Boca Raton brain injury attorneys

A brain injury caused by someone’s negligence that leads to long-term and life-altering changes in your personal and professional life may qualify you to receive compensation from the at-fault party. 

A Florida brain injury attorney at Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath has the knowledge and experience to help you receive the financial compensation you deserve for the losses and injuries you’ve suffered. Contact us online or call (561) 655-1990 today to schedule your free consultation.

Continue reading to learn more about how we can help you.

Deep dive into TBI: Definitions, symptoms, and treatment

Defining TBIs

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be caused by any head injury that damages the soft tissue in the brain. A TBI can have dramatic and long-lasting impacts on your life. The most common causes of TBIs are:

• Falls, which are the cause of nearly half of TBI-related hospitalizations
• Car accidents 
• Violent attacks 
• Workplace accidents, often involving machinery or equipment.

Traumatic brain injuries can be mild, medium, or severe. A mild TBI is most commonly referred to as a concussion, but even those can vary in severity and can lead to changes in the chemistry of your brain that impact your ability to focus, your level of irritability, and can even lead to changes in your personality–all either on a temporary or permanent basis. 

Moderate and severe brain injuries are more likely to have long-term and life-altering effects. They often result in a decrease of motor skills and cognitive function, permanent disability, and some can be fatal. 

If you or a loved one has been in an accident or incident that resulted in a bump, blow, or penetrating wound to the head, it is important to seek out immediate medical attention, particularly if you have any of the following symptoms.

Symptoms

Immediate medical care following a head injury is important because early medical intervention can often reduce further brain trauma. If someone sustains a head injury, seek prompt medical care if the following symptoms are exhibited: 

• Loss of consciousness for any amount of time, especially if it lasts for more than a few minutes
• Dizziness
• Confusion 
• Disorientation
• Seizures or convulsions
• Blurred vision or tired eyes
• Fatigue or lethargy
• Ringing in the ears
• Nausea or vomiting
• Change in sleep patterns 
• Numbness or weakness in limbs
• Headache that worsens or won’t go away
• Mood or behavioral changes 
• Concentration and memory problems.

Long-term consequences

Any brain injury can persist for months or years and might cause long-term and lifelong changes in brain chemistry, including progressive brain atrophy of gray and white matter. Long-term consequences also include an increased vulnerability to certain neurodegenerative disorders such as CTE and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).

Some long-term consequences of TBI that require ongoing treatment include:

• Seizures 
• Demyelination 
• White matter pathology
• Decreased neurogenesis
• Inflammatory events
• Excitotoxicity 
• Apoptosis.

Additional secondary pathological conditions can emerge as a result of a TBI include:

• Sleep disorders 
• Neurodegenerative diseases 
• Psychiatric problems
• Neuroendocrine dysregulations.

Permanent disabilities resulting from a TBI can decrease a person’s quality of life and increase their likelihood of developing other conditions and earlier mortality. Although some brain trauma can’t be undone, early intervention is key to prevent worsening irreparable damage.

Treatment

Some symptoms of TBI cannot be treated, they simply take time to subside such as headaches or ringing in the ears. Other aspects of a TBI can’t be cured, but instead can be aided and managed through, particularly when cognitive function and development is affected or stunted.

In these instances, various types of rehabilitative therapy can be used to help improve functions that may have been lost.

For example, if a TBI causes speech regression, speech therapy might be helpful for teaching the person how to speak, or if they experience weakness to an arm, they may engage in physical therapy to build the muscles and learn how to use their arm again.  

The Journal of Neurotrauma reports that therapeutic interventions are being developed to help improve patients’ outcome following a moderate or severe TBI. Gaining access to the most cutting-edge and effective treatments is expensive, even with insurance.

That’s why attorneys at Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath consider it our duty to help you recover the maximum amount of monetary damages to which you’re entitled. 

How our Boca Raton brain injury attorneys can help you

It can be difficult to know where to start if you want to file a claim for damages, especially when dealing with the aftermath of a TBI. Our team of expert attorneys will help you collect compensation for your injuries by: 

• Identifying the liable (financially responsible) party or parties who caused your injury
• Gathering and preserving evidence to prove their liability
• Calculating your claim for damages
• Gathering strong evidence to support your claim for damages, including from medical personnel and other experts
• Filing an insurance claim or lawsuit against the liable party
• Negotiating a settlement with the insurance company or liable party
• If the settlement is unfair and unreasonable, taking the liable party or their insurer to trial.

Liability in brain injury cases

To collect compensation for your injuries, you’ll need to prove that another party was liable for the injury through negligence, recklessness, or an otherwise legally actionable reason.

Proving liability is a crucial element of your case and requires thorough knowledge of the applicable law and experience with TBI cases. You might only have one chance to recover damages–don’t risk that opportunity by hiring anyone other than Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath, the leading Florida brain injury attorneys. 

Potential damages

You may be entitled to a broad range of damages, however the specific damages and the amount depends on the circumstances surrounding the accident and the severity of your TBI and the related or resulting injuries.

You must prove that you’re entitled to the damages you’re requesting, which is why it’s important that you promptly hire an attorney so that they can gather the appropriate evidence you need to support your claim.  

Economic (special) damages are easily quantifiable. They’re easily traced with a “paper trail” of bills, invoices, estimates, and other tangible costs including:

• Medical expenses related to the accident
• Anticipated future medical costs
• Lost wages
• Anticipated lost future wages. 

Non-economic (general) damages are more difficult to prove because they’re usually not associated with a tangible bill or expense. Non-economic damages include:

• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Permanent disability or disfigurement
• Loss of consortium or companionship (when a spouse or partner dies) as a result of the accident.

Fatal injuries

If you lost a loved one due to a TBI, you may have a wrongful death claim which is intended to compensate the family of the deceased to help lessen the financial burden associated with their loss. 

The compensation available through a wrongful death claim includes:

• The lost financial contribution to your household 
• Damages for the loss of their emotional contribution to the household 
• Compensation for the loss of services and other household contributions 
• Funeral, burial, and other related costs 

Additional damages or actions may be available to you such as a survival action, a claim that allows for the recovery of the same damages the deceased would have been eligible to receive if they survived after their injury. 

Resources for brain injury survivors in Florida

Palm Beach County has higher rates of TBI-related injuries than the general average in Florida. Recreational activities also contribute to the number of TBI-related injuries, and happen in sports, water activities, and in fights. 

There are several support groups and networks in Palm Beach County and the surrounding area for survivors of TBI and their families, including:

• Southwest Florida Trauma Survivors Support Group – Fort Myers
• Spinal Cord Connections Support Group – Hollywood
• Endless Possibilities – Lake Worth
• Spinal Cord Injury Support Group (SCISG) – Miami 
• West Palm Beach SCI Group – West Palm Beach

Have you or a loved one suffered a brain injury in Boca Raton? Our firm can help.

Recovering from a traumatic brain injury is already a difficult experience even before trying to put together your own claim against an insurance company. With an experienced Florida traumatic brain injury attorney from Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath lawyer by your side, you’ll obtain justice and closure.

If you or a loved one suffered a traumatic brain injury caused by someone else’s negligence call us at (561) 655-1990 or contact us online to schedule your free consultation.

Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath has a staff of 15 attorneys, 14 paralegals, two seasoned accident investigators, and one registered nurse paralegal. We have recovered billions of dollars for clients in a wide range of practice areas.

Whether you’ve been involved in a car or truck accident, a medical-related personal injury, or a liability injury, our attorneys are highly experienced in many different case types and practice areas. We can help you win the maximum compensation that you are entitled to by law.

You may be aware that there is a certain time limit in which you’ll need to bring a legal claim to the local court, governed by Florida’s statute of limitations. The time limit you have to file a claim against the at-fault party depends on the claim that you have. Most commonly, our clients are filing claims for damages under the areas of medical malpractice, wrongful death, personal injury, personal property, and liability.

As the statute of limitations states for medical malpractice and wrongful death actions, you must bring forth a legal claim within two years from the date of the accident. For personal injury, personal property damage, and liability claims, you must bring a claim to the local court within two years.

Outside of these time frames, you will likely not be able to recover compensation by a legal claim.

When you are hurt in an accident, determining fault in the accident can be tricky as there can be many layers of responsibility. Depending on the type and severity of the accident, there could be a single person or entity responsible or several different entities at fault. Fault is determined primarily by four things.

A person or entity must be found guilty of breach of duty by failing to do something they were legally obligated to. This can be refusing to repair part of a shop, not scheduling routine maintenance, or ignoring a safety hazard.

For instance, a shop owner ignoring a leaky ceiling tile for months. A customer slips, falls, and sustains a traumatic brain injury. The shop owner had a responsibility and noticed the leak beforehand, but chose to do nothing about it. This was a breach of duty.

Proving negligence and causation is an important part of your personal injury case. Your Boca Raton personal injury lawyer must prove that a person or entity was knowledgeable and negligent, and this caused your personal injury.

Using the example above, the lawyer may speak to employees who cleaned up the same leak for weeks, have someone examine the damage to give an estimate on how long it had been occurring, or request video footage showing the leak was cleaned up for a time prior to the accident. This is how the cause of the personal injury is determined.

Damages are financial compensation given to the injured to pay for their injuries, medical costs, and any other costs related to the incident. If your injury was caused by someone’s negligence, you should not pay for your medical costs or related expenses.

The shop owner from the previous example would have to pay for the traumatic brain injury to the victim, their lost wages, and any lingering costs due to the injury like therapy or projected healthcare costs if the damage is deemed permanent.

Sustaining a serious injury can be a traumatizing experience, both physically and mentally. When you choose Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath as your personal injury law firm, we will begin protecting your rights immediately.

If you’ve been hurt, know your rights. Contact a Boca Raton personal injury lawyer as soon as you can to make sure that your rights are protected.

When an accident occurs in Florida, courts use comparative fault to determine where financial liability lies. It also helps to set the amount of damages that each party may pursue in the accident itself. Florida determines that each party may be partially at fault for an accident, and if that is the case, compensation should be reduced by the percentage that person is at fault.

Additionally, each party may sue the other party for damages, regardless of the amount of fault as long as neither party is responsible 100% for the accident. If a party is found to be 100% at fault, they can not pursue damages against the other. This percentage is called Florida’s pure comparative negligence rule.

Because of these two things, it’s vital to contact a Boca Raton personal injury attorney as soon as possible. You need an experienced lawyer to help you prove negligence and protect your rights in a personal injury lawsuit.

We’ve been around for more than 35 years and we aren’t going anywhere. We’ve taken on big corporations and insurance companies to protect the rights of our clients and those big companies know exactly who we are. They know we won’t hesitate to take your case to trial and are more willing to negotiate because of it.

Our reputation of aggressive representation is why over 40% of our new cases come from referring attorneys and past client referrals.

Since 1985, we’ve recovered more than $2.5 billion for our clients. You can rest assured that we will earn maximum compensation for your injuries.

Meet with a top personal injury attorney in Boca Raton at Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath. We have deep experience in your practice area and can plan your path forward. Whether you have questions about your case, are wondering if you have a case or not, or you are ready to get started with a claim immediately, we’d love to help.

Lytal Reiter – Boca Raton Personal Injury Lawyers

150 E Palmetto Park Rd Suite 840, Boca Raton, FL 33432

(561) 867-4117

Call 561-655-1990OR

You don’t pay until we win