Hire an Atlanta Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer

Car and truck accidents are major causes of permanent spinal cord injuries. At Fried Goldberg, we have decades of experience in recovering compensation for victims of serious accidents. If you or a loved one have suffered a spinal cord injury, get in touch with an Atlanta spinal cord injury lawyer at (877) 591-1801 for a no-cost consultation to discuss your legal options.

Spinal Cord Injury Settlements

We understand how important a damages award can be to help injured victims obtain a better quality of life. Therefore, we make every effort to fight for the highest compensation possible for our clients. Our record of verdicts and settlements speaks for itself, with noteworthy victories being:

$10.5 Million – Truck Accident Paralysis Case
A tractor-trailer went onto the shoulder of a road and struck a police vehicle in Marion, Alabama. Our lawyers recovered $10.5 million on the victim’s behalf.

$7.425 Million – Paralysis Case
We obtained $7.425 million on behalf of a man who was paralyzed for five months before passing away after a collision in Georgia.

$5 Million – Paraplegia Case
Our team recovered $5 million for a client who was paralyzed from the waist down after a tractor-trailer struck him in Cobb County, Georgia.

Challenges of Spinal Cord Injury Victims

The lifelong battle that faces victims of SCIs is unimaginable to most people. While victims would give anything to recover the normalcy of their lives before the injury, many experience extreme debt after the medical bills associated with just the initial recovery. For many victims of spinal cord injury, it is a financial and emotional struggle just to regain basic functionality and the new equipment needed for such.

The central nervous system, including the brain and spine, remains an area of limited understanding for doctors and scientists. Although great advances have been made in the last fifty years in spinal cord research, there is still a relatively vast amount that is unknown.

This means the future for victims of spinal cord injuries can be uncertain, yet hopeful. Although there are new procedures and devices entering the market often, innovative treatments are expensive, and there is often no guarantee they will work.

Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries

There are an estimated 17,000 new cases of spinal cord injury annually in the United States, not including those who die immediately from the injury, according to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC). Spinal cord injuries can be complete, causing total paralysis (quadriplegia) or incomplete, causing partial paralysis (paraplegia).
Causes of spinal cord injury can range from gross negligence to no-fault accident. The NSCISC reported the following as common causes of SCIs:

• Auto accidents – 38 percent
• Falls – 32 percent
• Violence (mostly gunshot wounds) – 14 percent
• Sports – 8 percent
• Medical/surgical – 4 percent
• Other – 4 percent

Cost of Spinal Cord Injuries

The initial and ongoing financial costs associated with spinal cord injuries are enormous. After an accident, loss of income is to be clearly expected and many SCI victims suffer lifelong disabilities that prevent their return to the workforce. In fact, according to NSCISC, only 11.6 percent of people can return to work within a year of experiencing a spinal cord injury. Both a loss of wages and loss of future earning capacity are factors in most cases.

Medical costs can top $1.1 million in the first year alone, and then nearly $200,000 a year after that. After an accident, victims must often spend time in expensive rehabilitation centers, learning how to adjust to the impairments of their injury. There are further costs upon leaving the facility, including:

• Accommodation equipment, such as ramps for the house and vehicles
• Medical supplies or devices like wheelchairs
• In-home assistance (often full-time)
• Physical therapy

Since many of these are recurring lifetime expenses, one can imagine the total overall cost of a SCI for the victim and their family. Standard insurance may not cover all of them, which is why legal recourse is necessary. Working with an experienced catastrophic injury lawyer can help ensure proper compensation for injuries.

Why Pursue Legal Action With an Atlanta Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer?

SCIs can occur due to blameless accidents, but nearly half of them are the result of negligence in a vehicle crash. Still others occur due to another person or entity’s irresponsible behavior in other settings. Due to the extensive costs associated with SCIs, as well as the physical and emotional losses, victims often choose to pursue a lawsuit against the negligent party. Reckless driving and disregard for workplace safety are two examples of negligent behavior that can lead to an SCI lawsuit.

Besides monetary compensation for the victim, filing a lawsuit can often lead to other changes, including:

• Adjustment of local road safety rules
• New legislation making products safer
• Improvement of workplace safety standards

Filing a lawsuit can sometimes uncover other instances of negligence or widespread safety violations. An example of this is when legal action reveals unsafe driver policies in a trucking company.

Contact an Atlanta Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer

Spinal cord injuries are among the most traumatic types of injuries and can lead to long-term changes in the victim’s lifestyle. If you or a loved one has suffered a spinal cord injury because of someone’s negligence, an Atlanta spinal cord injury lawyer at Fried Goldberg can help you pursue compensation.

We understand the challenges and hardships that accompany these types of cases. Contact us today at (877) 591-1801 for a free consultation to discuss your legal rights and options.

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