Did you sustain a spinal cord injury due to someone’s negligent actions in Jacksonville, Florida? You may be able to hold them accountable for your medical bills, suffering, lost income, and more.
Baggett Law Personal Injury Lawyers can help. Our Jacksonville spinal cord injury lawyers have over 69 years of combined experience in personal injury law. We’ve won tens of millions of dollars for our clients since we opened our doors in 2012, and we’re prepared to fight for you.
Call our law firm at (904) 396-1100 or contact us online to schedule a free initial consultation. We’ll discuss how your accident happened, the severity of your spinal cord injury, and the compensation you can seek from the at-fault party.
How Baggett Law Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help You With a Spinal Cord Injury Claim in Jacksonville, FL
A spinal cord injury can affect every aspect of your life for years to come. You will probably incur significant medical expenses, miss time from work, and suffer a diminished quality of life. If another party caused your injury, they should be held responsible for your losses.
However, you’ll need an experienced attorney advocating for you and protecting your right to fair compensation. That’s where our Jacksonville personal injury lawyers come in. We’ll put our six decades of combined legal experience to work for you while you focus on your recovery.
When you hire Baggett Law Personal Injury Lawyers to assist with your spinal cord injury claim, you can expect us to:
- Investigate the cause of your spinal cord damage and identify every party who may share liability
- Gather information and evidence proving each element of your claim for damages
- Value the full extent of your losses, including future medical costs and non-economic damages
- Negotiate on your behalf and ensure that insurance companies and other at-fault parties don’t take advantage of you or undervalue your claim
- Argue for you in a Duval County court if the opposing party refuses to agree to a fair out-of-court settlement
You shouldn’t have to worry about a legal battle when you’re dealing with a catastrophic injury like spinal cord damage. You should be focused on healing and caring for your physical and mental health. Contact our law office in Jacksonville, FL to get the help you need.
What Is a Spinal Cord Injury?
Your spinal cord is composed of nerves that relay messages between your brain and the rest of your body, allowing for movement, feeling sensations, and regulating reflexes and bodily functions. A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord or nearby bones and tissues, such as vertebrae, ligaments, or discs.
Depending on the location and severity of the SCI, you may lose mobility or function in different areas of your body. You’ll typically lose strength, sensation, and bodily functions below the location of the injury. The higher your spinal cord injury, the more severe your damage will usually be.
A complete SCI is when you lose all feeling and motor function below the injury site. An incomplete SCI is when you still have some feeling or motor function below the injury. For example, you may be able to move one arm more than the other or retain more functioning on one side of the body.
A spinal cord injury may include:
- Cervical spinal cord injuries, including paraplegia and tetraplegia (or quadriplegia)
- Thoracic spine fractures (or vertebral compression fractures)
- Other vertebrae fractures (spinal fractures)
- Severed or injured nerves, such as peripheral neuropathy
- Partial paralysis
- Lumbar spinal cord injury
- Central cord syndrome
- Anterior cord syndrome
- Brown-Sequard Syndrome
A complete spinal cord injury is usually permanent, whereas incomplete spinal cord injuries may improve over time. Victims with SCIs may require surgery, cell-based therapies, rehabilitative care, and more. They may suffer chronic pain for the rest of their lives.
What Are Common Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries?
Many types of accidents and incidents can cause spinal cord injuries.
Some of the most common causes of SCIs include:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Boating accidents
- Bus accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Recreation accidents
- Sports-related incidents
- Assaults and other criminal acts
- Construction accidents
- Workplace accidents
- Medical malpractice
- Defective products (product liability)
- Birth injuries
No matter what caused your SCI, the legal team at Baggett Law Personal Injury Lawyers is here to help you recover compensation for your unimaginable losses.
What Is My Jacksonville Spinal Cord Injury Claim Worth?
Your claim’s value will depend on the severity of your spinal cord injury and many other factors, including your age.
For example, if you were 25 when you sustained a high tetraplegia injury, your lifetime costs may be over $5 million. If you suffered the same injury at 50 years of age, your lifetime costs may be around $2.7 million. Those figures decrease for lower or less severe spinal cord damage.
While we cannot give an exact dollar amount, the following factors will help determine the value of your SCI claim:
- Your age at the time of injury
- The severity of your SCI and whether you’ve sustained a permanent disability or impairment
- The impact of your SCI on your quality of life
- Whether you’re able to work in the same capacity as before the accident
- The level of pain and suffering you’ve endured due to your SCI
- Your medical costs, including future healthcare needs
- Whether you have family members who relied on you before your accident
- Whether you share fault for your accident
Many other factors may apply based on the facts of your SCI case. Our Jacksonville spinal cord injury attorneys will help you value the full extent of your losses so that we include them in your claim for damages.
What Compensation Can I Seek for a Spinal Cord Injury in Jacksonville, FL?
Jacksonville spinal cord injury victims can seek economic and non-economic damages from anyone who shares liability.
Economic damages represent the monetary value of your losses due to the SCI, including:
- Past medical expenses, such as hospital bills, ICU, doctor’s visits, and more
- Future medical care needs, such as rehabilitation, physical therapy, nursing care, etc.
- Lost wages and benefits
- Loss of future earning potential
- Any out-of-pocket expenses you incurred, such as modifications to your home
Non-economic damages represent the personal losses that don’t have a price tag, including:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Mental anguish
- Depression, anxiety, and PTSD
- Inconvenience
- Diminished quality of life
- Physical impairment or disability
- Loss of consortium
The court may award punitive damages if the defendant’s grossly negligent or intentional misconduct caused your SCI. These damages are awarded to punish people for bad behavior rather than compensate you for your losses.
How Do I Prove My Jacksonville Spinal Cord Injury Claim?
Negligence – or carelessness – is the root of most accidents that result in a spinal cord injury. For example, most SCIs are caused by collisions and slip and fall accidents.
You must prove negligence by demonstrating four distinct elements:
- The defendant owed you a duty of care;
- The defendant breached that duty of care by failing to act as a reasonable person would under the circumstances;
- The defendant’s breach directly caused your spinal cord injury; and
- You suffered damages as a result.
Other accidents, such as those caused by a defective product, may be based on a strict liability theory. Our personal injury attorneys in Jacksonville will gather evidence proving the legal elements of your SCI case.
What If I’m Partially At Fault for Causing My Spinal Cord Damage in Florida?
If you were partially responsible for the accident that caused your spinal cord injury, don’t panic. Florida is a modified comparative negligence state with a 51% rule, meaning accident victims can still seek compensation in a personal injury lawsuit as long as they aren’t mostly at fault.
However, your damages will be reduced by your percentage of fault. For example, if you’re assigned 40% of the blame, you can only recover 60% of your awarded damages.
What Is the Statute of Limitations for Filing a Spinal Cord Injury Claim in Florida?
Under Florida law, the statute of limitations for filing most personal injury lawsuits was recently adjusted. There is a four-year deadline for injuries sustained on or before 3/23/2023, and a two-year deadline for those sustained after that date. If your loved one died from a spinal cord injury, you have two years from the anniversary of their death to file a wrongful death claim.
However, there are many potential exceptions to these deadlines. Don’t wait too long to reach out to an experienced attorney for help. Evidence fades over time, and it takes time to build a solid claim for damages. Contact our Jacksonville personal injury attorneys to discuss your situation and preserve your rights to compensation from the at-fault party.
Contact Our Jacksonville Spinal Cord Injury Lawyers for a Free Case Evaluation
Are you suffering from a spinal cord injury caused by a negligent party’s actions in Jacksonville, FL? You could be looking at high medical costs and a lifetime of chronic pain. You don’t have to bear these losses alone.
Allow the Jacksonville spinal cord injury lawyers at Baggett Law Personal Injury Lawyers to help you recover the compensation you need after your devastating accident. We can help you seek damages for your past and future medical needs, emotional trauma, lost wages, and much more.
Contact our law office to set up a free consultation with a member of our compassionate legal team. We’re here to help when you need us.
