Gomez Trial Attorneys’ Results With Brain Injury Claims

The skilled brain injury attorneys at Gomez Trial Attorneys have advocated for injured Los Angeles residents for more than 15 years. The firm’s commitment to client advocacy coupled with its dedication to professional excellence has led to the recovery of tens of millions of dollars in settlements and jury awards for its clients.

Some recent examples of case results in brain injury claims include:

• A $16,200,000 settlement for a client who suffered a brain injury in a slip and fall accident
• A $13,500,000 jury verdict for a client who suffered a brain injury in a car accident
• A $12,300,000 jury verdict for a client who suffered a traumatic brain injury
• A $10,800,000 jury verdict for a client who suffered a brain injury and cervical fracture
• A $2,750,000 settlement for a client who suffered a brain injury in a trucking accident
• A $1,000,000 settlement for a client who suffered a brain injury in a slip and fall accident

These are only examples and do not guarantee a specific financial outcome for your brain injury claim. Brain injuries have many causes, and the underlying factors of each claim largely determine its value. However, clients of Gomez Trial Attorneys can rest assured that their lawyers have the experience and resources to build the strongest case possible against the party responsible for their brain injury, giving them the best chance of receiving the compensation they need and deserve.

Brain Injuries Are Costly for Victims and Their Families

The financial aftermath of a brain injury can impact victims and their families for years. Costs of medical treatment, rehabilitation, home modifications, domestic replacement services, and other expenses can blow apart the household budget. Many families accumulate large amounts of credit card debt, risk losing their homes or cars, and face bankruptcy after a family member suffers a brain injury. In the worst-case scenarios, brain injury victims and their families do not have enough money to pay for food, clothing, and other necessities.

The economic consequences of a brain injury begin with the ambulance ride and/or visit to the emergency room and can last long after a victim makes their maximum possible recovery. Below we provide descriptions of some of the costs of sustaining and brain injury, some of which may seem obvious, and others which may not have occurred to you.

Medical Treatment Costs

Los Angelenos who suffer head trauma should seek medical attention as soon as possible. Doctors cannot necessarily repair brain damage, but they can often stop more damage from occurring when someone suffers an initial brain injury.

Of course, the downside of seeking emergency care is that victims begin amassing medical bills as soon as they get in an ambulance or arrive at the nearest emergency department. The medical expenses continue to pile up for brain injury patients. In fact, studies show that brain injuries are one of the most expensive injuries to treat. Other costs associated with treating a brain injury include diagnostic imaging, lengthy hospitalizations, surgery, aftercare, and prescription medication to provide symptomatic relief.

Rehabilitation Costs

Oftentimes, brain injury victims suffer permanent brain damage. Brain trauma impacts each victim differently depending on which part of the brain suffered the injury. Healing and recovery from these injuries often require victims to re-learn how to perform day-to-day tasks and ordinary body functions that they previously took for granted. As a consequence, people who suffer brain injuries often have a rehabilitation regimen that includes regular, costly therapy with different types of specialists.

For example:

• Physical therapists help brain injury patients recover lost physical functions by guiding movement and exercise and retraining muscles. If your loved one has spent time in a coma or the brain injury left your loved one in a permanent vegetative state (PVS), physical therapists may need to visit daily to help maintain flexibility and some level of muscle training, so that your loved one’s body does not dangerously atrophy.
• Speech therapists help brain injury patients regain muscle control in their mouth and vocal cords if brain damage has caused them to struggle with speaking. Brain injury victims sometimes have difficulty understanding others and find it challenging to verbalize their feelings and needs. When severe brain damage occurs, some brain injury patients find they can no longer read or write. Speech therapists help those with brain damage learn or relearn how to communicate with others.
• Occupational therapists help brain injury victims adjust to their new daily routines after injury. This can involve a variety of activities depending on the severity of the brain damage and the extent of functional loss. Sometimes occupational therapy includes helping a brain injury victim relearn daily activities such as brushing teeth, combing hair, and other grooming habits. In other situations, occupational therapy serves to teach patients new ways of approaching tasks and chores to help them adjust to any permanent disability. Caregivers and family members can feel the pressure and frustration present when a victim is learning and adjusting, so occupational therapy also helps them cope with the emotional fallout of dealing with learning new ways of doing things.
• Mental health specialists help brain injury victims and their families face the emotional aftermath of a brain injury. Depending on the event which led to brain injury, victims can suffer post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which carries symptoms such as depression, anxiety, flashbacks, and nightmares. Brain injuries can also affect a person’s behavior depending on the part of the brain that suffered damage. Increased aggression and challenges with regulating feelings and emotions are common behavioral changes brain injury victims must overcome. Mental health specialists such as counselors, psychologists, and psychiatrists can help victims and their families work through these challenges.

Long-term Healthcare Costs

Those who suffer severe brain damage sometimes need full-time care for the rest of their lives. Long-term health care means different things for different families. In some cases, families choose to place their loved one in a long-term nursing care facility. In other situations, families choose to have a provider come into their home to care for the brain injury victim.

Long-term healthcare costs regularly constitute the most burdensome of all expenses associated with a brain injury, because ordinary health insurance rarely covers them. Some families try to provide care on their own, but the overwhelming amount of time, energy, and strength it takes to care for a loved one around the clock inflicts its own, significant costs.

Costs for Making Your Home More Accessible

If you or your loved one is fortunate enough to return home after suffering a brain injury, you will surely celebrate. Yet, those who suffered severe brain damage will have to make changes to function at home, even if they do not need full-time nursing care. Making the home more accessible for a brain injury patient can include a variety of modifications.

Examples include:

• Installing a wheelchair ramp
• Installing handrails and grab bars in bathrooms, showers, and tubs
• Building a main floor living space for patients who cannot go up and down steps.
• Buying special covers or indicators for hot and cold water, stovetops, and other surfaces that can be dangerous to those struggling with senses
• Installing special locks, doors, or alarms for brain injury victims who sleepwalk as a result of the trauma that led to their injury

Home modification costs vary for each person and can range from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars.

Costs to Replace Household Services

Adults who suffer brain damage from brain injury sometimes cannot perform some or all of the tasks and chores around their homes than they did before they were injured. In some cases, family members can pitch in to help out. Yet, families who provide care do not always have the extra time to absorb more household duties. One common solution families turn to in this situation is to hire others to replace the service that the injured family member provided.

Some examples of household services families sometimes need after a loved one suffers brain damage are:

• Landscaping/Yard service to mow the lawn, maintain a garden, clean the pool, and perform outdoor maintenance
• Cleaning service to dust, do laundry, wash dishes, vacuum, wash floors, and perform other common household cleaning tasks
• Private chef who can handle grocery shopping and preparing meals for the family or a grocery delivery service
• Driver or personal assistant to run errands and take children to and from school
• Nanny or daycare center to provide care for young children or provide afterschool guidance

Lost Wages and Lost Earning Capacity

The most financially devastating consequence of a brain injury is often the loss of current and future income from the inability to work. This is especially true when the brain injury victim was responsible for the majority or all of monthly household income. Brain injury victims can often qualify for long-term disability payments, but these are not more than two-thirds of their previous income. Even disability payments leave victims and their families with massive financial gaps that can hinder their ability to provide food and pay for monthly expenses.

If your spouse or child suffered a brain injury, you likely also must take some unpaid time away from your job. Severe brain injuries often result in family members of victims exhausting all of their paid personal days, sick time, and vacation time. Children who suffer severe brain injuries sometimes never have the chance to seek employment as adults. The lost income that families experience after a brain injury often results in families exhausting their savings and amassing thousands in debt simply to get by.

Contact a Los Angeles Brain Injury Lawyer Today

Severe brain injuries can disrupt the lives of victims and their families in multiple ways. The mental anguish that comes with coping with an injury as a victim or a family member increases when medical expenses, lost wages, and other costs of a brain injury start to accumulate.

California law permits victims, or someone acting on their behalf, to take legal action against the party responsible for the injury to recover compensation for losses. The money will not erase the pain or the past, but it can provide funding to ensure a brain injury victim gets necessary treatment and support in recovery, and can ease financial burdens.

If you or a loved one has received a brain injury diagnosis, you will no doubt face a variety of challenges and difficulties in the coming weeks and months. The experienced brain injury lawyers at Gomez Trial Attorneys understand the gravity of your situation and of the financial stress that comes with a brain injury.

No Los Angeleno should have to suffer because of someone else’s careless or dangerous behavior. Our team fights to make sure Los Angeles brain injury victims receive the compensation they deserve for their injuries and losses. We take brain injury claims on a contingency fee basis, only collecting our fees from any settlement or jury award we secure for our client. Contact one of our skilled Los Angeles brain injury lawyers online today or call (866) 395-6792 for a free case evaluation.