Santa Ana Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer

Santa Ana Spinal Cord Injury Attorney

Spinal cord injuries can have devastating impacts on accident victims’ lives, disrupting their abilities to work and care for themselves and leaving them with potential lifelong disabilities. You need to work with a Santa Ana spinal cord injury lawyer who takes your case seriously.

Trust Easton & Easton

The team here at Easton & Easton handles many complex personal injury cases. We have what it takes to negotiate a fair settlement with the liable party’s insurance company or, if necessary, litigate your case in court if they won’t make a reasonable offer that covers 100% of your potentially extensive damages. Everyone here at our family-owned firm takes pride in providing caring, comprehensive legal services and using our proven process to get you fair compensation.

Why Hire a Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer?

Recent research shows that there are around 18,000 new cases of spinal cord injuries across the United States each year. Currently, between 255,000 and 390,000 people live with the devastating impacts of these injuries. Vehicle crashes account for 37.5% of spinal cord injuries, while falls explain another 31.7% of them. Violence, sports injuries, and medical malpractice account for the majority of spinal cord injuries.

As you can see, many spinal cord injuries occur due to others’ negligence or intentional acts of violence. If yours falls into one of these categories, you can hire a spinal cord injury lawyer to help you hold the party liable for your injuries and pursue compensation to cover your losses. Your attorney can:

• Determine who is legally liable for your damages.
• File paperwork and keep track of deadlines.
• Work with doctors to establish the extent of your injuries.
• Collect evidence and review your medical records.
• Negotiate a fair settlement with the liable party’s insurance company.
• Litigate your case in court, should it become necessary.

Hiring an attorney is the most effective way to make sure you get fairly compensated for the harm you have suffered at the hands of another. It can also give you time to focus on healing from your injuries and finding ways to move forward with your life instead of the minutiae of your legal claim.

How Spinal Cord Injuries Are Classified

Doctors at local hospitals like Orange County Global Medical Center typically classify spinal cord injuries by their location and severity. Here are a few ways you might hear your doctors talk about your injuries:

• Level of injury. The location of your spinal cord injury can have a large impact on the level of disability you experience. Cervical spine injuries occur at vertebrae C1 through C7 and tend to lead to the greatest level of impairment, sometimes including quadriplegia. Injuries to the thoracic, lumbar, or sacral spine regions can result in paraplegia, affecting only the trunk, legs, and pelvic organs.
• Complete vs. incomplete injuries. Complete spinal cord injuries impart a total loss of sensory and motor function below the site of the injury. With incomplete injuries, accident victims may still experience some sensation or movement, leaving the door open for some recovery.

The extent and location of your spinal cord injury can play a role in determining how much compensation you are entitled to from the person or company that caused it.

Common Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries

Spinal cord injuries typically result from sudden, traumatic events. The most common causes of spinal cord injuries include:

• Motor vehicle collisions
• Falls
• Medical malpractice
• Defective products
• Acts of violence
• Sports or recreation accidents

How your injury occurred can also play a role in determining how much compensation you’ll receive. When motor vehicle wrecks lead to catastrophic trauma, consulting a trusted Santa Ana car accident attorney can help protect your financial recovery. If you are determined to be partially liable for the accident, you may receive less compensation. The good news is that thanks to California’s pure comparative negligence rule, as established in Li v. Yellow Cab Co. of California, you’re still allowed to pursue compensation even if you were deemed to be substantially at fault for the accident that caused your spinal cord injury.

Proving a Spinal Cord Injury Claim Based on Negligence

Most spinal cord injury claims are based on the legal theory of negligence, which has four essential elements. You’ll need to show:

1. Duty of care. The duty that a person has toward others depends on their relationship. A doctor has a more substantial duty of care to a patient than a driver does to other people on the road, for example, but both of them have an implied or expressly stated legal obligation to perform in a certain way and avoid harming others.
2. Breach of duty. When a person does not meet their duty of care, it can lead to devastating consequences. To prove negligence, you’ll have to show that the person breached their duty of care to you.
3. Causation. You’ll have to prove that the breach of duty led directly to your spinal cord injury in a foreseeable way. If other factors also played a role in causing the accident, the person may still hold some liability, and you may be able to recover a certain amount of damages from them.
4. Damages. You must have suffered actual harm as a result of the accident. In this case, you’ve suffered very serious harm. Spinal cord injuries are some of the worst injuries that can be incurred during accidents.

There is an exception to the rule when it comes to spinal cord injury laws. If your injury was caused by a defective product, your attorney may be able to use a different legal theory, referred to as strict liability, to prove your case. In these cases, lawyers must show that there was a defect in the product that led directly to your injuries. There’s no need to prove a duty of care.

Potential Damages in a Spinal Cord Injury Case

The damages in spinal cord injury cases can be quite serious because these injuries often lead to lifelong disability. They are typically divided into two categories:

• Financial damages. Financial damages include past and future medical expenses, lost wages and earning capacity, and the cost of assistive devices and modifications to your home, among other easily quantifiable expenses.
• Non-financial damages. Non-financial damages reimburse someone for the intangible suffering caused by your injury. Emotional distress, physical pain and suffering, as well as the lost ability to enjoy life, all fall into this category.

In some cases, California courts also impose punitive damages. While the intention of punitive damages is to punish the wrongdoer and deter similar behavior in the future, not to compensate victims, your final settlement amount could still be increased substantially if the court chooses to impose punitive damages. This only happens in cases where the defendant’s action was willful and malicious or egregiously negligent.

FAQs

How Much Is a Spinal Cord Injury Claim Worth?

How much a spinal cord injury claim is worth depends on the specifics of your case. Your final settlement amount can vary based on the severity of your injuries, whether you are expected to experience permanent disability as a result of sustaining them, and whether you were found partially liable for the accident that caused them. Your attorney’s skill at negotiating with insurance companies can also impact your final settlement amount.

Does a Spinal Cord Injury Qualify for Disability?

Whether a spinal cord injury qualifies for disability depends on what impact it is having on your life. If your injury has left you fully or partially paralyzed, there is a very good chance it may qualify you for disability. If the effects of your injury are minor and do not impede your ability to hold gainful employment, you may not be eligible to receive disability payments.

What Are the Personal Injury Laws in Santa Ana, California?

Santa Ana, California has several personal injury laws that pertain to spinal cord injury cases. CA CCP 335-349.4 pertains to statutes of limitations for filing personal injury claims. CA CIV 3333 – 3343.7 outlines damages recoverable in personal injury cases. CA GOV 910-913.2 makes it more difficult to file claims against government entities. A Santa Ana spinal cord injury attorney can help you understand these and other spinal cord injury laws pertaining to your case.

How Much Is a Workers’ Comp Settlement for a Spinal Cord Injury in California?

How much a workers’ comp settlement is for a spinal cord injury in California depends on the severity of the injury and what type of settlement offer you accept. In a compromise and release, you accept a single payment and become responsible for all future medical bills. In a stipulated findings and award, you receive biweekly disability checks based on your impairment rating and continue to receive medical care through workers’ comp for the rest of your life.

Your Santa Ana Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer

No matter how you received your spinal cord injury, if it occurred due to another party’s negligence, you should work with a Santa Ana spinal cord injury lawyer to recover damages. When negligence results in fatal complications, surviving family members can also consult a reliable Santa Ana wrongful death lawyer to seek complete justice

The team here at Easton & Easton has extensive experience in handling challenging personal injury cases, including spinal cord injuries. We work to protect professionals and their families following injuries that create serious disruptions to careers and financial security.

We’ve recovered over $2 billion in damages for other clients. However, past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different and must be evaluated on its own merits. Find out how we can help you. Contact us to schedule an initial consultation regarding your spinal cord injury case today.

Santa Ana, CA Spinal Cord Injury Legal Resources

• Orange County Superior Court – Central Justice Center & Civil Complex Center Filings
• California Highway Patrol – Collision Report Requests
• National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC) – Injury Data & Statistics
• Santa Ana Police Department – Collision & Crime Reports