There are plenty of qualified attorneys in St. Tammany Parish who handle brain injury cases. You are doing your research, which means something has happened. Something serious enough to consider legal counsel. No one reads lawyer websites until they need one.
This page explains what traumatic brain injuries are under Louisiana law, what causes them, and how injury claims work. Morris & Dewett has handled TBI cases across Louisiana for over 25 years. Read it. Compare us to others. Make the decision that is right for your situation.
What Is a Traumatic Brain Injury?
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a form of brain damage caused by an outside force or object impacting the head. This can be a direct impact from an object hitting the head or penetrating the skull. It can also be any force that violently shakes the head, driving the brain into the inner walls of the skull.
Depending on where and how the brain is damaged, TBIs can be mild, moderate, or severe.
Concussions are the most common form of traumatic brain injury. Even mild concussions can cause lasting damage, and that damage compounds with any future concussions. In the most severe cases, TBIs can result in seizures, loss of consciousness, and death.
TBI Facts and Statistics
The latest data on TBIs highlights how common these brain injuries are, who carries the greatest risk, and what they cost (source: CDC).
What Causes Brain Injuries?
Brain injuries can result from any number of events. When negligence or recklessness is involved, the most common causes are falls, motor vehicle accidents, defective products, and workplace incidents.
Falls and TBIs
Each year in the U.S., about 1 in 10 adults over 18 has a falling accident. These accidents cause nearly 1 in 3 fatal traumatic brain injuries, according to CDC data. TBIs from falls have increased by about 22% since 2006.
Falls that cause brain injuries include drops from elevated areas like ladders or scaffolding. They also include slip and fall accidents, which can seriously injure anyone with limited mobility, including the elderly.
Property owners, managers, and landlords can be liable when falls and brain injuries occur at dangerous properties. They are not always the only at-fault parties.
Brain Injuries and Auto Accidents
About half of all TBIs and a quarter of all TBI deaths are caused by motor vehicle accidents, according to NCBI data. This includes car crashes, 18-wheeler wrecks, bus accidents, pedestrian accidents, motorcycle crashes, and other traffic collisions.
Auto crashes are the second-leading cause of TBI-related hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S. Falls rank first. People between 15 and 24 face the highest risk of TBI in motor vehicle accidents.
Negligent motorists are often liable for TBIs from traffic collisions. Other parties, including motor carriers, road construction crews, and carmakers, may share liability depending on how the crash occurred.
Defective Products and TBIs
Faulty products can cause accidents and traumatic brain injuries in many ways. This includes unsafe consumer appliances, faulty medical devices, dangerous vehicle parts, and defective industrial equipment.
Accidents involving defective products can cause blasts, blows to the head, falls, and other TBI-causing events. In many cases, the underlying problem is a design failure or inherent safety flaw in the product.
Manufacturers can be liable for brain injuries caused by their defective products. Distributors and retailers may also carry fault in some cases.
Work Accidents and Brain Injuries
Traumatic brain injuries from workplace accidents are fairly common. Workers with the highest on-the-job TBI risk include those in transportation, construction, manufacturing, fishing, and oil and gas industries.
Work-related TBIs often result from equipment accidents, motor vehicle wrecks, and falls. Workplace violence and assaults are also documented causes.
If you were injured at work, filing a workers' compensation claim may be one option. If a third party, like a supplier or contractor, shares fault for the injury, you may also have the option of a separate claim against that party.
When to Get a Lawyer for a TBI
Contact a TBI lawyer as soon as possible after any accident involving a brain injury. The severity of a brain injury can take time to diagnose and treat, but an attorney can start protecting your case immediately.
Louisiana's prescriptive period (the deadline to file a personal injury claim) is one year from the date of injury. An attorney can help preserve evidence and meet that deadline before it closes your options.
How Does a Brain Injury Case Work?
TBI cases vary based on the circumstances of each incident, but the general path is consistent.
Cases typically start with insurance companies, interviews, and investigations. If the parties agree on fault, negotiations and settlement talks follow. If liability is disputed, or if there is disagreement on the severity of the injury or the damages, the case may go to court. Most TBI cases settle outside of court.
How Long Do Brain Injury Cases Take to Resolve?
There is no single timeline. Case-specific factors determine how long resolution takes. A Covington brain injury lawyer can give you a realistic estimate after hearing the details of your case.
Key factors include the severity of the injury, whether liability is contested, how long treatment continues, and the insurance company's position on settlement.
How Much Are Brain Injury Settlements and Compensation?
The amount you may recover depends on the facts of your case. Brain injury compensation typically covers medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and future care needs.
A financial recovery cannot undo the harm caused by a serious brain injury. It can, however, address medical costs and lost income. View our case results to see examples of what we have recovered for clients.