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What Long-Term Recovery from Brain Injury Means to Your Personal Injury Case

The Carolina Law Group > Personal Injury  > What Long-Term Recovery from Brain Injury Means to Your Personal Injury Case

What Long-Term Recovery from Brain Injury Means to Your Personal Injury Case

Monty Desai | Attorney, Greenville, SC

Monty Desai | Partner & Attorney

Each year, approximately 2.8 million people experience a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that results in a trip to the Emergency Department, hospitalization, or death, according to the CDC. While many mild brain injuries like concussions resolve quickly with no problem, more severe brain injuries can cause devastating long-term problems.  

 

If you’ve sustained a moderate or severe brain injury in a motor vehicle accident, a fall, or another accident that wasn’t your fault, you may be wondering how it affects your personal injury case and what you can recover. Here are some points to consider.

 

Effects and Recovery

 

Injury to the brain commonly results in difficulty with concentration, cognition, memory, and speech. In severe cases, it can lead to permanent physical and/or mental disability. These signs often appear soon after the trauma that results in brain injury or can take weeks to emerge.

 

As for recovery, most people with mild brain injury make a complete recovery within a few weeks. However, for those who have sustained a more severe TBI, recovery can take several months or even years, and they may never fully regain the skills they lost. This can have an enormous impact on a person’s future ability to earn money and their quality of life.

 

Damages Available in a Brain Injury Case

 

In personal injury cases, there are different types of damages available. Non-economic costs, or general damages, covers things like pain and suffering, emotional distress, and other intangible losses without a fixed dollar amount. Since brain injuries can greatly affect a person’s quality of life, it’s important to document and demonstrate how the injury has impacted them in order to make a compelling case.

 

Economic damages, or special damages, cover lost wages, medical expenses, and other things with a fixed dollar amount that can be calculated. In a case where the injury is more straightforward – a broken leg, for instance – doctors may say with confidence what kind of recovery the patient will make and how long it will take. This makes calculating economic damages easier. However, in a severe brain injury case, doctors can’t say with confidence what kind of recovery the patient will make, nor how long it will take, because the brain is more complex. This means it’s harder to accurately calculate future rehabilitation costs and lost wages. The risk is seeking compensation that’s too low to cover all the expenses that result from the injury.

 

Statute of Limitations

 

In South Carolina, the statute of limitations for filing a personal injury lawsuit against an individual is three years. If you wait too long to file your claim, you may miss your chance to recover damages. That’s why it’s important to speak to an attorney as soon as you can. While you may end up waiting to file your claim in order to see how recovery progresses, you can still start building a strong case.

 

If you’ve sustained a brain injury from a motor vehicle accident or other incident that wasn’t your fault, call the personal injury attorneys at The Carolina Law Group today. They have experience handling TBI cases and can help you build a persuasive case to get the compensation you deserve. Call today to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation.  

 

The Carolina Law Group has four offices in upstate South Carolina for your convenience: Greenville (principal office; call 864.312.4444), West Greenville (864.312.4444), Greer (principal office; call 864.757.5555), and Spartanburg (principal office; call 864.757.5555). Call today.

About 

Monty D. Desai came to the United States on Christmas Eve, 1988. After high school he joined the service in order to earn money for college. Monty would go on to earn a letter of commendation as a Navy Corpsman for the Marine Corps. After his service, Monty completed his undergraduate studies at the University of South Carolina. From there, Monty went on to attend Thomas M. Cooley Law School on full scholarship, where he earned his Juris Doctorate. Following graduation from law school, Monty served as prosecutor with Greenville County Solicitor’s Office, and also worked as a a adjunct professor in the Criminal Justice Division at Greenville Technical College. In 2015 Monty was recognized by the National Academy of Personal Injury Attorneys as ranked among the Top 10 Under 40 for excellence in the field of personal injury.

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