How Our Brain Injury Lawyer in Tucson Helps Clients
If you or your loved one has suffered a traumatic brain injury that you suspect was caused by someone else’s negligence, contact our brain injury lawyer in Tucson at the Khalidi Law Firm, PLLC as soon as possible. We offer free consultations to evaluate the chances of a successful legal claim.
Brain injuries are unlike all other injuries. Victims suffer in profound ways, and it often seems to sufferers and their loved ones like there is no hope of returning to a normal life. We want you to know that there is hope. Our goal is to help our clients get their lives back to normal.
Meet with the Khalidi Law Firm at No Cost
We receive no fees and you pay no out-of-pocket expenses unless we successfully pursue your claim, but it is important to contact a legal representative quickly to make sure your claim, should you have one, stays within the statutes of limitations under Arizona law.
Khalidi Law Firm, PLLC has more than two decades’ experience with brain injury cases. Located in Tucson’s Historico Barrio, the firm is familiar and experienced with Arizona law and will make sure your concerns are addressed, and that you or your loved one receives treatment and compensation for the injury.
Fill out our online contact form or call us at 520-629-9909 to schedule a free case evaluation.
Proud to Represent Spanish-Speaking Brain Injury Victims
At the Khalidi Law Firm, we believe that a person’s native language should have no bearing on their legal rights. We speak Spanish, and we’re proud to be able to represent clients who don’t feel comfortable speaking English with their attorney.
For Severe Head Injuries, Talk to Our Tucson Brain Injury Attorney
Any injury can be terrible. Injuries can debilitate even the strongest person. In most cases, the essence of the person with a physical injury remains the same before and after it occurs, but isn’t always the case with traumatic brain injuries (TBI).
A severe brain injury sufferer sometimes experiences significant personality changes. Families and friends might even feel like their injured loved one acts like a completely different person. A person’s temperament and emotional responses to situations might seem unusual. In some cases, these changes are accompanied by physical or cognitive disabilities.
The Centers for Disease Control estimate that 1.5 million people in the United States suffer from one of the two types of Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) — mild or severe — each year. Of those suffering a TBI, 50,000 die each year and 85,000 suffer long-term injury. Overall there are 5.3 million Americans living with a TBI.
Statistics show us how common these injuries are, but they don’t tell the stories of the individuals suffering from a serious brain injury. At the Khalidi Law Firm, we represent many brain injury victims. They are our clients and our friends. It’s our job to understand their challenges and to help them get their lives back.
Monetary Damages in Brain Injury Cases
Damages available to brain injury victims include those associated with medical treatment, lost wages (present and future), pain and suffering and other expenses incurred as a result of the harm. Our Tucson head and brain injury lawyer will fight aggressively for you to receive damages for your brain injury legal claim. Our team has skilled and seasoned litigators ready to go to court when necessary.
Damages in these cases might include…
- Past and future medical expenses
- Lost income
- Loss of work capacity
- Physical and emotional pain and suffering
- Diminished quality of life.
With adult victims, it’s usually easier to compute all lost income by using earnings history, education and how those earnings project into the future. Child brain injury victims are more difficult because what they might do and how much they could earn during their lifetime of working is unknown.
The degree of the injury and the extent of any mental or physical disability also factors into brain injury damage awards. Specialized care alone for these severely injured victims can easily cost $250,000 or more annually. And the pain and emotional suffering that a brain injury victim endures can sometimes seem incalculable. Family members are also deeply affected, as seldom will their loved one completely return to their former pre-accident condition.
At the Khalidi Law Firm, we know that the non-economic damages are just as important as the financial consequences of your injury. We work closely with you and your loved ones to find out how much pain and suffering you’ve experienced and how your suffering has affected your enjoyment of life. We will hold negligent parties responsible for all the ways an injury has impacted you.
How Much Money Can You Expect in Your Brain Damage Case?
The broad scope of potential damages is why these awards can range from the $14.25 million won at trial by a Pennsylvania woman whose car was struck by a commercial truck in 2008, to the $600,000 settlement awarded to an Illinois passenger in 2013 after suffering a moderate TBI when the driver of the car he was in fell asleep and crashed his vehicle.
Understanding the Process of Filing a Legal Claim After Suffering a Brain Injury
- The first step for anyone who has suffered a serious brain injury is to seek immediate medical attention. You’ll want to know the extent of your injuries and lessen the damage caused by your injury.
- Next, contact a brain injury lawyer to learn more about your legal options. Your attorney will listen to your story and determine whether to proceed with a claim.
- Once we accept your case, we will get to work on the many aspects of building your case. In addition to handling the day-to-day aspects of your case, we will conduct investigations, interviews and research to determine the many economic and non-economic costs you are facing.
- We will determine who is at fault for your injury. Then, we’ll begin correspondence with them, their insurance company and attorneys.
- Our head injury lawyer will demand the payment you deserve. If the party we deem to be at fault doesn’t want to cooperate or settle, we will take the matter to trial on your behalf.
- During trial preparation, we will depose all necessary parties and consult with expert witnesses to build your case.
- Our team will prepare presentations for trial that show the extent of your suffering and how your injury has impacted your life.
- We will work with you closely and keep you informed on the progress of your case during the entire process.
Our goal is to handle as much of the process as possible, so you can focus on recovering and rebuilding. You can refer anyone that wants to talk about the case to us. You can also count on our brain injury attorney to be responsive to all your concerns and questions about your case.
These cases vary in length. If you are wondering how long a brain injury case takes, you should schedule a free consultation with the Khalidi Law Firm. We’ll be able to give you a much clearer picture of the time frame you might expect after we learn the details of your case. Some cases can be resolved after several weeks, while others take several months or longer.
Should You Settle Your Brain Injury Case or Take it to Trial?
This is one of the more frequently asked questions about head injury claims. The answer depends on many different factors, including the at-fault party’s willingness to cooperate and the amount they offer in settlement negotiations. Many cases are resolved before a trial is necessary, but we strongly believe in preparing each case as if it were going to trial.
A well-built case is more likely to lead to a satisfactory settlement. We let the other side know we are prepared to take a legal dispute all the way to trial. This gives us a stronger position at the negotiating table and ensures that we’ll be prepared to move forward if a trial is required.
Ultimately, if you don’t want to proceed to trial, you won’t have to. We work for you, and we will respect the decisions you make. We will prepare your case thoroughly and give you all the information you need to make a sound decision. Get in touch with our Tucson brain injury attorney at 520-629-9909 to discuss your case, learn your options and ensure you get the best legal representation possible.
Our Brain Injury Lawyer Helps Head Injury Victims
Brain injuries can arise from many different accidental events. They could occur due to a concussion while playing sports, or from a car wreck, a tumble from a bicycle or motorcycle wreck, or appear in an infant after shaken baby syndrome or from medical malpractice during delivery. Many brain injuries also happen on construction sites or after a slip-and-fall.
Brain injuries, even mild ones, can have many negative consequences for a sufferer, including…
- Cognitive problems
- Loss of motor function
- Memory loss
- Speech impairments
- Permanent disability
- Wrongful death.
You can count on our brain injury lawyers at Khalidi Law Firm, PLLC to provide you with the answers you need.
We will ensure that you or your loved one receives proper treatment and full, fair compensation for a brain injury from those who carelessly caused it.
Consequences of Traumatic Brain Injuries
A traumatic brain injury most often produces permanent neurobiological damage that can produce varying degrees of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), forcing the victim to temporarily lose consciousness for several hours or more. Some lie in a coma for days before regaining consciousness. Noticeable physical and cognitive impairment can be permanent for the remainder of the victim’s life.
TBI victims can experience several types of emotional problems. Mood swings can feel like riding an emotional roller coaster for the victim due to damage to the portion of the brain that controls emotions and behavior. Such sudden, unexplainable emotional responses by the injured victim can cause those around the person to believe that they caused the emotional outburst.
Often, these symptoms are associated with early TBI diagnosis. Over time, however, much of the behavior may disappear, though not completely go away.
This can have an emotionally debilitating effect on those who live with and are around the TBI victim. The need for trained psychological and psychiatric specialists is obvious, perhaps for the rest of the TBI victim’s life. This can become quite expensive, and the cost of care is one of the primary reasons a head injury victim pursues a legal claim to get compensation.
How Brain Injuries Affect Children
Even comparatively mild injuries, such as hypoxic brain damage (brief oxygen starvation suffered during birth), can have lifelong consequences, such as emotional and intellectual challenges for the rest of this young person’s life. Anoxia (extended oxygen starvation during childbirth) can lead to cerebral palsy and a host of other tragic mental and physiological disorders.
Outcomes can be just as grim for children who suffer a TBI from a blow to the head or a case of shaken baby syndrome. TBI is a leading cause of death and disability in infants, toddlers, and adolescents, and it can negatively impact brain maturation and development as they get older. If a young child suffers a serious TBI, medical and rehabilitation expenses for the rest of their life can be as much as several million dollars.
Classification of Brain Injuries
Brain injuries can range in scope from mild to severe. A brain injury is typically classified as mild if loss of consciousness and/or confusion a lasts for less than 30 minutes. Some traumatic brain injuries (TBI) result in permanent neurobiological damage that can produce lifelong deficits to varying degrees. Moderate to severe brain injuries typically refer to injuries that have the following characteristics:
- Moderate brain injury is defined as a brain injury resulting in a loss of consciousness for 20 minutes to 6 hours.
- Severe brain injury is defined as a brain injury resulting in a loss of consciousness for longer than 6 hours.
The Glasgow Coma Scale is another important tool for determining the severity of a brain injury. The GCS assesses a person’s condition based on motor responsiveness, verbal performance, and eye opening to appropriate stimuli. It is particularly useful for injured people that lost consciousness or went into a coma after an injury. The degrees of head injury used in the GCS are mild, moderate and severe.
We help our clients in both English and Spanish.
Our Tucson Brain Injury Lawyers Have Helped Clients in Many Types of Cases
Car Accidents
Car accidents are a frequent cause of brain injuries. The CDC reports that 14.3 percent of TBIs are caused by auto accidents, for a yearly total of roughly 286,00 per year. Part of the issue with any brain injury, but especially with those sustained in car crashes, is that symptoms may not appear until later. Because of this, it is extremely important to seek immediate medical treatment for any accident. This also provides important documentation in case of a personal injury suit. The condition of the vehicle after an accident is not always an accurate indicator of the physical sate of a vehicle’s occupants; medical records can be crucial to proving injuries caused.
At the Khalidi Law Firm, we have decades of experience handling vehicle accident cases involving brain injuries. In many cases, the at-fault driver’s insurance company will be responsible for paying the many costs of your injury.
Brain Injuries Resulting from Slips and Falls
Slip and fall injuries are among the leading causes of TBIs in the United States. According to the CDC, 40.5 percent of TBIs are the result of slip and fall injuries. No matter where the injury occurs, it is important to assess what caused the fall. This is especially true if the slip or fall occurred at the mall, a restaurant, a store, or other similar location. If it was caused by a slippery floor, inadequate lighting, or shoddy equipment, documentation is important in order to pursue a claim in court, to establish fault and to make sure similar accidents resulting in brain injuries don’t reoccur.
Our legal team knows slip and fall cases. We have represented several clients that have suffered serious injuries because a property owner or manager failed to keep their premises safe. If you’ve been injured while on someone else’s property, we encourage you to contact the Khalidi Law Firm by calling 520.629.9909 or filling out our online contact form to learn more about your legal options.
Sports-Related Brain Injuries
An issue that has garnered a significant amount of publicity lately are TBIs resulting from sports. Some sports, including boxing and mixed martial arts, include direct head shots, American football, with its frequent head-to-head contact; and soccer, with its headers of balls going at excessive speeds; and even lower impact sports such as basketball or baseball may cause TBI.
As our understanding of brain injuries has improved, research has been conducted, especially on the brains of deceased former boxers and football players, to study the cause and effects of the injuries. The findings are chilling.
A recent Washington Post report indicates that as many as 40 percent of former professional football players may suffer from TBI. The Neurological Rehabilitation Institute reports that for boxers the percentage is much higher, with potentially 90 percent of former boxers suffering brain injuries at some time in their career, due primarily to the repeated pounding; thus, these athletes suffer a higher risk contracting Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease.
The research and publicity has caused some much-needed changes in rules, especially in football, to protect players from head and neck injuries as much as possible. Still, the danger exists. The legal question our brain injury lawyers identify has become one of fault: Was the injury the result of equipment, a team, an individual or even the league itself for not implementing more regulations?
Let us help you determine whether a negligent party contributed to your injury. We’ll find out who was responsible for your sports-related brain injury and make sure they pay for the costs you’re facing.
Call a severe head injury lawyer at the Khalidi Law Firm at 520.629.9909 to schedule your free consultation.
Symptoms of Mild TBI
The symptoms of mild TBIs — also frequently called concussions — are not always present immediately following the accident or event producing the injury. It may take days, or even weeks, before the victim and/or his family notices the following signs:
- Fatigue
- Headaches
- Visual disturbances
- Memory loss
- Poor attention/concentration
- Sleep disturbances
- Dizziness/loss of balance
- Irritability-emotional disturbances
- Feelings of depression
- Seizures
In addition, some victims of mild TBI experience these less common symptoms:
- Nausea
- Loss of smell
- Sensitivity to light and sounds
- Mood changes
- Getting lost or confused
- Slowness in thinking.
Common Symptoms of Moderate to Severe TBI
The impact of a moderate to severe brain injury has the potential to affect every facet of an individual’s life. The list is long and extensive, and may include:
- Attention
- Concentration
- Distractibility
- Memory
- Speed of Processing
- Confusion
- Perseveration
- Impulsiveness
- Language Processing
- Inability to understand the spoken word (receptive aphasia)
- Difficulty speaking and being understood (expressive aphasia)
- Slurred speech
- Speaking very fast or very slow
- Problems with reading
- Problems with writing
- Difficulties with interpretation of touch, temperature, movement, limb position and fine discrimination
- Partial or total loss of vision
- Weakness of eye muscles and double vision (diplopia)
- Blurred vision
- Problems judging distance
- Involuntary eye movements (nystagmus)
- Intolerance of light (photophobia)
- Decrease or loss of hearing
- Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
- Increased sensitivity to sounds
- Loss or diminished sense of smell (anosmia)
- Loss or diminished sense of taste
- Physical paralysis/spasticity
- Chronic pain
- Control of bowel and bladder
- Sleep disorders
- Loss of stamina
- Appetite changes
- Regulation of body temperature
- Menstrual difficulties
- Dependent behaviors
- Emotional ability
- Lack of motivation
- Irritability
- Aggression
- Depression
- Disinhibition
- Denial/lack of awareness.
Treatment of Brain Injuries
Treatments for brain injuries are as varied as the injuries themselves. Several variables must be taken into consideration:
- How severe is the injury?
- What condition is the person in?
- What are the symptoms?
- How adversely has the injury affected the individual?
- How has it affected quality of life?
- What secondary injuries result from the brain injury?
- Is the person disabled, and, if so, by how much?
Treatment for brain injuries must be versatile, but it all starts with an assessment. From there it depends on the injury.
To learn more about potential treatment options, the Brain Injury Association of America has created a diagram detailing different options.
Can You Recover from a Brain Injury?
Unlike most other parts of the body, brain cells do not regenerate once they are destroyed. Some improvement in their condition is possible, relative to the type and seriousness of the victim’s injury. Our brains can “rewire themselves” to a point where certain functions can be re-gained. Doctors call this brain “plasticity.”
Generally, if there is any improvement after a severe brain injury, it will be detected between six months and two years after the injury. Improvements slow considerably after that, but may still progress indefinitely and at a much slower pace.
Most mild TBIs do not cause permanent or long-term disability. Neurologists generally accept that permanent disability occurs in 10 percent of mild TBI, 66 percent of moderate, and 100 percent of severe TBI.
Extensive, ongoing treatment and rehabilitation for brain injuries are vital for recovery. Tests, treatments, rehab and therapy make a big difference, and they can be expensive. If a brain injury was someone else’s fault, then you should consider all your legal options and talk to our brain injury attorney to get payment to cover the medical costs you’ll face.
Types of Accidents That Call for a Tucson Brain Damage Attorney
An experienced personal injury lawyer can seek compensation from those whose negligence caused the injury, including but not limited to the following:
- A drunk driver or distracted driver
- Medical personnel whose actions or inactions amounted to malpractice
- An employer who was responsible for a dangerous workplace
- A school district which did not provide safeguards for student athletes
- A property owner who did not perform adequate maintenance on sidewalks, stairs or parking lot
- Nursing home owners who failed to protect residents from falls.
Determining who is at fault is one of the most important tasks of a head injury lawyer. At the Khalidi Law Firm, we investigate every aspect of your injury to find out who should be held accountable. Once we know whose negligence caused your brain injury, we will make sure they pay for the harm they’ve cause you.
Find Out Whether Our Brain Injury Lawyer Can Help You
If you or your loved one has suffered a traumatic brain injury that you suspect was caused by someone else’s negligence, contact the Khalidi Law Firm, PLLC as soon as possible for a free consultation to evaluate the merits of the claim. We receive no fees and you pay no out-of-pocket expenses unless we successfully pursue your claim, but it is important to contact a legal representative quickly to make sure your claim, should you have one, stays within the statutes of limitations under Arizona law.
Khalidi Law Firm, PLLC has more than two decades’ experience with brain injury cases. Located in Tucson’s Historico Barrio, we know Arizona law and will make sure your concerns are addressed, and that you or your loved one receives treatment and compensation for the injury. Our team is fluent in Spanish, and we happily represent Spanish-speaking brain injury victims in these cases.
If you’ve suffered a brain injury, you might feel like there is no hope. We can tell you from our personal experiences with clients, there is hope. We want to help. Contact the Khalidi Law Firm by calling 520.629.9909 or filling out our online contact form to schedule your free, no-obligation legal consultation with our brain injury lawyers in Tucson.
