Brain Injury Attorney in Madison, AL

Brain injuries are often devastating and life-altering. They affect a patient’s cognitive, behavioral, and physical well-being. If you or someone you love has suffered a brain injury in Madison for which someone else is to blame, you deserve fair compensation for the effects the injury has had and will have on your life. Let Collins Law, LLC help you demand it.

Attorney April H. Collins and the rest of our team are committed to empowering people in Madison and throughout Alabama to get the money they need to take back their lives after a severe accident. We’ll investigate the incident, determine who’s to blame, and hold them accountable for what they’ve done.

Contact us today for a free, no-obligation consultation and find out the difference a Madison personal injury attorney can make in your case.

What Are the Benefits of Hiring a Madison, AL Brain Injury Attorney?

The consequences of a serious brain injury are often profound, affecting a patient’s ability to earn a living, take part in hobbies and activities, and even care for themselves. Those realities are enough to deal with without adding a complex brain injury lawsuit to the list.

That’s where Attorney Collins and Collins Law come in. While you rest and recuperate, we’ll assert your rights by:

  • Investigating the cause of your injuries and who could be to blame
  • Calculating the past, present, and future costs of your injuries on both a financial and personal level
  • Filing insurance claims and sending demand letters to begin the legal process
  • Negotiating with at-fault parties and insurers on your behalf in pursuit of a fair settlement
  • Preparing for trial to strengthen our bargaining position
  • Taking your case to court if the other side won’t make you a fair offer
  • Supporting you with honesty, compassion, and integrity throughout your case
  • Working to reduce your medical bills wherever possible once your case is resolved, a service that’s incredibly rare in the legal industry

We will not charge you any fees to get started on your brain injury case, and we will only get paid if we secure compensation on your behalf. Further, we never take home more than our clients would on their cases, meaning we make sure more money goes into your pocket when we win.

Don’t delay — contact Collins Law today and get the benefit of having an experienced brain injury lawyer in Madison on your side.

Where Madison County Brain Injury Victims Get Treated

Serious brain injuries in Madison and the surrounding area are typically treated at Huntsville Hospital, one of only a handful of state-designated Level I Trauma Centers in Alabama. The hospital’s Neuro Spine/Neurosurgery unit specifically treats patients recovering from traumatic brain and spinal injuries, meaning many Madison County brain injury cases involve records, imaging, and specialist testimony from that unit.

Having local familiarity with how these cases move through Huntsville Hospital’s trauma and neuro care system, and with Madison County’s court system, helps your attorney build a stronger, better-documented claim.

What Compensation Can You Pursue for a Traumatic Brain Injury?

Brain injury compensation can account for the many ways that the injury has affected your life. Depending on the circumstances, this could include money for your:

  • Medical bills, including for emergency treatment, surgeries, hospitalization, rehabilitation, physical and occupational therapy, and ongoing care
  • Lost income, including wages, salary, tips, commission, bonuses, and benefits
  • Diminished earning capacity, if your injury affects your ability to continue in your career
  • Pain and suffering, for the physical and emotional discomfort your injuries cause you
  • Reduced quality of life, accounting for the ways your injury affects your ability to live as you once did

How Long Do You Have to File a Traumatic Brain Injury Lawsuit in Alabama?

Alabama’s statute of limitations on such claims gives you two years from the date you suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) to take legal action. If you attempt to file your lawsuit after this deadline has passed, the trial court will likely dismiss it as untimely, costing you your right to compensation.

This tight window in which to take action is why it’s so important to get in touch with a Madison brain injury lawyer like Attorney Collins. She can get to work on your claim immediately so as to avoid any loss of rights that could result from your case being time-barred.

If your case goes to litigation, it will typically be filed and heard in Madison County’s court system. A Madison brain injury lawyer who regularly practices there understands the local court’s procedures and timelines, which can make a meaningful difference in how efficiently your case moves forward.

What Are the Types of Traumatic Brain Injuries?

A traumatic brain injury generally falls into one of two categories. A closed brain injury occurs when a sudden or violent blow or collision forces the head to accelerate forward and backward, causing the brain to strike the inside of the skull — this can lead to bleeding, swelling, and chemical changes in the brain. A penetrating brain injury happens when a foreign object breaks through the skull and enters the brain itself.

Within these two categories, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke identifies several common types, including:

  • Concussions – This relatively mild brain injury can nonetheless take weeks or months to heal. It is usually caused by a blow to the head, such as in a sports accident or motor vehicle collision. Another common mechanism of injury is sudden deceleration, which can cause the brain to slam against the wall of the skull.
  • Contusions – Bruising and swelling in the brain are caused by ruptures to cranial blood vessels, which can have serious complications. Like concussions, contusions are typically caused by a traumatic blow to the head.
  • Coup-Countercoup Injuries – This specific type of contusion is caused by the brain hitting the skull wall with enough force that it rebounds and hits the other side of the skull. French for “strike-counterstrike,” the coup-countercoup results in matching bruises on each side of the brain.
  • Hematomas – This term refers to bleeding around the brain caused by a broken blood vessel. Blood can pool and collect in the membranes that surround and protect the brain, leading to further damage.
  • Diffuse Axonal Injuries – Commonly abbreviated as DAIs, these injuries result from the twisting and shearing of the nerves in the brain’s white matter. Brain damage can be exacerbated by a subsequent release of chemicals.

What Are Common Causes of Brain Injuries?

The CDC reports that the most common causes of brain injuries are as follows:

  • Falls, which are the leading cause of TBIs nationally
  • Firearm-related injuries, which are the leading cause of fatal TBI
  • Motor vehicle accidents
  • Sports accidents

The agency reports that, in total, more than 200,000 people were hospitalized for TBIs in the U.S. in one recent year. Nearly 70,000 people died as a result of these injuries. People 75 and older are at greatest risk for TBI-related hospitalizations and deaths, accounting for 32 percent and 28 percent of those totals, respectively. Further, men are about twice as likely to be hospitalized for TBI than women.

What Are Symptoms of a Traumatic Brain Injury?

Worried that you or someone you love has suffered a traumatic brain injury? Look for the following symptoms:

  • Physical Symptoms include headaches, convulsions and seizures, dilated pupils, vomiting, and clear fluids draining from the ears or nose.
  • Sensory Symptoms include blurred vision, light-headedness, ringing in the ears, sensitivity to light, and an unexplained bad taste in the mouth.
  • Cognitive and Behavioral Symptoms include sudden mood change, loss in consciousness, disorientation and confusion, and difficulty concentrating or remembering things.

If you notice any of these symptoms after an accident, get medical help immediately. Next, seek help from Attorney Collins, an experienced brain injury lawyer serving Madison.

What Are the Long-Term Impacts of a Brain Injury?

The long-term effects of a serious head injury are often profound. The CDC reports that the five-year outcomes for those hospitalized for TBI are as follows:

  • 22 percent of cases proved fatal
  • 30 percent of cases involved a worsening of symptoms
  • 22 percent involved unchanged symptoms
  • 26 percent involved improving symptoms

In other words, only about a quarter of all severe TBI patients experienced an improvement in symptoms in the five years following the incident. The effects of a TBI are similar to those of a chronic illness and may require intensive and ongoing therapy and rehabilitation. Patients are often left unable to continue in their career paths or even work at all. They may be unable to take part in favorite hobbies and activities. In particularly severe cases, they may be unable to care for themselves at all and need ongoing medical care.

Beyond the immediate physical and cognitive effects, research suggests that traumatic brain injuries can increase the risk of developing serious conditions later in life, including dementia and Parkinson’s disease. Some studies have found TBI survivors may be more than 28 times more likely to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder or other mental health conditions, underscoring why full, long-term damages, not just immediate medical costs, need to be accounted for in a brain injury claim.

What Treatment Is There for a Traumatic Brain Injury?

Treatment for a TBI will depend on the nature of the head trauma, including its severity, extent, and location. Mild TBIs might only require over-the-counter pain medication and “brain rest,” which is avoiding any activities that require close attention or concentration. As symptoms diminish, the patient can gradually return to daily life.

More severe TBIs require more extensive medical intervention, which could include the following:

  • Stabilizing the patient’s spine and vital organs to ensure oxygen flow and reduce further brain damage
  • Monitoring the flow of blood to the brain as well as its temperature and oxygen levels
  • Performing surgery to reduce pressure in the skull, clean out debris and dead brain tissue, and repair skull fractures

Once the patient is out of immediate danger, treatment will turn to rehabilitation. Physical, behavioral, and occupational therapy can help a patient rebuild motor skills, address cognitive impairment, and relearn skills for daily life. In particularly severe cases, patients may need ongoing care, potentially on an in-patient basis.

Contact a Madison, AL Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyer Today

Have you or a loved one suffered a head injury in Madison or elsewhere in Alabama? If someone else is to blame, they could owe you compensation for your medical costs, lost income, pain and suffering, and more.

Get help with your brain injury claim from Collins Law. We empower people in positions like yours to get the money they need to take back their lives, and we will treat you with the respect and dignity you deserve. Contact us today for a free consultation and discover what our brain injury law firm can do for you.