Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyers Richmond VA

Richmond Traumatic Brain Injury Attorneys

TBI lawyers fighting for the rights of Virginia head injury and TBI victims

If your accident case involves a traumatic brain injury, you will need extensive medical evidence and expert testimony to prove the cause and extent of your injuries. At Phelan Petty, we have built a reputation for our cutting-edge approach to brain injuries. Our Richmond traumatic brain injury lawyers use their extensive medical, technical, and legal knowledge to secure victims the compensation and accountability they deserve.

What is a traumatic brain injury?

Sometimes, the most significant roadblock in a TBI case is the diagnosis itself. Not all brain injuries are detectable through diagnostic tests such as MRIs or CT scans, and sometimes the only way to detect a TBI is to recognize the signs. Traumatic brain injuries occur when the brain is subjected to forces like acceleration and deceleration. These forces can cause blood vessels, nerves, and tissues to rip, tear, and swell—causing life-changing damage.

Although TBIs can occur when the skull is punctured, they are more commonly closed-head injuries, where the skull remains intact. Many TBIs occur without the head coming into contact with an object; a violent jolt to the head can propel the brain into the skull.

The severity of your TBI can vary dramatically, depending on the mechanism involved, the location of your injury, and many other factors. Here are some terms you may hear in connection with your TBI:

  • Concussion: Also known as a mild TBI or mTBI, concussion may involve most symptoms of brain injury, including headache, dizziness, ringing in the ears, memory problems and confusion.
  • Coup-contrecoup injuries: Forces cause your brain to crash into your skull repeatedly, damaging multiple areas of your brain. Think of a typical whiplash injury from a motor vehicle crash where your head is thrown violently backward into the headrest and then forward toward the steering wheel.  When you head stops abruptly, your brain keeps moving until it crashes into your skull.
  • Diffuse axonal injuries (DAI):Microscopic bundles of your nerves, called axons, can stretch and tear in your brain—which can lead to dramatic limitations and even death.
  • Hematoma and edema: Blood and fluid pool in your skull and can cause life-threatening swelling of the brain. This is why emergency rooms should perform CT scans of the brain in certain cases to determine whether the pressure in the skull should be relieved by cranial surgery.

A brain scan may not always identify subtle but life-changing brain injuries. To protect yourself, you should know the signs and symptoms of a brain injury and when to seek help.

blue-tab

Signs and Symptoms of a Traumatic Brain Injury

The signs and symptoms of head injuries can range from mild to severe, and temporary to permanent, depending on many factors. Signs and symptoms of TBIs may include memory loss, mood changes, headaches, fatigue, concentration problems, balance issues, sensitivity to light and sound, alteration of sense of smell, sleep disturbance, and nausea.

Technical names for some symptoms include:

  • Abulia: A “lack of initiative,” including the inability to make decisions, provide long or detailed responses to questions, or react quickly.
  • Anosognosia: The victim is unable to recognize or understand their impairments.
  • Aphasia: An inability to speak or understand language.
  • Ataxia: A loss of full control of bodily movements.
  • Dysarthria: Difficulty pronouncing words.
  • Dysphasia: Impaired speech and comprehension of speech.
  • Emotional Lability: Mood swings that occur rapidly and without apparent reason.
  • Seizure: Uncontrolled movements and convulsions of the body due to the discharge of nerve energy.
  • Post-Concussion Syndrome (PCS): A group of common symptoms, including:
    • Loss of consciousness
    • Headaches
    • Dizziness
    • Fatigue
    • Hypersensitivity to light or sound
    • Blurred or double vision
    • Ringing ears
    • Anxiety and depression
  • Post-Traumatic Amnesia (PTA): An inability to recall day-to-day events after an injury.

Depending on your array of symptoms, your medical team may include neurologists, surgeons, physical and occupational therapists, neuropsychologists, and many other providers. The attorneys at Phelan Petty can help you work through your medical bills and responsibilities to ensure you’re compensated for all your accident-related expenses.

Common causes of traumatic brain injuries

Although almost any type of accident can cause a TBI, some of the more typical causes include:

Our legal team can talk to you about the circumstances of your accident and injuries and hold the person or parties accountable.

Why you need a dedicated Richmond TBI attorney

TBIs are common during car, motorcycle and truck accidents, falls at nursing homes and hospitals, and assaults. Unfortunately, insurance companies frequently dispute TBI claims, arguing that:

  • The crash did not cause your injuries
  • You are not as disabled as you claim
  • Recommended medical care is not reasonable or necessary

The insurer may send you to a one-time physical or psychological exam, in an attempt to build a case against you — or even hire a private investigator to monitor your every move.

To combat these tactics, you need a sophisticated lawyer who understands the medicine behind TBIs and Virginia’s laws equally. Our attorneys work with world-class experts, investigators, and consultants so that we can handle cases that would overwhelm many other personal injury law firms. Traumatic brain injury claims require cutting-edge investigative methods and legal techniques, and we deliver.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Experienced Richmond traumatic brain injury attorneys

At Phelan Petty, we give our clients the full attention they deserve, and devote ourselves to a limited number of complex brain injury cases each year. This ensures that we can help the victims who need our expertise the most. Talk to our TBI attorneys to today for knowledgeable and compassionate help.

To schedule a free consultation, please call 804-980-7100 or fill out the contact form. We’re located near I-64 and Route 250 in Richmond.