Brain Injury Lawyer in Denver, Colorado
If you have suffered a head injury as a result of someone else’s actions (or inactions), it’s important that you speak with an experienced brain injury lawyer Denver, CO residents trust. You may be understandably hesitant to speak with a lawyer right now, as you’re likely trying to focus on your recovery. However, it’s particularly critical that brain injury patients seek legal advice as soon as they can in the wake of an accident. Here are just a few of the reasons why scheduling a confidential, risk-free, no-obligation consultation with the Colorado legal team at Richard Banta, P.C. is an investment worth making at this challenging time.
Why Should I Speak with a Lawyer if I’ve Suffered a Brain Injury?
Arguably, the most important reason that you, as a brain injury victim, should speak with a Denver, CO brain injury lawyer in the aftermath of your accident is that exploring your legal options with the help of a professional will allow you to make an informed decision about those options. Speaking with an attorney doesn’t obligate you to take legal action or even to file an insurance claim.
Scheduling a case evaluation is a risk-free process that allows you to understand what you can potentially expect from filing legal action and/or filing an insurance claim. Once you understand the potential benefits and drawbacks of each of your options, you can decide which option best suits your family’s needs. In short, speaking with an attorney will allow you to avoid asking, “What if?” well into the future.
Secondarily, it’s important to speak with an attorney because head trauma tends to result in a long recovery process. Even if you won’t be navigating symptoms for the remainder of your life, your recovery is likely to cost you money and time. If you choose to file insurance claims (with your own provider(s) and/or insurance carriers for the party/parties that harmed you) and/or choose to take legal action against those responsible for your injury, you can potentially get your medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, etc. covered. It’s bad enough to suffer an injury due to another’s negligence, recklessness, or intentional behavior. Being saddled with the costs of your recovery is a burden you’ll likely want to avoid.
Finally, another significant reason to speak with an attorney in the wake of your accident is that we can handle the legal “heavy lifting” on your behalf. We can negotiate with insurance carriers and/or take steps to file legal action so that you don’t have to undertake these time-intensive, emotionally-sensitive actions on your own.
Legal Assistance Is Available
As a brain injury victim, you’re navigating enough challenges on your own right now, simply by trying to recover. You don’t have to weather the ups and downs of insurance negotiations and/or legal action as well. Contact our firm’s experienced Denver, CO brain injury lawyer today to explore your options in a supportive, focused, knowledgeable environment; we look forward to speaking with you.
Common Causes of Brain Injuries
Brain injuries often result during car accidents when the head slams against a part of the interior of a vehicle. Injuries can also happen when the head jostled inside the skull during a sudden movement caused by the force of impact.
Other causes of brain injuries include slip and fall accidents, physical assault, workplace accidents, and motorcycle collisions.
Common Symptoms of Brain Injuries
Brain injuries range from mild to severe and can present a wide range of symptoms. If your injury is fairly mild, you may experience headaches, fatigue, nausea, difficulty sleeping, dizziness, and temporary confusion. On the other hand, if your brain injury is more severe, you may experience amnesia, severe headaches, convulsions, vomiting, lack of coordination, numbness in your limbs, and even coma.
Impact of Moderate or Severe Traumatic Brain Injuries on a Person’s Life
Understanding the potential impacts of such injuries as brain injuries with a traumatic cause, can teach you a lot. It may also explain why you want to seek legal support in filing claims against those who are deemed responsible for your traumatic brain injury.
The effects of a moderate or severe traumatic brain injury can be long lasting or in some cases permanent. This means that recovery and rehabilitation are possibly—albeit this is going to be a long road—most people who experience moderate or severe brain injuries of this nature tend to have lifelong challenges that require adaptation and an open mind. You have to be open-minded because your reality is changing to accommodate your disability.
For a lot of people, the damage to the brain that they receive from a moderate to severe traumatic brain injury is going to lead to motor deficits, among other types of disabilities. When using the term disability in response to a traumatic brain injury victim, you are indicating they’ve lost the ability to do something—whether your mental state is affected or your physical state.
Some examples of disabilities and motor deficits that can be caused by traumatic brain injuries of this degree are:
- Paralysis, which is the act of being unable to move a part of your body. This can be partial, it can come and go (intermittent) or it can be full paralysis.
- Spasticity, which is muscle stiffness or uncontrollable movements. This can, again, come and go in some cases.
- The victim may find they have trouble walking, talking, swallowing, carrying or moving objects.
- They may also have trouble seeing, whether it’s eyesight or something further wrong with the eye or how the brain perceives what the eye sees.
- They may lose the ability to button their shirt, among other fine motor skills.
- They may become unable to recognize items that they touch, such as textures.
Other challenges can pop up, and this is not a complete list by any means. In fact, someone with a moderate to severe traumatic brain injury may have trouble socially, in relationships. They may also find it hard to keep personal and professional relationships—or even to make those relationships in the first place. They may find themselves unable to participate in social activities, enjoying recreational or leisurely activities, and they may not be able to work or attend school.
Rehabilitation is a long road for most traumatic brain injury patients, and often there are different phases to this treatment that the patient has to go through. The physicians in charge of care will often give the family and patient information regarding their care, and safe coping strategies for the patient and family to partake in.
This is such a life-changing injury, if you or your loved ones have experienced a traumatic brain injury and are seeking compensation, reach out to Richard Banta P.C. today, to schedule an appointment and talk about your injury, and what you’ve lost because of it.
Types of Damages Available in Brain Injury Cases
If you sustained a brain injury during an accident caused by someone else, you may be entitled to compensation. The damages you receive will reflect how the injury has impacted your health and financial future. Here are the types of damages your brain injury lawyer in Denver, CO may help you recover:
- Medical Expenses: Treating brain injuries isn’t cheap. From surgeries to rehabilitation, you could be looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills. If you have a severe brain injury, you may need medical care for the rest of your life.
- Lost Wages: Suffering a brain injury could cause you to miss a lot of work. A brain injury lawyer in Denver, CO can help you recover your lost wages.
- Loss of Earning Capacities: If your brain injury is severe enough, you may never be able to work again. If this is the case, the amount you would have made without an injury will be pursued.
- Pain and Suffering: Brain injuries can result in physical and emotional problems that may affect you for the rest of your life. That is why you may be able to pursue pain and suffering damages.
- Loss of Enjoyment: If you suffered a serious brain injury, you may never be able to enjoy the activities you once loved. You may be eligible for compensation for that.
- Wrongful Death: Unfortunately, brain injuries can sometimes be fatal. In cases like these, the surviving family members can pursue financial damages that resulted from their loved one’s death, like funeral and burial expenses.
Do I Have Grounds to File a Claim?
Each year millions of people will suffer a brain injury. Many of these injuries are an accident. In other words, what happened was unavoidable. Some are the result of negligence on the part of another person. When this is true, you may have grounds to pursue a case. The only way you can truly know is by calling a brain injury lawyer in Denver, Colorado.
Filing a Claim for a Brain Injury
In general, if someone else acted carelessly or recklessly and caused you harm, such as a brain injury, you may be able to file a claim for legal compensation. The key factor will be that their actions caused your injuries. Sometimes this is easy to prove, and in other cases, it will be more challenging.
Were You Harmed By Another Person?
In the event you were harmed by negligence, their insurance company does not automatically have to compensate you. It will be up to you to take legal action. This begins with contacting a Denver, CO brain injury lawyer.
A lawyer will listen to your case and, if you have one and agree to work with the firm, he or she will begin an investigation. It is prudent that actual harm has taken place because of the actions, or lack of, of the alleged negligent party.
Once a lawyer can demonstrate tangible harm, it will be more likely for him or her to recover economic and non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering.
Were You Owed a Duty of Care?
Even if you are able to show that you were harmed, you will also need to prove that you were owed a duty of care. This means the alleged negligent party owed you a duty, or should have acted in a certain way, but failed to do so. Because of this failure, you were hurt.
For example, a premise should have known that the liquid spilled on the floor needed to be cleaned up. This was their duty. When they failed to do so, and you suffered a brain injury in a slip and fall, they could be found negligent. There are many different kinds of duties. Some arise from the law, others are related to a custom or contract. It is important to review these duties with a brain injury lawyer in Denver, CO.
Winning a Claim
Apart from showing you were injured because the alleged party owed you a duty of care, but failed to adhere to it, you may need to also show that the offenders’ breach of duty caused your injury, and you suffered losses because of the injuries. Broadly speaking, these things are the core foundation to winning any brain injury claim. Depending on the circumstances of your case, you may need to provide additional elements.
What If I Am Partially to Blame?
If you are partially to blame for your brain injury, a lawyer will need to determine what percentage you are responsible for. Colorado is a comparative fault state. This means if you are declared to be 50% or more at fault, you may be unable to recover compensation. You should absolutely consult with a Denver, CO brain injury lawyer if you believe you could be accused of comparative negligence. Call Richard Banta, P.C. today for a consultation.
Brain Injury Survivor
As a brain injury survivor, you already have enough on your plate. You face massive hurdles going through recovery and treatment, and your family is likely already stressed providing care and support. Brain injury lawyer Denver, CO recommends you to take the legal burdens off of your shoulders during this time. You should not have to speak to insurance adjusters and file insurance paperwork after a brain injury. And you definitely should not have to fight for the money you deserve. Let brain injury lawyers like Richard Banta, P.C handle it for you.
WHAT IS BRAIN INJURY
Traumatic brain injury usually results from a violent blow or jolt to the head or body. An object that goes through brain tissue, such as a bullet or shattered piece of skull, also can cause traumatic brain injury.
Mild traumatic brain injury may affect your brain cells temporarily. More serious traumatic brain injury can result in bruising, torn tissues, bleeding, and other physical damage to the brain. These injuries can result in long-term complications or death.
SYMPTOMS
Traumatic brain injury can have wide-ranging physical and psychological effects. Some signs or symptoms may appear immediately after the traumatic event, while others may appear days or weeks later.
Mild traumatic brain injury symptoms include;
- Headache
- Nausea or vomiting
- Fatigue or drowsiness
- Problems with speech
- Dizziness or loss of balance
- Sensory problems, such as blurred vision, ringing in the ears, a bad taste in the mouth or changes in the ability to smell
- Sensitivity to light or sound
- Loss of consciousness for a few seconds to a few minutes
- No loss of consciousness, but a state of being dazed, confused or disoriented
- Memory or concentration problems
- Mood changes or mood swings
- Feeling depressed or anxious
- Difficulty sleeping
- Sleeping more than usual
Moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries
Moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries can include any of the signs and symptoms of mild injury, as well as these symptoms that may appear within the first hours to days after a head injury:
- Loss of consciousness from several minutes to hours
- Persistent headache or headache that worsens
- Repeated vomiting or nausea
- Convulsions or seizures
- Dilation of one or both pupils of the eyes
- Clear fluids draining from the nose or ears
- Inability to awaken from sleep
- Weakness or numbness in fingers and toes
- Loss of coordination
- Profound confusion
- Agitation, combativeness or other unusual behavior
- Slurred speech
- Coma and other disorders of consciousness
Children’s symptoms
Infants and young children with brain injuries might not be able to communicate headaches, sensory problems, confusion and similar symptoms. In a child with traumatic brain injury, you may observe:
- Change in eating or nursing habits
- Unusual or easy irritability
- Persistent crying and inability to be consoled
- Change in ability to pay attention
- Change in sleep habits
- Seizures
- Sad or depressed mood
- Drowsiness
- Loss of interest in favorite toys or activities
SEEKING LEGAL ADVICE
If you or someone you love suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) after an accident, you may already know the long-term impact of these injuries. Living with a TBI is not easy. As a TBI accident survivor, you may struggle to perform your own basic care or even maintain relationships with your loved ones. A TBI makes it difficult to work, resume your daily activities, and enjoy a long and active life.
After a TBI, your future may depend on the treatment you receive and your ability to pay for the care that you need. As such, you deserve maximum compensation for your injuries, and for the suffering you endured. Brain injury lawyers Denver, CO will take you through it every step of the way.
While past success does not guarantee future results, you can rest easier knowing that with Richard Banta, P.C you have an experienced brain injury lawyer on your side from the very start.
TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY
Brain injuries include any severe head injury that leads to lasting physical or mental impairment. A distressing brain injury can result from any kind of accident or fall, along with from sports injuries, acts of violence, or subpar treatment. If the injury is caused by another celebration’s neglect, your family might be eligible to get a settlement for medical expenditures, loss of earnings, discomfort and suffering, and other damages. To learn more about brain injury lawyers in Denver, Colorado, call Richard Banta, P.C.
A client with a plaster on his head.
Distressing brain injuries can have destructive effects for the victim and their families.
Laws governing brain injuries may vary from one state to another, which is why it is very important for victims to discuss the situations of their injury with a competent attorney. An accident legal representative can help customers browse the laws surrounding injury lawsuits and help them to pursue the payment to which they are entitled.
CAUSES OF BRAIN INJURIES
Whether on the road or in the work environment, there are a countless variety of prospective accidents that may result in severe head injury. Some typical reasons for brain injuries consist of automobile mishaps, bad healthcare, falling things, physical attacks, and falls on slippery surface areas.
MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENTS
Studies recommend that automobile mishaps cause the majority of distressing brain injuries. In a car mishap, trucking accident, motorcycle mishap, or pedestrian mishap, the degree of injury depends on numerous aspects, consisting of the speed of the automobiles, highway conditions, and whether the mishap involved a DUI. To learn more about brain injury lawyers in Denver, Colorado, call Richard Banta, P.C.
MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
Tragically, many brain injuries result from the irresponsible or wrongful actions of trusted physicians. Medical malpractice can take the type of:
- Birth injury
- Surgical error
- Assisted living home neglect or abuse
- Substandard care
- Failed or erroneous medical diagnosis or treatment
SLIP AND FALL ACCIDENTS
Slip and fall mishaps can lead to a TBI if the victim’s head strikes an object or surface. In addition to brain injuries, these types of mishaps frequently result in severe damage to the neck and spinal cord.
WORK-RELATED MISHAPS
Job-related mishaps, particularly those that occur on building sites or other harmful areas, often cause brain injuries. TBIs may occur when a staff member slips and injures themselves or is struck by something.
KINDS OF BRAIN INJURIES
Brain injuries are classified according to the kind of head injury sustained as well as the seriousness of the injury. The classification of a brain injury will affect how an attorney prepares a case, along with the types of damages that will be looked for.
OPEN HEAD INJURY AND CLOSED HEAD INJURY
Injuries to an individual’s head are classified as either open or closed. A closed head injury occurs when the brain affects the inside of the skull. An open head injury takes place when the skull is fractured or penetrated by a foreign object. Although lots of injuries are small, both types of head injuries can result in TBI and serious damage, triggering issues with cognitive ability, loss of the senses such as hearing and vision, and other debilitating conditions.
CLOSED HEAD INJURY
Closed head injuries occur when the brain hits the inside of the skull. These types of injuries frequently arise from whiplash or when the head strikes the windshield of an automobile. Although there might be no physical indications of injury, the brain can swell inside the skull, putting intense pressure on fragile tissues and nerves, causing irreversible damage.
Call Richard Banta, P.C., to learn more about brain injury lawyers in Denver, CO, today.