Chicago Brain Injury Lawyer

An injury to the brain is the most uniquely debilitating accidental injury a person can suffer. Traumatic brain injury survivors often must endure a long, tragic, and expensive recovery and will rarely ever be the same.

Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC understands how traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) impact all affected lives and can severely strain their families and loved ones.

To learn more about legal rights from brain injuries caused by someone else's negligence, contact a personal injury attorney at (888) 424-5757 (toll-free phone number) or use the contact form for a free consultation.

Our Chicago brain injury attorneys recommend that you contact our law office as soon as feasible to discuss your legal rights and options with a free consultation. Talk with a brain injury attorney to discuss your personal injuries, ongoing medical costs, and seeking compensation for your damages.

Most Common Causes of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) in Accidents

The most common causes of severe to mild TBI result from accidents. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "accidental" brain injuries from various types of trauma claim the lives of 150 people daily.

Some of the most common causes of traumatic brain injuries related to accidents include:

• Truck or Auto Accident: A car accident can have devastating consequences, often changing the victim's life forever in the blink of an eye. The at-fault driver could be held financially accountable for the accident.
• Birth Trauma: A newborn infant who suffered a brain injury is often harmed by someone's negligence during childbirth. Tragically, an acquired brain injury involving a hypoxic or diffuse axonal brain injury leads to preventable long-term damage.

In addition, an acquired brain injury often stems from other minor traumas or conditions that are undiagnosed or not treated promptly, such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

• Medical Negligence: The negligent practice of medicine has been responsible for numerous types of head injuries and often involves errors in administering anesthesia or medications.
• Gunshot Wound: A person injured by a gunshot could experience serious physical trauma involving cerebral contusion, brain bleeding, penetrating injuries, or other closed head injuries requiring immediate medical attention.
• Workplace Accidents: Even if workers are at fault for an accident, they can receive benefits through mandated workers' compensation coverage. For example, if an entity aside from the injured person's direct employer can be proven responsible for the injuries.

Minor head injuries causing minor concussions would result in second impact syndrome, an often fatal condition diagnosed with post-concussion symptoms from closed head injuries.

In that case, the significant brain injury victim may recover full and fair compensation in addition to that offered under workers' comp benefits. If accident trauma like a slip and fall prevents the injured parties from returning to work, they may be eligible for permanent disability.

Traumatic Brain Injuries in Infants and Children

According to the Brain Injury Association of America (BIA), head trauma is the leading cause of death, memory loss, and permanent disability in young children.

Although brain trauma is serious for anyone, children are more fragile and susceptible to severe brain injuries.

Nearly one million children yearly are diagnosed with significant to mild brain injuries, with approximately 20 percent requiring hospitalization. The largest percentage of childhood brain injury patients is four years or younger and 16 years or older.

These injured children and their families have the legal right to file a brain injury claim to obtain the ongoing financial compensation they will need for daily living.

Hiring a Chicago Brain Injury Lawyer

Suffering from a traumatic brain injury? Want to hold the doctor or at-fault driver financially accountable for your ongoing medical care and other damages?

Our brain injury attorneys can help you file a personal injury claim seeking financial compensation. Our legal representation will cost you nothing out of pocket to hire a Chicago brain injury lawyer.

Likewise, brain injury victims do not need to pay anything out of pocket for legal representations for themselves or a loved one. Instead, your brain injury lawsuit proceeds on a contingency basis.

Our Chicago brain injury law firm handles every aspect of complex cases, from gathering evidence to negotiating a settlement or presenting evidence at trial.

Why Your Moderate or Severe Traumatic Brain Injury Needs to Be Treated

Permanent brain damage could occur should a victim suffer untreated traumatic brain injuries, including:

• Educational difficulties and diminished cognitive abilities
• Problems concentrating or performing a job
• Effects on personal relationships
• Ongoing mental health issues such as depression, disorientation, stress, and anxiety

A head injury victim could experience challenging personality changes, including emotional trauma and permanent impairment almost immediately after the accident.

Treating the full extent of accident injuries and suffering the emotional symptoms generate excessive medical bills and pain and suffering damages.

Sample Illinois Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Settlements

Our Chicago attorney team has a long and successful track record of representing clients with brain injuries caused by the negligence or wrongdoings of others. We understand the complexities of these cases and have the expertise to build a strong case for our clients to ensure they get their due compensation.

Each Chicago brain injury attorney on our legal team is dedicated to providing superior representation with compassionate care so that our clients can focus on what matters most: healing and recovery.

The large settlements below result from resolving an Illinois brain injury claim where the plaintiffs were harmed by malpractice, accident, or birth injury.

$15.9 MILLION SETTLEMENT (Will County)

A female newborn sustained a life-threatening anoxic ischemic event after an obstetrician and various medical professionals allegedly failed to properly identify and respond to abnormal fetal monitoring data for over three hours.

The hospital's neonatologist allegedly did not arrive until two minutes after delivery and did not attempt intubation until five minutes of life.

As a result, the child, now age 7, suffers from traumatic brain injuries, spastic quadriplegia, cortical blindness, seizures, and global developmental delay.

The settlement, paid by the anonymous hospital insurance carrier and several medical defendants, is the highest reported Will County malpractice verdict or settlement.

$19.5 MILLION SETTLEMENT (Cook County, Chicago, Illinois)

A 56-year-old Chicago, IL, factory worker suffered permanent neuromuscular damage impairing his motor skills after being deprived of oxygen during the defendant's negligence during intubation at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

He had previously undergone a tracheostomy and was on a ventilator. He suffered the injury when a third-year resident was employed by a community hospital and was training at Northwestern when medical professionals attempted to change the tracheostomy tube but failed to maintain an adequate airway.

The Northwestern insurance company paid $12 million of the settlement, and the resident's employer paid $7.5 million to resolve the personal injury lawsuit.

$50 MILLION AWARD (Illinois)

A male newborn infant suffered severe TBI during delivery when an OB-GYN at Evanston Hospital allegedly failed to perform a Cesarean section even after multiple signs of fetal distress and ordered the administration of the labor-inducing drug Pitocin put further stress on the infant.

The hospital's insurance company paid the family's economic and non-economic damages to resolve the brain injury claim due to the defendant's negligence, including:

• Emergency room costs
• Future quality medical care
• Future lost wages
• Past medical bills
• Ongoing physical therapy and rehab
• Loss of normal daily living
• Emotional distress
• Long-term pain and emotional suffering

Available Brain Injury Treatment in Chicago, Illinois

In the Chicagoland area, we are fortunate to have many nationally recognized hospitals that excel in treating people with catastrophic to mild traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Among the leading facilities for head trauma rehabilitation are:

• Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (Formerly RIC) 355 E. Erie St., Chicago, IL 60611
• Rush University Medical Center 1653 W. Congress Parkway, Chicago, IL 60612
• Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation 710 N. Lake Shore Drive, #1022, Chicago, IL 60611
• Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital 1401 S. California Ave., 60608
• Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital 26W171 Roosevelt Road, 60187

Common Traumatic Brain Injury Lawsuit Cases

Our Chicago brain injury lawyers are committed to securing the most favorable compensation for each client. As part of our law practice, your brain injury attorney will represent survivors of various head trauma.

Regardless of the type of head trauma, our lawyers are committed to providing individualized representation to convey the extent of the injury to the insurance companies. In addition, our traumatic brain injury lawyers will evaluate the personal injury claim to maximize the value of each client's brain injury lawsuit.

Concussions

Concussions are the most common head injury. Although medical experts consider concussions as less serious than other types of brain injury, the long-term effects are not fully understood and have significant consequences if left untreated.

Even a mild traumatic brain injury can develop into a serious condition, altering the person's daily activities and causing significant lifelong impairments or problems.

Contusion

A contusion is another common type of brain injury and often results from an impact directly to the head through a violent jolt. Contusions frequently lead to bleeding and bruising on the brain. Some TBI victims of extensive contusions require surgery to remove them from the brain.

A coup-contrecoup describes a serious contusion at the impact site when both sides of the head sustain damage. The brain's movement during impact could slam brain membrane tissue against the inside of the skull on the head's opposite side.

Diffuse Axonal Injuries

Diffuse axonal injuries are usually the result of a strong rotation or shaking of the head, a common damaged brain tissue occurrence when rotational forces or intense jolt happen in motor vehicle accidents, even when those are minor head injuries.

Diffuse axonal problems occur when the unmoving brain lags behind the forward and backward–thrust skull, which causes the tearing of brain structures. The shaken baby syndrome is also referred to as a diffuse axonal injury.

Subdural Hematoma

A subdural hemorrhage is bleeding on the brain. It occurs when blood vessels burst between the brain and its outer protective membrane, or dura mater, usually due to a blow to the head.

The build-up of blood can pressure the brain and cause serious injury or death, so subdural hematomas must be diagnosed as early as possible to avoid the brain injury victim living in a vegetative state.

Penetrating Injuries

A penetrating injury to the skull from a sharp object or other external force usually involves a bullet or knife entering the skull and forcing skin, hair, and bone into the victim's brain.

Rapidly traveling objects can cause extensive damage to specific areas of the brain. In addition, slower-moving objects can easily ricochet off the head, causing skull damage.

Anoxic Brain Injury

Anoxic brain injuries can occur when there is a lack of oxygen delivered to the brain. Without a continuous flow of oxygen in the bloodstream, the death of brain cells can happen in as little as four minutes.

Brain Trauma

Classified as anoxic differs from a hypoxic head injury in that inadequate oxygen supplies usually cause hypoxia, while anoxia results from a complete loss of oxygen.

While the two conditions are similar, a complete lack of oxygen supply to the brain can cause significantly more widespread damage.

Brain Infection

Parasites, fungi, viruses, and other organisms invading the body can cause brain infections. Abscesses, surgical errors, and other medical negligence can cause brain infections.

An infection can be categorized as encephalitis when the brain tissue is involved or meningitis, which affects membranes covering the brain.

Gross Anatomic Injuries

Gross anatomic injuries are visible physical wounds. Damage to the brain or skull will leave unmistakable cuts, abrasions, bruises, and swelling.

It can also cause fractures of the skull that range from mild disruption to a major break in multiple locations. Skull fractures often occur as a result of a severe impact or accident from gross anatomic injuries and can be further classified as:

• Closed head injury – an injury to the brain caused by a blow to the head where the skull remains intact.
• Comminuted skull fracture – a break in the bone that results in multiple fragments of varying sizes.
• Linear skull fracture – a break in one line along the skull.
• Grazing skull fracture – a shallow break in the skull that does not penetrate far into the bone.
• Depressed skull fracture – a break in the skull where fragments of bone push inward, compressing brain tissues.

Traumatic Brain Injuries and Wrongful Death

Damaged brain cells from sports injuries, during a child's birth, in a car accident, or repeated concussions and brief loss of oxygen can lead to wrongful death. In addition, when trauma is present, the victim often experiences fatal internal bleeding.

Surviving family members who lost a loved one from fatal head injuries can file a brain injury case citing a preventable death.

The decedent's estate and his or her family could receive financial recovery for the accident, event, or malpractice that includes:

• Lost wages
• Future lost income
• Loss of consortium and companionship
• Funeral & burial costs
• Hospital expenses and medical bills
• Physical pain and suffering the decedent felt before dying
• The family's pain, suffering, grief, mental anxiety, and emotional distress

Get Help from Experienced Chicago Brain Injury Lawyers

Were you or a loved one injured? If so, a Chicago brain injury attorney from our law offices can help you receive the maximum compensation you deserve.

At Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC, we have numerous Chicago brain injury lawyers in practice areas that handle complex civil cases on a contingency basis. Brain injury victims should connect with a medical malpractice attorney today.

Call us to arrange a free consultation with a traumatic brain injury attorney to learn more about your rights and legal options in a traumatic brain injury lawsuit. Call us at (888) 424-5757.

Resources:

• NIH - Birth injuries Risk Factors
• About Birth Injuries