Settlements for Brain Injuries

Brain injuries can range from relatively minor to serious and debilitating and life-altering. However, even a moderate brain injury can change an accident victim’s life permanently. Sometimes brain injuries mean you can’t do the same job you used to do, or any job. Brain injuries can make it so you can no longer do a recreational activity you loved. They may be expensive to treat. They could even affect your relationship with your loved one. If you suffered brain injuries through the fault of another, you should give the seasoned Syracuse brain injuries lawyers of DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Attorneys a call. We do our best to establish a defendant’s liability, whether through negotiation, mediation, or at trial and we belong to the prestigious Million Dollar Advocates Forum. Our reputation as skillful trial attorneys helps us secure fair settlements for brain injuries.

During negotiations for a settlement and at trial, we will need to establish liability by a preponderance of the evidence. In most cases, that means we need to show it is more likely than not: (1) the defendant owed you a duty to use reasonable care, (2) the defendant departed from this standard, (3) the departure caused your injuries, and (4) actual damages resulted. What breach of duty looks like in different contexts can vary dramatically, and plaintiffs and defendants may disagree about whether there is liability at all.

In a car accident lawsuit based on brain injuries sustained in a lawsuit, we may need to show another driver, or several other drivers were at fault and breached the duty to use reasonable care that all drivers on Upstate New York roads owe to each other. The driver of a car may breach the duty to use reasonable care by speeding, weaving, tailgating, failing to obey traffic signs and signals, drunk driving, or distracted driving.

On the other hand, if you were injured on someone else’s property, such as in a retail store or an apartment complex owned by someone else, you may be able to recover damages by bringing a premises liability lawsuit. With this type of lawsuit, our attorneys would need to show the owner knew or should have known of the dangerous property condition that resulted in your injuries. It can be difficult to establish notice and evidence can disappear quickly, so it can be very important to retain counsel as soon as possible after an accident at a store or another person’s property. When retained, we will send a letter can be sent to the property owner, such as a store or management company, notifying them that a lawsuit will be brought, such that they should hold on to evidence.

In a medical malpractice lawsuit, our attorneys will need to establish that the defendant owed you a professional standard of care and breached it, thereby causing you brain injuries. What the professional standard of care is depends on your geographic location and specialty.

Mediating or trying birth injuries can be challenging; they are similar to regular medical malpractice lawsuits. A birth injury lawsuit also depends on establishing that the professional standard of care that applies to the situation was breached, and that the breach, rather than some natural process, resulted in harm to the baby and their family.

Our lawyers may be able to recover a settlement on your behalf if we are able to establish liability in the lead-up to trial. In most cases, these are compensatory damages, which are intended to make up for tangible and intangible losses.

Tangible losses can include medical bills and lost wages incurred because of the brain injuries. They can also include replacement services if you’re no longer able to do certain activities around the house, like clean or take care of your kids as a result of brain injuries.

Intangible losses may include pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of consortium, and plaintiffs and defendants may have sharply different senses of what a plaintiff has lost as a result of the brain injury and whether he or she is credible enough to appeal to a jury’s sympathies.

When a plaintiff is perceived as particularly credible, and when her attorney has a strong reputation for success at trial, it is more likely a fair settlement can be secured.

If you suffered brain injuries through the fault of another, call our seasoned Syracuse attorneys. DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Attorneys has more than 30 years of experience seeking the best available settlements and awards for brain-injured people in Buffalo, Wampsville, Watertown, Canandaigua, Lowville, Auburn, Oneida, Utica, Herkimer, Oswego, Rochester, Albany, Lyons, Ithaca, Cooperstown, Elmira, Binghamton, and all of Upstate New York. For a free consultation, complete our online form or call us at 833-200-2000.