Choose Andriacchi Law As Your Michigan Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyer: We Help TBI Victims
From motor vehicle accidents to slips and falls, Andriacchi Law’s Michigan traumatic brain injury (TBIs) lawyers are here to help TBI victims.
TBIs often involve extensive medical care, rehabilitation, and a significant impact on the victim’s quality of life. Further, a closed head injury is difficult to diagnose, and many personal injury lawyers do not understand brain injury medicine.
That’s where Michigan personal injury attorney Dominic F. Andriacchi, Jr. comes in.
As an experienced Michigan Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyer, Dominic Jr. focuses on traumatic brain injury cases, helping victims navigate the complex legal landscape, fight for their rights, and secure the compensation they deserve.
He understands the medicine, has helped other TBI victims, and knows that a TBI is a serious, life-changing injury.
Key Takeaways
- Andriacchi Law provides expert legal representation for traumatic brain injury (TBI) victims in Michigan, navigating complex laws, to ensure fair compensation.
- Identifying and proving TBIs is pivotal in legal cases, and Andriacchi Law works closely with medical professionals and expert witnesses to build strong cases and maximize recovery for clients.
- Andriacchi Law is dedicated to safeguarding TBI victims’ rights, fighting for access to medical care and equitable treatment within the legal system, and taking necessary steps post-injury to secure a fair, reasonable legal outcome.
- Andriacchi Law helps clients on a contingency fee basis. That means you don’t have to worry about legal fees and, instead, can focus on getting better.
Michigan Traumatic Brain Injury Law
Brain injury cases are hard.
First, it can be hard to prove the defendant is legally responsible, which entails establishing the defendant’s negligence or malpractice in motor vehicle accidents, defective products, or through the property owners’ negligence.
Second, there are many myths about TBIs that are simply not true. For example, medicine has conclusively proven that 50% of “concussions” will have life-long injury and trauma. Medicine has also proven that CT scans and MRIs often do not show any signs or symptoms of a TBI in 80% or more of cases.
Insurance companies and defense doctors don’t care. Instead, they rely on studies that are decades old to try to naysay and devalue TBI cases.
Why?
Because TBIs are so common and cause such a huge amount of injury and loss. If insurance companies and defense doctors admitted that a TBI can be a serious injury, that will lead to lower profits.
They can’t have that, now can they?
Traumatic brain injury claims primarily seek compensation for injury-related losses. Here at Andriacchi Law, we understand the legal system, TBIs, and make our clients a priority.
TBI victims are just as entitled to fair compensation as others are. Just because you can’t see a TBI like you can see a broken bone on an X-ray doesn’t mean the brain injury is fake or doesn’t matter.
After all, what’s the one part of the body that you can’t get a transplant for? That’s right: the brain.
Understanding Michigan’s No-Fault Insurance for TBI Claims
If you’ve suffered a TBI in a car accident or truck accident, Michigan’s no-fault insurance system may allow you to seek compensation for damages without the requirement of proving another individual’s liability. That’s the beauty of the “no-fault” system.
After all, you don’t want your insurance company to consider fault when deciding to pay your medical bills. Otherwise, you will always be at fault, no matter what.
So the no-fault system can be particularly beneficial for TBI victims. It allows TBI victims to focus on their recovery rather than proving the other side is responsible for the crash.
But that doesn’t mean the insurance company will make it easy. No. Instead, they make navigating this system complex and difficult.
At Andriacchi Law, we will help guide you through your no-fault claim. We’ll answer your questions. We’ll help you understand the laws. We’ll also help you prove to the insurance company that you suffered a TBI.
We’ll also help you successfully pursue a claim against the at-fault driver.
The Importance of Legal Expertise in TBI Cases
TBI cases can be complex. You need a knowledgeable and experienced brain injury attorney who understands TBI medicine.
If your personal injury lawyer doesn’t understand the difference between a 1.5T and 3T MRI, run.
If they can’t tell you the difference between a focal brain injury and a diffuse axonal injury, don’t hire them for your TBI case.
If they can’t even explain to you how a closed head injury occurs (like a coup contrecoup injury), they have no business taking your case.
At Andriacchi Law, we know closed head injuries. We’ve got the textbooks (and read them). We’ve read cutting-edge journal articles that discuss the state-of-the-art MRIs. We’ve cross-examined defense experts who pull out all the stops to lie, cheat, and confuse juries into believing that a truly injured person is either not injured or faking.
If you don’t have a proficient brain injury attorney in your corner, you’re at a serious disadvantage. Call us today to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case.
Identifying and Proving Traumatic Brain Injuries
Identifying and proving a traumatic brain injury is crucial to a successful claim. TBIs are brain injuries resulting from accidents or personal injuries that cause damage to the brain. They can lead to brain damage that can last the rest of your life. Even supposedly “mild” traumatic brain injury can result in:
- extensive damage to brain cells
- cognitive impairments
- memory loss
- difficulty with speech and language
- changes in behavior and mood
- physical disabilities
- loss of taste or smell
- vision impairments, such as blurred reading or inability to “notice” things
- vestibular issues, such as dizziness or loss of balance
These types of injuries occur in all levels of brain injuries. They aren’t limited to just severe TBI or other severe injuries.
Many times, a person doesn’t even know they have suffered a traumatic brain injury, which is brain trauma. They are mostly focused on their orthopedic injuries, like a sore neck, broken or fractured bones, etc. They don’t notice until days, weeks, or sometimes even months later that they suffered a serious brain injury that may require extensive medical treatment.
We’re experienced in handling TBI cases and understand the potential severe complications linked to TBIs. We work with medical professionals to ensure our clients get the treatment they need for their traumatic brain injury.
The number one thing we do is take care of the legal process so you can focus on what’s most important: getting better.
Recognizing the Signs of a TBI
Recognizing the signs of a TBI and getting prompt medical attention is the first step in a brain injury case. Symptoms may range from headaches, dizziness, and nausea to confusion and cognitive challenges.
What’s more, you don’t need to have been “knocked out” or unconscious to have suffered a TBI. The vast majority of TBIs don’t involve loss of consciousness.
We see this all the time when we watch professional sports like football. We can all think of times when a player kept on playing football even though they suffered a brain injury.
These injuries, commonly called a concussion, can lead to significant and permanent consequences. Yet many times, people blow them off as no big deal.
Also, many emergency rooms miss a traumatic brain injury diagnosis completely. Studies have shown that 50% of ER doctors miss a TBI. Even if a person has an MRI or CT scan, these tests often don’t show a TBI either. (Especially if it’s only a 1.5T MRI as opposed to a 3T MRI, which is why I discussed that earlier.)
Evidence Collection and Expert Witnesses
In a TBI case, gathering evidence and securing expert witnesses are pivotal in strengthening the claim.
Evidence may include medical records, imaging scans, witness statements, accident reports, and expert testimony. Expert witnesses may include neurologists, brain injury specialists, or medical professionals with specialized knowledge in traumatic brain injuries.
At Andriacchi Law, we leave no stone uncovered in proving your case. We have experience:
- With accident reconstruction experts to prove liability
- Interviewing witnesses who may have noticed the signs or symptoms of a TBI at the accident scene, like slurred speech, confusion, or repeating the same questions
- Reading MRIs to see if they show evidence of a TBI
- Reviewing medical records to find documented signs and symptoms of a TBI and
- Talking to lay witnesses to understand how the brain damage has affected your life.
These are just some of the things we do in every TBI. And, we have successfully helped multiple clients with TBIs get fair results that value the serious losses they’ve suffered.
Reimbursement for Traumatic Brain Injury Victims and Calculating Damages for Severe Brain Injuries
TBI victims are entitled to seek reimbursement for both economic and non-economic damages. These are common in all types of TBI cases, not just severe brain injury cases.
Generally, economic damages are for things like lost wages and medical expenses. Non-economic damages are for things like pain, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium.
For a TBI victim, medical expenses are common for treatments including:
- Physical therapy
- Occupational therapy
- Speech therapy
- Vision therapy and related vision treatments (like prism glasses)
- Surgery
- Counseling, such as psychotherapy, behavioral counseling, cognitive behavioral training, etc.
- Future economic losses
TBI victims’ noneconomic damages are common for things like:
- Pain and mental anguish for having the negligent party steal their life and health from them
- Mood, behavioral, and personality changes
- Loss of the ability to choose what they want to do in life and when, such as being bedridden, unable to perform work duties, etc.
- Isolation from friends and family (many people with a TBI socially isolate, because their new changes embarrass them)
- Loss of smell, taste, memory, and cognitive abilities such as the ability to talk
- Loss of body functions such as inability to care for self and
- The impact these losses have had on other loved ones, such as parents, spouse, or children
At Andriacchi Law, as your Michigan brain injury attorney, we help TBI victims get a fair reimbursement for their economic and noneconomic damages. Our results have been written about in state and national magazines.
A Michigan Brain Injury Lawyer’s Role
Hopefully, you see how a Michigan brain injury lawyer plays a crucial role for a TBI victim. We examine the incident, analyze the factors contributing to the injury, and learn how the injury has affected your well-being.
As experienced brain injury lawyers, we represent our clients in court, advocate during settlement discussions, seek restitution, evaluate medical reports, apply TBI-specific processes, and maximize settlements through effective negotiation.
Finally, if the negligent defendant refuses to treat you fairly, we take your case to a jury of your peers to ensure you get a fair trial and a fair appraisal of what was taken from you.
You Need a TBI Lawyer Skilled in Case Evaluation and Strategy Development
At Andriacchi Law, we conduct a thorough case evaluation by:
- Collecting evidence
- Determining responsibility
- Evaluating the severity of the injury
- Using lay witnesses who will explain how your injuries affected you.
Most Importantly, You Need A TBI Lawyer Skilled in Settlements and Trials
If you hire a lawyer who doesn’t understand TBIs, the defendant’s insurance company will not take your case seriously. As difficult as TBI cases are, it is even more difficult to show a jury of your peers how the injury occurred and how the brain damage affects you every day of your life.
We will try to get the defendant’s insurance company to fairly settle your case. But sometimes insurance companies refuse to be reasonable.
So you also need a lawyer who understands the jury and how to try cases, too.
At Andriacchi Law, we have experience taking complex, difficult cases to trial – and succeeding. We know how to distill complicated medical terminology into simple terms. We know how to show jurors all the ways your injury affects you. Most importantly, we can do all that without wasting the jury’s time.
That is a rare skill, indeed.
Legal Support for Specific Types of Head Trauma
At Andriacchi Law, we provide legal support for various types of head trauma, including closed and penetrating head injuries. Head injuries can be categorized as either missile or ‘penetrating’ trauma, or closed or ‘blunt’ trauma. Forces such as acceleration-deceleration and rotational forces can lead to shearing injuries to blood vessels and nerve fiber tracts in the brain.
Advocacy for Closed-Head Injury Survivors
Closed head injury survivors often face unique challenges in their recovery process. We advocate for these survivors, ensuring they receive the compensation they deserve.
Litigation for Penetrating Head Injury Cases
Penetrating head injury cases often involve complex litigation. Like other types of TBI cases, this usually involves the following types of evidence:
- Medical records
- Diagnostic imaging such as X-rays and CT scans
- Expert testimony
- Eyewitness accounts
- Documentation of the injury and its impact on the victim’s life.
Protecting the Rights of Brain Injury Survivors
At Andriacchi Law, we uphold the rights of brain injury survivors, ensuring their access to medical care and fair treatment within the legal system.
We believe that brain injury survivors should not only receive the necessary medical treatment but also be treated fairly and equitably in the legal system.
Ensuring Access to Medical Care
Medical care is crucial to a TBI victim’s recovery. We work to ensure that our clients get the medical care they need for their brain injuries. Health insurance coverage in Michigan may encompass short-term, post-acute, comprehensive, intensive, goal-directed rehabilitation services for individuals with traumatic brain injury.
Michigan no-fault car insurance PIP benefits are often another way medical care is secured.
Fighting for Fair Treatment in the Legal System
Brain injury survivors often encounter cognitive difficulties, socio-emotional, and behavioral challenges that can complicate legal proceedings. At Andriacchi Law, we understand how TBIs affect those suffering from them.
Our experience in helping brain injury survivors helps us understand and work with those survivors to get fair treatment.
Steps to Take After Sustaining a Traumatic Brain Injury
Several steps, including immediate actions and reaching out to a Michigan TBI attorney, should be taken upon sustaining a traumatic brain injury. Prompt medical care is essential. It’s also important to document the incident and preserve evidence.
Immediate Actions Post-Injury
After a TBI, seeking immediate medical attention is critical. Most importantly, it can help preserve brain tissue (because a TBI is a process, not a one-time event) and will help you get better.
It’s also important for a legal case. Preserving evidence after a traumatic brain injury is also crucial. Seeking medical treatment helps:
- Prompt assessment of injury severity
- Initiate appropriate treatment
- Establish a clear medical record, which is important for subsequent treatment and legal proceedings.
When to Contact a Michigan Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney
To protect your rights and start building a solid case, it’s vital as a TBI victim to get in touch with a Michigan traumatic brain injury attorney at the earliest opportunity. As soon as you’re medically stable, you should reach out to an attorney.
Hire Andriacchi Law As Your Michigan Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyer Today!
To sum up, traumatic brain injuries can have life-altering impacts, and navigating the complex landscape of TBI law in Michigan can be challenging.
At Andriacchi Law, we provide comprehensive support for TBI victims, helping you navigate insurance claims, gather evidence, secure expert witnesses, calculate damages, and guide you through settlement negotiations and trials.
Our dedication to protecting the rights of brain injury survivors ensures they get access to medical care and fair treatment in the legal system. If you or a loved one has sustained a TBI, don’t hesitate to reach out for a free consultation. We’re here to help.