Injuries to the spinal cord have tremendous consequences for victims, both from a physical and an emotional perspective. In addition to disability, chronic pain, and loss of motor function, the National Library of Medicine also lists a variety of emotional dependencies and disorders that occur at higher rates in those with spinal cord injuries.
These emotional damages, such as depression, anxiety, dependency on drugs and alcohol, and more, all deserve compensation from the party who injured you. As spinal cord injury lawyers in Albany, the Morelli Law Firm can help you fight for the compensation you deserve.
Who Is Responsible for Your Spinal Cord Injury?
One of the first steps our Albany spinal cord and spinal column injury lawyers will take is to assess the details of your case and highlight possible at-fault parties that may owe you compensation. The at-fault person, organization, employer, or even government agency depends on how and where your spinal cord injury took place.
Possible examples of people from whom you can seek compensation include:
- Drivers, part manufacturers, trucking companies (if you were injured in a car wreck)
- Property owners and corporations (if you were injured in a slip and fall)
- Doctors, nurses, and hospitals (if your injury is the result of medical malpractice)
- Individuals (if your injury is the result of an assault)
- Schools, athletic organizations, and sports agencies (if you were injured in the course of an unsafe sports environments)
How Much Can You Sue for in Your Albany Spinal Cord Injury Claim?
The amount of compensation you receive in a spinal cord injury claim in Albany is a complex calculation that involves taking stock of all your damages. In legal terms, “damages” refers to all the ways that your injury has negatively impacted you. Some of these are more easily discerned than others, but all deserve to be compensated.
Your Economic Damages
The first, easiest category of damages includes those that have a direct impact on your finances. These economic harms include lost wages due to missing work, medical bills and ongoing costs for treatment or therapy, and lost earning capacity if your injury prevents you from future work.
Albany spinal cord injury lawyers will categorize and catalog all the financial harms that have come to you directly as a result of your injury. This way, you can be sure that you’re getting the compensation you truly deserve instead of an insurance company’s lowball offer.
Your Non-Economic Damages
Not all compensable damages are financial, though. As the Mayo Clinic journal above shows, there are plenty of emotional and mental harms that are tied to spinal cord injuries. These, too, should be compensated by the party responsible for causing your injury. Non-economic harms include:
- Development of depression and anxiety
- Loss of consortium with your spouse
- The psychological toll of becoming disabled or disfigured
- General pain and suffering due to injury
Though these are difficult to gauge and valuate on your own, attorneys with experience in spinal cord injury cases can help you arrive at a fair value for these subjective damages.
Fault and Your Spinal Cord Injury Compensation
Another crucial element in determining the amount of compensation you can get for your spinal cord injury is the way that fault is apportioned between you and the other parties involved in the initial incident.
First, the Consolidated Laws of New York § 1411 allows you to sue for damages even when you are partially responsible for the event that caused your injury. However, any percentage of fault assigned to you will be used to reduce your total compensation.
For example, your case may look a bit like this:
- You suffer a total of $100,000 in damages.
- The court finds you to be 10% responsible for the accident that caused your injury.
- Therefore, your total compensation is reduced by 10% as well.
- This leaves you with a compensation package of $90,000 maximum.
For this reason, it is important for Albany spinal cord injury lawyers like those at the Morelli Law Firm to collect and preserve evidence of the other party’s fault. The more fault can be attributed to them, the higher your eventual compensation will be.
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Get a FREE Consultation With Albany Spinal Cord Injury Attorneys
At the Morelli Law Firm, we offer all potential clients a FREE consultation to learn more about the ways we can help you get the compensation you deserve. If you decide to take us on as your lawyers, we work on a contingency basis. That means you pay us absolutely nothing unless and until we win you a compensation package.
Ready to work toward the compensation you deserve with an Albany spinal cord injury attorney? Get in touch with us by filling out the form on this page or request your free case evaluation today.