Spinal injuries are among the most serious that a person can suffer. When these injuries occur because of another person or entity's negligent or wrongful actions, they may be liable for providing compensation based on the great number of harms that a spinal injury can cause.
Injuries to the spine occur most frequently in car and motorcycle accidents, slip and falls, gunshots, and medical malpractice. Depending on the nature of the injury, victims could suffer chronic pain, limited function and mobility, damage to bodily systems, and in the most severe of cases, partial or complete paralysis.
When the injuries are serious, you deserve serious legal counsel. Call the Milwaukee spinal injury lawyers at Wruck Paupore today at (219) 322-1166 to get the help you need, starting with a free initial case assessment.
Any number of causes could contribute to a person suffering a spinal cord injury. However, statistics have shown that there are several leading causes that rise above the rest. Below are a few of the types of incidents that account for the highest rates of injury to the spine.
Car accidents are some of the most dangerous occurrences throughout greater Milwaukee and the country in general, but they are also specifically harmful when it comes to the spine. Despite the many recent developments in vehicle safety technology over the recent past, the force of a collision puts the driver and passengers in the vehicle at substantially increased risk of spinal cord injury. This danger only grows when safety features on the vehicle malfunction, which could create liability for the car manufacturer or the specific defective part.
The easiest way to injure your spine is to fall on it. If you slip and fall in your own home, you may not have legal recourse. However, suppose you fall while on someone else’s property because they failed to cure the premises of a hazardous condition, such as a wet spot or a patch of ice. In that case, you may be able to show that the property owner failed to satisfy the duty of care that they owed to you as a guest. Our Milwaukee spinal injury attorneys can explain these duties and how they may have been breached in your case.
Motorcycles are a naturally more dangerous mode of transportation than cars, which you have likely heard from many if you ride. However, that does not mean that a motorcyclist cannot seek damages from a negligent driver who caused an accident that led to a spinal injury.
Behind vehicular collisions and falls, gunshot wounds account for the third most reported spinal injuries in the country. Gunshot wounds are much more common in cities like Milwaukee, where a stray shot could strike an unsuspecting bystander. If you suffered a spinal injury due to a bullet wound, it is likely that the person responsible will be or is already facing criminal charges. You can pursue civil charges for your personal injury regardless of the existence or outcome of criminal prosecution.
There are several ways in which medical malpractice could cause a spinal cord injury. Mistakes in the administration of anesthesia could cause bleeding in the spinal column. Surgical errors could cause punctures that can have devastating effects on the nervous system. Chiropractors can perform techniques and treatments incorrectly, causing the exacerbation of an already existing problem. Spinal conditions may also become worse if the physician fails to properly diagnose them where they reasonably should have.
The spine and spinal cord connect the brain to the rest of the body, making it vital to many common and necessary daily functions. Spinal injuries are all different, but injuries that occur higher on the spine are generally more severe.
Because of the proximity to the nervous system, even minor injuries to the spinal cord often result in chronic and even debilitating pain. Even reasonable efforts to relieve this pain through surgery or physical therapy may not ultimately provide full relief.
Conversely, if the nervous system suffers damage, the victim may lose sensation in areas of their body. This may result in the victim losing the ability to perform motor functions that are vital to their occupation or daily life.
If severe enough, a victim may suffer partial or even complete paralysis and potentially never regain the use of the affected limbs. Living with paralysis may require placement in an assisted living facility or some other form of around-the-clock care.
One way or another, spinal injuries will affect you, potentially in more ways than you currently realize. Therefore, we urge you to speak with a Milwaukee spinal injury lawyer to evaluate your claim and explain the variety of harms for which you could recover compensation in a lawsuit.
In general, personal injury victims in the State of Wisconsin, including those suffering from spinal injuries, have three years from the date they suffered the injury to file their official complaint in court. Missing this three-year deadline would likely be catastrophic for your case unless you fit into a limited exceptions provided by state law. There are also other notice deadlines and practical reasons why your claim could be jeopardized long before the 3-year statute of limitations runs out.
At Wruck Paupore, we urge you not to delay and instead obtain legal counsel to act immediately on your case. By calling a Milwaukee spinal injury attorney as soon as possible after your injury, you reduce the likelihood of evidence disappearing and speed up the recovery process to get the compensation you deserve sooner.
If you recently suffered a spinal injury and believe you have a claim, reach out to Wruck Paupore’s Milwaukee spinal injury attorneys at (219) 322-1166 for a free initial case evaluation.
Don is a founding partner and one of the nation’s top-ranked personal injury litigators. He is a member of the Multi-million Dollar Advocates Forum, which includes less than 1% of the nation’s trial lawyers, and awarded the highest ranking given by Martindale Hubbel and AVVO.
More importantly, Don understands representing personal injury victims is about more than recovering the best settlement: it’s about helping clients get back on their feet and supporting them in every aspect of their recovery.
In nearly all cases, our clients seek compensation from the wrongdoer’s insurance company. Before forming Wruck Paupore, Jason worked for a prominent law firm representing some of the world’s largest insurers. This experience gives Jason a deep understanding of the insurance industry and the strategies it uses to pay injury victims as little as possible.
Jason -- and our entire team -- put this inside knowledge to work to force insurance companies to pay what is actually owed. Often, we use the insurance company’s own tactics against them as we fight for the full compensation our client deserves.
For more than four decades, Keith has been fighting for injury victims. During that time, he’s watched the insurance industry change, with insurers now more interested in protecting their stock price than treating injury victims fairly.
Since the beginning, Keith has put people first. From his childhood in Gary, Indiana during the 1960’s and working his way through law school, Keith has risen to become one of the Midwest’s most respected trial lawyers. He has never forgotten that being a lawyer is about helping people -- and seeing injury victims through struggles in a way that could change their lives forever.
Over the decades, Keith, Don and Jason have fought relentlessly for clients, even when other lawyers have said the case was impossible to win.
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