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. 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: 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. 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: 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: Additional secondary pathological conditions can emerge as a result of a TBI include: 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. 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. 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: 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. 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: 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: 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: 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. 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: 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.
Deep dive into TBI: Definitions, symptoms, and treatment
Defining TBIs
Symptoms
Long-term consequences
Treatment
How our Boca Raton brain injury attorneys can help you
Liability in brain injury cases
Potential damages
Fatal injuries
Resources for brain injury survivors in Florida
Have you or a loved one suffered a brain injury in Boca Raton? Our firm can help.
Our Personal Injury Practice Areas
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.
Our Boca Raton personal injury practice areas:
Car Accidents
Our Boca Raton car accident attorneys serve clients who’ve been injured in moderate to severe car accidents, often leaving lifelong damage, serious injuries, and in the worst incidents, death. Don’t wait to see if the insurance company will be fair – contact a lawyer to represent you as soon as possible. Insurance companies are concerned about one thing; their bottom line. Whether you want to pursue legal action for yourself or on behalf of a loved one who died, our firm can help you win justice.
Truck Accidents
Truck accidents are often the most severe motor vehicle accidents. When a person is killed or seriously injured in a truck accident, victims or their family members often want to take action to get justice and compensation for their losses in full. Our attorneys know that it isn’t always just the truck driver who may be liable. Trucking companies cut corners all the time to save time and money, without thinking about how those choices could affect innocent lives. No matter the scenario, a trustworthy Boca Raton truck accident attorney at Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath is ready to help you every step of the way.
Motocycle Accidents
Drivers often treat bikers with aggression, cutting them off, following too closely, and not looking in their mirrors when turning or switching lanes. If you were hit on your motorcycle, it’s important to hold the potentially liable party accountable. Our Boca Raton motorcycle accident lawyers will help you recover compensation and keep other bikers safe.
Medical Malpractice
Sustaining a medical injury due to the negligence of a physician or another medical professional can be traumatic and life-changing. The birth of a child should be a joyous occasion, but negligent and careless doctors and other medical professionals can lead to childbirth injuries and lifelong complications. Whether you’ve experienced a misdiagnosis or late diagnosis that caused you harm, there was a mistake during surgery, anesthesia error, or something else, a leading Boca Raton medical malpractice lawyer at Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath will help you hold the liable parties accountable.
Nursing Home Abuse
Nursing home abuse or neglect can seriously injure the elderly and even cause a loved one’s death. When you or a loved one has been a victim of nursing home abuse or neglect, such as verbal abuse, abandonment, physical abuse, or something else, you are entitled to hold the liable parties accountable for damages. A Boca Raton nursing home abuse attorney at Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath will help you move forward during this difficult time and pursue legal action to win justice.
Premises Liability
Property owners are required to maintain a safe environment for their patrons, guests, and invitees. You can claim compensation for damages after an accident that occurred on premises such as a retail store or an office building. These injuries may be serious and long-term or a catastrophic event that resulted in death. You need a Boca Raton slip and fall lawyer if you’ve fallen due to negligent conditions. Contact us to make sure your rights are protected from those who would diminish your claims. A leading Boca Raton premises liability attorney at Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath will help you claim damages from the liable party.
Product Liability
All parts of the supply chain have a duty to keep a product suitable for customer use and provide warnings when applicable. When a defective product has caused injury or even death to you or a loved one, pursue a legal claim to recover damages in full. A highly experienced Boca Raton product liability attorney at Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath will show you the path to claiming your compensation.
Brain Injury
All brain injuries have potential to cause serious, life-threatening complications, including coma and swelling or bleeding on or around the brain. Even the most “mild” concussion comes with risks, and those risks aren’t cheap. Hiring a Boca Raton brain injury attorney will give you the best chance for full physical and economic recovery.
Slip and Falls
You’ve probably seen silly slip-and-fall commercials on TV, but these incidents are nothing to laugh about. Slipping and falling on an uneven, disrepaired, or dangerous surface can cause serious injury and chronic pain. Did you slip and fall on someone’s property? Our Boca Raton slip and fall attorneys can help you hold them liable and obtain compensation for your medical bills.
Wrongful Death
It’s hard losing a loved one to natural causes, but it’s worse when they pass away due to someone else’s recklessness. Contact our Boca Raton wrongful death lawyers immediately if your loved one died in an accident that you suspect wasn’t their fault. We’ll seek closure for you and your family through a wrongful death suit.
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The Florida Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Claims
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 four years.
Outside of these time frames, you will likely not be able to recover compensation by a legal claim.
Determining Fault in a Boca Raton Personal Injury Accident
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.
1. Duty of care
This is the expectation of a person or entity being watchful, attentive, cautious, and prudent about their property to ensure the safety of those around them. If an expected duty of care can be established, they can be found negligent.
For example, a shop owner is responsible for keeping a store’s floor dry, level, and clear of debris for the safety of their customers.
2. Breach of duty
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.
3. Causation
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.
4. Damages
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.
A Boca Raton Personal Injury Attorney Provides Effective Representation
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.
That means that we will handle:
- Corresponding with insurance companies
- Dealing with creditors
- Communication with your health care providers
- Working with the police to receive your police report of the incident
- Paying the up front litigation and court fees
- Investigating the accident or incident
- Talking with employers about lost income
The Potential Impact of Comparative Fault in Florida
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.
Reasons to Choose Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath as Your Personal Injury Attorneys
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.
Why should you choose us as your Boca Raton personal injury lawyers?
1. We only get paid if you win.
We work on a strict contingency fee basis. We only get paid if you do.
2. We treat clients like family.
With over 40% of new cases from attorney referrals and past client referrals, you can believe we treat every client like family. And we protect our family.
3. We prepare every case for trial.
Big corporations and insurance companies know that we mean business and that we won’t hesitate to have a case tried before a jury if they aren’t responsible.
4. We earn maximum compensation for your personal injuries.
We make sure your injuries and damages are covered completely and fairly.
Common Types of Personal Injuries
Traumatic brain injury
If you are injured and suffer a traumatic brain injury, your life may be permanently changed. Any type of head injury should be seen by a doctor even if you believe it is not a serious issue.
Side effects of a traumatic brain injury may be confusion, disorientation, headaches/ migraines, nausea, vomiting, vertigo, seizures, memory loss, difficulty regulating emotions, personality shifts, loss of speech and communication, loss of motor function, and loss of cognitive function.
Contact one of our traumatic brain injury lawyers to make sure you understand your rights as the victim or the family of the victim of a brain injury.
Spinal cord injury
A spinal cord injury can lead to severe problems, pain, and suffering. Whether you’ve slipped due to an unsafe area or were hit by a car on the side of the road, a spinal cord injury lawyer can help you navigate the waters to receive fair compensation for your injuries.
Side effects of a spinal cord injury may be limited mobility, limited range of motion, nerve damage, muscle tearing, mild to severe pain, muscle spasms, difficulty breathing or coughing, loss of bladder or bowel control, paralysis, and more. A qualified spinal cord injury lawyer can help you pursue compensation while you focus on healing.
Burn injury
Sometimes life-threatening, burn injuries change parts of your body permanently, both inside and out. Whether your burn was caused by an auto accident, liquid burns, chemical burns, explosions, or radiation, contact a burn injury lawyer so you’re properly informed of your rights.
Dog bites
Dogs are man’s best friend – unless they are raised or treated the wrong way. Unfortunately, when these animals are abused or conditioned to be aggressive or defensive, it can lead to very serious injuries to innocent individuals.
If these animals injure people, dog bite injury lawyers step in to make sure that the owners of that animal are held accountable for their dog’s behavior.
Soft tissue damage
Soft tissue damage can lead to a lot of problems in a person’s life. While sometimes not visible on the surface, they can be painful and life-changing. Soft tissue injuries can include whiplash, sprains, contusions/bruising, tendonitis, bursitis, rotator cuff injuries, and more. This doesn’t only concern your medical costs.
Our lawyers understand the change in the quality of life for someone like a baseball player who experiences a rotator cuff injury. That injury impacts their hobbies, earning capacity, and even their mental health.
Wrongful death
Losing a loved one is one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. If that loss could have been prevented, it hurts even more.
When the negligence of another person causes a wrongful death, you have every legal right to pursue damages against them for your loved one. This includes any medical costs accrued due to the accident, lost wages and potential income, and any emotional turmoil and suffering you’ve gone through due to the loss of your loved one.
Get in Touch With a Boca Raton Personal Injury Attorney
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
Call 561-655-1990OR
Send us a message
To schedule your free, no-obligation consultation today.
You don’t pay until we win
Personal Injury Questions and Answers
Why do I need a personal injury lawyer?
The role of a personal injury lawyer is to protect your rights and to represent you in a court of law. The court systems and laws can be a complex web of sometimes confusing information, and if your personal injury case needs to be tried by a jury, a personal injury lawyer is there to help you through that process.
Most lawyers will be paid through a contingency fee, which means you only pay your court fees and lawyer fee if the lawyer you’ve chosen can win your case.
What do I do when an insurance company calls me about my injury?
Refuse to give a recorded statement and tell them to call back later. Then, call a Boca Raton personal injury lawyer. When an insurance company calls you about your personal injury, their main job is to assign some of the fault to you in any way they can. They’ll ask if you were on your phone, distracted, or something else that may attribute blame for the accident to you. Don’t let them. Our lawyers are equipped with the knowledge on how to deal with insurance companies. Let us protect your rights.
Should I call the police at the scene of a personal injury?
Calling the police is often the right choice. Too much time can pass between an accident and a settlement, and those at fault may go through a lot of work trying to cover up whatever caused your injury.
Having a police record of the incident allows the court a small, unbiased snapshot of the day of the injury that documents the cause, environment, and other things that may be used in your case.
How long do I have to file a lawsuit after a personal injury?
Florida statutes state you have four years from the date of the injury to file a lawsuit for compensation. In some cases, when an injury is not obvious or when it takes time to discover the injury, an extension on that four-year limit may be applied, though it is rare to receive it. Most personal injury cases will not be heard after more than four years from the date of the incident.
Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath
515 N Flagler Dr, 10th floor
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
1860 SW Fountainview Blvd STE 100
Port St. Lucie, FL 34986
150 E Palmetto Park Road Suite 840
Boca Raton, FL 33432
110 SE 6th St Ste 1410
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Phone: (561) 655-1990
Fax: (561) 832-2932
Español: (561) 833-1964
