One of the most devastating injuries a person can sustain in a car crash is a spinal cord injury (SCI), as the spinal cord is such a fundamental part of the function of the nervous system and how your brain communicates with the rest of your body. But unfortunately, motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of spinal cord injuries in people under 65. If you are the victim of an auto accident or other accident and need the help of a spinal cord injury attorney, Virginia residents should consult the skilled lawyers at Burnett & Williams.
The devastating cost of spinal cord injuries
Spinal cord injuries are considered catastrophic injuries, and the medical treatment that victims must receive can cost thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, including potentially prolonged hospital stays, diagnostics, surgery, rehabilitative care, and medical equipment. Regardless of whether or not a patient has insurance, the costs of receiving care for a spinal cord injury can often become financially debilitating.
A big part of why spinal cord injuries often are so devastating and expensive is that their effects often last a lifetime. According to the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, 27.3% of paralysis cases were caused by spinal cord injuries, second only to stroke. When an SCI victim is faced with permanent paralysis caused by their injury, they also face a lifetime of medical bills, rehabilitation, and/or assisted living, with additional expenses including lost wages and earning capacity, not to mention impacts on quality of life. In severe cases of spinal cord injuries, some personal injury cases result in wrongful death.
The goal of an SCI claim is to recover maximum compensation for the damages you have suffered due to your life-changing injury. When your injury is caused due to someone else’s negligence, you shouldn’t have to suffer financially for the rest of your life. However, insurance companies tend to remove the humanity from the claims process to make it easier to deny or undervalue your claim. This is why a good SCI lawyer should strive not just to understand and convey the medical facts of the case, but also the victim’s human story.
How a Virginia spinal cord injury lawyer will help your spine injury case
Because of the complexity of a spinal cord injury-related case, it’s not suitable to just hire any personal injury attorney to handle your claim. It is crucial to hire an experienced attorney with specialized knowledge and a track record in spinal cord injury cases, as they will be able to navigate the complexities of your claim.
SCI claims require a much deeper level of medical knowledge, financial understanding, and empathy than a simple personal injury claim. If you are an SCI victim in Virginia, the top spinal cord injury attorneys are at Richmond-based injury law firm Burnett & Williams, who have decades of experience working on complex cases, including SCIs.
When you hire an attorney for your SCI case, they will conduct an extensive investigation to determine fault and liability in the incident. They’ll gather any relevant documentation, including accident reports, witness statements, and medical records, revisit the scene of the incident to investigate even further, and sometimes even consult experts like accident reconstruction specialists to get a better understanding of what happened, how, and who is at fault for your injuries.
Another reason hiring an experienced attorney for your spinal cord injury case is important is that they offer access to a network of medical and financial experts who can testify as expert witnesses in your case. This testimony can go a long way in lending your claim greater credibility, asserting the severity of your injury and the liability of the negligent party. Often, spinal cord injury victims talk about their entire lives being changed permanently, and this type of testimony can strengthen your case for a judge or jury.
Finally, hiring a spinal cord injury lawyer ensures that you have aggressive negotiation and litigation on your behalf. Remember, the insurance companies don’t make money by paying you what you deserve; they make money by paying you as little as possible. They will do everything in their power to get you to accept less money, from sending you lowball offers and pressuring you to take them to unnecessarily prolonging the process. Having a personal injury lawyer on your side will ensure that they stand up for your rights against the power and resources of the insurance companies.
Hire Burnett & Williams, top spinal cord injury attorneys in Virginia
If you or a loved one has been the victim of a spinal cord injury in Virginia due to a car accident, slip, and fall, or other incident, contact Burnett & Williams today. “Contact us for a free consultation to determine if we are the right law firm to get you the compensation you deserve for your spinal cord injury,” concludes C. James Williams III, principal at Burnett & Williams.
