Head injuries are extremely serious as there is a chance you might cause damage to the brain. Brain injuries might have life-long negative consequences, and a lawyer can help you and your family get fair compensation.
Brain injuries might come from various accidents or injuries. You might sue someone who caused a car accident, someone who assaulted you, or a doctor whose negligent treatment caused your brain injury. Damages in brain injury cases tend to be significant. Not only do plaintiffs often have incredibly high medical bills, but you might have deep emotional wounds that might never fully heal. Common causes of brain injuries include, but are not limited to, car accidents, blunt force trauma to the head, and medical malpractice. Evidence to support your case should absolutely include your medical records. Brain injuries may be very complicated, and medical records are often necessary to prove an injury’s extent, severity, and cause.
Call our brain injury attorneys at the Rhatigan Law Offices at (312) 578-8502 for a free, confidential evaluation of your case.
People You Might Sue for Brain Injuries in Joliet, IL
One of the most frightening things about brain injuries is that they might stem from any number of accidents and injuries. They might be caused by an accident or by a violent assault. Talk to a lawyer about the way your accident occurred. Our brain injury lawyers can help determine who should be held responsible and how you can get fair compensation.
If your brain injury occurred because of an accident, we can help you sue the person or people who caused the accident. If you suffered a brain injury after being hit by a car, you can sue the person who was driving. If instead you were violently assaulted and experienced head injuries that led to brain damage, we can sue the assailant.
Some injuries occur because of dangerously defective consumer products. Suppose you experience a brain injury in a car accident. Next, suppose an investigation determines the accident happened because your new brakes were defective. In that case, we can sue the manufacturers of the defective brakes.
We might instead sue a doctor and the hospital they work for if your brain injury was caused by medical negligence. While treatment outcomes are rarely if ever guaranteed, doctors must provide treatment that meets the standard of care. If they do not, patients suffer, and doctors may be held liable.
Recovering Damages in a Lawsuit for a Brain Injury in Joliet, IL
Financial compensation should be substantial. Brain injuries can be very expensive to treat and often come with various other costs that plaintiffs and their families are overwhelmed with. On top of it all, you might be wrestling with deep emotional and psychological suffering, as your brain injury might change the way you have to live your life.
Compensatory Damages
Most civil lawsuits involve some degree of compensatory damages. These include economic damages that account for actual money you have spent or expect to spend. They also include non-economic injuries such as pain and suffering.
Your economic losses might be vast. Brain injury patients often incur significant medical debt. Brain injuries can be very complicated to treat, and many people have to endure treatment for a very long time, sometimes indefinitely. These costs can financially ruin you. We can sue the person who caused your injuries and make them cover your many costs.
Non-economic losses reflect more subjective injuries. Physical pain, emotional suffering, psychological trauma, and a loss of enjoyment of your life may be claimed, among many other damages. You might have serious cognitive disabilities you must learn to cope with. Perhaps you are unable to pursue a career that once fulfilled you. Your pain and loss deserve fair compensation.
Punitive Damages
Another form of damages that might be available in your case is punitive damages. These are meant to penalize defendants for extremely heinous or shocking behavior. These damages are somewhat rare. Even when they are available, plaintiffs often cannot meet the necessary burden of proof to obtain them.
Under 735 I.L.C.S. § 5/2-1115.05(b), you must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted in one of two ways. You must show that the defendant had an evil motive. Alternatively, you must prove that the defendant acted with a reckless and outrageous indifference to a highly unreasonable risk and conscious indifference to other people’s safety.
Punitive damages may be quite substantial, but they are not unlimited. According to 735 I.L.C.S. § 5/2-1115.05(a), punitive damages are limited to 3 times the value of economic damages. Punitive damages might be especially large considering how substantial economic damages may be in brain injury cases.
Depending on the nature of the case, punitive damages are sometimes barred. In Illinois, Punitive damages are unavailable in medical malpractice lawsuits and lawsuits against the government.
Your Time Limit to File a Lawsuit in Brain Injury Cases in Joliet, IL
Lawsuits cannot be filed whenever you want. There is a strict time limit on when injured plaintiffs must file cases with the courts. Time limits are imposed by statutes of limitations, which apply to different cases.
Many brain injuries are rooted in personal injury claims. This broad area of law may encompass a wide variety of bodily injuries. If your brain injury stems from something like a car accident, an assault, or an accident where you fell and hit your head, you likely have a personal injury claim. As such, you must file your case within 2 years of the accident, according to 735 I.L.C.S. § 5/13-202.
If a negligent doctor caused your brain injury, you might have a medical malpractice case on your hands. Medical malpractice claims must adhere to a different statute of limitations. According to 725 I.L.C.S. § 5/13-212(a), you have 2 years from the date you discovered your injury was caused by malpractice. This might not be the date the injury was inflicted. It might occur much later.
If you were a minor when a negligent doctor injured you, you have 8 years to file the case, according to 735 I.L.C.S. § 5/13-212(b). However, medical malpractice claims from when you were a minor cannot be filed after your 22nd birthday.
Contact Our Joliet, IL Brain Injury Attorneys for Support Today
Call our brain injury attorneys at the Rhatigan Law Offices at (312) 578-8502 for a free, confidential evaluation of your case.
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