Suffering a spinal cord wound can be a life-altering event that not only impacts your physical well-being but also has significant emotional, financial, and legal consequences.
If you or your beloved has experienced such a traumatic injury due to another person’s fault, you must have a skilled and compassionate legal advocate with you.
An expert spinal cord injury lawyer can navigate the complex legal landscape and ensure you receive fair compensation.
Finding the right attorney can make a significant difference in your journey toward recovery and securing the resources necessary to adapt to your new life.
So this post will guide you on all about finding the best spinal cord injury lawyer in Florida.
Top 4 Tips To Find The Best Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer
Let’s look at the top tips to help you find an excellent spinal cord injury lawyer:
1. Ask For References
About 15 million people suffer from spinal cord injuries globally due to:
- Trauma
- Slip and fall injuries
- Road accidents
- Workplace accidents
This is why it is necessary to hire a spinal cord injury lawyer to make your recovery easier. One way to find an excellent attorney is by asking for references from people around you.
You may ask a relative who suffered such an injury previously and hired a spine injury lawyer. They can connect you with a reputable injury law firm to deal with your case.
Work colleagues may also help you encounter a good spinal cord injury lawyer. Another thing you must do is check the reviews of the top spinal injury law firms on the internet.
Checking reviews can narrow down your list of potential spine injury attorneys you may hire.
2. Check The Fee Structure Of The Spinal Injury Lawyer
The fee structure of a spinal injury lawyer plays an important role in hiring the best one. Most attorneys offer help on a contingent fee basis.
This means they will not charge you for the legal advice unless they secure compensation for your case. They will also charge a specific percentage of your court award.
The figure may be anywhere between 33% and 40%. You must check the fee structure of the potential spine injury attorney to determine if hiring them would benefit you.
Sometimes a spinal cord injury lawyer may charge a high percentage, which can reduce the overall compensation you receive. This can cause you to suffer a financial loss.
So thoroughly compare the fee structures of the law firms to hire an injury law firm that charges reasonably.
3. Ensure The Injury Law Firm Is Expert In Spine Injury Cases
There are many spinal injury lawyers out there working for different law firms. Some attorneys have joined the legal sector recently, so they don’t have enough experience.
Meanwhile, other lawyers may have decades of expertise in dealing with spinal injury cases. This is why you should check whether the injury law firm you’re hiring is an expert for spine injury lawsuits.
You may ask the law firm the following questions to determine their expertise:
- How long has your lawyer been in the legal sector?
- How many spinal injury cases has your firm won?
- Can you give examples of the settlements you have secured for your clients for spinal cord injuries?
- How many spinal cord wound lawsuits does your firm manage every year?
- What is the yearly success rate of your injury law firm for spine injury cases?
These questions can help you determine the success rate of the injury law firm and whether they can win your case.
4. Check The Lawyer’s Success Record
In the US, about 18,000 new spinal cord injury cases occur every year. This is why the legal sector deals with various lawsuits annually. Your lawyer must have a good track record in winning spinal injury cases.
You may ask the relevant lawyer for multiple examples of the spinal injury cases they have won in the past. This can help you understand whether the lawyer is prepared for winning your complex case.
A law firm may have a high success rate of winning spinal cord injury cases, but you must check the winning rate of the individual lawyer they’re offering access to.
You should also check how many cord injury cases they have won in a row. There may be a significant gap between their lawsuits, which can affect your winning chances.
Every lawyer at a law firm also doesn’t have the same success rate or track record. This is why doing your due diligence can help you hire the best spinal cord injury lawyer.
When Would You Need A Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer
A spinal cord injury lawyer can help you in cases where you suffer from spine injuries due to someone else’s negligence.
For instance, you may experience cord paralysis after a traumatic car crash due to the other driver’s fault.
In such cases, a spinal injury lawyer can help you seek compensation for the injury. You may also hire an attorney when you suffer from the following injuries:
- Quadriplegia
- Spinal nerve damage
- Paraplegia
- Herniated vertebral discs
- Spine fractures
- Central cord syndrome
- Brown-Sequard Syndrome
All these injuries are associated with damage to the spinal cord. This is why you must hire a spine injury lawyer for such cases.
What Types Of Compensation Can You Claim For A Spinal Cord Injury
Let’s look at the types of compensation a spinal cord injury lawyer can help you win:
1. Loss Of Interest In Life
Many patients with spinal cord injuries lose interest in their lives after their injury. This is especially true for patients suffering from quadriplegia or paraplegia.
These are examples of bodily paralysis of all four limbs or the lower body only respectively. This can cause the patient to lose enjoyment in life activities such as family outings.
A spinal cord injury lawyer can seek compensation for such a loss under non-economic damages.
2. Pain And Emotional Suffering
Pain and emotional suffering also come under non-economic damages. They can include physical pain a patient suffers from after a traumatic spinal cord wound or mental anguish.
Anxiety and depression also come under emotional suffering. So your lawyer can seek compensation for each thing under these damages.
They may use your family members and therapists to offer testimonies in court to prove your suffering.
3. Past, Present, And Future Medical Bills
The top thing people worry about after a spinal cord wound is how they will pay their medical bills. That is because your insurance may not cover everything.
You don’t have to worry about this because a spinal cord injury lawyer can help you seek compensation for medical bills. Typically, the at-fault party’s insurance company would cover these bills.
A spine injury attorney would consider your past medical bills and any future financial losses you may experience. They will total all the bills to reach a specific compensation value.
Such a compensation claim mainly comes under economic damages.
4. Cost Of Home Healthcare Assistance
Many spine injury patients require long-term healthcare assistance at home during their recovery. The cost of a nurse coming to your home comes under economic damages.
So your lawyer can seek compensation for this out-of-pocket expense in court. They can talk to your doctor and medical experts to determine how long you would need the assistance.
The lawyer will then multiply the number of days you require assistance with the charges of the healthcare agent. This will allow them to ask for an accurate compensation value for you.
FAQs
How Much Do Injury Lawyers Take In Florida?
A typical spinal cord injury lawyer would take 33% of your compensation as their legal charges. Some attorneys may charge a higher percentage, depending on the case’s complexity.
How Much Does A Spinal Cord Injury Cost?
The lifetime cost of a 25-year-old person suffering from paraplegia would cost $2.97 million in the US. Every spinal injury cost is different because the case severity and other factors vary.
What Is The Success Rate Of A Spinal Cord Injury?
The success rate of recovering from spinal cord damage is high. People with tetraplegia and paraplegia have a survival rate of 40 years after the injury. This may be higher depending on the specific person and their injury severity.
What Is The Maximum Injury Compensation Rate In Florida?
There is no maximum compensation limit for economic damages in Florida. However, a person can only seek about $500,000 in non-economic damages.
Contact The Best Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer In Florida To Claim Damages
This was your complete guide to finding the best spinal cord injury lawyer in Florida. An attorney can guide you on how to file a claim with the relevant insurance agency.
They will also calculate accurate compensation values for your claim by considering different damages. So phone us today to connect with our injury law firm and start your case promptly.
