Spinal cord injuries can have a large impact on your life. You may have a permanent disability that keeps you from working or taking part in the things you once enjoyed. If your injury was due to someone else’s negligence, our San Francisco spinal cord injury lawyers can help hold them financially accountable.
At Sweet James, we pride ourselves on offering the compassionate legal care that injury victims and their families deserve. Contact our California spinal cord injury lawyers today to schedule a free consultation. Real Lawyers. Real Results.
What Compensation Can Be Recovered After a Spinal Cord Injury in San Francisco?
You may be able to recover compensation for a variety of losses, including immediate medical expenses and the expected future costs of your injury. Our spinal cord injury lawyers will seek the maximum compensation you are eligible for.
You may be able to recover compensation for:
Immediate and Future Economic Losses
These are the financial costs of an injury and can include:
- Medical expenses: For example, emergency medical services, surgeries, diagnostic imaging, hospitalizations, long-term medical care, prescription medications, and physical therapy.
- Job losses: When a spinal cord injury results in a disability, you may be unable to return to the same job or, in some severe cases, to any kind of work. You may be able to recover lost wages, loss of job benefits, and diminished earning capacity.
- Other expenses: Housekeeping or childcare costs while you recover, transportation to and from medical appointments, mobility aids, home or vehicle modifications, and property damage (for example, if a car was damaged in the accident).
Non-Economic Losses
These are losses that don’t have a direct financial connection, but still have effects on the way you live your life.
They can include:
- Permanent disability
- Physical pain and suffering
- Loss of consortium
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Lowered quality of life
How Can a Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer Help With Your Case?
The effects of a spinal cord injury often feel overwhelming. You may be struggling with daily pain and stressed with questions of how you’ll pay medical bills.
Our San Francisco personal injury lawyers can step in to take over the legal process of recovering compensation, so that you can focus on healing instead.
We can:
- Investigate the accident to determine who was at fault for your spinal cord injury
- Communicate with insurance adjusters on your behalf
- File all necessary paperwork
- Consult with medical and financial experts so that we understand the full scope of your losses
- Handle all negotiations, advocating for a fair settlement
- Represent your case in court if a fair settlement cannot be reached
What Types of Spinal Cord Injury Cases Can We Help With?
When an injury is due to a negligent action, the victim has a legal right to recover compensation.
We can help with cases stemming from accidents like:
- Car accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Truck accidents
- Premises liability accidents
How Much Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Cost?
Many injury victims are already struggling with bills and are worried about adding on additional costs. Our legal team works on contingency, so everyone can access our legal services. There are no upfront costs to you. Instead, you only pay our fees if we recover compensation for you.
If, for some reason, we are unable to recover compensation, then you won’t owe us anything.
How Is Fault Determined in Spinal Cord Injury Cases?
Determining fault is essential to recovering compensation. In some cases, it can be complicated to do so, but our lawyers will carefully investigate to prove who should be held financially accountable.
We will need to show:
- Someone owed you a duty of care. This means they had a responsibility to keep others safe, such as drivers needing to follow traffic laws.
- They breached that duty of care by behaving carelessly or recklessly. For example, a truck driver operated their vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
- The breach led to an accident. For example, a driver ran a red light and struck you while you were in the crosswalk.
- The breach also led to your injury and losses. For example, you have medical bills from the emergency medical care you received.
Who May Be At Fault?
Depending on the accident, there may be multiple at-fault parties. For example, in a case involving a motor vehicle accident, the at-fault parties could include: drivers, commercial companies and their staff (for example, if a delivery truck was involved), government entities (for poor road conditions), and mechanics.
What Evidence Can Be Used to Prove Fault?
Helpful evidence can include:
- Witness statements
- Video footage
- Photos of the accident scene
- Physical evidence
- Police or incident reports
- Phone records
- GPS data
- Black box data
- Blood alcohol content results
- Field sobriety test results
Is There a Deadline to Recover Compensation After a Spinal Cord Injury in San Francisco?
Yes, in California, you typically have two years to file a personal injury lawsuit. If you fail to do so on time, then you may be barred from recovering compensation.
In addition to the deadline set by the statute of limitations, there are other important reasons to move quickly on your case. For example, evidence preservation is often vital to proving negligence and strengthening your claim.
Contact a San Francisco Spinal Cord Injury Attorney Today
If you or a loved one suffered a spinal cord injury, we’re here to help. We’ll seek fair compensation from all liable parties, aiming to help you move forward with your life.
At Sweet James, our spinal cord injury lawyers serving San Francisco will listen to your story. We will fight to make you whole again, rather than taking an insurance company’s first offer.
Contact us today to get started with a free initial consultation.
Sweet James Accident Attorneys
San Francisco Office Location
870 Market St, Suite 611,
San Francisco, CA 94102
