Did you sustain a spinal cord injury in Las Vegas, Nevada? These catastrophic injuries can have devastating effects that significantly impact your ability to live and work. You could be entitled to compensation for medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and the emotional impact of your injury.
The Las Vegas spinal cord injury lawyers at Battle Born Injury Lawyers will help you achieve the maximum financial recovery. Our legal team has more than 85 years of combined experience – and we’ve secured over $100 million for personal injury victims throughout Nevada.
If you’ve suffered damage to your spinal cord and want to learn more about your legal options, contact our law office for a free consultation. You can reach us by calling (702) 570-9000 or completing an online form.
How Our Las Vegas Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help You Pursue Compensation for a Spinal Cord Injury
Spinal cord damage is usually irreversible. Certain symptoms may be managed and treatable, but you may have to learn to live with the long-term effects of the underlying injury. If another party caused your spinal cord injury, they should be held financially accountable for your damages – which will likely be extensive.
Catastrophic injury cases often involve large sums of money, meaning defendants and insurance companies will aggressively fight to limit their liability. An experienced Las Vegas injury attorney will ensure that you receive full and fair compensation for your spinal cord damage.
If you retain Battle Born Injury Lawyers for help after suffering harm to your spine, we’ll:
- Evaluate what caused your spinal cord injury and who shares financial responsibility for it
- Gather evidence and consult experts to understand the severity of your injury and how it affects your life
- Calculate the value of your damages, including future losses
- Negotiate with opposing parties on your behalf and protect you from tactics that undervalue your claim
- Represent you in court proceedings and at trial in Clark County if necessary
To learn more about the benefits of an attorney-client relationship, contact our law firm in Las Vegas, NV. We work on a contingency fee basis and offer a free initial consultation, so there’s no obligation or risk.
What Is a Spinal Cord Injury?
The spinal cord is composed of nerves that carry messages between the brain and the rest of the body. This vital structure has several critical roles:
- It controls your movements and bodily functions, such as breathing, heart rate, and digestion
- It allows you to feel sensations, such as pain, temperature, and pressure
- It coordinates your involuntary movements (reflexes)
When the spinal cord is injured, the connection between the brain and body is disrupted, leading to deficits in motor skills, sensations, and/or autonomic functions.
The effects of a spinal cord injury (SCI) depend on the location and severity of the damage. The parts of the body below the site of the injury are generally affected – meaning the higher the injury is on the spinal cord, the more severe the damage typically is.
The sections of the spine that can be affected include:
- Cervical spine – the uppermost part of the spine in the neck region; injuries to the cervical vertebrae are the most severe and can cause quadriplegia
- Thoracic spine – located in the upper and middle portion of the back; injuries to the thoracic vertebrae can impact the legs and result in paraplegia
- Lumbar spine – located in the lower back region; injuries to the lumbar vertebrae may result in partial loss of function in the lower body
- Sacral spine – located at the bottom of the spine above the tailbone and below the lumbar spine; injury to the sacrum can cause partial loss of function in the legs and/or hips
The severity of an SCI depends on whether it’s complete or incomplete:
- Complete SCIs cause the total loss of feeling and movement below the location of the injury. They usually cause permanent damage to the affected area (e.g., paraplegia).
- Incomplete SCIs cause a partial loss of feeling or movement below the injury site. The level of function you have depends on what area of the spinal cord was damaged.
A spinal cord injury could result from trauma to the spinal cord itself or to surrounding structures, such as the vertebrae, discs, or ligaments.
What Are the Symptoms of a Spinal Cord Injury?
The signs and symptoms of a spinal cord injury will depend on its severity (complete or incomplete) and location on the spine.
Some potential symptoms include:
- Weakness or loss of feeling in the limbs and muscles
- Inability to move certain parts of the body (paralysis)
- Difficulty balancing or controlling movements
- Numbness or tingling
- Pressure or pain in the back or neck
- Muscle spasms
- Loss of bladder or bowel control
- Loss of sexual function
- Difficulty breathing
If you present any of these (or other) symptoms after an accident, it’s crucial to seek immediate medical care. Your physician will check your motor and sensory functions and may order diagnostic tests, such as a CT scan, X-ray, MRI, and/or EMG.
You may require emergency surgery in some situations, such as if your spinal cord was damaged by broken bones or damaged tissue.
How Common Are Spinal Cord Injuries?
Over 282,000 people in the U.S. are currently living with a spinal cord injury. An estimated 17,000 people sustain a new spinal cord injury every year.
What Can Cause a Spinal Cord Injury?
Traumatic damage to the spinal cord can occur in any type of accident or incident that impacts, severs, hyperextends, or compresses the spinal cord or nearby structures.
Examples include:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Workplace accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Falls from heights
- Construction accidents
- Assault, gunshot wounds, and other forms of violence
- Medical malpractice
- Sports-related incidents
- Recreational accidents
- E-scooter accidents
- Accidents caused by defective products (product liability)
- Nursing home abuse
- Swimming pool accidents (e.g., diving into shallow water)
These accidents can result in vertebral compression fractures, severed nerves, partial paralysis, or complete paralysis, depending on the circumstances. No matter how your SCI happened or its severity, our Las Vegas catastrophic injury lawyers can help.
What Is My Las Vegas Spinal Cord Injury Claim Worth?
The value of your case will depend largely on the severity of the spinal cord injury and your age. For example, severe damage to the cervical spine that causes tetraplegia could result in a lifetime cost of over $5 million for a 25-year-old and over $2.8 million for a 50-year-old. Those amounts decrease as the SCI severity decreases.
Other than the severity of the SCI and your age, the following factors can also affect how much compensation you receive:
- Whether you’re permanently disabled or impaired
- The medical costs and expenses you’ve incurred
- The amount of time you’ve missed from work
- Whether you can return to work in the same capacity
- Whether you share fault for the accident that caused your SCI
- The pain, suffering, and mental anguish you’ve endured due to the SCI
- The parties involved in your case and available insurance coverage
- Your quality of life after the SCI
Our Las Vegas spinal cord injury attorneys will evaluate every factor that could impact the value of your case – and we’ll fight for the compensation you deserve.
What Compensation Can I Recover for a Spinal Cord Injury in Las Vegas, NV?
Spinal cord injury victims in Nevada can seek compensation for the financial losses stemming from their harm. They can also recover their non-financial, personal losses.
Economic damages incurred by someone with an SCI could include:
- Medical expenses, such as hospitalization, surgery, and observation in the ICU
- Future medical treatment, such as rehabilitation, occupational therapy, pain management, and physical therapy
- Lost wages and job benefits
- Reduced earning potential
- Out-of-pocket expenses, such as childcare and travel expenses
Non-economic damages resulting from your SCI could include:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Diminished quality of life, such as if you’re unable to care for yourself or participate in activities you once enjoyed
- Depression and other mental conditions
- Inconvenience
In limited circumstances, a court may award punitive damages if the plaintiff can prove that the defendant acted maliciously in causing the spinal cord injury. This compensation is intended to punish people for bad conduct and deter others from engaging in similar behavior in the future.
How Long Do I Have To File a Spinal Cord Injury Lawsuit in Nevada?
The statute of limitations for most Nevada personal injury claims – including those involving spinal cord damage – is two years. You’ll have two years from the spinal cord injury date to file a lawsuit. If your loved one died due to a fatal SCI, you have two years from their date of death to file a wrongful death claim.
Don’t wait too long and miss the applicable statutory deadline. Two years isn’t a lot of time to gather evidence, calculate damages, and prove your claim. Contact our Las Vegas personal injury attorneys today to preserve your right to compensation from the at-fault party and ensure that you have the strongest case possible.
Contact Our Las Vegas Spinal Cord Injury Lawyers for a Free Initial Consultation
Have you suffered a spinal cord injury in Las Vegas, NV? Was it caused by someone’s negligent or intentional actions? Contact Battle Born Injury Lawyers to speak with a knowledgeable Las Vegas catastrophic injury attorney.
We’ll put 85+ years of combined experience behind your spinal cord injury case. Call today to learn more about our legal services during a free case evaluation.
