If you or a loved one suffered a brain injury due to someone else’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for your losses in a brain injury lawsuit. While no amount of money can make up for a catastrophic injury, a settlement can help ease your financial burdens and pay for care at a time you or your injured loved one may not be able to work.
Hiring Montoya Hinckley means you’ll get aggressive, skilled representation in seeking the compensation you deserve.
The human brain controls our thoughts and bodily functions, so when it is injured, the results can be devastating. Severe brain injuries can lead to paralysis, inability to communicate, changes in personality, coma, or death. The Brain Injury Association of America reports that over 1.5 million people suffer traumatic brain injuries (TBI) yearly, and at least 50,000 individuals will die from them.
After a brain injury, people frequently need trauma care, specialized rehabilitation, disease management, and individualized services and support. This care is extremely expensive and life-altering to victims and their families. A brain injury lawyer from our firm can advise you about your possible options for getting compensation to pay for your medical treatment and other damages you have suffered. If you’ve experienced a spinal cord injury, our experienced spinal cord injury attorney can also provide valuable insights. Call us at 509-895-7373 to schedule a free consultation about your matter.
We Have Decades of Experience Fighting to Get Clients’ Compensation
Washington personal injury laws are complicated, and making mistakes in the process of a brain injury case can be costly. Insurance companies have adjusters and lawyers who will try to avoid paying large sums of money as compensation for your brain injury. They may pressure you to accept a settlement that does not fairly compensate you for all of your damages.
Fortunately, you do not have to fight alone for the compensation you deserve when someone else’s negligence has caused you to suffer a potentially life-changing brain injury. The personal injury lawyer at Montoya Hinckley understand the difficulties resulting from a brain injury. We are fully prepared to take the burden off you by dealing with insurers and handling all legal procedures involved with your case so you can concentrate on your recovery.
Our brain injury lawyers, Kevan Montoya and Tyler Hinckley, have over four decades of combined experience in Yakima and Central Washington. We understand how insurers operate. We have the necessary knowledge of the law, the courts, and the legal system to aggressively and effectively pursue compensation on your behalf. We have won cases involving millions of dollars in damages and will work hard to seek the money you need to fairly pay for your losses.
When you choose us, you can rely on our honesty and integrity, which is why our attorneys will not guarantee you a win or that you will get a specific dollar amount in compensation. No law firm can make those guarantees. But we will promise you that we will not back down in standing up for your rights and interests. And we will never let an insurance company or other party involved in your case take advantage of you.
Our law firm offers a free and confidential consultation to discuss the circumstances of your case and determine the best way to help. Do not hesitate to reach out to us.
There are no fees to you unless and until we get you compensation for your damages. Call an experienced brain injury attorney today at 509-895-7373 to get started.
The outcome of your brain injury case is determined by what happened, the extent of your injuries, the causes and effects of your brain injury, and who is responsible for causing your injuries. Our attorneys will investigate your case to determine what happened and ensure that we can show that another party or entity was negligent. If anyone was at fault for causing your injuries they may be liable to pay you the damages caused by their actions or failure to act.
Our brain injury attorneys may take the following steps as we develop a strategy for your case. We will:
To win your TBI lawsuit, our attorneys must prove that the defendant in the case was negligent and legally responsible for causing your brain injury.
To prove negligence, we must show the following elements exist:
If your case does not settle with insurers, our traumatic brain injury lawyers will fight for an award that covers your economic and noneconomic damages.
If you cannot obtain a fair settlement for your brain injury claim, you may have to file a lawsuit. In your brain injury lawsuit, our lawyers will fight aggressively to win an award for the losses you sustained from your injury. These are known as “damages.”
In a successful case, you may win compensation that covers your economic damages, which are the calculable costs you have incurred as a result of the accident, such as:
There is a wide range of compensation possible in a brain injuries lawsuit. The amount depends on the individual factors involved in each case. Compensation can vary greatly depending on your damages and factors that may include:
Brain injuries are categorized as “mild,” “moderate,” and “severe” based on the effect of the injury on brain function. The level of severity plays a major role in the potential settlement amount or jury award.
Mild traumatic brain injury may affect brain cells temporarily, but still can be serious. If damage is more severe, it can result in bruising, torn tissues, bleeding and other physical damage to the brain that can result in long-term complications or even death. An individual with a severe brain injury may behave nothing like the person who existed before the injury. The individual may be unable to:
The symptoms of a traumatic brain injury can differ based on its severity. Here are some possible symptoms:
Medical treatment immediately following a traumatic brain injury and for the long term can be extremely expensive. A study by the CDC showed that, nationally, the annual healthcare costs of nonfatal traumatic brain injuries were more than $40.6 billion.
Lifetime medical costs for an individual with a traumatic brain injury could range from tens of thousands to millions of dollars, depending upon its severity. Here are the types of treatments a person with a traumatic brain injury may require immediately following an accident and into the future:
At Montoya Hinckley, our TBI lawyers understand how difficult it is for you and your family to deal with a brain injury. We will advocate for the justice and the settlement you deserve. We are well-known for our client-focused service philosophy and will work closely with you to provide support, answer your questions and concerns, and manage all aspects of your claim process through settlement and, if necessary, a lawsuit.
If you have suffered a brain injury due to the fault of another person or entity, contact a Yakima brain injury lawyer at Montoya Hinckley at 509-895-7373 today.
Don’t delay, as there are deadlines for filing a claim. According to RCW 4.16.080, you generally have three years from the date of the brain injury-causing event to file a lawsuit. If you miss this deadline, you will likely lose your opportunity to bring a personal injury claim. Let’s get started on your case.
Our Yakima Brain Injury Lawyers Will Pursue Compensation For Your Losses
Why Choose A Brain Injury Lawyer From Our Yakima Firm?
What A Yakima Brain Injury Lawyer Can Do To Help You
We Take on Insurers So You Can Focus on Healing
- Listen to your version of what happened and who you think the liable parties might be
- Conduct investigations to gather evidence about how your brain injury occurred.
- Interview witnesses
- Examine photographs and videos, and review police, ambulance, and medical records and reports
- Locate all potential defendants who may have been at fault
- Get expert opinions from accident reconstruction experts, medical professionals, therapists, and life-care specialists regarding how your injuries occurred, and how they affect you, both now and into the future
- Get expert opinions about the future medical care necessary for you.
Determining the Causes of Brain Injuries
The brain is made up of delicate, soft tissue floating in the fluid within the skull. While the brain is protected by three layers of membrane, an accident that involves a sudden blow to the head can cause the brain to move around violently inside the skull and result in a traumatic brain injury. When an accident creates trauma to the brain, the brain fills with fluid and swells. Because it is encased in a hard skull, the brain has nowhere to expand. The pressure inside the head increases, which can prevent blood circulation and cause further injury to the brain tissue. A severe brain injury may be caused by:- Forces that make the brain collide with the inside of the skull
- Forces that penetrate or fracture the skull
- Destructive shock waves that cause tissue damage
- Bone fragments that enter the brain tissue
- Bruising and bleeding in the brain.
Our Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyer Must Prove Negligence
- Duty: The defendant had a duty of care not to cause harm.
- Breach: The defendant breached this duty by acting or failing to act.
- Cause: The defendant’s wrongful act or failure proximately caused the accident that led to your injuries.
- Damages: You suffered damages as a result.
- A drunk driver ran a red light and crashed into your vehicle. The driver owed you a duty to drive carefully and follow the law but failed to do so. The resulting accident caused your traumatic brain injury, which resulted in damages such as medical costs, loss of wages, pain and suffering, and emotional distress.
- A business owner, who knew or should have known about a broken handrail on a staircase, failed to fix the broken handrail and fell down the staircase and hit his head when the broken handrail came loose from the wall. That fall resulted in a brain injury and costs for your medical care, loss in earnings, pain and suffering, and emotional distress.
- the truck driver
- the truck owner
- the owner of the trucking company
- the company responsible for truck maintenance and repair
- the company that loaded the cargo
- the manufacturer of a defective part that failed.
Damage Awards A Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney May Win For You
Damages You May Receive in a Brain Injury Case
- Medical and rehabilitation expenses
- Costs of continuing care
- Property damages
- Costs to allow your home and vehicle to accommodate a wheelchair
- Wage losses if you are unable to work
- Out-of-pocket expenses related to your injuries.
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress and mental anguish
- Loss of enjoyment of life.
Compensation In A Brain Injuries Lawsuit
- The extent, severity, and permanence of your brain injury
- Whether, and for how long, you will need continuing care
- Your age, earning capacity, and family situation
- The availability of evidence to prove fault
- Whether you will be able to work in the future
- Whether a death occurred
- The amount of insurance and personal assets of the defendants
- The individual judge and jury in the case
- The ability to prove noneconomic damages
- The skill of your attorneys in investigating, building, negotiating and arguing your case.
Our Yakima TBI Lawyers Know How Devastating Brain Injuries Are
- Speak, move, walk, feed, or dress themselves
- Recognize family members or their surroundings
- Have a social life, interact with people, understand language, or work.
Symptoms Of Brain Injuries
- Headache
- Dizziness
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Ringing in ears
- Speech or vision problems
- Clear fluids coming from nose or ears
- Trouble with balance or walking
- Convulsions and seizures
- Loss of consciousness.
Types Of Treatment You May Need After A Brain Injury
Serious Traumatic Brain Injuries Can Require Expensive Long-Term Care
- CT scan and/or MRI to determine the severity of the brain injury
- Intracranial pressure device to monitor swelling of tissues in the brain
- Anti-seizure drugs and other costly medications
- Surgeries to reduce pressure on the brain, stop bleeding or repair skull fractures
- Psychiatric care, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, and other rehabilitative treatment
- Daily nursing care, and other assistance with the tasks of day-to-day life.