Fort Lauderdale Spinal Cord Injury Lawyers
A spinal cord injury is a catastrophic injury that almost always changes your life forever. If you or a loved one suffered a spinal cord injury due to someone else’s negligence, a Fort Lauderdale spinal cord injury lawyer can help you. Protecting your best interests is essential when it comes to pursuing possible compensation. The injury demands your full attention. Take immediate action following your spinal cord injury by contacting the Levin Firm now for a free case evaluation.
How Does a Spinal Cord Injury Affect the Body?
The spinal cord performs an important function by communicating between the brain and the rest of the body. When injured, the spinal cord’s ability to communicate becomes limited or stops completely.
There are two general types of spinal cord injuries:
- Complete: the victim experiences a total lack of sensory and motor function below the level of injury.
- Incomplete: the victim experiences a reduction or partial lack of sensory and motor function below the level of injury.
For many accident victims who suffer such an injury, the resulting paralysis is devastating. Patients must learn to adapt to using a power wheelchair, hire someone to make home modifications so that they can use the chair at home, and secure accessible transportation. According to Consumer Affairs, the cost of a new wheelchair-accessible van ranges from $40,000 to $100,000. Modification to a standard van can cost between $15,000 to $30,000.
Permanent paralysis requires the replacement of power wheelchairs and vehicles throughout the patient’s lifetime. The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation reports that the lifetime costs of a spinal cord injury can reach into the millions. When the injury is the result of negligence on behalf of another party, these costs should not come from your own finances.
A Fort Lauderdale spinal cord injury lawyer helps accident victims by filing insurance claims and lawsuits. Taking civil action against those liable for your spinal cord injury is a complex process. At the Levin Firm, we understand the steps necessary for pursuing possible compensation and justice. We are eager to get to work—either for you or on behalf of your loved one. Contact us online today or call us for your free case evaluation.
What Are Some Common Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries?
Medical professionals consider the spinal cord injured if it is stretched, bruised, crushed, or severed. The following list contains a few examples of traumatic events that can result in a spinal cord injury:
Motor Vehicle Accidents
Car accidents are a major cause of spinal cord injuries. Fort Lauderdale highways and city streets are busy places, carrying millions of residents and visitors to and from their destinations. The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles shows that more than 400,000 crashes happened statewide during one recent year. As a result of these accidents, more than 255,000 injuries and 3,135 deaths occurred.
A driver is negligent and therefore possibly liable for your damages if they took the following risks:
- Drinking and driving: Driving with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 percent or higher is illegal. Too often, drivers falsely believe they are invincible and can get home safely despite being over the legal limit.
- Driving under the influence of drugs: Recreational marijuana use remains illegal in Florida, but medicinal use is legal. Other drugs that can impair a driver’s reaction time include opioid and over-the-counter medications.
- Road rage: Aggressive driving—like speeding—can escalate into road rage. This type of dangerous behavior can result in a serious accident.
- Driving tired: Long work hours and an inability to rest can cause a driver to fall asleep behind the wheel. According to the National Sleep Foundation, driving drowsy impairs judgment in similar ways to drunk driving.
- Driving distracted: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) lists three main forms of distraction: visual, manual, and cognitive. Texting behind the wheel, according to the CDC, involves all three forms of distraction.
Drivers who take chances that result in serious harm to others must face accountability. Holding them responsible for their actions is imperative for preventing a possible repeat of the same behavior. Your injuries were most likely preventable if the driver had made better choices. This is not fair and it’s why you should contact a Fort Lauderdale spinal cord injury lawyer without delay.
Slip and Fall Accidents
A serious fall in a store, restaurant, or on a sidewalk is no laughing matter. While you may feel embarrassed, you may have sustained a spinal cord injury. Your life may never return to the way it was before the accident—all because of a neglectful property owner. You should not have to pay out-of-pocket expenses because a property owner failed to maintain a safe environment for visitors.
The blunt force trauma of a slip and fall accident can change your life in a slip second.
If one or more of the following conditions caused your fall, the property owner may owe you money for your damages:
- Damaged steps or steps with no handrail;
- Poorly maintained sidewalks;
- Dimly lit parking lots or no lighting for nighttime visitors;
- Extension or other types of cords stretched across major walkways;
- Wet floors due to spilled beverages or other causes; or
- Torn, frayed, or loose carpeting or rugs.
These are just a few examples of how a property owner can fail to protect you from serious harm. Your lawyer can investigate your accident on your behalf. Their goal is to determine what the property knew about the hazard and when they knew it.
Law enforcement typically does not respond to a slip and fall accident, so making sure the on-duty manager files a store incident report can be important for your case. A business’s insurer often requires such a report. This and other types of valuable evidence can help your lawyer as they build your Fort Lauderdale spinal cord injury case.
Construction Injuries
Construction job sites often involve moving equipment, high scaffolding, and other dangers. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) lists the following top four causes of construction site fatalities:
- Falls;
- Struck by objects;
- Caught in-between objects; and
- Electrocutions.
For those who survive a construction site accident, a spinal cord injury is a real possibility. If your day at work resulted in permanent paralysis, a Fort Lauderdale spinal cord injury lawyer can help you fight for justice.
These are just a few examples of how a tragic accident can occur in a second yet change your life forever. If the person responsible for your accident faces criminal charges, their criminal case has no bearing on your civil action.
What Types of Compensation Are Available for a Spinal Cord Injury in Fort Lauderdale?
The expense—both monetary and emotional—of your spinal cord injury is significant. You may experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following your accident or have to deal with the stress of frequent re-hospitalizations. Depression and anxiety can also result due to your climbing medical costs and inability to work.
At the Levin Firm, we take great pride in our past success in securing results for our clients. Each Fort Lauderdale spinal cord injury case is unique to the accident and those involved.
Depending on the details of your case, you may qualify for compensation to cover:
- Your medical costs, now and moving forward;
- Lost wages due to time away from work for your recovery;
- Diminished earning capacity, if you can return to the same job as before; and
- Pain and suffering, PTSD, and other emotional effects of your injury.
Our team works hard to build a case that demonstrates the true cost of our clients’ injuries. We will not stop until we secure the best possible outcome in each case we take on. If the victim is your loved one, securing compensation on their behalf is another way we may assist you.
Why Should I Hire a Fort Lauderdale Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer?
An insurance company may offer you a quick settlement in the hopes you will accept it before you hire a lawyer. You may not realize that the amount they are offering is far less than what you need and deserve. The ultimate goal of most insurance companies is to settle claims for the least amount possible.
If an insurance company has made you a preliminary settlement offer, contact the Levin Law Firm. A member of our team can get to work, aggressively countering the insurance company’s offer.
Most Fort Lauderdale spinal cord injury cases settle out of court. If we cannot secure the type of compensation we believe is fair, we stand ready to take your case to trial.
Insurance companies know what they are doing, and their tactics may confuse you. Do not let them pressure you into signing or accepting anything without having an experienced attorney review the offer first. Accepting their offer generally prevents you from pursuing further compensation in the future.
How Can Your Fort Lauderdale Spinal Cord Injury Lawyers Help Me?
You may delay contacting a lawyer due to concerns regarding costs. At the Levin Firm, we do not collect our fee unless we secure compensation for you. If we win your case, we collect our fee from the awarded amount. If we do not win your case, you do not pay.
Personal injury law focuses on victims of negligence. When someone fails to use the same care another person would use in like circumstances, they are generally responsible for any accident they cause. Proving negligence is best left to a legal professional.
The attorneys at the Levin Firm understand that this is an incredibly trying time for you and your family. Our attorneys are compassionate and maintain open communication with each of our clients as we work to get them compensation.
Part of our approach is to ensure that our clients understand how their case is progressing. We never leave our clients in the dark. This knowledge brings our clients assurance as they learn to manage their injury.
The statute of limitations for filing your lawsuit starts the moment you suffer your spinal cord injury. This means the moment you become injured, the clock starts ticking for pursuing possible compensation.
Contact the Levin Firm for Help With Your Spinal Cord Injury Case
Interviewing witnesses and piecing together how your spinal cord accident occurred takes time. The more time that passes from the date of your accident, the higher the chance of lost evidence and fading witness memories.
In addition to these factors, state law requires that you act quickly. Florida law generally allows four years for a Fort Lauderdale spinal cord injury lawsuit. This may sound like plenty of time, but time flies when you are not injured and can pass even faster when you experience a serious injury.
A spinal cord injury disrupts your life in such a way that daily tasks can become challenging and difficult. Adjusting to your new reality requires your full focus and attention. Medical appointments can easily fill your schedule, leaving you no time to pursue your case.
The issue of how to pay for your medical care can cause you great anxiety. Your spinal cord injury, time away from home, and the possible loss of your career are enough to deal with. Let a spinal cord injury lawyer from the Levin Firm fight your legal battle for you.
We know how, when, and where to start. Our team can put together the strongest case possible for compensation. We will identify all parties possibly responsible for the harm you suffered.
By taking immediate action, you may prevent someone else from suffering a similar accident in the future. Those responsible may take better care or implement stronger safety measures. Seeking compensation for your spinal cord injury and your damages is your right, and you do not have to seek it alone.
To learn if you have a case for a Fort Lauderdale spinal cord injury claim and a lawsuit, call The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers now for a free case evaluation at (954) 715-3260 or contact us online today. Let us put our experience to work for you.
The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers | Fort Lauderdale Office
1608 E Commercial Blvd
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33334
Toll Free: 877.825.8542