatment at one of the following Atlanta-area trauma centers:
- Level I Trauma Centers: Grady Memorial Hospital and Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center
- Level II Trauma Centers: WellStar Kennestone Hospital and Wellstar North Fulton Hospital
After your injuries stabilize, you or your child may require inpatient care, rehabilitation, or outpatient therapy through one of the following spinal injury programs in the Midstate:
- The Spinal Cord Injury Program at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
- Emory University Hospital’s Center for Rehabilitation Medicine
- Walton Rehabilitation Hospital in Augusta
Atlanta is also home to the Shepherd Center, one of America’s leading rehabilitation hospitals for catastrophic injuries. This facility helps spinal cord injury victims achieve progress and recovery. In fact, patients come from across the country and around the world for rehabilitation at the Shepherd Center.
If you are an inpatient, receiving care, or recently completed care at one of these facilities after a spinal injury, the Atlanta Personal Injury Law Group can help you. We can assess your legal rights and start your insurance claim or lawsuit while you continue your physical recovery.
Spinal Cord Injuries Come With High Treatment and Management Costs
Spinal injuries are one of the most expensive to treat initially, rehabilitate, and live with because of the injury’s catastrophic nature and how it affects a person’s mobility and independence. A severe spinal cord injury can affect all areas of your everyday life.
According to an annual report from the Brain and Spinal Injury Trust Commission, the average yearly expenses for Georgians with spinal cord injuries topped $18 million in just one year. Also, Georgia hospitals treated nearly 675 people from different age groups for a spinal cord injury that year, according to the report.
Rehabilitation-related costs vary widely for spinal cord injury patients. According to research by Neuroimmunology and Neuroinflammation, a spinal injury’s initial treatment and stabilization averaged $142,366, and patients generally spent between 12 days and two weeks in the hospital.
Recovering From a Spinal Cord Injury Can Take a Long Time
While full recovery can take a year to 18 months, the first three months are crucial to regaining as much movement and function as possible. For this reason and because of the high level of care patients need, most go from acute care in the hospital to post-acute care in an inpatient rehabilitation facility.
Pursuing Your Recoverable Damages for an Atlanta Spinal Injury
If there is evidence that another party’s negligence caused your spinal injury, you have a right to hold them legally and financially responsible.
By filing an insurance claim or lawsuit, you might recover compensation for:
- Medical care costs today and in the future
- Rehabilitation and therapy expenses
- Ongoing care expenses
- Necessary equipment and adaptive tools for mobility and independence
- The income you lost while recovering from your injuries
- Reduced earning ability
- Property damages
- Miscellaneous injury-related expenses
- Pain and suffering
- Reduced quality of life
- Additional intangible losses
Essential Home Accommodations Can Add to Spinal Cord Injury Care Costs
Spinal cord injuries can come with ongoing care and one-time renovation costs. A home may require extensive renovations and extra equipment to offer patients mobility and independence. Renovations could include adding ramps and lifts, widening doorways, renovating bathrooms, and more. Our Atlanta spinal injury attorney could help you recover these expenses.
Negligence and Liability in an Atlanta Spinal Cord Injury Accident
Atlanta Personal Injury Law Group’s attorneys build cases and pursue financial recoveries for victims of negligence accidents every day. We know how this process works and how to recover monetary damages for our clients. Under Georgia law, victims hurt in a collision, fall, or other negligence accident can hold the at-fault party responsible and recover compensation.
We investigate these accidents and incidents for our clients, gather evidence to show what happened and who is responsible, and take legal action against them. We often settle these cases out of court, recovering an insurance payout and avoiding a jury trial. Georgia law gives us up to two years to get started when the circumstances call for a lawsuit. We must meet this deadline to protect your right to seek compensation.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Spinal Injury Claims and Lawsuits
Our Atlanta injury attorneys regularly answer our clients’ questions about their cases. Below, we offer general answers to some of the questions they ask. If we do not answer your question here, we can address your concerns during a free case review.
How Much Does a Spinal Cord Injury Cost?
The cost of stabilizing, rehabilitating, and living with a spinal injury depends on many factors. This includes where the injury is, how serious it is, and how it affects the remaining motion and sensation you have. Those with complete neck or upper back injuries may require more help with everyday tasks and medical support than those with lower or incomplete injuries.
How Much Is My Insurance Claim Worth?
The potential value of your insurance claim depends on the damages you endured. We cannot estimate your case accurately until we investigate the expenses and losses associated with the injury, understand your prognosis, know your future care needs, and take other steps.
Each victim suffers unique injuries in a case with different facts than others. This means there is no way to determine an average payout or look at past results and believe yours might be similar.
How Long Will It Take to Get Money From My Case?
It is generally faster to recover compensation through an insurance claim and negotiated settlement than to take a lawsuit to trial. However, some circumstances require us to sue the liable parties to recover the money our clients need and deserve. Navigating this process could take several months, a year, or longer. Your attorney can offer suggestions if you worry about paying your medical bills in the meantime.
Should I Agree to an Early Settlement?
Insurance companies offer early settlements in the hopes that the victims do not yet realize how much their case may be worth. Accepting any settlement without first discussing it with an attorney could put your right to a fair payout at risk. Unless you know the estimated settlement value of your case, there is no way to ensure you get a fair offer and feel confident in accepting it.
Will My Settlement Cover My Future Care Needs?
You can recover compensation for your ongoing care expenses and future treatment needs. We estimate these costs and include them when we pursue compensation for our clients. This may require working with experts.
The ongoing and future care costs associated with some spinal injuries may exceed the liable party’s insurance limits. When this occurs, a lawsuit could allow us to recover fair compensation for you that includes these damages.
What if My Loved One Passed Away From Their Injuries?
Our lawyers have the experience and knowledge necessary to pursue wrongful death damages on behalf of our clients. If your loved one passed away from their injuries, we may seek compensation for your family that includes lost income, loss of services, funeral and burial costs, medical care expenses, and the intangible losses experienced by your surviving family members. We represent spouses, children, parents, and other immediate family members in these claims and lawsuits.
How Quickly Do I Need to Get Started on My Case?
We understand spinal injuries take longer than many other injuries to stabilize. You could spend up to two weeks in an acute care hospital and weeks or months in a rehabilitation facility. However, we must start building a case as soon as possible. We can meet with clients while they receive inpatient care or speak with their family members about their legal options early on.
The sooner we can get to work, the sooner we can start to recover evidence to support your claim or lawsuit. Connect with us as soon as your injuries allow.
What Legal Options Do I Have for Getting Compensation?
Personal injury cases require filing an insurance claim, negotiating a fair settlement, suing the liable party, and taking the case to trial. Most cases we handle settle without going to trial. We demand a fair payout from the liable party’s insurer and negotiate a settlement on the client’s behalf.
If we litigate your spinal injury case, we represent you in court, present evidence, and ask the jury to award fair damages. When this occurs, it takes longer and could cost more. However, it may be the best option based on the circumstances of your case. We can discuss this more if we believe it is necessary for you.
Talk to an Atlanta Spinal Injury Lawyer About Your Options for Free
The Atlanta Personal Injury Law Group provides free case evaluations for victims hurt in traffic, premises liability, and other personal injury accidents. Our attorneys want to discuss your injuries and treatment with you, so we can learn about what happened and how. We could develop a strong case for compensation based on the facts of your accident.
Contact us today at (404) 609-1724 to learn more about your legal options for filing an insurance claim or lawsuit for a spinal injury you or a loved one suffered in the Atlanta area. We handle cases on a contingency-fee basis and provide free first consultations.
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