Contact an experienced Columbus spinal cord injury lawyer at Babin Law, LLC. We will try to answer all of your questions and help you determine whether you are eligible for compensation for your injuries. We offer a free consultation, and there are no fees unless you win your case.
Spinal cord injuries are among the most severe injuries a person can suffer. The trauma to the spine leaves a lot of people paralyzed or with severe disabilities that will affect them for the rest of their lives. In many instances, injury victims are placed in this life-changing position due to someone else’s negligence. In this case, you should contact a Columbus personal injury lawyer at Babin Law, LLC. We will analyze your case, and if we’re able to assist we will prepare your personal injury claim and negotiate your settlement or represent you in a lawsuit.
An experienced Columbus spinal cord injury attorney will seek the maximum compensation for your losses. This can assist with the losses associated with life-changing injuries and the burden of medical expenses, cost of assistive devices, and home modifications, all while being unable to resume your job activities and earn an income.
What Are the Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries?
In our experience, most spinal cord injury victims were involved in various types of traffic accidents or workplace accidents. These can be severe accidents, leaving the victims with not just spinal cord injuries but also with traumatic brain injuries and internal organ damage.
Some of the most common causes of spinal cord injury cases handled by the experienced attorneys at Babin Law, LLC are:
Motor Vehicle Accidents
According to Ohio State Patrol, in 2020 there were 498 fatal crashes and 1,853 motor vehicle crashes involving severe injuries on the highways of our state. Unfortunately, distracted driving, speeding and driving under influence continue to make innocent victims, despite the communication campaigns and prevention programs that aim to increase drivers’ awareness.
A Columbus car accident attorney may be able to help you collect your fair compensation, even in difficult cases, involving uninsured drivers.
Bicycle Accidents
Many people choose the bicycle as a means of transportation because it does not pollute the atmosphere and it allows them to exercise as they go to work or for various chores. However, bicyclists are extremely exposed when sharing the road with cars. In many instances, bicyclists are hit by cars that fail to yield, or because the bicyclist is in the driver’s blind spot.
When a 4,000-pound car hits a person riding a bicycle, the usual result is a catastrophic accident. The bicyclist is left with lifelong and debilitating injuries, including paralysis injuries caused by trauma to the spinal cord.
Victims of bike accidents can contact our Columbus bicycle accident attorneys for a free consultation.
Pedestrian Accidents
People crossing the road or walking along their sides have no protection at all when a speeding vehicle hits them. An accident victim can lose their lives or suffer catastrophic injuries, including to the spinal cord. A Columbus pedestrian accident lawyer may be able to help them obtain the financial compensation they deserve in order to complete their medical treatment, reach the point of maximum medical improvement and arrange a life care plan that will provide them with the necessary assistance for their disabilities, including full-time nurses.
Construction Accidents
The most dangerous workplaces from the point of view of spinal cord cases are construction sites, car repair shops, workshops, production and assembly facilities where heavy machinery is used. An employee can get crushed between or caught under an unsecured load or malfunctioning machine, suffering various types of injuries, from limb loss to spinal cord injury and head injuries.
In this instance, the employer is responsible to pay monetary damages to the injured employee, according to Ohio Workers’ Compensation rules and laws. Even if filing a workers comp claim appears a straightforward procedure, it’s not a bad idea to hire a personal injury attorney to represent you. In specific cases, you may also be entitled to file a personal injury lawsuit against your employer, in addition to collecting your workers’ comp benefits.
Sport Injuries
Unfortunately, many amateur and professional athletes suffer severe injuries while practicing their favorite sport. Contact sports, such as football, soccer or martial arts, may lead to a severe physical injury to one of the players. Even though there is no element of intention in sport accidents, the element of negligence exists. Thus, you should contact a Columbus spinal cord injury attorney to see if they can help you prepare your claim for compensation.
Birth Injuries
Some of the youngest accident victims in cases handled by personal injury attorneys in spinal cord claims are newborns. When the assisting doctor and the team of nurses fails to intervene or intervenes in an erroneous manner during childbirth, resulting in spine injuries to the baby, the parents have the right to file a personal injury lawsuit.
Physical Assaults
Finally, there are spinal cord injury cases where there is an element of malicious intent. If you were physically assaulted by another person and suffered an injury to the spinal cord, Columbus spinal cord injury attorneys may be able to help you obtain the maximum compensation allowed by law (economic and non-economic damages), including punitive or exemplary damages, as defined in the Ohio Revised Code Section 2315.21.
Common Injuries Caused by Spinal Cord Damage
The spinal cord is the “communication highway” between the brain and the rest of the body. Most of the nerves that control various bodily functions, including the movement of our limbs, pass through the spine.
Even moderate injuries to the spine can cause worrying symptoms, such as:
- pain, pressure or stiffness in the upper back or neck
- feeling of numbness in the extremities
- loss of control over the bowels or bladder
- persistent headache
- problems walking
- unnatural position of the head.
Unfortunately, most spinal cord injury victims suffer catastrophic and permanent or debilitating damages, including:
- partial paralysis
- complete paralysis
- temporary or permanent paralysis
- loss of mobility (flaccid paralysis).
These types of injuries will change your life forever, reducing your quality of life and sometimes leaving you in permanent physical pain. A Columbus personal injury attorney with extensive experience in negotiating insurance settlements for spinal cord injury victims may be able to help you find justice.
What You Should Do After a Columbus Spinal Cord Injury
Most people who suffer severe accident injuries, including spinal cord injuries, are in severe pain and must be taken to the hospital immediately. Even if you do not feel pain immediately after the accident, you should still call 9-1-1 and accept the ambulance ride. Spinal cord injuries can get worse if left untreated. Plus, you need to have a full medical record of your injuries, including the observations of the medical provider who gave you first aid at the accident site, in order to prove your personal injury case.
While in the hospital, you will most likely be contacted by insurance adjusters representing the responsible party’s insurance company. They are experienced negotiators and may attempt to minimize the amount of compensation you receive. They could try to persuade you to sign a quick settlement (which bars you from further legal action) or ask questions that may not be helpful to your claim. Even a simple statement may be used to reduce the amount of compensation offered to you.
Instead, if you hire an attorney, you could simply tell the adjuster that your Columbus spinal cord injury lawyer will get in touch with them to file your claim and negotiate your compensation.
Reasons to Hire the Columbus Spinal Cord Injury Attorneys at Babin Law, LLC
You may wonder – can’t I negotiate my settlement on my own? After an injury, you may be in pain, confused and worried about the future; you may also lack knowledge of Ohio personal injury law. Skilled insurance adjusters are involved with the claims process every day and are knowledgeable and skilled at their practice; therefore, hiring an attorney may help you to level the playing field.
Here is what a Columbus spinal cord injury attorney may be able to do for you:
Investigate the Cause of Your Injuries
The key elements in any personal injury case are:
- the existence of a duty of care
- the breach of duty of care leading to the accident
- the accident caused your injuries
- you suffered losses as a result of these injuries.
Thus, you need to prove that, for instance, the at-fault driver who hit you, broke their duty of care and that your injuries are a direct result of the accident. By collecting evidence, including the police report, witness statements, photos and videos, your personal injury lawyer can prepare a strong legal defense against the insurance company’s claims that you are not eligible to receive compensation.
Pursue Maximum Compensation
Some insurance adjusters may attempt to dissuade accident victims from pursuing compensation by telling them that they were partly at fault. For instance, in a car accident, one driver was speeding and under the influence, while the other failed to yield. While the second driver was partly at fault for the accident, this does not bar them from recovering damages, according to the contributory fault principle defined in the Ohio Revised Code Section 2315.33.
Represent You without Asking for Advance Fees
One reason why many people think twice before hiring a Columbus spinal cord injury attorney is money. They believe that they have to pay advance fees to retain a lawyer, on top of their medical expenses. In reality, most personal injury lawyers work on a contingency fee basis. This means that the lawyer will collect their fee after they win your case, as a percentage out of the settlement amount or jury award.
At Babin Law, LLC you will find a team of experienced Columbus spinal cord injury attorneys, who use their knowledge of the law and dedication to maximize the amounts of compensation our clients deserve. Call or contact us today for a free consultation: (614) 761-8800!
