Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney
A traumatic brain injury isn’t something that “just happens” and then you can just move on with your life. From the headaches and memory loss to the change in personality and cognitive function, a traumatic brain injury can fundamentally alter your life, making it difficult to maintain employment of any kind.
If you or a loved one has suffered a TBI and are experiencing pain and suffering in its wake, taking legal action with a traumatic brain injury lawyer can help you to recover lost wages and hold the responsible parties accountable for the damage they’ve caused.
Personal injury attorney Mark Thiessen and the team at the Thiessen Law Firm will fight tirelessly to protect your rights and ensure that you receive the maximum compensation possible for your traumatic brain injury.
What is a traumatic brain injury?
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a broad category referring to any head injury that directly results in brain dysfunction. We are often asked, “Is a traumatic brain injury permanent?” While the answer to this question varies, many clients experience traumatic brain injury long-term effects, even after treatment. Traumatic brain injury lawyers can help mitigate the costs and losses brought on by these long-term effects.
What are the different types of traumatic brain injury?
Different types of TBI include:
- Concussion, the most common type of TBI: A concussion occurs as a result of a sudden blow to the head that causes your brain to accelerate forward, essentially shaking it.
- Brain contusion, a bruise on your brain: A brain contusion occurs when your brain begins to bleed. How damaging a brain contusion could be depends on its size, duration, and whether or not surgery was required to treat it.
- Diffuse axonal injury: The cause of a diffuse axonal injury is similar to that of a concussion, but with much more severe results. In a DAI, the head moves so hard and fast that the brain stem can’t keep up, causing tears in the brain’s connections. In some cases, a DAI can be fatal.
- Penetrating injury: A penetrating brain injury is, unfortunately, exactly what it sounds like. Penetrating brain injuries occur when a foreign object penetrates the skull and reaches the brain. Although penetrating injuries aren’t always fatal, the results can be long-lasting and severe.
- Mild TBI: A mild TBI is a brain injury that causes any change in mental state due to a forceful movement of the head. This category includes concussions, and may be referred to as “minor head trauma.”
Effects of a traumatic brain injury
Traumatic brain injuries can range from temporarily debilitating to completely life-altering. At the same time, TBIs, especially those incurred during sports are known as “the invisible injury,” sense so many of the symptoms occur in a manner that’s more behind the scenes. The following are just some of the long-term health effects traumatic brain injury lawyers often see:
- Mood instability
- Memory loss
- Loss of coordination/fine motor skills
- Loss of sight and/or hearing
- Seizures
While many of the long-term effects of a TBI can be treated, it’s an intensive, time-consuming process with uncertain results. Combinations of medication, physical therapy, life skills coaching, and even surgery may still not be able to reverse the effects of a TBI in full.
The health effects of a traumatic brain injury are severe, but the economic effects can be just as bad, including:
- Loss of employment opportunities
- Surgery costs
- Prescription medication costs
- Physical and cognitive therapy
- Assisted living facilities, etc.
Common causes of traumatic brain injury
Studies show that 146,000 Texans suffer traumatic brain injuries each year, and nearly 500,000 Texans are currently living with the aftermath of a TBI. A TBI can happen in a flash for a variety of reasons, but some are more common than others. The most common causes traumatic brain injury lawyers see include:
- Slips and falls: Accounting for 40.5% of all TBIs, slip-and-fall accidents occur when someone (usually a customer at a business or an employee of a business) slips on an improperly maintained floor and hits their head.
- Being struck by an object: 15.5% of TBI cases involve being struck by against/something. Most commonly associated with sports like football, being struck by an object is a common cause of concussions and even diffuse axonal injury.
- Motor vehicle accidents: The third leading cause of TBIs, motor vehicle accidents account for 14.3% of all traumatic brain injury cases.
Traumatic brain injury lawsuits and lawsuit settlements
Traumatic brain injury treatment is far from cheap. Texas laws for traumatic brain injury allow plaintiffs to sue for two types of damages in a traumatic brain injury lawsuit:
- Compensatory: Damages associated with the economic impact of your injury
- Punitive: Additional damages sought as punishment for the party responsible for your injury
In Texas, collecting full compensatory and punitive damages for your traumatic brain injury requires you and your personal injury attorney to prove two things: A) the extent of your injury and the associated costs are presented truthfully B) the negligence of another party played a significant role in your injury. This requires keeping careful track of all medical records and expenses, as well as the records and details related to the accident that caused your TBI.
Even if you are partially to blame for the accident, you can still seek damages for your traumatic brain injury. Texas is what is known as a “comparative fault” state. This means that a plaintiff does not need to have been 100% faultless in their claim and that the final compensation will reflect the degree of responsibility each party is found to have had in the accident.
Get Houston’s aggressive brain injury lawyer to fight for the compensation you deserve!
On average, a traumatic brain injury can cost its survivor as much as $4 million over a lifetime. Don’t let the people responsible for your injury leave you stuck with the bill.
As your dedicated traumatic brain injury lawyer, Mark Thiessen and the team at the Thiessen Law Firm are here to fight for your needs and assist your case at every step of the way. We know this call for help is the last thing you would ever want to confront, so we take every possible step to ensure a simple process for you and your family.
Whether you’ve just been injured and don’t know what to do, or you’re considering getting a second opinion attorney on your case, the Thiessen Law Firm is here to help. Call us at (713) 864-9000 or contact us online and schedule a free case evaluation today.
