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A traumatic brain injury can have far-reaching and life-long effects on an individual. Rebuilding your life can be challenging, especially when worrying about how you will pay for your current and future medical expenses. When a careless individual is responsible for causing the accident that left you with a traumatic brain injury, what can you do to prove their negligence and recover the money you deserve?
At CDH Law PLLC, our personal injury attorneys commit themselves to helping traumatic brain injury accident victims explore their legal options for pursuing compensation for their injuries and financial losses. The first step in the process is determining and proving that negligence was the cause of your traumatic brain injury.
What Is a Traumatic Brain Injury?
Traumatic brain injuries are wounds or injuries that damage the brain and affect how it functions. Medical professionals typically categorize TBIs as mild, moderate, or severe. Additionally, brain injuries are classified as follows:
- Closed Brain Injury— A closed brain injury occurs when a sudden blow or violent force to the head quickly propels the brain forward and backward. The acceleration and force of the jolt can cause bleeding, swelling, and significant tissue damage.
- Penetrating Brain Injuries – Penetrating brain injuries happen when a foreign object enters the brain. Gunshot wounds are one example of penetrating brain injuries, although motor vehicle accident shrapnel and other objects, including broken pieces of the skull, can also cause these injuries.
How Do You Prove Negligence Caused Your Brain Injury?
Proving that someone else’s careless actions caused your traumatic brain injury can be challenging. The strength of your case rests on the strength of the evidence. Evidence helps establish liability and can show how the accident was caused, who was responsible, and how their careless actions resulted in your injury and subsequent financial losses.
Proving negligence in a traumatic brain injury claim requires establishing the four essential elements of negligence:
- Duty of Care – You must prove that the at-fault party owed you a duty of care. This means the individual had a responsibility to take reasonable care to avoid causing harm to another person. For example, all motorists on U.S. roadways have a duty to drive safely and responsibly to avoid causing accidents.
- Breach of Duty – Next, you must show that the at-fault party violated or breached their duty of care by acting carelessly, recklessly, or intentionally in a manner likely to cause an accident.
- Causation – You must also prove that because the at-fault individual violated their duty of care, their actions directly caused the accident and your traumatic brain injury.
- Actual Losses – You do not have a solid case unless you establish that the accident and your subsequent injuries resulted in verifiable financial losses, such as medical expenses and lost wages.
Gathering and preserving the evidence it takes to establish these four elements can be difficult when you are trying to cope with the aftermath of a traumatic brain injury diagnosis. It is always in your best interest to consult with an experienced personal injury attorney who can review your situation and collect the evidence needed to build a strong and compelling case for maximum compensation.
How a Central New York & Syracuse Personal Injury Attorney Can Help
Were you injured in an accident caused by someone else’s negligent actions? Let an experienced New York personal injury attorney help you prove the other party’s negligence and seek meaningful brain injury compensation on your behalf.
A brain injury can permanently change your life, and you deserve compensation for your losses. Contact CDH Law PLLC today for a free consultation to discuss your legal options for recovering the money you need.