Traumatic brain injuries can come at any time, and just one has the power to change the course of your entire life.
You may even feel fine in the moment, after a bump on the head or a small car accident, but some symptoms don’t appear until much later. In which case, you could be facing expensive medical, emotional, physical, and psychological costs that are hard to cover on your own.
So how do you know if you should file a lawsuit after your specific brain injury? Our dedicated injury lawyers at The Gilbert Law Firm in Spokane, Washington will break it down for you.
How to Know if Your Brain Injury Is Grounds for a Lawsuit in Washington
1. Do You Have a Brain Injury?
Sometimes it’s not immediately clear that you’ve suffered a brain injury.
According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, a traumatic brain injury occurs when a bump, jolt, or other impact to the head causes damage to the brain.
The most common version of this is a concussion, when the brain collides with the skull. But it can also include hemorrhages, hematomas, skull fractures, edemas, diffuse axonal injury, and anoxic brain injury.
Here are some of the symptoms to look out for:
- Severe headaches after trauma
- Loss of consciousness for minutes or hours
- Bleeding from the ears
- Persistent or worsening headache
- Repeated vomiting or ongoing nausea
- Seizures or convulsions
- Inability to rouse from sleep
- Slurred speech
- Weakness in the arms or legs
- Expanded pupils or different levels of dilation in either eye.
- Mental confusion or agitation
- Lack of coordination
- Ringing in the ears
- Loss of sense of smell or taste
If you have experienced any of these symptoms, it is likely that you’ve suffered a brain injury, and you should see a doctor as soon as possible.
And, depending on the other factors, you may be eligible for compensation.
2. How Severe Is Your Brain Injury?
In the most severe cases, traumatic brain injuries (or TBIs) can result in a loss of cognitive function, a change in personality, or even death.
If your brain injury has clearly diminished your quality of life, you have a higher likelihood of receiving compensation to account for that.
If you have not suffered significant losses, or you cannot prove them (e.g. medical expenses, out-of-pocket costs, loss of income, physical or emotional pain, reduced enjoyment of life, etc.), then it may not be worth filing a lawsuit.
However, in many cases, suffering a traumatic brain injury comes with real losses, which you can get compensated for.
3. Who or What Is the Cause of Your Brain Injury?
To get compensated for a traumatic brain injury in the state of Washington, there must be a liable party who owed you a duty of care and violated it.
Duty of care is a legal obligation that an individual or organization has to avoid careless or negligible acts that could foreseeably cause harm to another person.
In other words, if you suffer a brain injury due to your own acts or negligence, then there is no other liable party, and it’s not worth filing a lawsuit.
However, if another person’s negligence caused your brain injury, then they can be held responsible.
This could include:
- A construction company that did not follow OSHA guidelines
- A driver who caused a car, motorcycle, or truck accident
- A business that did not follow safety guidelines to keep people from slipping or otherwise hurting themselves on the business’s property
4. What Have You Lost as a Result of Your Brain Injury?
If you have suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, which is a result of another person or business’s negligence, then the last factor to consider is what losses you have suffered. These losses must be related to the accident.
Typically, the kinds of losses that you can be compensated for as a result of your brain injury include:
- Current and future medical expenses
- Any other related costs
- Lost wages or other benefits
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional trauma
- Loss of companionship or enjoyment of life
Not only must you have suffered clear losses as a result of your TBI, you must also be able to clearly prove how severe they are, as well as whether they are directly related to your accident.
It is difficult to prove this at any time, but especially when suffering from the symptoms of a brain injury. That’s why we recommend you work with a team of experienced brain injury attorneys to protect your best interests.
How Much Compensation Can You Get for a Brain Injury in Washington?
The amount you’ll be compensated for your traumatic brain injury in Washington will depend on factors such as the severity of your injury and losses and the coverage of the liable party’s insurance company.
There is no meaningful average of settlement amounts for brain injury lawsuits in Washington, as it depends on many factors, not all of which will be relevant to your situation.
The best way to find out how much you may be compensated for your injury is to work with a lawyer.
Contact The Gilbert Law Firm to Schedule Your Consultation
To learn more about traumatic brain injuries in Washington State and what you can expect in your case, contact us to speak to the experienced personal injury attorneys at The Gilbert Law Firm.
Disclaimer: The blog published by the Gilbert Law Firm marketing team for informational purposes only and is not considered legal advice or a substitute for legal advice. There is no attorney-client relationship between the reader and the blog publisher. Readers are urged to consult their own legal counsel on any specific legal questions concerning a specific situation.
