Stockton Brain Injury Lawyer

Written by: Steven L. Brown

After a traumatic brain injury, you may end up suffering from motor issues, sensory disorders, and emotional turmoil. A traumatic brain injury can turn your life upside down, causing severe neurological pain and long-term disabilities. Injuries to the brain are traumatic and can be fatal. There were 61,000 deaths caused by a brain injury in 2019 alone and, on average, 166 brain injury deaths every day. After you receive a massive blow or bump to your head because of someone else’s negligence, you can seek compensation for your personal injury in Stockton, CA. This is because you can hold another responsible for your brain injury so that you are not paying for damages for an accident that was not your fault. California is a fault state, which means that whoever caused your injuries can be held liable; they can be held accountable.

Most Common Types of a Brain Injury 

While the different types of brain injuries are vast, the most common ones are limited to four kinds of impacts.

Penetration Injury

This type of brain injury is caused by an object entering the head at high speed. This includes bullets, flying blunt objects, or penetration by sharp objects. 

Contusions

A brain injury that is caused by a blow to the head is called a contusion. This is when the blood capillaries in the blood tissue are ruptured and result in a bruise. 

Diffuse Axonal Injury

When there is damage due to the brain tissue tearing within the skull, this is called a diffuse axonal head injury. If this happens, the brain’s long connecting nerve fiber axons are damaged. The damage can stretch to different regions of the brain and can also result in a coma. 

Concussions

The most common type of head injury, concussions, is when the head gets hit directly, impacting the brain and causing damage to the skull and brain tissue. Often this injury occurs due to the limited space within the skull.

Most Common Causes of a Brain Injury

A majority of brain injuries happen to adolescents between 15 and 24 and older adults above 75. This is because most head traumas are caused by accidents.

Falling

The leading cause of head injury is slip and fall accidents which make up 40.5% of traumatic brain injuries. 

Automobile Accidents

Because car accidents are a frequent occurrence, they are also a significant reason why brain injuries happen. About 14.3% of traumatic brain injuries occur because of motor vehicle accidents. 

Unintentional Blunt Trauma

Sometimes objects can fall from a distance or be projected at the victim’s head by mistake. About 15.5% of brain injuries are caused by unintentional blunt trauma. 

Violent Actions

Fortunately, only 10% of violent activity has resulted in brain trauma. This is due to assaults, fights, and other unwarranted behavior. 

Why Your Personal Injury May Not Be Your Fault

If you believe the neglect of another caused your personal injury, you can seek help from a lawyer to prove your case. Typically, your personal injury must meet the four conditions of duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and harm before the other party can be shown as having participated in neglectful behavior, resulting in damages. 

Duty of Care

The other party may have owed a duty to you, and they are expected to behave reasonably and attentively. For example, it would be unreasonable for someone to throw their garbage out their window, striking you as you walked down the street, but reasonable to walk to the garbage can and deposit it. Throwing it out the window would be a violation of a duty to not endanger others and is unreasonable or negligent.

Breach of Duty

Acting unreasonably is when the other party breached their duty by participating in negligent behavior. Dangerous behavior like this is a breach of duty because of their careless actions. 

Causation

If the activity of the other party was the cause of your personal injury, then this is causation. Your head injury attorney will need to prove causation to show that the other party is liable for your injuries. 

Harm

When you wind up with a personal injury and resultant damages, this means that the other party’s negligent behavior has caused you harm. Your brain injury attorney can then seek damages from the other party because they were negligent towards your wellbeing. 

What Are Damages I Can Include In My Brain Injury Settlement in Stockton, CA?

Your lawyer will be estimating both non-economic and economic damages to cover your losses. This will help you recover from your damages and get back to living a normal life. 

Non-economic Damages

When you experience a terrible injury, you may have pain and suffering due to the trials you have to endure while recovering, which may continue into the future. This can include soreness, discomfort, and other forms of pain. You can also be struggling with emotional stress, such as anxiety, PTSD, shame, and depression. Your lawyer will estimate how much your non-economic damages are worth based upon how severe your injuries were by using a multiplier. 

Economic Damages

Your economic damages are mostly based upon your wage loss, medical bills, and other monetary expenses. Because of your injury, you may not be able to work full-time. If you are missing time from work, this amount can be included in your settlement. This also includes the ongoing cost of you not returning to work, and your losses can be calculated as damages. Additionally, you may be responsible for a massive amount of medical.. Surgery, pharmaceuticals, physical therapy, imaging scans, medical tests, and any other clinic treatments can rack up a substantial bill at the end of the month. You can include the costs of your healthcare treatment in your settlement as well. 

Learn More About Head Injury Settlements From Your Lawyer 

You can speak with educated legal representatives who can guide you through the personal injury settlement claim process. They have experience in the field of brain injuries and can help you discover whether you are eligible for compensation based on your circumstances. Lawyers perform investigations to help identify clues that show how the other party is responsible for your damages. With this evidence, your lawyer can negotiate a just and fair settlement to cover the entire cost of your damages. Don’t wait until the last minute, as you only have two years from the date of your injury in the state of California for most personal injury claims. You can contact Brown & Gessell for a free consultation.