A brain injury can disrupt your life in many ways. You may be unable to return to work, require lifelong medical care, and struggle to pay thousands of dollars in medical bills. The physical and emotional implications of this injury can also be difficult to bear. If someone else’s actions led to your brain injury, you may have grounds for legal action—and the Boulder brain injury attorneys at Purvis Thomson, LLP can help.
Our Boulder lawyers have years of experience representing brain injury victims across the state of Colorado. We will fight tenaciously to secure the compensation you need to recover, helping you hold the at-fault party responsible for his or her actions.
A brain injury often occurs when you hit your head or when a foreign object penetrates your skull. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 61,000 people died from traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in the United States during 2019. Millions of other Americans visit emergency rooms across the country to receive treatment for brain injuries.
While many factors may contribute to a TBI, some of the most common causes include the following.
In many cases, another person or entity’s negligence is responsible for the brain injury. For example, another driver may run a red light and collide into your vehicle, causing you to hit your head on your dashboard and sustain a concussion. You may get hurt on an uneven sidewalk on a friend’s property, causing your skull to collide with hard concrete. In these situations, you could pursue legal action against the responsible party with the guidance from a slip and fall lawyer.
A brain injury lawsuit allows you to recover compensation for the physical, financial, and emotional damages you sustained due to the accident. However, you only have the right to file this claim if someone else’s negligence is responsible for your injury. To prove negligence, you will need to establish the following three elements.
For example, say that you are in an accident with a driver who is under the influence of alcohol. Colorado drivers have a duty to follow traffic laws and drive their vehicles safely, and drunk driving is an illegal act. You can use the police report from the scene of your accident to establish the driver’s breach of duty and the cause of your collision, along with medical records, witness testimony, and surveillance footage.
Another leading cause of brain injuries are falls, which often occur due to a hazard on someone else’s property. Property owners have a duty to ensure that their premises are safe, to respond to hazards within a reasonable amount of time, and to adequately warn visitors of the hazard. For example, say that you notice that your stairs are broken and ask your landlord to fix it, but he or she ignores your request for weeks. The stairs then crack under you, causing you to fall and hit your head.
Because your landlord did not respond to the hazard in a reasonable timeframe, he or she breaches his or her duty of care to you. You can use correspondence with your landlord, surveillance footage, and medical records to establish the cause of the injury and the breach of duty.
In Colorado, civil lawsuits are subject to a rule known as the statute of limitations. This law establishes a time limit for filing a claim; if you do not file within the appropriate time period, the court will dismiss your case. The statute of limitations depends on the cause of your brain injury, but in most cases, you have two years from the date of your accident to file your claim.
Once you establish the at-fault party’s negligence, you will also need to prove that you suffered damages due to his or her actions that you can collect in your lawsuit. You can recover compensation for the financial losses you suffered, as well as the emotional and physical pain and suffering you endured. Some of the most common damages in brain injury claims include the following.
Brain injuries often result in permanent complications that require long-term medical care, so it is important to understand the full extent of your damages before you accept a settlement. The Boulder brain injury lawyers at Purvis Thomson, LLP can help you estimate your settlement by analyzing financial documents, speaking with expert witnesses, and exploring all possible avenues to maximum recovery. Equipped with this information, your attorney can avoid an insufficient settlement and advocate for your right to full compensation.
Traumatic brain damage can lead to significant physical, emotional, and financial hardship. If someone else’s actions led to your head injury, you deserve justice—and the lawyers at Purvis Thomson, LLP can help. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation with a Boulder brain injury attorney and learn more about your legal options.