Determining the Value of Your Brain Injury Case

Brain injuries are tragic. Your brain is the central processing unit of your body, controlling how you feel, the way you move your body, and how you learn. When this essential organ is damaged, a person can suffer tragic injuries which can change their life forever.  

Often, brain injuries are the result of someone’s negligence. For instance, an emergency room doctor delays treatment for a stroke, resulting in permanent brain damage. Or an obstetrician makes a mistake during childbirth, resulting in hypoxia (or inadequate oxygen to the brain) and the child develops cerebral palsy.  

If you have suffered a brain injury in Philadelphia as the result of someone’s actions or inactions, you may be able to file a Philadelphia brain injury lawsuit. You should contact an experienced brain injury attorney in Philadelphia as soon as possible so they have time to collect evidence, evaluate the information, and build your brain injury lawsuit.

Many brain injury lawsuit plaintiffs wonder how much their case is worth. In other words, how much can they expect to be compensated for their injury? Read on to understand how the value of a brain injury case is determined.

Factors that brain injury lawyers consider in determining your brain injury lawsuit’s value are:

The extent of your brain injury. How severe is the injury? How does the brain injury manifest? Are there physical symptoms resulting from the brain damage, such as paralysis (the inability to move a part of your body)? Are there intellectual injuries? Has the person suffered memory loss or cognitive impairments? Has the person suffered speech, vision, or hearing loss?

Pain and suffering. Brain injuries can cause extreme pain and discomfort. The pain can be near the brain itself, such as headaches and migraines. And the pain can radiate to other parts of the body, causing debilitating pain. There is also a significant amount of emotional pain and suffering that brain injuries can cause, including anxiety, stress, and depression.

Medical care costs. Brain surgeries can be extremely expensive as can emergency services. What are other costs related to the brain injury? Follow-up visits, rehabilitation, nursing care, outpatient care, inpatient care, home health aides, etc. Medical care costs for brain injuries add up quickly.

Wage loss. Did the person have to stop working as the result of their brain injury? How much time did they miss from work? Will they ever be able to return to work again? What is the amount they would have earned had they not been injured?

The above factors focus more on what the brain injury victim experienced as the result of their brain injury. The following factors are more legal in nature, but still have to be weighed by your Philadelphia brain injury attorney:

Liability. Does the evidence support the argument that the defendant was negligent – or, breached the standard of care – and increased the risk of the occurrence of a brain injury?

Multiple defendants. Sometimes there is one defendant who is entirely responsible for the brain injury and sometimes there are multiple defendants involved. How much should each defendant pay to compensate the brain injury victim?

Punitive conduct. Occasionally, a defendant’s misconduct rises to the level of punitive damages. These damages are not really designed to compensate the victim per se; they are intended to punish the defendant and deter other defendants in the same position from such misconduct.

There are many factors that need to be considered in the valuation of your brain injury lawsuit. If you or a loved one suffered a brain injury, contact the experienced Philadelphia brain injury lawyers at VSCP Law.