A brain injury can change a person’s life forever.
Brain injury victims often face permanent disabilities and cognitive difficulties that alter the course of their lives. A serious brain injury can also leave a victim and their family with significant financial burdens.
If your brain injury was caused by an accident that could have been prevented, you have a right to hold the at-fault party accountable for the losses you’ve suffered.
A Durham brain injury lawyer from Kreger Brodish LLP can protect your rights and help you demand the full compensation you need.
Why Choose Kreger Brodish LLP?
- For more than a decade, our North Carolina law firm has worked diligently to provide effective legal advocacy for our clients.
- Our attorneys and staff will meticulously investigate your claim to show liability and demonstrate the full extent of financial recovery you’re due.
- We have a strong track record of obtaining successful results for our clients, and we’ll leverage our knowledge and experience to craft an effective legal strategy on your behalf.
- Throughout your case, we’ll help you in every way we can, from finding the medical care you need to answering any questions that arise. In addition, you do not pay us any fees unless we win compensation for you.
If you believe someone else was at fault for the accident that caused your brain injury, you should contact a Durham personal injury lawyer to discuss the possibility of pursuing a personal injury claim.
An experienced attorney can help you determine whether the other party was negligent. Situations where you might have a case include a reckless driver who causes a crash or a careless store owner who doesn’t fix a hazard on dangerous property.
Do not wait to seek legal advice after a brain injury accident. Contact Kreger Brodish LLP today for a free consultation.
Call our firm today for a free, no-obligation case review with a compassionate Durham brain injury lawyer.
Kreger Brodish LLP, Durham Office
5003 Southpark Drive
Suite 200. Durham, NC 27713
Recent Case Results
$292,800 Settlement
After a negligent driver caused a fatal collision, the victim’s family sought our guidance regarding mounting hospital bills, funeral costs, and the loss of their loved one. We successfully secured a significant settlement to provide the family with financial security and compensation for their tragic loss.
$242,000 Settlement
After a negligent driver rear-ended a vehicle carrying our client, a minor, she was left with significant medical expenses and trauma. We secured a settlement substantial enough to fully cover her costly treatment and compensate her for the pain and suffering she endured.
How Our Durham Brain Injury Lawyer Can Help
Recovering from a serious brain injury is a long and difficult process. The idea of pursuing a legal case for financial compensation may feel overwhelming.
However, you have a right to pursue the resources you need to get full medical care and protect your future, and you don’t need to take legal action on your own.
A Durham brain injury lawyer from Kreger Brodish LLP can help you seek accountability and justice from those at fault for your brain injury by:
- Reviewing the evidence and facts of your accident to determine what caused your injury and who is responsible
- Documenting all your bills, invoices, and losses to ensure we pursue maximum recovery on your behalf
- Filing your claims for compensation with the at-fault parties and insurance companies, aggressively pursuing a settlement of fair and full financial recovery for you
- Taking your case to trial if litigation is the best option for pursuing the results you want and deserve
Types of Accidents That May Lead to Brain Injuries
If you suffered a brain injury, contact us. We specialize in different accident areas that may cause such injuries:
Symptoms of a Traumatic Brain Injury
The symptoms of traumatic brain injuries can vary depending on the severity of an injury. Signs and symptoms of a mild traumatic brain injury include:
- Loss of consciousness for a few seconds to a few minutes
- Headaches
- Fatigue or drowsiness
- Nausea or vomiting
- Speech issues
- Dizziness
- Feeling dazed or confused
- Blurred vision
- Ringing in the ears
- A bad taste in the mouth
- Sensitivity to light or sound
- Concentration or memory problems
- Mood changes or swings
- New feelings of depression or anxiety
- Trouble sleeping
Symptoms of moderate and severe traumatic brain injuries include:
- Loss of consciousness from a few minutes to several hours, or the onset of coma
- Persistent or worsening headache
- Persistent nausea and vomiting
- Convulsions or seizures
- Dilation of the pupils
- Draining of clear fluids from the ears or nose
- Loss of coordination
- Weakness or numbness in fingers and toes
- Inability to be awoken from sleep
- Slurred speech
- Substantial confusion
- Irritation or other unusual behaviors
What Should You Do After a Brain Injury Accident?
You can best protect your rights to compensation by knowing what to do immediately after a brain injury.
Here are some steps to take if you or someone you love has suffered a TBI or similar head injury in Durham:
- Get prompt medical care and tell the treating doctor what happened. Early medical intervention is critical to both a patient’s long-term prognosis and linking their injuries to the underlying accident.
- Gather evidence about the accident, including medical bills and records, the contact info of anyone who saw what happened, and documents establishing lost income.
- Be careful what you say about the accident and injury, especially over social media or when interacting with a potentially at-fault party’s insurance provider.
- Contact a brain injury lawyer in Durham at Kreger Brodish LLP for a free consultation. Bring along whatever evidence you were able to gather.
How Are Traumatic Brain Injuries Treated?
Treatment for a traumatic brain injury also depends on the severity of the injury.
For mild traumatic brain injuries, treatment is normally limited to rest. Over-the-counter pain relievers can be used to help with headaches.
However, someone diagnosed with a mild brain injury should be closely monitored for any new or worsening symptoms, which might indicate they have suffered a more serious injury than originally thought.
For moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries, immediate emergency medical attention will be required.
Initial care is focused on ensuring the injured victim’s brain has sufficient blood and oxygen flow and on preventing further or secondary injury to the head and brain.
Initial treatment may include the administration of medications, including anti-seizure drugs, diuretics to help reduce swelling of brain tissues, or coma-inducing drugs to reduce the brain’s need for oxygen as it heals.
Surgery may also be performed to stop bleeding, remove blood clots, or repair skull fractures.
Once a moderate or severe brain injury stabilizes, treatment shifts to rehabilitation to help an injury victim relearn motor or cognitive skills and improve their ability to live as independently as possible.
Rehabilitation services might include:
- Physical therapy
- Occupational therapy
- Speech and language therapy
- Recreational therapy
- Vocational therapy
- Psychological/psychiatric care
What are the Long-Term Effects of a Brain Injury?
People who suffer moderate to severe brain injuries often experience effects that last for months, years, or even for the rest of their lives. Some of the long-term effects of a brain injury that can affect a victim’s daily living or quality of life include:
- Behavioral shifts, including feelings of apathy, irritability or aggression, or impulsiveness
- Cognitive difficulties, including issues with memory, concentration, or problem solving
- Communication issues, including speech issues, problems understanding others’ speech, or problems with writing or reading and reading comprehension
- Chronic fatigue
- Emotional impacts, including depression and anxiety
- Hormonal imbalances
- Loss of motor skills, including issues with walking or fine motor control
- Amnesia
How Do You Prove a Traumatic Brain Injury Claim?
Most traumatic brain injury claims are based on a legal theory of negligence. Negligence means that someone failed to exercise normal caution given the circumstances.
To establish negligence, you must show that:
- The other person owed you a duty of care. For example, drivers owe other road users a duty of care to follow the rules of the road. Store owners owe their customers a duty of care to keep their shops reasonably safe and free from hazards.
- The other person violated the duty owed to you. Perhaps a driver ran a red light, or a store owner stacked heavy items on a wobbly shelf. Such examples could amount to a breach of the duty of care.
- The violation of the duty led to your injuries. It’s not enough to show that the other person behaved carelessly. You must also show that your injuries were a direct and foreseeable consequence of their carelessness.
- You suffered personal and financial harm as a result. You must then put a dollar value on the many ways the injuries have affected you, from the cost of your medical care to your lost wages to the pain and suffering you’ve endured.
Perhaps the most important step you can take in proving a traumatic brain injury claim is hiring an experienced personal injury lawyer from Kreger Brodish LLP.
What’s the Time Limit for Filing a Brain Injury Lawsuit in NC?
Under North Carolina’s statute of limitations on injury claims, you typically only have three years from the date you suffered a brain injury to file a lawsuit seeking compensation.
Waiting too long may lead to the court permanently dismissing your case.
Brain injury claims are some of the most complex cases to prepare.
In addition to investigating the underlying facts and circumstances of your injury to identify the party or parties who can be held liable, your attorney will need to consult with experts to calculate your present, ongoing, and future losses and expenses.
For that reason, you should speak to a Durham brain injury lawyer as soon as possible to start the process of preparing your case.
What Compensation Can You Recover After a Brain Injury?
If you have suffered a traumatic brain injury due to somebody else’s negligence or recklessness, you may be entitled to recover compensation for your expenses and losses, such as:
- Costs of medical treatment and rehabilitation of a brain injury and its secondary effects
- Costs of long-term care for disabilities and chronic health conditions caused by a brain injury
- Loss of income and future earning capacity when a brain injury impacts your ability to work in gainful employment
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional trauma and distress
- Loss of quality of life due to disabilities impacting daily living, or due to reduced life expectancy because of a brain injury
FAQs About Brain Injury Claims
When should I get an attorney involved in my brain injury case?
The sooner you get our attorneys involved in your brain injury claim, the sooner we can start investigating the accident, communicating with insurance companies, and pursuing the compensation you deserve.
Keep in mind that evidence disappears fast, witnesses’ memories fade, and brain injury claims are subject to a firm filing deadline.
How much is the average brain injury settlement?
Every brain injury has its own circumstances and unique set of outcomes. Consequently, there’s no such thing as an “average” settlement figure.
The severity of the injuries, their consequences on the victim’s life, how clearly the other party is at fault, and the insurance policies covering the accident are just a few of the factors that will affect the size of a settlement.
Can I file on behalf of a loved one with a brain injury?
Yes, you may be able to pursue a lawsuit on behalf of a loved one who’s been incapacitated by a brain injury.
However, you will need to petition the court to be named as their guardian ad litem, which allows you to act for them during court proceedings. Our attorneys can help you with the process.
Talk to a Brain Injury Lawyer in Durham Now
If you have suffered a brain injury in an accident caused by someone else’s negligent or reckless actions, contact Kreger Brodish LLP today for a free initial consultation. We will fight for the full compensation you need to get the best care possible.
