Philadelphia Brain Injury Attorney

The brain contains everything about who we are, how we function, and how we relate to and perceive our world. A brain injury can be devastating for a number of reasons. If you or a loved one is coping with a brain injury in Philadelphia, it’s imperative to know your legal rights if the injury was the result of another party’s careless or dangerous actions. Calling a local burn injury attorney can help you answer any questions you may have regarding a lawsuit.

Call a Brain Injury Lawyer in Philadelphia

A brain injury victim may be unable to think clearly and may be unable to fight for his or her legal rights. In most cases, it will be a loved one’s responsibility to fight for the victim’s rights. If another person or entity caused the injury, the victim may be entitled to claim damages for medical expenses, the costs of ongoing treatments, rehabilitation, pain and suffering, and long-term disabilities.

Every brain injury entails its own set of circumstances and considerations when pursuing legal action. An experienced attorney will make the process much easier for everyone involved. At Ciccarelli Law Offices, we understand how grievous a brain injury can be for victims and their families. Our team has the experience and tenacity to pursue every possible avenue for compensation for our clients. It’s crucial for victims and their families to understand their legal rights in any type of personal injury situation, and brain injuries are especially serious.

If you or a loved one has suffered a brain injury because of another party’s irresponsible or dangerous actions, you should not have to bear the cost of medical expenses and ongoing care on your own. Reach out to our team to start reviewing your case, and let the Philadelphia burn injury attorneys at Ciccarelli take care of the legal matters, so you and your loved ones can focus on healing.

Average settlements for brain injuries

It can be difficult to determine how much a particular brain injury case will settle for. Each case is different, and there are a variety of factors that go into determining the amount a victim will receive. There are two types of damages that brain injury victims can be awarded: special damages and general damages.

• Special damages. These damages include losses that are more easily calculable, including:
  • Lost wages
  • Lost future earning capacity
  • Medical expenses
  • Property damages
  • Funeral and burial expenses (for wrongful death cases)
• General damages. These are considered non-economic damages and are harder to place a monetary value on. These damages can include:
  • Physical pain and suffering
  • Loss of enjoyment of life
  • Emotional distress
  • Humiliation and embarrassment
  • Shock and mental anguish
  • Loss of society and companionship
  • Loss of consortium (claim made by a family member or spouse of the victim)

As we mentioned, it can be hard to calculate how much a settlement will be, but it is not uncommon for a brain injury case settlement to range from $100,000 to well over $1 million depending on the severity of the injury and the circumstances of the case.

How are damages calculated?

Properly calculating these damages will take assistance from a skilled personal injury attorney who will employ help from medical and economic experts to examine the entirety of your case. They will:

• Calculate special damages. To do this, they will use medical bills and past earnings history. Calculating loss of future wages or earning capacity can be more difficult and could require examining a person’s age, their likely lifetime earnings, and future promotion possibilities.
• Calculate general damages. For these damages, a multiplier can be used (1.5 to 5 times the special damages awarded, depending on the severity of the injury). Pennsylvania does not impose limits on how much a victim can recover in general damages except in cases against state or local governments.

You may be approached by the other side with a settlement offer. With the help of an attorney, you should examine this offer and determine if it is enough to meet your past, current, and expected future costs. Settling out of court could save the expense of a trial and get the compensation faster, but it could also mean you end up with much less than you could get by taking the case to trial.

How much does a brain injury attorney charge?

It is understandable that victims of a brain injury and their family want to know about legal fees. The Ciccarelli Law Offices strive to provide legal service to people at a reasonable cost. Attorney fees are assessed in a number of ways and usually set in advance of the representation. These fees can include billable hours, flat fees, or contingent fees.

When possible, we accept personal injury cases, such as a brain injury, on a contingency fee basis. This means that the client will face no out-of-pocket cost during the course of the case, and they will pay no attorney fees unless we are successful with their case. Our fee comes out of the final settlement in an amount agreed upon before we take the case. A contingent fee is a percentage of the monetary judgment or settlement.

Types of Brain Injuries

Chemical exposure and drug use can cause some injuries, but most brain injury cases result from traumatic brain injuries (TBI). These injuries are from any external force that impacts the brain and causes dysfunction. It may be a sudden shift in momentum or speed, a change in direction, being struck by an object or projectile, or an object penetrating the skull.

Traumatic brain injuries range widely in severity and effects. The most commonly seen TBIs are concussions, in which something hits the body hard enough that the brain is forced against the inside of the skull. Gunshot wounds, violent shaking, direct blows to the head, force from a whiplash injury, and concussive blasts from explosions can cause concussions. These injuries are very common among athletes and soldiers who have seen active combat.

A penetrating injury is any type of brain injury in which a foreign object breaks through the skull and damages the brain. This may be the result of shrapnel, a falling object, or an act of violence such as a knife or bullet wound. These injuries can cause contusions and/or bleeding in the brain. This is not an exhaustive list, and there are many types of brain injuries, which range widely in severity and lasting effects.

Effects of a Traumatic Brain Injury

One of the most horrifying brain conditions that can result from a TBI is the rare “locked-in” syndrome. Victims of this condition are completely unable to move their bodies except for their eyes. They are conscious and able to think, but can communicate with others only through eye movements and blinking.

TBIs typically fall into either mild or severe category. Mild injuries may result from periods of unconsciousness lasting less than 30 minutes and typically result in headaches, nausea, difficulty thinking or focusing, mood swings, memory loss, and other cognitive issues. Severe brain injuries can result from a loss of consciousness of more than 30 minutes, and can lead to comatose states, severe memory loss, limited mobility or loss of motor functions, impaired speech or language, emotional distress, and impaired cognitive processes.

Call the Ciccarelli Law Offices to contact a Philadelphia personal injury attorney at (215) 228-0100.