New Jersey Brain Injury Attorney

Brain injuries often have devastating, long-term impacts on their victims. Although minor brain injuries (a.k.a. conclusions) may heal quickly without intervention, some do not. People who suffer more severe brain injuries often must cope with physical, cognitive, and mental health challenges for the rest of their lives. Immense financial strain often accompanies these injuries, which impair victims’ ability to work while requiring expensive, long-term medical treatment. A New Jersey brain injury attorney can help you today,

New Jersey residents who suffer a brain injury because of someone else’s careless, reckless, or intentionally-harmful actions may have the right to seek substantial compensation from anyone who did them harm.

Money cannot reverse brain damage, but it can help defray the expense of treatments, make up for lost income, and provide support during a difficult time.

The experienced New Jersey personal injury lawyers at Jacoby & Meyers, LLP understand the struggles of living with a brain injury caused by someone else’s harmful actions, and have the knowledge and resources to help. Contact us for a free case evaluation.

Jacoby & Meyers, LLP’s Results in Brain Injury Cases

The skilled lawyers at Jacoby & Meyers, LLP have represented victims of preventable injury, including brain injury, for more than 40 years. The firm’s dedication to delivering exceptional client service and seeking justice has led to millions of dollars in jury awards and settlements for its clients.

Jacoby & Meyers, LLP’s recent results in brain injury matters include:

  • $5,000,000 verdict for a client who died in a nursing home as a result of brain damage because he was denied his right to medical care.
  • $3,500,000 settlement for a client who suffered a catastrophic brain injury when an overworked contractor fell asleep at the wheel and struck our client’s vehicle.
  • $2,500,000 settlement for a pedestrian who suffered a traumatic brain injury when a vehicle struck him.

These results illustrate some of our successes on behalf of clients with brain injuries. They do not guarantee a specific financial outcome for any particular brain injury case. Every brain injury matter we handle involves unique facts and circumstances that determine its value. The dedicated and compassionate brain injury lawyers at Jacoby & Meyers, LLP, have the knowledge, experience, and resources to investigate those facts and circumstances to build the strongest possible case for every client facing the challenges of living with a brain injury.

What Is a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)?

According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), a traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an injury that “occurs when a sudden trauma causes damage to the brain.” A person can suffer a TBI when from a blow to the head or when an object pierces the skull and travels into brain tissue. Severe jolts, even without a blow or penetrating wound, can also cause the brain to shift inside the skull, resulting in brain injury.

Whether damage to brain tissue is temporary or permanent depends on the severity of the injury. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that about 2. 5 million people visit emergency rooms each year to get treated for a TBI, resulting in about 300,000 hospitalizations and 55,000 fatalities.

Many Types of Accidents & Events Lead to TBIs

Anyone can suffer a traumatic brain injury. Yet, the CDC reports that people over age 75 are most vulnerable to TBI because they have the greatest risk of falling and hitting their heads.

Regardless of age, some of the incidents that can lead to a brain injury include:

  • Traffic accidents involving cars, trucks, semis, and motorcycles;
  • Pedestrian accidents;
  • Bicycle, scooter, and moped accidents;
  • Swimming pool accidents;
  • Slip, trip, and fall accidents;
  • Complications or malpractice during childbirth;
  • Defective products;
  • Hazardous substances that cause explosions;
  • Nursing home abuse and elder abuse;
  • Domestic abuse and assault;
  • Child abuse, including Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS);
  • Sports injuries; and
  • Gunshot wounds and knife wounds.

This is not a complete list by any means. No matter what caused a brain injury to you or a loved one, the lawyers at Jacoby & Meyers, LLP have the experience and resources to evaluate whether you have a claim for compensation, and to pursue any claim to the fullest extent allowed by New Jersey law.

Traumatic Brain Injuries Can Cause Lifelong Challenges

People who suffer from head trauma should seek medical treatment as soon as possible to minimize any potential brain injury. Damage to brain tissue caused by an initial trauma cannot be reversed, but immediate medical treatment can prevent further damage from occurring, such as harm from bleeding and swelling.

Appropriate care can make a huge difference in long-term health outcomes. People who suffer a traumatic brain injury can face some or all of the following impacts:

  • Impaired memory and reasoning, especially learning new things and storing them in short-term memory;
  • Sensory loss or increased sensations that affect vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch;
  • Troubles with internal balance or vertigo;
  • Difficulty communicating, remembering words, forming sentences, forming sounds, and expressing ideas to others;
  • Challenges expressing and understanding feelings and emotions;
  • Changes in personality, especially increased aggression, anxiety, depression, and lack of impulse control leading to inappropriate behavior in social situations; and
  • Permanent vegetative state (PVS) or coma.

Needless to say, the challenges listed above can cause severe disruption in a person’s life. That is why anyone who has suffered a blow or jolt to the head, even if they feel okay, should seek medical care immediately. Anyone who suffers from these and other symptoms because of a TBI caused by someone else’s careless or reckless conduct should also seek experienced legal advice as soon as possible.

Traumatic Brain Injuries Cost Victims and Their Families Dearly

Brain injuries place a significant economic burden on victims and their families. As expenses and costs add up, households can amass large credit card debt, and face foreclosure and personal bankruptcy. In the most severe cases, households struggle to have enough money to meet basic needs like food and clothing. The economic effects of a traumatic brain injury begin at the time of injury and continue (at least) through the victim’s healing and recovery, if not permanently. Some of the most common financial costs that accompany a brain injury include:

Medical Expenses

Regardless of how a victim suffers a brain injury, immediate medical treatment should take top priority. With that treatment, however, comes significant expense, including costs of emergency care, hospitalization, diagnostic tests such as CT scans and MRIs, followup visits to physicians, and medication. Many of these medical needs may last for the long-term.

Rehabilitation Costs

Suffering a severe brain injury typically means a person has permanent brain damage. The functional losses and difficulties a TBI victim will face vary widely, because damage to different areas of the brain affects different body functions. Rehabilitation involves helping TBI victims regain functional loss and learn how to cope with permanent challenges.

A TBI victim’s rehabilitation plan can include visits with multiple specialists for physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and behavioral therapy. Even people who suffer a severe TBI and remain in a coma or PVS for weeks, months, or life, need daily physical therapy to avoid muscle atrophy and bedsores. All of these therapy services carry significant costs.

Long-term Nursing Care

A person who suffers a severe TBI may need nursing care indefinitely. In some cases, the person can receive this care at home, but in many cases, TBI victims must move into a nursing home or other specialized long-term care facility. This is almost always the case for brain injury victims who remain in a PVS or coma. Not only are nursing care facilities notoriously expensive, but health insurance policies do not always cover them.

Home Modification Costs

Some TBI victims can return home at some point after an injury. Yet, coming home often involves all types of new challenges for victims and their families, especially if the TBI caused permanent damage and impairment. Even those TBI victims who do not need 24/7 nursing care may still need to make modifications to their homes and living arrangements. Some modifications, such as wheelchair ramps and grab rails, address physical impairments. Others might address sensory impairments, such as vision problems, loss of sensation in appendages, or impaired depth perception. All of these modifications come with significant costs.

Services

Adults who suffer a traumatic brain injury often lose some ability to manage day-to-day tasks on their own. Trying to keep up with laundry, cooking, childcare, transportation, finances, and other daily routines can feel impossible. TBI victims and their families often find it necessary to hire services to take up these activities, which can prove costly in the long run.

Lost Wages

A TBI frequently interferes with a victim’s ability to return to work in a former, or any, capacity. Losing that income, particularly without any hope of it returning, compounds the financial strain of the costs above.

New Jersey Brain Injury Frequently Asked Questions FAQs

Many people find themselves the victim of accidents where they suffer injuries. Accidents happen in a variety of circumstances. From car accidents to workplace accidents, victims can suffer injuries ranging from mild to severe, including Traumatic Brain Injury. People between the ages of 15 and 19 and older than 65 are most likely to sustain a TBI.

Traumatic brain injuries, often referred to as TBIs, are some of the most serious and debilitating injuries victims suffer. A TBI is generally the result of a serious impact or collision, but does not require a direct blow to the head. Understanding the symptoms of a TBI can help you determine whether you or a loved one has suffered a TBI. If you have, seeking immediate medical attention can help improve your chances of making a full and complete recovery. After that, speaking with a trusted New Jersey traumatic brain injury lawyer can help you maximize your financial recovery.

How do I know if someone has a brain injury?

TBI symptoms are not always apparent and they may take days or weeks to appear after an injury. Common signs and symptoms of a TBI include:

  • Loss of consciousness
  • Difficulty waking
  • Seizures
  • Convulsions
  • Double vision or pupil dilation
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Slurred speech
  • Weakness in extremities
  • Loss of balance
  • Headache
  • Dizziness
  • Vertigo
  • Sensitivity to light
  • Ringing in ears
  • Sudden loss of smell or taste
  • Extreme and sudden mood changes
  • Lack of energy
  • Agitation
  • Combativeness
  • Drowsiness
  • Changes in sleep patterns
  • Memory problems
  • Slowness in thinking or speaking

If you or a loved one were in any type of accident where you could have suffered a TBI, quickly see a medical professional to help you get the right medical treatment. The above symptoms may indicate that you or your loved one need medical attention because you may suffer from a TBI. However, not all TBIs are created equal.

Types of Traumatic Brain Injuries

Over 150 people each day from TBIs. Traumatic brain injuries range from mild to severe; but, don’t let the term “mild” fool you. Mild TBIs are still potentially severe, and require immediate medical attention.

Concussion. A concussion is a TBI caused by an impact to the head, violent shaking, or sudden change in movement. A direct impact is not required to cause a concussion. Many concussions are caused by minor car accidents that violently force your neck backward, causing a concussion.

Concussions are difficult to diagnose because standard imaging tests cannot see them. Concussions often cause headaches, memory loss, and disorientation. Concussions are also dangerous because the brain takes awhile to heal, and if you suffer a second concussion, it can cause additional problems.

Brain contusion. When the brain tissue suffers bruising, a brain contusion occurs. Brain contusions cause a buildup of blood in the brain that is often only relieved through surgery. The surgery releases the pressure that allows the brain to heal.

Brain contusions are a type of TBI caused by a forceful impact to the head. When someone slips and falls, they often land on their back, causing their head to slam into the pavement or ground. When this happens, the brain takes a significant impact and brain contusions often result.

Brain contusions range from mild to severe. These injuries cause loss of consciousness, confusion, and agitation. The most severe brain contusions cause brain swelling that can cause death.

Penetrating brain injuries. A TBI often results when an object penetrates the skull, caused by gunshots, violent slips and falls, or severe car accidents. Penetrating brain injuries often result in death or life altering conditions for the victim.

Anoxic brain injuries. Anoxic brain injuries happen when the brain does not receive the oxygen it needs to operate properly. Blood clots, strokes, heart attacks, or other serious traumas caused these TBIs. These medical conditions limit blood flow to the brain that can cause injury. It’s also possible that blood flow to the brain is normal but the blood does not carry enough oxygen.

After mere minutes without a proper amount of oxygen, brain cells die. This results in brain injury. Anoxic brain injuries are most commonly caused by drowning, poisoning, choking, suffocation, or anything else preventing oxygen from entering the bloodstream.

What are common brain injury treatments?

Treatment of brain injuries varies greatly. Some TBIs require a proactive approach. Victims need close monitoring by a medical professional to ensure enough oxygen reaches the brain and to prevent further injury. Sometimes, these TBIs require emergency surgery to relieve pressure on the brain.

Surgery is often used for the following reasons:

  • To remove blood clots that are putting pressure on the brain and damaging brain tissue
  • To repair skull fractures
  • To remove bleeding in the brain and to stop further bleeding

Severe TBIs, when not treated quickly, could cause further damage. To prevent further damage to the brain, medication is often used to help the patient recover. This can include placing the individual in a medically induced coma. Doctors sometimes choose this path because a brain in a come needs less oxygen to function adequately.

Rehabilitation is also an important medical step after suffering a TBI. Depending on the severity of your TBI, rehabilitation may be required to retrain basic motor skills. This process begins in the hospital and may continue in a rehabilitation facility or by way of in-home rehabilitation.

How do I prove someone else caused the brain injury?

To prove someone else caused the TBI you or your loved one suffered, you must show the other person or company acted negligently, recklessly, or carelessly and that their actions directly caused your injuries.

This comes in establishing four elements:

  1. The other party had a duty of reasonable care to you;
  2. They breached that duty of care;
  3. That breach caused the accident;
  4. And the accident caused your TBI.

This may seem simple, but in practice it often is not. Working with our experienced New Jersey TBI lawyers can give you a leg up. Early detection and treatment of your TBI can help to get you back to your life as quickly as possible. By using the services of a trusted TBI lawyer in New Jersey, you can greatly increase the odds of recovering compensation from the party or parties at fault for your injury.

Why does a brain injury affect people differently?

About 5.3 million people currently live with a TBI in the United States, and none of them suffer from identical symptoms. The impact to your life depends not only on the type of TBI you suffered, but also your life circumstances, including your age and general health.

Many people used to believe children could recover faster and suffer fewer long-lasting effects than adults. This is simply not true. In fact, children often suffer more serious results from a TBI than adults because children’s brains are still developing and children often have difficulty describing with accuracy how they feel and where things hurt.

The injury type and location also play a part in how a TBI affects victims. If you injure the temporal lobe, you may experience challenges speaking and recalling memories. But a person who suffers an injury to their cerebellum may not stand without wobbling. This same person may have no trouble speaking or remembering the past.

Traumatic brain injuries are serious not only because the brain is what controls your body, but also because the brain is not very good at healing itself. In fact, most brain injuries that heal on their own occur only because the brain figures out another way to complete a task. In other words, the brain completes the same task differently. This is a fascinating feature of the brain—but it often requires extreme focus and intensive therapy because your brain is retraining itself. That therapy may come with a staggering financial cost.

How much does it cost to recover from a brain injury?

This is one of the most frequent questions we get. It’s also one of the hardest to answer because it all depends on your exact injury, where in the brain you suffered your injury, and your physical health. Northwestern University estimates that the cost of  TBI treatments ranges between $85,000 to $3 million. This is a huge difference, but even the low end shows the vast cost that TBI victims may face.

But they should not have to face it alone. When you work with our New Jersey TBI lawyers, we can work with you to try to get you compensation for:

  • Pain and suffering
  • Lost wages
  • Loss of companionship
  • Loss of enjoyment of life
  • Emotional distress
  • Lost earning potential
  • Medical bills
  • Rehabilitation costs

Most adults who suffer a TBI will not return to work, at least not in the same capacity as before their injury. This greatly reduces their earning potential, or eliminates it altogether. Not only does this place great stress on the victim, it can also place additional strain on the rest of the family.

That’s why you need a lawyer to hold the at fault party liable for your accident. When you suffer a TBI in New Jersey, you may face a mountain of medical procedures. These come with equally high medical bills. The best way to make sure you do not have to pay a dime out of your own pocket is by working with a seasoned TBI lawyer in New Jersey.

Soon after your injury, you might receive a phone call from the insurance company representing the at fault party. They call to offer you a settlement. You may get excited about putting this part of the experience behind you. Call us instead.

The insurance company is hoping you do not realize the full value of your claim and take their low ball settlement offer. If you do, you may waive your right to bring any future claim against them for the accident that caused your TBI. This means that it will be too late when you realize your settlement did not include enough funds for you to make a full and complete recovery. It’s important to remember that you did not cause the accident, so you should bear none of the responsibility for your medical expenses. Let that be the responsibility of the person who caused your accident.

Working without a lawyer could leave you receiving less compensation than you deserve. We do not want to see this situation happen to you and we will do everything in our power to maximize your financial recovery. Your focus should be solely on your physical recovery and your long road ahead. Let us worry about the legal complexities and dealing with insurance companies.

Do I need a lawyer to help me recover compensation?

Without a brain injury lawyer to represent you, you will always put yourself at a disadvantage when trying to negotiate against large insurance companies. Insurance company interests do not align with yours.

This is why clients trust our New Jersey traumatic brain injury attorneys to stand by their side, negotiating with the insurance company to maximize potential financial recovery. Without a lawyer guiding you along the way, you could miss out on vital compensation that would help you get better, and help you and your loved ones return to a normal life.

If you or a loved one has suffered a TBI in New Jersey because of someone else’s negligence, you deserve aggressive legal representation that will work tirelessly to protect your rights. Recovery from TBI can create enormous challenges. Embark on the road to recovery with the right attorney in your corner.

How a Brain Injury Lawyer Can Help

An experienced New Jersey brain injury lawyer can help brain injury victims and their families recover the compensation they need to manage the expenses listed above.

Although no two brain injuries we handle at Jacoby & Meyers, LLP are exactly alike, frequently our team provides services to brain-injured clients and their families that include:

  • Investigating the facts and circumstances of a brain injury to identify all parties whose bad decisions or dangerous actions harmed our client, and to evaluate the full scope of our client’s financial and related needs in the wake of suffering a brain injury. We aim to give our clients the best possible chance of obtaining maximum compensation for their injuries, knowing that the road ahead can prove long and expensive.
  • Negotiating with insurance companies and defense lawyers to convince them to pay a fair and reasonable settlement to our client. Our team’s thorough preparation and deep understanding of the challenges faced by TBI victims often give us a leg-up in convincing parties with legal liability to pay the full value of our client’s claim. They know that we come into every negotiation with a full command of the facts and the law.
  • Litigating in New Jersey courts, when necessary, to force legally-liable parties to pay what they owe to our client. Not every New Jersey brain injury case ends up in court, but we always prepare as if a matter will go the distance, so that when we tell defense lawyers and insurance companies “We’ll see you in court,” they know we mean business.

Brain injuries present special challenges not just for victims and families, but also attorneys. Make sure you choose a lawyer to represent you who has experience and know0how in seeking compensation for TBIs, in particular. You cannot afford to work with an attorney who lacks an understanding of the complexities and expenses that accompany severe brain injuries. Instead, choose a team with deep resources and a track record of success for obtaining maximum compensation for New Jersey brain injury victims.

Contact a New Jersey Brain Injury Lawyer Today

The experienced brain injury lawyers at Jacoby & Meyers, LLP commit their careers to advocating for New Jersey residents who have sustained injuries as a result of another party’s careless, reckless, or intentionally harmful actions. We understand the gravity of a severe TBI and its devastating effects on you and your family.

“I highly recommend hiring Jacoby & Meyers should you ever find yourself injured in an accident, and an individual or company needs to be held accountable for their negligence.” -C.J.

If a traumatic brain injury caused by someone else’s conduct has devastated your life, contact Jacoby & Meyers, LLP and ask to speak with a member of its team of brain injury attorneys. You can contact us online, start a live chat with one of our representatives, or call either of our New Jersey offices in Edison) or Newark toll-free at (877) 505-2368 for a free case evaluation. We’re here to discuss the events that led to your TBI and your best strategy going forward.