Spine Injury Lawyer in Queens, NY
Experienced Queens Spinal Cord Injury Attorneys Fighting For Injured Victims in New York City
Spinal cord injuries can happen in many ways. Work injuries, car accidents, medical malpractice, and slip-and-fall incidents can result in back or neck injuries that are so severe that the spinal cord is temporarily or permanently damaged. The results of spine injuries can be severe and long-standing.
Insurance companies know that spine injuries can be unpredictable. They will often push you to accept a settlement before you and your doctor fully know how your spinal cord injury will affect your health and finances.
Shaevitz & Shaevitz Law Offices can provide you with an experienced spine injury attorney. Our knowledge and expertise can ensure that you get fair compensation for your spinal cord injury whether we negotiate a settlement or litigate in court.
How Can a Spine Injury Lawyer Help?
A spine injury attorney practices personal injury law but has an interest in helping people who have suffered neurological injuries. Representing clients with spinal cord injuries often requires specialized knowledge and experience. Some of the ways spinal cord injuries may vary include:
Damages: Every spine injury is unique, and the damages you suffer will relate directly to the effects of your injury. A spine injury lawyer can evaluate your case and quantify the damages you have suffered from your accident.
Evidence: To prove that you are entitled to compensation, you will need to establish both the existence and severity of your injury. A spine injury attorney has the experience and knowledge to gather the witness statements, expert opinions, and medical records that will persuade an insurance company or jury about the extent of your injury.
Causation: Neurological conditions are often dismissed by insurance companies because the effects can seem disconnected from the spinal cord injury. For example, muscle spasms, constipation, and numbness can all result from spinal cord damage. An injury lawyer can link the cause-and-effect nature of your injury and its associated ailments to the incident that initiated it.
What Are Some Common Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries?
Spinal cord injuries can result from many kinds of accidents or incidents including:
Intentional acts: When someone is injured due to the deliberate act of another, the attacker is responsible for the damages caused. Whether the intentional act is a prank gone wrong, bar fight, or random act of violence, an injury attorney can pursue the attacker for compensation.
Vehicle accidents: Car accidents can result in spinal cord injuries to drivers, passengers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists due to the enormous energy involved in a collision.
Medical malpractice: Errors committed by doctors, nurses, and even non-medical hospital personnel can damage the spinal cord and other nerves.
Slip-and-fall incidents: Slipping in a store, hotel, office, entertainment venue, gym, or other public building can result in broken vertebrae and ruptured or herniated discs. These back injuries can damage the spinal cord by compressing or even severing nerves in the spinal column.
Product liability: Defective products can result in spinal cord injuries when they fail.
Workplace accidents: Slips, falling objects, collisions, and even horseplay on the job can result in serious spinal cord injuries.
What Are Some Symptoms of Spinal Cord Injuries?
Spinal cord injuries can manifest many strange and unpredictable symptoms. These symptoms result from a disruption in the communication between the brain and the rest of the body. These disruptions can affect sensory neurons that carry signals to the brain from the nerves and motor neurons that carry signals from the brain to the muscles and organs.
Some symptoms of spinal cord injuries include:
Paralysis: Serious spinal cord injuries can cause temporary or permanent paralysis. Paralysis occurs when the motor neurons are unable to carry signals from the brain to one’s muscles.
Digestive problems: Nerves carry signals for automatic processes like digestion. When spinal cord injuries disrupt these signals, patients can experience constipation, loss of bowel control, and loss of bladder control.
Numbness: Disruption of sensory neurons can cause loss of sensation, numbness, and loss of sensitivity to heat or cold.
Muscle spasms: When nerve signals get jumbled, patients can experience muscle spasms or muscle weakness.
Breathing difficulties: When nerves controlling muscles in the chest and abdomen are disrupted, a patient may experience shortness of breath or require assistance to breathe.
What Damages Can Arise from Spinal Cord Injuries?
Spinal cord injuries can have effects that are temporary or permanent. In either case, a spine injury may require extensive medical treatment and physical therapy. Additionally, people who incur spinal cord injuries may be unable to work and may develop depression and other emotional and mental difficulties.
Some of the damages that a spine injury attorney can assert include:
Compensatory damages: These damages are intended to replace or reimburse out-of-pocket expenses such as medical bills, lost wages, therapy costs, and even modifications to your home to accommodate the effects of your spinal cord injury. Keep in mind that these damages are intended to cover both past and future costs. Thus, a permanent spine injury that will require a lifetime of therapy will likely entitle you to greater damages than a temporary spinal cord injury.
Consequential damages: Losses that arise as a consequence of your spinal cord injury can also be claimed as damages. Examples of consequential damages include pain and suffering, loss of consortium, and lost earning capacity. While tying a concrete number to these damages can be difficult, an experienced spine injury lawyer can help you identify and value such damages.
Punitive damages: In extraordinary cases, a jury can award punitive damages to deter a wrongdoer or punish egregious behavior. For example, if you received a spinal cord injury from a product that the manufacturer knew to be defective, an injury lawyer could argue that you should receive a punitive damages award.
How Are Spinal Cord Injury Cases Resolved?
In most spine injury cases, your lawyer will deal primarily with the insurer for the person or business that caused the injury. Although every personal injury case is unique, the typical process for resolving a spinal cord injury case includes:
Consulting with a lawyer: You will meet with a spine injury attorney about your medical diagnosis and the circumstances that led to it. After you retain representation, the lawyer will gather information about your case, such as police reports, medical records, and witness statements.
Contacting the insurance company: The insurance company for the person or business responsible for your injury will take the lead in defending them and attempting to resolve your claim. Keep in mind that the insurance company is not working for your benefit. The insurance company will do anything possible to minimize the liability of its insured, including shifting blame to you.
Negotiating a settlement: Your lawyer will negotiate with the insurer to try to resolve the case without a lawsuit. The lawyer’s goal is to obtain a fair settlement that will compensate you for your present and future expenses arising from the spinal cord injury.
Filing a lawsuit: If your lawyer cannot negotiate a settlement, your lawyer may recommend filing a lawsuit and presenting your case to a jury for a damages award.
Schedule A Free Consultation To Speak With An Experienced Spine Injury Lawyer at Shaevitz & Shaevitz
A spine injury can change your life. Even a temporary spinal cord injury can prevent you from working while you obtain expensive medical treatment and therapy. A permanent spinal cord injury might end your career and leave you with irreparable disabilities.
Contact Shaevitz & Shaevitz Law Offices in Queens, New York at 718-291-3400 or 718-LAW-SUIT or online to schedule a free legal consultation. We have over 65 years of experience helping clients with spinal cord injuries.