La Crosse Spinal Cord Injury Attorneys
Following spinal cord injuries, you may have a lot of questions about your legal right to compensation. Your spinal cord injuries can change the shape of your life: how you spend your leisure time, how you can work, and even your ability to take care of yourself. While a personal injury claim cannot restore lost mobility, it can offer much-needed financial compensation that makes it easier for you to take care of the expenses often associated with that injury.
Do you believe that you have grounds for compensation following a spinal cord injury, due to injuries that occurred because of someone else’s negligence? The La Crosse spinal cord injury lawyers at Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers can help. Contact us today at (651) 358-2741 to learn more about your right to compensation.
Injured in La Crosse? Get Nicolet.
Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers: How We Can Help with Your La Crosse Spinal Cord Injury Claim
At Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers, we pride ourselves on going the extra mile to help our clients seek the compensation they deserve following severe injuries. Our attorneys have successfully helped many accident victims, including spinal cord injury victims, recover the compensation they deserve. Our attorneys:
Focus on helping.
At Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers, we know hard life becomes when you have sustained severe injuries in an accident due to another party’s negligence. We focus on helping our clients secure the compensation they deserve, including providing them with a better idea of how much compensation they deserve for those injuries.
Help you understand your rights.
Spinal cord injuries can leave you with a lot of information thrown at you at once. As a result of your spinal cord injuries, you may have to relearn how to do a lot of the things that you once took for granted or how to function within new limitations.
You may find yourself needing to pursue a new line of work because of your injuries, or be forced to reexamine how you spend your leisure time. At the same time, you may have a personal injury claim to deal with—and that claim can leave you with a lot of legal questions and concerns.
We help ensure that our clients understand their rights, from how much compensation they deserve to how to recover that compensation, as they move forward with their claims.
Have a strong dedication to winning.
At Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers, we consider your claim important, and we will fight hard to help our clients get the compensation they deserve. We apply our years of experience with personal injury law to each claim, making it easier for our clients to achieve their goals.
Common Challenges Faced by La Crosse Spinal Cord Injury Victims
Life after a spinal cord injury may look very different from life before it. Complete spinal cord injuries, which sever the spinal cord completely, may result in full paralysis below the site of the accident. Victims with incomplete spinal cord injuries may suffer the loss of some of the mobility that occurs below the site of the injury. In addition, victims often struggle with the loss of organ function below the side of the injury.
This loss of mobility leads to challenges. First and foremost, the cost of healthcare for patients with spinal cord injury can skyrocket, leaving you struggling to pay your medical bills. You may have a long stay in a rehabilitation facility while you learn how to deal with the limitations of your injuries. Spinal cord injuries may also require the use of durable medical equipment for the rest of your life.
For many spinal cord injury victims, moving forward with life after spinal cord injury can pose the greatest difficulty. Many victims cannot return to work the way they once did or even in their previous injuries, which means they may have to pursue additional training in other areas. They may also need to engage in new leisure activities, since spinal cord injuries can prevent victims from playing sports or participating in many of their usual activities.
La Crosse Spinal Cord Injuries: Who Bears Liability?
Spinal cord injuries can occur in La Crosse for many reasons. Devil’s Lake State Park includes hazards, especially for hikers who go off of the marked trails. ATV Routes on county highways may provide convenience for people who want to get away in the area, but they can also expose riders to unexpected hazards, including the possibility of serious injury.
Who bears liability for your spinal cord injuries?
In general, the liable party for La Crosse spinal cord injuries includes someone who:
- Bore a duty of care to you at the time of the accident—in other words, had a responsibility to you in some way. Drivers, for example, all bear a duty of care to other drivers, while construction companies hold a high duty of care to visitors and employees alike on their construction sites.
- Violated that duty of care in some way. Sometimes, a violation of the duty of care includes an obvious act of negligence: a driver choosing to drive while inebriated or distracted, resulting in an accident that caused your spinal cord injury, for example. Other times, you may need an attorney to more deeply investigate the act of negligence that caused your accident and your injuries.
- Caused your injuries due to that violation of the duty of care.
Even if you think you know exactly whose negligence caused your spinal cord injury, contact Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers as soon after your accident as possible. Often, we have found that more than one party shares liability, especially in clear cases of gross negligence.
La Crosse Spinal Cord Injury FAQs
Do you have questions about the spinal cord injuries you sustained in La Crosse? Take a look at the FAQ below or contact us to learn more about your specific claim.
1. How much compensation can I recover from a spinal cord injury claim in La Crosse?
The compensation you can recover after suffering severe spinal cord injuries in La Crosse can depend on several key factors.
First, it will depend on who caused your spinal cord injuries. Many entities, including drivers, carry insurance policies that will ultimately cover the cost of your injuries. Those policies, however, likely have limitations to how much they will pay out, which may impact how much compensation you can claim.
In general, the compensation you can recover will break down into several categories:
- Medical costs related to your spinal cord injuries
- Compensation for the wages you lost due to your injuries
- Compensation for pain and suffering
Talk to an attorney to learn more about how the specific circumstances that led to your accident may impact your claim, including how much compensation you really deserve for your injuries.
2. Should I accept a settlement offer from the insurance company after my spinal cord injuries?
Insurance companies may try to decrease the compensation they have to pay out following serious injuries in La Crosse. One common tactic? Trying to convince the victim to accept a low settlement offer, often immediately after the accident.
Immediately after your accident, you may have a hard time figuring out what to do next. You know you have medical bills mounting fast, especially since spinal cord injuries can cost more than $1 million in treatment in the first year after injury alone. A settlement offer may sound highly appealing, especially if you can reach a fast agreement with the insurance company.
Unfortunately, that fast offer may not offer you the full compensation you really need or deserve. In fact, in many cases, an insurance company’s initial settlement offer reflects only a small percentage of the compensation the victim really deserves for the injuries sustained in the accident. Instead, talk to an experienced La Crosse spinal cord injury attorney to learn how much compensation you really deserve before accepting an offer.
3. Who has to pay my medical bills?
La Crosse offers a range of great hospitals, including Gunderson Lutheran Medical Center and Franciscan Healthcare. Those hospitals offer a high standard of treatment. Unfortunately, high medical costs associated with spinal cord injuries can leave you struggling financially.
As the victim of spinal cord injuries and, therefore, as the person receiving medical treatment, you will have to make arrangements to pay your medical bills.
However, you can use several solutions to make it easier to pay those medical bills.
- Use your health insurance. Contact your health insurance provider to learn more about how much coverage you will have for elements of treatment following your spinal cord injuries, including durable medical equipment like your wheelchair or even a hospital bed at home.
- Use MedPay coverage. MedPay, which you can add to your auto insurance coverage, can provide much-needed coverage when you suffer injuries in a car accident. If your spinal cord injuries happened in a car accident, you can use MedPay coverage to pay for your medical expenses.
- Use the funds from your spinal cord injury claim. Assume, however, that you will not receive the funds from your spinal cord injury claim quickly. It may take time before you can pay off those bills. Meanwhile, talk to your medical care providers to make a payment arrangement or even have us issue a letter of protection establishing your intent to pay your medical bills once you have the funds from your spinal cord injury claim.
4. How long will it take to file a La Crosse personal injury claim following a spinal cord injury?
After a La Crosse spinal cord injury, you should expect it to take time to move forward with your spinal cord injury claim. While you should contact an attorney as soon after your accident as possible, your attorney may advise not moving forward with your claim until several months after your initial accident.
Immediately after you suffer a spinal cord injury, your doctor cannot always predict how much you will ultimately recover and, therefore, how much of a long-term effect your injuries will have on your life. You may regain some mobility immediately after your accident, especially if you sustained incomplete spinal cord injuries. On the other hand, you might not recover as much as your doctors initially thought, which may increase the compensation you deserve.
Next, both your attorney and the insurance company will need time to investigate your claim.
Finally, you may need to go through several rounds of negotiation before you reach an agreement with the insurance company. Sometimes, the insurance company will try to hold out longer than necessary in the effort to convince you to accept a lower settlement offer. By sticking with it, you may come closer to recovering the compensation you really deserve.
5. What should I do if I suffer a spinal cord injury in La Crosse?
A spinal cord injury typically means emergency medical transport to the nearest hospital, where doctors will evaluate the full extent of your injuries and provide immediate treatment. It may take time before you have the chance to start making choices that will protect your legal rights.
However, you should:
- Follow your doctors’ orders to maximize your odds of making a full recovery.
- Keep track of all medical expenses associated with your spinal cord injuries, from durable medical equipment to long-term treatment or in-home care.
- Make no statement that accepts liability for your accident, especially to the liable party’s insurance company.
- Contact an experienced La Crosse spinal cord injury lawyer as soon after your accident as possible to go over the compensation you deserve, and let your attorney take over dealing with the insurance company while you focus on recovery.
Do You Need a La Crosse Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer?
A La Crosse spinal cord injury lawyer can help you navigate your spinal cord injury claim and give you a better idea of how much compensation you may deserve for your injuries. Contact Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers today at (651) 358-2741 for your free consultation.