Phoenix Brain Injury Lawyer

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Have you or a loved one suffered a severe or traumatic brain injury as a result of circumstances that unfolded in or around Phoenix? If so, know that you do not have to navigate the aftermath of your situation alone. Qualified legal assistance is just a phone call away.

Traumatic brain injuries occur much more frequently than you might think. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than 64,000 Americans died due to traumatic brain injuries (TBI) nationwide over the course of one recent year. Additional CDC research indicates that nearly 224,000 Americans were hospitalized for TBIs during another recent year.

Because the brain is responsible for communicating with the human body’s many systems, damage to the head is severe enough to warrant hospitalization and can have a significant, lasting, and potentially life-altering impact on a TBI victim’s life and livelihood.

The Phoenix brain injury lawyers at Swenson & Shelley can help if you’ve suffered a traumatic brain injury. Our brain injury attorneys have decades of experience helping TBI victims seek fair compensation for injuries caused by the actions or inactions of others. No matter how you were injured, a brain injury attorney at our firm can review your options with you and clarify your rights under the law.

We don’t charge our clients any attorney fees unless we recover compensation for their injuries. You have nothing to lose by scheduling a risk-free consultation with our team except an hour or two of your time. Contact us today to learn more about our services.

 

 

Common Causes of Brain Injuries in Phoenix

A brain injury can occur anytime someone sustains a hard blow to the head. Some of the more common causes of brain injuries involve a head injury from:

  • Truck accidents — Any motor vehicle accident can cause a brain injury, but truck crashes are among the most likely to cause brain injuries. Trucks are much heavier than cars and ride higher, which means that they hit harder than cars do. The force generated by a large commercial truck wreck can be catastrophic.
  • Car accidents — Car accidents cause roughly 25 percent of all TBI-related hospitalizations nationwide, according to information from the CDC. Car accidents can cause brain injuries even when impacts occur at low speeds. Victims can hit their head on a window, the side of the vehicle, the steering wheel, the dashboard, or a headrest. Car accidents can also cause brain injuries when a foreign object penetrates a victim’s skull.
  • Motorcycle accidents — Motorcycle riders are more exposed than people traveling in cars or trucks, so they bear comparatively more force when a crash occurs. Therefore, they are more likely to sustain a brain injury than most accident victims. Many motorcycle accident victims suffer brain injuries after being ejected from their bikes and landing hard on the ground.
  • Bus accidents — Many buses lack seat belts, airbags, and other safety features that protect occupants in passenger vehicle crashes. When a bus collision occurs, anyone inside the bus is at an increased risk of a traumatic brain injury because of these factors.
  • Rideshare accidents — As rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft have become more popular in Arizona, the number of accidents involving rideshare vehicles has also spiked. If your TBI was sustained while you were driving a rideshare vehicle or riding in one, you could be owed compensation.
  • Bicycle accidents — Cyclists often sustain traumatic brain injuries when a vehicle strikes them. Unfortunately, many drivers don’t watch for cyclists when approaching a crosswalk or intersection because they’re tired, distracted, or impaired. This puts cyclists at risk of sustaining severe injuries, especially when they’re traveling at night.
  • Pedestrian accidents — Pedestrians often suffer brain injuries when they’re struck while crossing the street. Pedestrian accidents are more common at night, and there’s an increased chance of a crash if a driver is impaired, fatigued, or distracted.
  • Slip-and-falls — Falls account for a little less than half of all TBI-related hospitalizations across the U.S., according to CDC data. Even seemingly minor falls can cause internal bleeding or put pressure on the brain.

What Are the Symptoms of a Traumatic Brain Injury?

Some of the most common symptoms of a traumatic brain injury include:

  • Mild brain injuries
    • Dizziness
    • Loss of balance or coordination
    • Headaches
    • Nausea or vomiting
    • Difficulty speaking
    • Sensitivity to sound or light
    • Changes to your senses (blurry vision, ringing in your ears, loss of sense of smell, bad taste in your mouth, etc.)
    • Insomnia
    • Difficulty focusing
    • Loss of consciousness for a few seconds or minutes
  • Moderate to severe brain injuries
    • Persistent or worsening headaches
    • Ongoing nausea or repeated vomiting
    • Convulsions or seizures
    • Drainage of clear fluid from the nose or ears
    • Dilated pupils in one or both eyes
    • Weakness or numbness in toes or fingers
    • Confusion or disorientation
    • Slurred speech
    • Changes in mood or behavior, possibly manifested as restlessness or aggression.
    • Inability to awaken from sleep
    • Coma

Common Brain Injury Cases That Our Firm Handles

Some of the common types of brain injuries we see at Swenson & Shelley include:

  • Concussions — Bruises formed when the brain crashes into the inside of the skull
  • Hemorrhages — Internal bleeding in the brain due to a hard blow to the head
  • Hematomas — Internal bleeding in the brain due to a burst blood vessel
  • Edema — Pressure on the brain due to a skull fracture
  • Skull fractures — Fragments of the skull can splinter and penetrate the brain, leading to blood loss and other damage
  • Penetration injuries — When an external object pierces the skull
  • Shear injuries — When the brain is shaken or experiences a severe, sharp rotation
  • Coup-contrecoup injuries — When the brain moves inside the skull and sustains multiple blows in a short period

What Treatment Is Available for Traumatic Brain Injuries?

Some potential treatment options for traumatic brain injuries include:

  • Surgery to remove objects embedded in the brain or relieve pressure on the skull
  • Anti-seizure medications to prevent additional injuries
  • A ventilator or feeding tube to assist with breathing and obtaining necessary nutrients
  • Medications for managing pain, preventing infections, keeping blood pressure low, and other conditions
  • Physical or occupational therapy to help patients with mobility challenges and other physical limitations caused by their injuries

How a Brain Injury Can Forever Change an Accident Victim’s Life

Due to the severity of many brain injuries, treatment cannot fully repair the damage done by the original trauma. Brain injury victims are often left grappling with long-term challenges related to their underlying injuries. Depending on the severity of the brain injury patients have, these challenges may include loss of mobility or other bodily functions, memory problems, and changes to the victim’s personality.

Brain injury victims also frequently require medical care for the rest of their lives, which is one reason why it’s so important to seek compensation after sustaining a brain injury. The costs associated with future medical bills along with recovering from a TBI can otherwise break a family’s budget.

Can You File a Personal Injury Lawsuit After a Brain Injury?

To file a successful case for a lawsuit after sustaining a brain injury, your injury must have been caused by someone else’s negligence, recklessness, or intentionally harmful conduct. In legal terms, a brain injury claim for negligence occurs when a person, business, or other entity had a legal responsibility to avoid injury risk by taking reasonable precautions, but they failed in these obligations.

If you can prove that your brain injury was due to someone else’s negligent, reckless, or intentionally harmful conduct, you can demand compensation for your injuries.

How a Phoenix Brain Injury Attorney Can Help

Our firm strongly recommends that you seek help from an injury attorney if you’ve sustained a severe brain injury. Navigating a significant brain injury legal battle is a massive undertaking. Our firm can take on much of the work for you so that you can focus on healing.

Here are a few ways the Phoenix brain injury attorneys at Swenson & Shelley can help with your case:

  • Investigating the accident to determine if you have a viable claim
  • Finding evidence to support your case and documenting all the losses you’ve suffered
  • Helping you find the right doctors and other specialists to help you recover as fully and as quickly as possible
  • Filing your claim and managing all necessary paperwork
  • Dealing with insurance companies
  • Negotiating for a fair settlement
  • Bringing your case to trial and representing you in court, if necessary

Pursuing Full Compensation for a Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury victims often suffer intense pain, the loss of crucial bodily functions, and costly medical bills. By filing a personal injury lawsuit against the party that caused your injury, you could potentially claim compensation for:

  • Medical bills
  • Pain and suffering
  • Emotional distress
  • Lost wages
  • Reduced future earning potential

Arizona Statute of Limitations for Brain Injury Lawsuits

TBI victims typically have up to two years from the date that a brain injury occurs to file a personal injury lawsuit. If you miss this deadline, chances are you won’t be able to recover any compensation for your injuries. As a result, it is important to connect with our firm as soon as possible so that our legal team can clarify your rights, explain your options, and begin building the strongest possible case on your behalf.

What Can Family Members Do to Help Brain Injury Survivors?

It’s hard to know what to do when someone in your family has suffered a severe injury, but here are a few tips on how you can help:

  • Above all, be patient. It can take a long time for brain injury survivors to adapt to the effects of an injury.
  • Take care of tasks the survivor can’t do themselves, like paying bills, taking care of the survivor’s children, and so on.
  • Do what you can to make the survivor as comfortable as possible, both in the hospital and after returning home.
  • Provide some structure to the survivor’s life as best you can and help to facilitate daily experiences that are as normal as possible.

Talk to a Phoenix Brain Injury Attorney Now

The Phoenix brain injury attorneys at Swenson & Shelley provide knowledgeable legal counsel and extensive resources to people who’ve suffered traumatic brain injuries in our community. We provide dedicated representation to victims and their families, so they may be “made whole again” after an accident that was not their fault.

For a free consultation with a compassionate and experienced legal team member, call us or reach out to us online. Accident victims deserve the relentless pursuit of justice that Swenson & Shelley can provide. It would be our honor to speak with you about your circumstances and to advise you of your legal rights and options. We look forward to speaking with you.