Atlanta Spinal Cord & Paralysis Lawyers

Spine Injury & Paralysis Lawyers in Atlanta

Most Common Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries

Every year, tens of thousands of Americans experience a life-altering spinal injury due to a preventable cause. There are many possible causes of spinal cord injuries and paralysis. Some of the most common causes include car and truck crashes, motorcycle wrecks, slips, trips and fall accidents, sports injuries, gunshots, or other acts of violence.

These causes were preventable, but they occurred nonetheless, possibly due to another person or entity’s negligence. Regardless of the type of negligent action that led to your injury, Montlick can handle your case with care, compassion, and precision. When you choose Montlick, you’re choosing an accomplished team of spinal cord injury lawyers who know you’re not a statistic —you’re a person in need of justice.

Spinal Cord Injuries Change Lives

Victims of spinal cord injuries can experience a variety of complications, including a loss of sensation or movement, numbness, tingling, impaired breathing, and complete or incomplete para- and tetraplegia.

Beyond visible, everyday complications, there are unseen or variable concerns that arise in the months or years after a spinal cord injury. Among people living with spinal cord injuries, common secondary health issues may involve:

Depression

The drastic lifestyle changes that accompany a spinal cord injury or paralysis are often traumatic. People may find they can no longer live and work how they used to. Without work, they may begin to feel a sense of purposelessness. While the constant need for care may make them feel like they are a burden. Understandably, depression is common in the wake of a spinal cord injury, affecting nearly 40% of survivors.

Chronic pain

The initial pain of a spinal cord injury is well-understood. But for people living with spinal cord injuries, they often find that the pain lasts long after. According to studies, this pain can prevent people from carrying out their daily activities. It can be so severe that it negatively impacts their quality of life.

Pressure injuries

Pressure injuries are caused by pressure on soft tissue or shearing. They can occur frequently in people living with paraplegia or tetraplegia or spinal cord injury survivors that are immobile for long periods of time.

Spasticity

Roughly 3 in every 4 people living with spinal cord injuries report having muscle spasms and a significant amount report that this overactive and involuntary muscle activity interferes with their daily life.

Changes in bowel and bladder function

The challenges posed by a spinal cord injury can disrupt many facets of what’s considered average living. Changes in bowel and bladder function are typical, especially as people with spinal cord injuries age.

Changes in how the brain processes pleasure

Symptoms like anxiety, along with depression, are common. These conditions can drastically alter the brain’s chemistry and function when coupled with disruptions caused by the inability to participate in activities or hobbies as before.

Atlanta Paralysis & Spinal Cord Injury Attorneys

What Happens After a Catastrophic Injury?

The immediate aftermath of a spinal cord injury or paralysis is filled with uncertainty and doubt. Attending to physical, mental, and emotional health needs should be the only item on the list. Unfortunately, that often isn’t the case. Adjusting to life after a catastrophic injury incurs significant costs that the typical household can’t bear. That’s why reaching out to a reliable spinal cord injury attorney matters. They can tackle the items that come after health, but are critical in securing justice.

Health Comes First

Attending to health needs is the ultimate priority following a Spinal cord injury. Hospital stays, though historically decreasing in length, are expected. Rehabilitative care and follow-up appointments with specialists are also necessary. In many cases, care is required in the years following the initial injury. This treatment and care is necessary, but paying for it will likely be challenging. Having you or a loved one contact a spinal cord injury can make it easier to focus solely on healing.

Don’t Take or Accept Blame

It’s unlikely that accusations of blame will immediately follow the accident. However, after your health is stabilized, insurers or the negligent party may confront you attempting to place blame on your shoulders. Avoid giving any statements, particularly recorded ones, until you’ve consulted with an attorney.

Beware of Runners

As you’re lying in a hospital bed working on recovery, paramedics or other attendants including hospital staff may try to push you toward hiring a specific attorney. This is called case running and it is an illegal practice. These attorneys are not to be trusted. They may not have the in-depth experience of spinal cord injuries to know what’s best in your case. Worse still, once retained, they may be difficult to get in contact with for updates on your case. Avoid these recommendations from strangers. Instead, turn to trusted and reliable sources to find the best spinal cord injury attorney for you.

Document the Accident

Understanding what happened and how it happened is important in achieving justice. However, you may need more time to acquire the kind of documentation needed. Calling Montlick quickly after the accident allows a trusted Atlanta paralysis attorney to go out to the scene immediately, potentially making all the difference. They should gather eyewitness statements or at least the name and number of anyone who saw the accident. Likewise, photographs of the scene should be taken as soon as possible.

Filing a Claim

Consult a trusted spinal cord injury lawyer in Atlanta before contacting the driver’s insurance company. Representation in a case can help you avoid making potentially incriminating statements on record with the insurance company.

Liability For Spinal Cord Injuries

Vehicle crashes cause the majority of spinal cord injuries in the United States. As already mentioned, many of the other leading causes of spinal cord injuries are preventable. In other words, they occurred due to someone else’s negligence. Negligence results from a person or entity’s breach of their duty of care. This means the negligent person failed to act reasonably, causing the accident and injuries. While every spinal cord injury and paralysis case is different, these are common forms of negligence:

Distracted, Dangerous, or Drunk Drivers

Increasingly, drivers are focused on almost anything but the road. GA Code § 40-6-241 (2023) mandates that drivers keep their hands off their phones while driving. Despite the law, many drivers are still preoccupied with other distractions. Likewise, drivers who ignore the speed limit and drive too fast cause or even worsen accidents. Finally, those who are impaired by drugs or alcohol have slower reactions and make poorer decisions, which can have deadly consequences. Holding these drivers accountable for their negligence is what spinal cord injury victims deserve.

Premise’s Liability

Some spinal cord injuries and paralysis occur after a “slip-and-fall” accident. These fall under what’s known as “Premise’s Liability.” This type of liability states that property owners have a duty of care to people who step onto their property. This duty depends on the visitor, whether they’re an invitee, licensee, or trespasser.

Product Liability

In some cases, a faulty product may have caused spinal cord injuries. These would fall under a category known as product liability. Georgia law allows for strict liability in product liability cases, meaning an injured person only needs to show that the defective product caused their injuries, not that the manufacturer acted negligently.

SCI and Paralysis Lawyers Fight For You

Trying to combat the insurance company alone can be a costly mistake. Insurance companies know how to maximize profits and often use unfair and intentionally confusing tactics to pay you as little as possible for your injury. Representation can make the difference between debt and justice. But how do you know who to turn to in this moment?

How to Find the Right Attorney

• Experience: Longevity in the firm is excellent, and shows much experience practicing the law. With so much at stake, though, you need more. Look for a firm that has deep experience in the specific area of law you need help in. 100 years of contract law experience might not be useful in a personal injury case.
• Resources: How well resourced is the firm? A client’s case might last a few months or a few years. Can the firm you hire deliver consistent care and attention to your case throughout the process? Importantly, do they have the resources to resolve the case successfully? Deposing witnesses, gathering evidence, and investigating the scene take time and money. Make sure the firm you choose has those in spades.
• A Plan: Good lawyers have a plan. Great lawyers bring their clients in on the plan. You should walk away from your initial consultation with a clear understanding of the road ahead. It may wind and hit some bumps along the way, but your attorney should warn their client of obstacles before they get in the way.
• Fee Structure: Besides walking out of the consultation with a plan, you should have a clear explanation of the attorney’s fee structure. This should let you know how, when, and who you’ll pay.
• Contact Information: Because cases take time to reach a settlement or verdict, you’re likely to have questions you didn’t think of in the initial consultation. You should be able to get those answers from the lawyer handling your case as soon as possible. No intermediaries, no go-betweens. Just you and your legal team.

The last thing you need after a life-altering accident is the added stress of a battle with huge insurance companies for the money you need and deserve. That’s where we come in.

At Montlick, we deal with insurance company tactics every day, and we’re trained and ready to fight on your behalf. We know how severely a spinal cord injury can affect your life. You may face extraordinary financial problems or a disability that limits or stops your ability to work. Our spinal cord injury attorneys will review your case and evaluate your right to seek compensation.

The Cost of a Spinal Cord Injury

Your case’s financial outcome will impact the rest of your life. While every accident is different, you may be looking at a lifetime of medical care, surgeries, hospitalizations, and medications just to manage your pain. There may also be changes to how you live, work, and socialize that need to be accounted for in potential litigation.

The exact costs of a spinal cord injury or paralysis (even if the paralysis is temporary or incomplete) can vary widely depending on the diagnosis and prognosis. A few common expenses that spinal cord injury victims face include:

• Accessible Housing: People living with spinal cord injuries or paralysis may have to move or make significant changes to their homes following their injury. These costs may be both economic and non-economic. For example, sometimes, people may have to leave their hometowns just to find accessible housing.
• Mobility Devices and other specialized medical equipment: Items like wheelchairs or unique beds may need to be purchased or rented following one of these injuries. The level of specialization required has a higher cost than other, more generic items may cost.
• Pain Management: This may involve prescription medications, physical therapy, or any recommended treatments. The cost of medications, nurses, doctors, or rehabilitation specialists all factor into the injury’s cost.
• Long-Term Care: The nature of these injuries may require live-in nurses or other specialized medical professionals to attend to long-term needs.

Your Montlick attorney investigates your injuries and medical needs and works with experts to calculate the money necessary to provide you with financial support for your past and future medical expenses.

Compensation for Spinal Cord Injuries

In addition to the medical and life expenses mentioned above, an experienced spinal cord injury attorney will seek other sources of compensation for their clients. The costs for hospitalizations, follow-ups, and specialized care must be pursued in a catastrophic injury claim. But other costs aren’t as easily identified. There likely aren’t any receipts for these “non-economic” damages, but there is a cost.

A just settlement or verdict for clients allows injured people to rebuild their lives. Knowing that the negligent party has been held liable grants the space to find peace. It certainly isn’t an easy process. But not having to worry about losing a home due to lost wages or skipping medical care because the cost is too high gives victims a chance to move forward. For people or loved ones with spinal cord injuries or paralysis, there may also be compensation for funeral costs, disability, and even punitive damages.

• Medical Expenses: Medical expenses may include hospital visits, doctor’s appointments, tests, exams, and physical therapy associated with your recovery. They can also include the long-term care outlined above.
• Lost Wages: The severity of a spinal cord injury or paralysis may prevent a person from working temporarily or permanently. It may take years for an injured person to re-enter the workforce, if at all. That gap between wages before and after the injury may be recovered in a claim.
• Pain and Suffering: According to GA Code § 9-10-184 (2023), attorneys can seek compensation for injured plaintiffs who experience pain and suffering due to their injury. Pain includes physical discomfort, while suffering includes emotional distress or trauma.
• Disability: If an injured person cannot work, permanently or temporarily, disability benefits may be recoverable in a claim.
• Funeral Expenses: Unfortunately, there may be instances when the accident is so severe that remaining loved one’s deserve to recover compensation for funeral expenses.
• Punitive Damages: When the behavior that caused an injury is particularly reprehensible, juries may award punitive damages to punish that behavior. Pushing for punitive damages may be part of pursuing maximum compensation for our clients.

Insurance Companies Won’t Back Down

The compensation above cuts right at an insurance company’s bottom line. They know, as well as we do, what our client’s claim is worth. They especially know when it’s likely to be a severe hit to their profits. When that’s the case, the insurance companies will work overtime to avoid paying anything near what’s owed to an injured victim.

Insurance companies will bring all their resources to bear against an injured victim. Standing alone against this well-resourced machine risks your chance to reclaim normalcy in your life. Knowing the fight that lies ahead, where can you turn for an ally?

Fighting Hard & Winning Cases^®

As you begin the momentous task of reclaiming your life after a spinal cord injury or paralysis, you’re going to need help. You’ll need the care and support of loved ones and expert medical care. You’ll need determination and strength as well. You also need and deserve justice.

At Montlick, we have a team of dedicated Atlanta spinal cord injury attorneys ready to help our clients recover. We know the struggle ahead and fight hard to make it easier on you.