La Crosse Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney
Whether you’re walking through Riverside Park, taking in the sights at the Dahl Auto Museum or the Children’s Museum, or visiting one of the many shops or restaurants in the area, there is no shortage of things to do and see in La Crosse. Unfortunately, busy roadways and unmitigated property hazards also offer plenty of ways to get hurt around town. One of the most serious injuries an individual can suffer in an accident in La Crosse is a traumatic brain injury. This is because, although it is one of the most important organs in the body, the brain has only a limited ability to heal after injury.
If you or your loved one has suffered a traumatic brain injury in La Crosse as the result of someone else’s reckless or careless actions, you may have the right to receive significant financial compensation.
An experienced La Crosse traumatic brain injury lawyer from Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers can help you understand your rights and options. Our team has secured compensation through settlements, judgments, and jury verdicts on behalf of traumatic brain injury victims throughout Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Contact us for your free consultation to learn about how we may help you secure the money you need after a TBI disrupts your life or the life of your loved one.
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About Traumatic Brain Injuries in La Crosse
A traumatic brain injury is damage to the brain caused by a violent blow or jolt to the head or body. The brain controls the body’s voluntary and involuntary systems. A brain injury interferes with the brain’s ability to function and, because the brain has only a limited ability to heal itself, often causes lasting impairments and deficits.
Impact Vary Based on Location of Injury
The brain is divided into functional segments—known as lobes—that are each responsible for different functions of the body. The deficits acquired from a TBI depend not only on the severity of the injury, but also on the part of the brain that suffered damage.
For example:
- The frontal lobe controls functions such as attention, concentration, organization, self-monitoring, expressive language (speaking), personality, and inhibition of behavior. An injury to this part of the brain will often result in difficulties with recalling events, communicating through spoken language, and controlling one’s emotions, impulses, and behavior.
- The temporal lobe controls functions such as memory, receptive language (the ability to understand spoken language), sequencing, hearing, and organization. An injury to the temporal lobe commonly produces difficulty with understanding conversations, as well as memory loss.
- The parietal lobe controls the body’s sense of touch, as well as depth perception, and the identification of colors and shapes. An injury to this part of the brain will generally impact the five senses of touch, taste, hearing, sight, and smell.
- The cerebellum controls the body’s ability to balance, skilled motor activity, and visual perception. An injury to the cerebellum will often result in difficulty with balanced, coordinated movement.
- The primary function of the occipital lobe is to control vision. An injury to this part of the brain will generally produce blindness or difficulty perceiving the size and shape of objects.
- The brain stem controls many of the body’s involuntary functions, such as a person’s sleep/wake cycle, heart rate, and breathing. An injury to the brain stem often kills people, because the body cannot survive independently without its involuntary responses.
At Nicolet Law, our team possesses the skill, know-how, and resources to represent victims of any type of traumatic brain injury in securing the compensation they need to confront and adapt to their injuries.
Common TBI Complications
In addition to permanent deficits, TBIs also frequently cause health complications for victims, including.
- Altered consciousness, including coma, persistent vegetative state, minimally conscious state, and brain death.
- Seizures, which are common in the early stages of the injury. Recurring seizures are known as post-traumatic epilepsy.
- Hydrocephalus, which is a buildup of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain following the injury. This condition poses a risk of additional damage caused by increased pressure on the brain and is usually treated through the surgical placement of a shunt to drain the fluid away from the brain.
- Blood vessel damage, particularly in injuries in which an object has penetrated the skull and introduced bacteria to the protective tissues covering the brain, known as meninges.
- Chronic headaches and vertigo.
- An increased likelihood of degenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).
Costs and Life Impacts of a La Crosse Traumatic Brain Injury
Traumatic brain injuries also take a heavy financial and personal toll. Victims and their families can run up huge medical bills in connection with caring for the initial injury. The impairments caused by a TBI can also interfere with a victim’s ability to work or go to school, which in turn limits the victims’ short and long-term income. Traumatic brain injury survivors often struggle to earn enough to live independent lives.
Traumatic brain injuries also have an impact on the injured individual’s everyday life. They prevent victims from participating in hobbies or activities they once enjoyed. They frequently cause changes in personality or emotional awareness that hinder the victim’s relationships with family and friends. Many TBI victims suffer from mental health struggles including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicidal thoughts.
Frequently Asked Questions About La Crosse TBI Cases
In the aftermath of an accident or incident resulting in a traumatic brain injury, victims and their families usually have lots of questions about their legal rights. Below you’ll find answers to some of the most common of those questions. For more detailed responses, contact the team at Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers in La Crosse.
How long do I have to sue for a TBI I suffered in La Crosse?
If you or your loved one suffered a TBI in La Crosse because of someone else’s carelessness or recklessness, you may have the right to take legal action seeking compensation from that at-fault party. In most traumatic brain injury cases in Wisconsin, the deadline for taking legal action is three years from the date the injury occurred. However, that is the absolute latest you can act before losing your rights. The team at Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers commonly recommends taking action much sooner, and advises anyone who has suffered a TBI in La Crosse to contact a skilled attorney right away.
What compensation can I get in a La Crosse TBI case?
Wisconsin law generally allows TBI victims to obtain two broad categories of compensation for the harm they suffered: economic damages and non-economic damages.
Economic damages compensate TBI victims for the financial costs of an injury. Non-economic damages refer to compensation for the wide variety of life challenges and difficulties caused by a TBI.
At Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers, we commonly seek:
- Medical expenses, including emergency treatment, ambulance transport, hospitalization, diagnostic testing, physician and surgical services, prescription medication, physical therapy, rehabilitation, and the provision of assistive devices such as crutches or a wheelchair.
- Lost wages due to being too injured to work.
- Loss of future earning capacity if an injury results in permanent impairments that prevent the TBI victim from working.
- Other out-of-pocket expenses resulting from the TBI and the accident that caused it, such as the cost of repairing or replacing damaged property, or of paying for services to help with day-to-day tasks.
- Physical pain and suffering.
- Emotional distress.
- Loss of the enjoyment of life.
The Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers team works closely with clients to evaluate the full range of harm they have suffered so that we can seek maximum compensation for them when we take legal action on their behalf.
Of course, we can never guarantee that our clients will recover all types of compensation listed above, or that they will receive a specific amount. We can, however, point to our long track record of success in TBI cases as evidence that our team knows how to get results in even the toughest brain injury cases.
If my brain injury occurred at work, will I need to sue my employer?
Probably not. In most cases, if your injury occurs at work, you can instead seek compensation through the Wisconsin Worker’s Compensation Program. Worker’s compensation is a form of no-fault insurance that most employers are required to provide for their employees. It covers the cost of medical treatment for work-related injuries and illnesses and pays disability benefits to individuals whose injuries prevent them from working.
Generally speaking, workers who receive workers’ comp insurance benefits cannot sue their employers for those same injuries. However, in some cases, injured workers may have the option of suing a third party (someone other than their employer or coworker) for injuries sustained at work, if that third party’s wrongful actions led to the worker’s injury.
The team at Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers evaluates work-related TBI cases carefully to identify all potential sources of compensation for injured workers.
My loved one died from a TBI. Is there compensation available for me?
Probably.
Under Wisconsin law, the surviving spouse and family members of a person who dies because of someone else’s careless or reckless actions usually have the right to sue the party at fault for wrongful death damages, which may include:
- Medical expenses for the treatment of the deceased’s final injuries.
- The cost of the funeral and burial or cremation.
- Loss of wages and benefits that the deceased would have reasonably been expected to earn through the course of his or her career if he or she had not died.
- Loss of society and companionship, up to $350,000 for a deceased adult, and up to $500,000 for a deceased minor.
Contact the experienced La Cross TBI attorneys at Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers today if your loved one died after suffering a traumatic brain injury.
What is the average payment in a La Crosse brain injury lawsuit?
We could calculate the average of all results we have achieved for clients who suffered brain injuries, but it would not tell you much because every La Crosse traumatic brain injury case we handle at Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers is unique.
Numerous factors affect the potential value of a TBI case, including:
- The severity and impact of the TBI you suffered, which generally affect the size of your economic damages.
- How much insurance the at-fault party carries. Insurance pays most brain injury settlements and judgments.
- The strength of the case. To obtain compensation for a TBI, your lawyer must present evidence proving that someone’s wrongful actions injured you and that you deserve to receive a certain amount of money. The more evidence your lawyer can collect, and the more compelling the lawyer’s arguments, the higher the potential value of your claim.
- Your income at the time of the accident. Economic damages include the value of your lost earnings, so the higher your take-home pay or other income, the higher the amount of money you may have a right to receive as compensation.
- Your personal priorities. Some TBI victims want to resolve their claims right away, and will accept less money to achieve that timeline. Others want to hold out for as much money as they can get, no matter how long it takes. At Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers, we tailor the approach we take to every case to meet our clients’ unique needs and priorities.
Experienced Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyers in La Crosse
A traumatic brain injury can inflict a wide range of physical, emotional, and financial harm to La Crosse-area victims and their families. They need a skilled lawyer who understands brain injuries on their side to get them the maximum compensation they deserve.
Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers have years of experience representing TBI victims throughout the La Crosse area. Contact us online or call (651) 358-2741 for a free consultation with a member of our team to learn about your rights after a TBI disrupts your life.