A brain or spinal cord injury can have devastating effects. Contact an attorney at the Menzer Law Firm in Seattle to discuss your legal options.






ADDRESS:
Menzer Law Firm, PLLC
705 Second Ave., Suite 800
Seattle, WA 98104

TELEPHONE:
Tel: 866-751-8315
Fax: 206-903-1821

Spinal Cord Injury and Brain Injury Attorney Expertise in Seattle

A brain injury or spinal cord injury can be devastating to an accident victim and his or her family.  Our personal injury attorneys at the Seattle-based Menzer Law Firm have handled many brain injury and spinal cord injury cases for clients and their families. The overlap of this specialized legal area with personal injury and medical malpractice law makes for complex and challenging cases, and we have the legal skills and experience to obtain a fair and just settlement or trial verdict for brain injury or spinal cord injury victims.

Brain Injury

Every year across the United States, about 1 million people are treated in a hospital emergency room for a head injury (also known as a traumatic brain injury, or TBI), and about 50,000 people die from their brain injury. Half of all TBIs are due to vehicle accidents involving a car, motorcycle, truck, bicycle, or other modes of transportation. Other TBIs are due mostly to falls, sports injuries, and violence such as child abuse or involving guns. As has been noted recently in the media, TBIs are also considered the "signature" wound of troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. People who have experienced a TBI often suffer from problems with cognition, memory, behavior, and communication, and some brain-injured individuals develop medical complications such as epilepsy.

What Is a Traumatic Brain Injury?

A traumatic brain injury occurs when sudden trauma causes damage to the brain, such as when the head suddenly hits an object or when something pierces the skull and contacts the brain tissue. TBIs can also occur when the head and brain are violently shaken (without direct contact with an object), such as what can occur in a car accident. Someone who has just experienced a TBI may lose consciousness for a few seconds or minutes, or they may remain conscious and not seem at first to be seriously injured.

Symptoms of a TBI depend on the extent of the brain injury and range from mild to severe. Possible brain injury symptoms include confusion, headache, dizziness, ringing in the ears, blurred vision, a bad taste in the mouth, a change in sleep patterns, fatigue or lethargy, behavior and mood changes, and trouble with concentration, memory, attention, and clear thinking. A moderate or severe TBI may also result in repeated vomiting or nausea, a headache that gets worse or doesn't go away, loss of coordination, convulsions/seizures, increased confusion, restlessness, agitation, and other symptoms.

If you suspect that you or someone in your family incurred a significant brain injury, contact an attorney with the Menzer Law Firm in Seattle immediately. You'll be able to discuss the medical consequences of a TBI as well as the legal options for someone who has experienced a TBI due to the negligence or intentional harm of another person or an organization.

How Might Having a Brain Injury Affect a Person?

Many patients with a brain injury need surgery for hematomas (ruptured blood vessels) and/or contusions (bruised brain tissue). Disabilities from a TBI include problems with:

  • Behavior or mental health (e.g., anxiety, depression, aggression, acting out, personality changes, and social inappropriateness)
  • Cognition (thinking, reasoning, and memory)
  • Sensory processing (sight, touch, hearing, taste, smell)
  • Communication (expressing oneself and understanding others)

In the most serious brain injury cases, the patient may remain in a generally unresponsive state in which he or she can be roused only by a strong stimulus such as pain (this is called a "stupor"); a coma, in which the patient is completely unconscious, unresponsive, and incapable of being woken; a vegetative state, in which the patient is unconscious and unaware of surroundings but still has a sleep-wake cycle and some moments of alertness; or a persistent vegetative state (PVS), in which the patient remains in a vegetative state for more than a month.

If you or a family member are suffering from a traumatic brain injury and you feel that a legal claim may be appropriate, please contact a brain injury attorney at the Seattle offices of the Menzer Law Firm. We understand the intricacies of the medical issues involved, and we will fight to protect your rights during this difficult time. We also have a great deal of experience with medical malpractice and personal injury law.

Spinal Cord Injury

More than 250,000 Americans are living with a spinal cord injury. It's estimated that each year in the United States, between 10,000 and 12,000 people receive a spinal cord injury. While they are most often due to vehicle accidents, violent encounters account for another 25 percent of these injuries. Workplace accidents, sports, and falls account for the rest. At the Menzer Law Firm in Seattle; we have handled cases involving clients with a broken back, ruptured vertebrae, chronic pain, paraplegic and quadraplegic from a spinal cord injury.

What Is a Spinal Cord Injury?

The most common type of spinal cord injury is a traumatic and sudden blow that dislocates the vertebrae or fractures the spine. Displaced bone fragments, ligaments, or parts of the spine's discs bruise or tear into the spinal cord tissue. Most types of spinal cord injury don't completely sever the spine.

A spinal cord injury is classified as either incomplete or complete. With an incomplete injury, the ability of the spinal cord to carry messages to and from the brain is not entirely lost; someone with an incomplete spinal cord injury retains some motor and/or sensory function below the site of the injury. Someone who has suffered a complete spinal cord injury, on the other hand, will have a total lack of motor and sensory function below the site of the injury. An individual who is paraplegic loses the ability to move and feel sensations in the lower body. A person who is quadriplegic has a loss of movement and sensation in both the lower body and the arms.

The severity of a spinal cord injury is often indicated by respiratory complications. About one-third of the individuals with a spinal cord injury at the level of the neck will require respiratory support to breathe. Consult a spinal cord attorney at the offices of the Menzer Law Firm about the legal options for someone who has been afflicted with  a spinal cord injury. Whether your case is considered a personal injury or an instance of medical malpractice, we can advise you of your rights.

How Does a Spinal Cord Injury Affect the Rest of the Body?

The outcome of a spinal cord injury may often include complications such as bladder and bowel dysfunction and chronic pain, as well as increased susceptibility to skin, cardiac and respiratory problems. After some types of spinal cord injury, patients can expect a nearly total recovery, whereas other injuries result in complete and permanent paralysis of some or most of the patient's body.

Schedule an Appointment with a Spinal Cord Injury or Brain Injury Attorney

It is tragic whenever someone's physical or mental health is adversely affected by the negligence or harmful action of another, and brain and spinal cord injuries can have devastating impacts. If you have suffered a brain injury or spinal cord injury, seek the counsel of an experienced attorney to protect your rights. At the Menzer Law Firm, we know how difficult the aftermath of a brain injury or spinal cord injury can be. Contact an attorney at our office in Seattle to discuss your legal rights and the compensation to which you may be entitled.