Closed Head Injuries and Understanding Your Rights

Many closed head injuries or traumatic brain injuries (TBI's) are potentially life threatening and if not, at the very least, the victim is likely to suffer long term repercussions. If a victim has suffered an accident involving a closed head injury through no fault of their own, then it is vital that you contact a team of the best Riverside attorneys who are well versed in dealing with such horrendous injuries and will be able to explain your rights.

So what causes closed head injuries?

Closed head traumatic brain injury occurs when the brain has a sudden acceleration and deceleration process within the skull causing trauma to the brain itself. It can be caused when the head is struck with violent force. For example, a sudden impact on the head from some falling scaffolding, or a victim's head colliding with a car windscreen in the event of an automobile accident. Another cause of closed head injury occurs in babies and young children, when tragically they are shaken violently (otherwise known as shaken baby syndrome).

It is fair to say that the majority of closed head injuries are caused by the gross negligence of others and at its most serious they can cause death, or sometimes leaves victims in a vegetative state. When someone is harmed, either intentionally or accidentally, a highly skilled team of Riverside County attorneys can file for compensation on behalf of the victim.

If the closed head injury happened whilst at work, then there is a strong chance that someone will be held accountable. Many closed head injuries occur on construction sites where the chances of being struck by heavy objects, such as sheets of metal or scaffolding, heightens. It is down to the representing lawyer to ascertain as to where the negligence lies. In most cases on construction sites you have third party contractors, who do not work directly for the same company as the victim but are working on the same job. When this happens an attorney can file a damages claim for third party liability.

In order to do this and to get to the bottom of where the negligence lays a skilled team of Riverside County attorneys will have the financial backing to be able to call upon any one of a number of independent experts who can look into the case. People such as accident investigators, health and safety experts and head trauma specialists can all help to find the cause of the accident. In a third party case it can sometimes be very difficult to make the blame stick as companies will pass blame from one to another and this is why the independent experts help. Once they have a strong idea of who the negligent party/parties are, then the representing attorney can start to build a case.

When they are building a case for the plaintiff, it is an attorney's job to come up with a full and fair compensation package for the victim and their family. This is not a figure that is simply plucked out of the air; on the contrary there are a number of criteria that an attorney would take into consideration. Things such as:

• Immediate and on going medical expenses
• Total care expenses (if they need a long term or short term carer)
• Therapist fees if the victim needs to learn to walk or talk
• Loss of wages whist the victim is in recovery
• Loss of future wages if they are no longer able to work, or at the very least, carry out the same job again
• Disability equipment renewal costs if the victim needs the use of equipment such as a wheelchair or a walker
• Loss of family unit
• Compensation for stress and anguish caused to the family of the victim
• Punitive damages filed directly against the defendant for gross negligence.

As you can imagine it is easy to see how a claim such as this can run into tens of millions of dollars so the attorney has to get it right.

Quite often time is of the essence when it comes to filing a damages claim, so it is advisable to choose a skilled team of Riverside attorneys who have a proven track record when dealing with such cases. The right lawyer will act with compassion and care, whilst at the same time doggedly pursuing the compensatory package that the victim and their family truly deserve.