South Bend Brain Injury Lawyer

Brain injuries are serious matters that required immediate and skilled medical attention. In many cases, these injuries can have a lasting impact upon a person’s physical, mental, and financial well-being, so it is important that all victims be aware of all legal options available to them.

If you can demonstrate that the other party breached a duty that they owed to you which caused the accident and your resulting brain injury, you may be able to recover damages through a lawsuit. It is important to act quickly, however, as important evidence necessary to recover for your injuries often begins to disappear shortly after your accident.

At Wruck Paupore, our South Bend brain injury lawyers are dedicated to getting our clients the compensation they deserve. To that end, we offer free initial case assessments. Get yours by calling our offices today at (219) 322-1166.

Common Causes of Brain Injury in South Bend

One of the biggest issues with brain injuries is that the victim may not realize that they have sustained one immediately. Our South Bend brain injury attorneys strongly recommend that you seek medical care if you believe you may have suffered trauma to the head in any situation, including those discussed below. Getting immediate care can make a significant difference in a victim’s prognosis.

Car Accidents

Vehicular collisions are the number one cause of all personal injuries across the country. Cars today have numerous safety features that work to minimize the risk of head injury in drivers and passengers, but these efforts may not be enough. Further, some car manufacturers sell vehicles with defective safety features, including seat belts, airbags, and sensors, that can fail when you most need them.

Slip and Falls

When a person loses their footing, the force of their fall against the hard ground or objects below them can cause head trauma. Slip and falls affect the elderly in particular, accounting for the single highest rate of brain injury in individuals over the age of 65.

Falling Objects

Many head injuries can be attributed to falling objects. This is particularly common in urban environments or where scaffolding is used at construction sites. Even smaller or lighter objects can pose a serious risk to those below when they reach certain velocities in the air.

Sports and Recreation

Sports injuries are a leading cause of head trauma across the country. Concussions, a form of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), are particularly troubling in contact sports. However, you may be surprised to know that contact sports are secondary to other forms of recreation in terms of reported brain injury. A higher percentage of these incidents occur when people are diving in shallow waters or during unsupervised workouts at gyms.

Medical Malpractice

After suffering a blow to the head, the first place that you should go is your nearest emergency room. In most cases, diligent medical professionals will perform testing and identify any potential brain injuries. However, suppose the medical care providers ignore symptoms or fail to perform reasonable testing on a patient. In that case, their brain injury could go undetected, allowing it to worsen and even become life-threatening.

Filing a Lawsuit After a Brain Injury in South Bend

If you believe someone else was responsible for causing your brain injury in South Bend, you may have questions about your legal options to recover compensation from the at-fault party.

Most civil lawsuits concerning brain injuries rely on a theory of negligence. If you can show that another person or entity was negligent, and their negligence caused you harm, you can sue them and recover court-ordered compensation, otherwise known as damages.

To prove negligence in a South Bend brain injury lawsuit, you must meet the four elements required by law: duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and injury.

A duty of care is a legal obligation owed by one party to another. These duties are defined based on the situation and the relationship between the party who owes the duty and the party to whom they owe it. For instance, the duties that a restaurant owner owes their patrons will be different than the duties that an airplane pilot owes their passengers.

In any case, you must establish what duties the defendant in your case owed you and how they failed to fulfill them. The latter is also known as a breach of duty. To establish both the duty of care and the breach, our South Bend brain injury lawyers can help by introducing expert testimony with witnesses who are experienced in the defendant’s field.

The next step is to show that the defendant’s breach of the duty they owed was the cause of the accident. Indiana uses a cause-in-fact test that requires the plaintiff to show that the accident would not have occurred “but for” the defendant’s negligence.

Finally, brain injury lawsuit plaintiffs must show that the accident in question caused the plaintiff harm (i.e., damages). In other words, you must show that you suffered your brain injury in the accident. This is just one more reason why it is so important that you seek medical attention immediately after your accident so that you can establish a medical record that you can use as evidence of injury.

Statute of Limitations for a Brain Injury Lawsuit in South Bend

If you suspect that you might have grounds for a legal claim against the person or entity that caused your brain injury, you should reach out to a South Bend brain injury lawyer as soon as possible. Your ability to file a claim is time-limited by the statute of limitations.

In Indiana, the statute of limitations for civil brain injury claims generally lasts only two years from the date that the accident occurred. There may also be other deadlines which need to be met which are much shorter than the 2-year statute of limitations. You are best off getting legal assistance as early as possible, as this will allow your legal team to gather critical evidence in the immediate aftermath of your accident.

Get Help Now from Our South Bend Brain Injury Lawyers

When you reach out to the South Bend brain injury attorneys at Wruck Paupore, you can learn more about your case during your free case assessment. Call today at (219) 322-1166.