TBI Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney in Fredericksburg

For more than 100 years, the brain injury attorneys of Marks & Harrison have protected the rights of Fredericksburg residents who suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) due to the negligence of others. We understand the medical and legal complexities that these cases present. We also know how these injuries can have a catastrophic effect on victims and their families. Contact our Fredericksburg brain injury lawyer today.

If you or a loved one recently suffered TBI due to someone else’s negligence, we want to help you. We have the skill, experience, and resources it will take to pursue the compensation you deserve, including a staff of more than 20 attorneys and a top-notch team of investigators. Above all, we have a passion for protecting the rights of those in Virginia who have suffered harm such as a serious brain injury through no fault of their own.

To learn more about our injury lawyers and discuss how our Fredericksburg office can assist in your brain injury case, contact us today. Our Fredericksburg personal injury lawyers will charge you nothing for an initial consultation about your case, and you will pay no attorney fees unless we secure compensation for you.

What Are Common Symptoms of a Brain Injury?

Unlike so many other injuries you can suffer in a slip and fall, motorcycle accident, or other types of accident, a brain injury is invisible to the naked eye. People looking at you likely won’t be able to tell that something is wrong. For that reason, you should know and look for common symptoms of brain injury. Those symptoms include:

• Headaches
• Nausea
• Drowsiness
• Speech difficulty
• Sleep disturbance
• Vertigo (dizziness)
• Changes in taste, sight, sounds, or other sensory abnormalities
• Impaired thinking or memory
• Mood swings.

Of course, you should always see a doctor as soon as possible after an accident of any kind. The doctor can go over a more comprehensive list of signs and symptoms, run specific tests and determine if you have suffered from TBI. A brain injury lawyer can help.

How Do Doctors Diagnose Brain Injury?

No two brain injuries are the same. As a result, it can be difficult to diagnose brain injuries. Fortunately, doctors can choose from a wide range of tests in order to arrive at a determination, including:

• Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) – Doctors use this measurement tool to examine a person’s visual, verbal, and motor responses. The higher the score, the less severe the brain injury. The lower the score, the more substantial the damage.
• Computerized tomography (CT) – These scans essentially take a multi-plane image, which can help doctors to detect a brain bleed, tissue damage or other injuries to the brain.
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) – This high-definition diagnostic tool can detect minor and slight variations in the human brain. However, most healthcare providers will wait to see if your symptoms persist before they order an MRI.
• Intracranial pressure (ICP) – In severe cases, TBI can create pressure inside a person’s skull, requiring a physician to insert a shunt to relieve the pressure. A doctor can use different instruments to determine whether your headaches and other symptoms are due to this pressure build-up.

What Are Some Common Brain Injury Diagnoses?

Brain injuries range from minor to severe. Some of the most common types of brain injuries that people suffer in accidents in Fredericksburg are:

• Concussions – A concussion is considered to be a mild form of TBI. Most people can recover from a concussion in a short period of time. However, in some cases, symptoms such as headaches, sensitivity to noise and light and problems with memory and concentration may linger. Additionally, if you suffer a second concussion before the first one heals, your brain may sustain long-term damage.
• Contusions – A contusion is a bruise on the brain. In many cases, even a small bruise can have massive effects on a person’s ability to function properly. Severe bruising can be dangerous and potentially fatal.
• Coup-contrecoup – A coup injury occurs directly below the point of impact. For instance, if a person hits his or her head on the right side, the right side of the brain sustains damage. Contrecoup injuries occur on the opposite side of your head from the point of impact. A coup-contrecoup injury is an injury to both sides of the brain. It can result in severe, long-term damage.
• Diffuse axonal injuries – This occurs when the brain suffers an injury that leaves small fissure-like lesions in multiple parts of the white matter of the brain. Hence the term, “diffuse.”
• Penetrating – These injuries occur when an object breaks through the skull and penetrates the brain such as a falling tool at a construction site or an object that flies through a car in a collision with another vehicle.
• Anoxic/hypoxic – Due to trauma, the brain may suffer severe damage that partially (hypoxic) or completely (anoxic) deprives the brain of oxygen. If the brain is deprived of oxygen for a prolonged period, it can result in catastrophic harm.

What Are the Common Causes of Traumatic Brain Injuries in Fredericksburg?

All too often, someone’s careless or reckless actions are to blame for a brain injury. Our Fredericksburg personal injury attorneys help clients who have suffered TBI due to:

• Motor vehicle accidents – Crashes serve as one of the leading causes of brain and head injury in the U.S. The Virginia Highway Safety Office reports that 2,272 crashes occurred in Spotsylvania County in 2017 alone, including 994 in Fredericksburg.
• Falls on hard surfaces – Falls lead to nearly half of all TBI-related emergency room visits in the U.S. each year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates. Many clients we assist in Fredericksburg suffered injuries in slip and falls, swimming pool accidents, or falls in nursing homes.
• Falling/flying objects – Many construction workers suffer TBI in Fredericksburg due to tools, equipment, or materials falling from heights at construction sites.
• Sports injuries – Athletes in sports like football, lacrosse, hockey, and soccer may suffer concussions due to poor instruction and/or supervision or due to improper equipment. If a coach or trainer negligently handles the injury – by, for example, allowing a concussed athlete to return to play before the injury heals – the athlete will face a heightened risk of a secondary concussion.
• Assaults – Unfortunately, property owners may fail to fulfill their duty to protect visitors from reasonably foreseeable assaults and other attacks that can cause victims to suffer a traumatic brain injury.

What Compensation Can You Recover If You Suffer TBI in an Accident?

A serious brain injury can require expensive medical care. The injury may also prevent you from being able to return to your old job – or to work any other job, for that matter. If someone else’s negligence caused the injury, our medical malpractice lawyers can help you seek full compensation, which may include:

• Money to pay your current medical bills and cover future medical treatments
• Funds for your lost wages and lost ability to earn a living in the future
• Pain and suffering compensation
• Compensation for harm to your relationship with your spouse (loss of consortium)
• Punitive damages, which are available in situations where the defendant acted willfully or recklessly in disregard of human life.

At Marks & Harrison, we understand the legal and medical issues that often arise in TBI cases. Our experience includes:

• $11 million – A young woman who suffered a brain injury in a crash with a service van.
• $10 million – A city employee who received serious and permanent brain injuries in a collision with a Norfolk Southern boxcar with faulty brakes.
• $3.8 million – Our client received brain injuries in a crash with a cement mixer.

The result that can be obtained in a specific brain injury case will depend on a number of different factors. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar result in a future case. For these reasons, it is important to meet with us to discuss the unique factors in your case.

How Can Our Fredericksburg Brain Injury Attorneys Help?

Our brain injury team at Marks & Harrison will immediately investigate your brain injury case to determine what happened, how it happened, and who is responsible for it. If we determine that someone else is liable for your injuries, we will carefully identify and analyze all potential sources of compensation such as a valid insurance policy or multiple policies. This process requires a painstaking review of even the smallest details of your case. As part of that process, we will review your medical records, talk to experts, consult with healthcare professionals, and interview witnesses.

We aggressively negotiate with insurance companies and pursue settlements that fully and fairly compensate our clients. If the insurance company refuses to accept liability or pay the damages you deserve, our talented litigators will be ready to put on the strongest case possible at trial. Throughout your case, we will keep you updated, advise you of all settlement offers, and answer your questions. Fredericksburg traumatic brain injury lawyer.

Contact Our Brain Injury Lawyers in Fredericksburg Today

If you or a loved one have suffered a traumatic brain injury, and you suspect someone else’s negligence was to blame, contact Marks & Harrison for a timely and free review of your case. In most situations, you will have only two years from the date of the injury to bring a lawsuit against the responsible parties. So, don’t wait to reach us through our Fredericksburg office or through any of our ten other offices located throughout Virginia. Click here for directions.