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Rhode Island Brain Injury Lawyer

Call (888) 471-5989 to speak with a personal injury attorney.

Of all the physical injuries a person can sustain, brain injuries can be the most dangerous, devastating and debilitating. Since the brain is connected to every aspect of a person's functioning, a brain injury has the potential to affect one's life in negative, and permanent, ways.

Including skull and facial fractures, approximately two million head injuries occur every year in the United States, of which 1.5 million are nonfatal traumatic brain injuries, not requiring hospitalization, while 300,000 brain injuries are severe enough for hospitalization, and 99,000 of those result in long-term or permanent disability. Traumatic brain injuries take the lives of 56,000 people every year, which accounts for 34% of all injury deaths in the United States. Traumatic brain injuries affect males at twice the rate they affect females, with a higher mortality rate. People who are aged 15-24 have a high risk of traumatic brain injuries, as do people aged over 60.

There are many different types of brain injuries, including open head injury, when the head is penetrated and there is a break in the skull bone; closed head brain injury, which results from the slamming back and forth of the brain inside the skull, which tears blood vessels and tissues; deceleration injuries, where an abrupt stop causes the skull to stop as well, but the brain to continue traveling, bruising it and causing brain swelling and nerve cell damage; hypoxia, or lack of oxygen; and brain infections caused by viruses and bacteria.

If your brain injury was the result of someone else's negligence, whether through a car accident, machinery accident, assault or medical malpractice, or through another means, you deserve to receive compensation for all that you have lost. Of course nothing can make up for the fact that you have suffered a traumatic brain injury, but you can pursue compensation in a court of law and hold the negligent parties responsible for your injury.

If you have suffered a personal injury you can be compensated for past, current and future estimated medical expenses; time lost from work, including time spent to meet medical appointments and therapy; the cost of hiring anyone to help you; any permanent disability; emotional distress; and any future earning ability due to the injury.

Brain injury is considered a type of personal injury. In order to recover the highest possible amount of compensation, it is recommended that you consult with a personal injury attorney who specializes in brain injuries.

In a recent Rhode Island case, a contracting company was fined by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for exposing its employees to unsafe conditions, including an exposed fall of up to 12 feet, an exposed fall of 27 feet from an unguarded and unsecured pump-jack scaffold and an unsecured ladder. The scaffolds supporting poles were also improperly plumbed and secured, and the employees who were working underneath it did not have protective headgear. The leading cause of death in construction work is a fall.

Although there is usually a relatively brief statute of limitation with personal injuries, depending on the nature of the injury and the state in which it occurred, with severe brain injury there may be more time in which file the case. Your brain injury attorney will advise you.

In order to succeed in your brain injury claim, you have to prove that the person who caused your injury was negligent and failed to use reasonable care, that you have suffered damages, and the other person's failure caused that injury. In Rhode Island, if you are the one who is found to be careless or your carelessness was what contributed to your injury, you may not be permitted to recover any damages. Under the Rhode Island pure comparative fault rule, you may recover monetary damages even if you were 99% at fault, though the monetary damages recovered will be at a reduced rate.