When a horrific accident ravages the brain or spinal cord, it shatters the very fabric of a person’s life, not to mention the lives of everyone lucky enough to call them a loved one. We help people and families navigate this nightmarish new reality, and we know all too well that the damage from these kinds of injuries goes far beyond the physical scars that can be seen on a doctor’s scan. The injured individual faces an uphill battle with severe physical limitations, cognitive fogginess, mood swings that will make your head spin, the painful loss of independence, relentless chronic pain, and the stark, cold reality that their future will be nothing like the one they thought they’d have. Family members are suddenly thrust into a world of caregiving, with the weight of huge financial stress, spiraling medical bills, and a steep learning curve on how to navigate a system that can be more baffling than a Rubik’s Cube. They have to grapple with the crushing loss of the person they once knew, and the future that vanished in an instant. Nursing home negligence occurs when residents suffer harm due to poor care or abuse. This may include medication errors, neglect, or unsafe living conditions. Families can take legal action to protect their loved ones and seek accountability.
Brain injuries happen all the time, even in the most mundane situations, car crashes, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian knockdowns, falls from a ladder, workplace accidents, falls on the ice, sports mishaps, and even violent assaults. The brain is an incredibly delicate and complicated thing. It’s the puppet master of our bodies, controlling everything from the basics like our heartbeat and breathing, to higher-level functions like thinking, personality, emotions, and being aware of the world around us. When it gets hurt, and that can happen in so many ways, the implications can be shockingly serious and far-reaching. Some physical symptoms include cripplingly bad headaches, vertigo, trouble keeping your balance, vision or hearing problems, clumsiness, muscle weakness or paralysis, seizures, or exhaustion so bad that even simple tasks start to feel impossible. Cognitive impairments can cause you to struggle remembering things, focus on a task, absorb new information, speak, make decisions, reason, or solve problems, all of which are crucial for holding down a job, or even just getting through the day. Wrongful death claims arise when a person dies due to someone else’s negligence or misconduct. Surviving family members may seek compensation for financial losses and emotional suffering. Legal action can help provide financial stability during a difficult time.
Spinal cord injuries are some of the most devastating kinds of trauma out there, partly because they can leave someone trapped in a body that’s no longer under their control. The spinal cord is basically the main communication highway between the brain and the rest of the body. It transmits the vital signals that control voluntary movement, feeling, and other autonomic functions like your heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, and digestion. If this delicate channel gets disrupted, maybe due to a break, dislocation, bruising or crushing of the vertebrae that protect it, then communication can come to a grinding halt. And with that, you can lose all sorts of essential functions below the injury site. Complete spinal cord injuries can knock out all your motor and sensory abilities below the injury, while incomplete injuries may leave you with some level of function still intact. Where the injury happens makes all the difference too, a high cervical injury can cause quadriplegia and leave you needing a machine to breathe, while a thoracic or lumbar injury might result in paraplegia, which affects the lower body. These injuries don’t just bring paralysis, they can also bring chronic pain, spasms, incontinence, sexual dysfunction, pressure sores, breathing problems, cardiovascular issues, autonomic dysfunction, blood clots, and a much higher risk of infections and other serious secondary health problems.
Families who weren’t prepared for a catastrophe like this one are utterly crushed by the financial weight of brain and spinal cord injuries. Just a few weeks after the accident, the cost of emergency medical services like ambulance rides, trauma care, diagnostic imaging, surgery and intensive care can run hundreds of thousands of dollars. Then there are inpatient rehabilitation clinics, which offer intense therapy from a variety of pros, but can cost thousands a day for weeks or even months. And of course, there’s outpatient therapy, regular trips to the doctor, prescription medications and medical supplies that just keep going on and on. And then you have specialized equipment, fancy wheelchairs, communication devices, environmental control systems, hospital beds, patient lifts and all sorts of adaptive tech, all of which costs a small fortune and needs to be replaced every now and then. Plus, a lot of homes need major renovations, ramps, bathrooms that are easy to get to, wider doors and living spaces that aren’t so hard to get around. If that can’t be done, residents often have to move to housing that’s already accessible. If someone can’t do basic daily tasks on their own, they need personal care attendants, which can be a huge expense. The cost of 24 hour care can be more than most families make in a year, and can go on for decades. And to make matters worse, lost income just adds to the financial disaster, since most people with catastrophic injuries can’t get back to their old jobs or find any other work that pays well.
At Singer Katz, we’re dedicated to helping people who’ve hurt their brains and spines get the money they need and deserve. We know that no amount of cash can undo the damage that’s been done or bring back what’s been lost, but having the right amount can make a huge difference in quality of life. It means being able to get good medical care and rehab, getting the equipment and changes you need, paying for professional caregiving, and having the financial security to focus on living life to the fullest instead of constantly worrying about how to pay the bills.
To win a brain or spinal cord damage case, you need to do a lot of homework, keep detailed records and get strong expert testimony. We work closely with medical experts who can explain the injuries, the treatment received, existing limits, and the future prognosis in a way that judges and juries can understand. We also work with rehab pros to show what progress has been made in recovery and what disabilities are going to stick around. Life care planners help figure out what future medical care, equipment, prescriptions, treatments, home modifications and attendant care are going to cost over the injured person’s estimated lifespan. We also have experts in vocational rehab who look at how much the injury has cost the person financially, and economic specialists who put all these factors together to make a full damage calculation that shows just how bad things really are.
Insurance companies know that catastrophic injury cases can end up with settlements or verdicts for millions of dollars, so they fight these claims tooth and nail. They might dispute who’s to blame for the accident, how bad the injuries are, whether the injured person will get better faster than our experts think, or whether pre-existing conditions made things worse. They’ll often make early settlement offers in the hopes of wrapping things up quickly, before they know just how bad the long term needs are going to be. These offers may sound like a lot, but they usually don’t come close to paying all of your lifetime costs. Having a lawyer on your side keeps you from taking unfair settlements, and makes sure that someone with experience is fighting hard for your full entitlement.
Time is of the essence in cases of severe injury. Physical evidence from accident sites can disappear, witnesses can become harder to find, memories can fade, and there are legal restrictions called statutes of limitations that limit how long you have to file cases. If you miss these deadlines, you usually lose your right to get money back. The sooner you get in touch with us after a brain or spinal cord injury, the better we can protect important evidence and make a stronger case for you.
We know that dealing with legal matters can be a real challenge when you’re already struggling with serious injuries and their effects. Taking care of your health, going to rehab, dealing with all the other stuff that comes with it, just getting through each day takes up all your time and energy. That’s why we take care of the legal side of things so you can focus on what really matters. We talk to insurance companies, look into what happened, gather evidence, talk to specialists, work out settlements, and if needed, take cases to court. You shouldn’t have to fight this battle by yourself.
People who’ve been hurt shouldn’t have to break the bank to get the best possible legal advice. We work on a contingency fee basis, that means you don’t need to dig into your pocket to get started, and you only pay us when we win your case and secure the compensation you deserve. This way, anyone regardless of their financial situation can get solid advice from an experienced lawyer. And the fact is, our success is very much tied to yours.
Over the years, we’ve built a reputation in Scarborough for being a caring team of attorneys who really know our stuff and will stop at nothing to fight for the rights of our clients who’ve been through hell because of someone else’s negligence. We’ve seen firsthand just how devastating brain and spinal cord injuries can be for individuals and their loved ones. So when we take on a case, we treat it with the sensitivity, time and attention to detail that it requires. We’re not just after the biggest payout possible, we’re after justice for our clients. And we treat them with the respect, patience and genuine empathy that comes with dealing with something as traumatic as this.
At Singer Katz, we genuinely believe that victims of carelessness deserve the top-notch legal representation they need to get back on their feet. If you or someone close to you has suffered a brain or spinal cord injury in Scarborough, then we’re here to listen, to help guide you through what can be a really tough time and to fight your corner. Get in touch for a free no-strings-attached chat. We can hear your story, answer your questions, explain your rights and the options available to you and help you get a clearer idea of what to expect from this tough road ahead.
