Why Is It Important To Hire A Local North Carolina Lawyer For Brain Injury Accidents?
Key Highlights:
- Individuals with brain injuries in North Carolina face one of the strictest legal standards for recovering damages in the country, the contributory negligence rule. As little as one percent of fault can completely bar recovery of damages.
- Given that symptoms of brain injury are often not captured by pictures taken with standard imaging tests, it is extremely important to have a great deal of evidence supporting your injury, including medical documentation and testimony from local area professionals.
- A North Carolina brain injury attorney will be knowledgeable about the NC Courts and how to avoid being taken advantage of by insurance companies in defence of your claim.
- When you need the help of a lawyer, it matters to get help early. The statute of limitations for personal injury in NC is three years; however, evidence can and often does dissipate quickly.
- At Tatum and Atkinson Law Firm, a free consultation can be scheduled at (800) 529-0804. If you do not recover any compensation for your claim, you do not pay an attorney’s fee.
It’s important to have a good local North Carolina lawyer for brain injury accidents. But it’s more important than that: You should hire an excellent lawyer who really understands North Carolina brain injury law and knows how local insurance companies defend against these types of claims so they can help connect your brain injury to your life in a way that makes sense to a jury or adjuster.
3 Reasons Why Brain Injury Differs from Other Accident Injuries
There are three basic reasons why brain injury cases differ significantly from other types of accident cases:
- In most cases, the injured party will look fine, even though he or she may have sustained a severe traumatic brain injury. In other words, a person can show a broken arm on an X-ray but may not be able to show a brain injury on an X-ray (this doesn’t mean there isn’t one).
- Many times, a brain injury will create symptoms that may take several days or weeks to manifest, e.g., headaches, memory problems, mood swings, sensitivity to light, sleep problems, and difficulty concentrating. Insurance companies are aware of this gap between the way victims appear and what they are actually experiencing.
- In addition to the above two reasons, North Carolina law includes an added complexity concerning contributory negligence, which makes the outcome of a brain injury case very difficult if a person has any contribution to the accident. Unlike most states that operate under a theory of comparative negligence (the more you contribute to your accident, the smaller percentage of fault will be attributed to you), North Carolina has a strict law regarding contributing to an accident. Specifically, if a person has a 1% fault in causing an accident, that person becomes precluded from collecting any damages from the other party (which is not a typo).
Annually in North Carolina, approximately 80,000 individuals experience a traumatic brain injury, resulting in permanent disabilities and long-term effects on their ability to perform daily activities without assistance, including movement, communication, memory, and independence. Each case represents an episode experienced by a family as they cope with what happens next, as well as an insurance company doing everything possible to ensure that they pay out as little money as possible.
You can change the dynamics of these two parties involved by hiring a local brain injury attorney NC.
My name is Robert Tatum, an attorney at Tatum & Atkinson Law Firm. We are an all-veteran law firm with more than 65 years of combined experience assisting clients throughout North Carolina pursue their brain injury accident claims (since 2005), and we are prepared to advocate strongly on behalf of those who have suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of an accident.
Why Is It Important To Hire A Local North Carolina Lawyer For Brain Injury Accidents Instead Of A General Attorney?
A North Carolina brain injury lawyer can handle your case strategically; a general North Carolina personal injury lawyer for brain trauma probably will not do so well. The differences between the two lawyers will be seen in the details of how your case is handled.Â
- A local attorney will know which of the many insurance defense firms represent the major insurance companies doing business in Wake, Mecklenburg, Guilford, and New Hanover counties.Â
- A local attorney will also know how local insurance adjusters typically value soft-tissue and neurological injury claims.Â
- Furthermore, a local attorney has previously worked with the neurologists, neuropsychologists, rehabilitation providers, life-care planners, and other experts in Raleigh, Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro, Wilmington, and Asheville, who could be used as experts in your case and whose records and testimony could ultimately affect the outcome of your brain injury case or settlement.
- Additionally, as it pertains to the locality, he will understand how local juries think and how they will value your settlement claim based on the potential outcome of your case if it were to go to trial. Insurers are well aware of what is trending in the local legal environment and will be concerned about that when determining the value of a potential settlement. Your attorney should have the same level of knowledge and experience concerning local jury values and conventions.
- Finally, a local North Carolina brain injury attorney can act quickly to preserve brain injury evidence, crash reconstruction data, traffic camera footage, employer performance records, and eyewitness statements; however, all of this evidence may disappear very quickly after an accident. After you engage a North Carolina brain injury attorney at the beginning of your case, he/she will take immediate steps to preserve this evidence.
How Does North Carolina’s Contributory Negligence Rule Affect Brain Injury Claims?
North Carolina brain injury claims today are distinctively hazardous, and they are also heavily reliant upon possessing skilled legal representation. Â
The 1% Liability Principle in North Carolina
In North Carolina, the contributory negligence statute impedes recovery. If you are even one percent liable for your accident, you will likely be barred from receiving damages. Therefore, it is critical to have access to independent firm evidence, such as EDR data and traffic accident reconstruction, especially if you have sustained a brain injury and have memory loss.
Traumatic Brain Injuries, Amnesia, and the Burden of Proof
It is particularly important to recognize that persons who have sustained brain injuries frequently cannot remember the events of their accident. Memory loss is often a symptom of a brain injury. Yet, if you are in a contributory negligence jurisdiction, the uncertainty of what occurred before impact becomes an opportunity for the insurance company to capitalize on your vulnerability. Â
How Insurance Companies and Defense Lawyers Place Blame On Someone Else
Defense attorneys and claims adjusters may argue that since you are unable to recollect if the traffic signal was green at the time of your accident, you will be unable to establish that you were not liable. Their purpose is to shift any blame or liability for the accident to the claimant. In North Carolina, there can be a tiny, tiny fraction of liability resulting in the potential for compensation to be lost forever.
Exceptions To The Contributory Negligence Doctrine
There are some limited exceptions to the application of the contributory negligence doctrine. If the defendant’s actions are grossly negligent, willful, or wanton and display a disregard for the safety of others, the contributory negligence bar may not apply. The last clear chance doctrine also protects a plaintiff, where the defendant had a reasonable opportunity to avoid the accident through ordinary care just before it occurred, even if the plaintiff was engaging in contributory negligence.
Gathering Evidence Of Your Injuries
A traumatic brain injury lawyer North Carolina does not rely upon your memory to establish who is at fault for the accident; instead, they develop their case by using objective information, such as vehicle event data recorders, video monitoring, accident reconstructionists, skid marks, and timelines from witnesses. The objective is to remove any possibility of the issue of fault from the case before the insurance company has an opportunity to create a story about your injury.
Why Do Brain Injury Cases Need More Than A Standard Accident Investigation?
While the injury itself is unique to each case, there are very few instances in which someone has sustained a brain injury and did not have a CT scan (magnetic resonance imaging).
According to data collected by the North Carolina Injury Prevention Center, the number of TBI-related (acute and non-acute) hospitalizations in North Carolina increased by 12% from 2005 to 2010, reaching 73 hospitalizations for every 100,000 residents. Hospitalizations represent only the most severely injured patients, however, and many patients with concussion or mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI) may experience significant cognitive, emotional, or physical changes for months after their initial presentation to the emergency department (ED) with a negative CT scan; unfortunately, few patients can access the medical care they need during this period.Â
The following three representative comments made by insurers illustrate the “gap” insurers are trying to fill:Â
- “A normal CT scan means there is no evidence of an acute TBI; therefore, you have no further medical responsibilities from us.”Â
- “You were treated and discharged within the same day”, andÂ
- “You returned to work the following week”.Â
These statements are accurate in terms of the information presented; however, they do not take into account the neurocognitive, emotional, and quality of life (quality of life) changes associated with a brain injury.
For a thorough brain injury claim investigation to occur, far more than just the crash report must be collected. It also means obtaining the following types of information:
- Medical records/set of treatment dates that document the onset, progression, and medical needs of the patient’s symptoms.
- Neuropsychological testing results documenting how the patient’s memory, attention, processing speed, reasoning, and mood are impacted by their head injury, which is information that standard imaging cannot provide.
- Employer performance records documenting the patient’s missed work, errors, decrease in the number of hours worked, and/or job termination.
- Observations from family members and witnesses about the patient’s changes in behavior before and after the head injury, which may be different than the changes reported in a medical record. Share this with your head injury accident attorney.
- Future projections regarding the cost of all treatment, therapy, and support services based upon the patient’s typical life-care plan.
- Accident reconstruction used to establish fault based upon physical evidence, rather than relying on disputing witnesses
An attorney who represents clients with brain injury claims will compile all of these items into a single body of proof to demonstrate the human impact of the injury in total, not just the emergency department bills incurred.
What Medical Evidence Can Strengthen A North Carolina Brain Injury Claim?
Having medical evidence is the basis for filing a concussion injury claim NC. The sooner your symptoms are recorded in clinical documentation, the more difficult it becomes for the insurance company to deny that the accident caused you to have those symptoms.
Why Neuropsychological Testing Can Be a Game-Changer
Neuropsychological testing assesses brain functioning by evaluating the brain’s processing of information, regulation of attention, retention of memory, ability to manage emotions, and performance of activities as instructed. A patient with a perfectly normal MRI may still demonstrate significant impairments through neuropsychological testing.
Not every concussion injury victim needs this type of testing, but if the symptoms continue, if the individual cannot continue to work, if the victim’s personal relationships or abilities to function decrease, then neuropsychological testing can assist in determining what the “invisible” losses are, how severe they are, and can give a medical professional an objective, independent source of corroborating information.
Why Local Medical Experts Matter
In North Carolina, some attorneys specifically handle brain trauma-related injuries. These attorneys have established relationships with neurologists, physiatrists, neuropsychologists, and rehabilitation providers within the area. They also understand:
- What constitutes a standard of care for treating brain injuries in North Carolina?
- How to document brain injuries so that they will be acceptable in court,
- how to communicate to a jury that may not have a medical background,
- and what types of future care are available to individuals who suffer from brain injuries in North Carolina.
Your attorney’s local experts’ medical records, expert opinions, and testifying experts can create the difference between receiving a low settlement amount and receiving full compensation.
What Damages Can Be Included In A Brain Injury Settlement North Carolina?
When considering TBI compensation North Carolina, it must be taken into account that costs associated with incursions related to the brain injury have not always been incurred yet and therefore may lead to future costs that can be very significant.
Loss Category |
What It May Include |
| Emergency and acute medical care | ER visits, imaging, hospitalization, surgery, ICU |
| Ongoing treatment | Neurology, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy |
| Neuropsychological care | Cognitive rehabilitation, counseling, and neuropsychiatric evaluation |
| Lost income | Missed workdays, reduced hours, and job termination |
| Future earning loss | Reduced career capacity, inability to return to prior occupation |
| Future medical needs | Long-term care, medication, assistive devices, and home modifications |
| Pain and suffering | Chronic headaches, dizziness, anxiety, depression, loss of identity |
| Loss of enjoyment of life | Inability to participate in hobbies, family life, and daily activities |
| Family and relationship harm | Strain on marriages, parenting limitations, loss of companionship |
The future costs associated with a TBI case are of greater overall value than any past bills incurred. This makes it imperative that the calculation of a TBI case be done with consideration of future costs, which can only be done by a qualified and experienced local attorney with a sufficient amount of medical evidence to support the claim and be willing to fight for a full picture of the losses incurred as a result of the injury.
Why Do Insurance Companies Dispute Brain Injury Symptoms, and How Do You Fight Back?
Many insurance companies do not accept brain injuries as legitimate claims. This is because most of the evidence concerning brain injuries is subjective. Headaches exist; cognitive fatigue is real, and mood changes can be catastrophic in a marriage. However, there is no way to find these symptoms on an X-ray, for example.
Some common ways insurers will dispute claims of accidental brain injuries include:
“Your Imaging Studies Were Normal.”Â
People who suffer from brain injuries will experience functional impairment, which will not show up on a scan. Neuropsychological testing can provide that connection.
“You Had Pre-Existing Conditions.”Â
Although an individual had migraines or anxiety or suffered from a prior concussion before the accident, they still can recover damages if the accident aggravated their condition.
“You Delayed Treatment.”Â
In some cases, victims of traumatic brain injuries do not recognize that they have suffered a brain injury. Document symptoms upon their onset, and seek medical treatment promptly.
“You Were Partially at Fault.”Â
A client with a catastrophic injury should maintain an experienced catastrophic injury lawyer NC to protect him or her from the punitive effects of being partially at fault once objective evidence is obtained to support their claim.
Disputes are litigated on a before-and-after narrative. Family members have seen the results; coworkers have experienced the difference; medical providers have recorded the deterioration in health; daily symptom journals; performance evaluations; and all of this is evidence that the person who stands in front of the jury is not the same person who reported to work before the accident.
What Is The Timeline For A Brain Injury Lawsuit North Carolina?
If you’re injured due to someone else’s negligence or intentional act, you’ll want to ensure that you have the right to seek damages for your injury, including past and future medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, etc., according to the North Carolina three-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims.Â
If you miss the three-year deadline, you may forever lose your right to compensation. The statute of limitations on wrongful death cases relating to brain injury fatalities is typically two years. There may be different statutes of limitations that apply in cases where a government entity is involved or if a child is an involved party.Â
Three years seems like plenty of time for the case to develop because brain injury symptoms take many months to develop. The continued development of the care needed for brain injuries also takes months. Legal evidence to prove the fault of another party can also dissipate quickly, such as footage from surveillance cameras, Event Data Recorder (EDR) data from vehicles that may have been involved in an accident, or witness memory.
Advice regarding increasing your timeline for your case: don’t wait! Call a North Carolina brain injury lawyer as soon as there is any evidence of injury, or it is established that there is a possibility of liability. Early engagement with an attorney will help preserve your case; waiting to hire an attorney for too long may only leave you with what is left over in your case.
What Questions Should You Ask Before Hiring A Brain Injury Attorney?
The right attorney will be open to answering direct inquiries. If they cannot unambiguously answer your questions, you should continue your search for another lawyer.
- How many cases have you handled similar to mine that involve traumatic brain injuries/concussions in North Carolina courts?
- If you perform standard diagnostic testing and find normal results but the patient continues to experience symptoms following an accident, how do you investigate such cases?
- Are you affiliated with other specialists such as neuropsychologists, life-care planners, and accident reconstructionists?
- In conducting your investigations into accident claims, how do you apply the contributory negligence rules established under North Carolina law?
- What type of communication with clients throughout the duration of the case can I expect from you?
- With regard to legal fees, do you accept payment from me if I cannot recover damages in this case?
At Tatum & Atkinson Law Firm, we do not charge you an attorney’s fee unless you receive compensation as a result of this case.
What Makes A Local Lawyer Valuable In A Brain Injury Settlement North Carolina?
Consider the settlement for your brain injury as a puzzle. Your medical records will serve as one part of the puzzle. The witness observations will create another piece. Therefore, expert testimony will assist in re-creating the accident scene, determining the future of your care, proving how the injury will affect you financially, and gathering evidence from the local courts that know the community where your attorney (Tatum & Atkinson) has been representing injured clients for years (Wake County, Mecklenburg County, Guilford County, Buncombe County, and surrounding areas).
The settlement value of your brain injury case will always be impacted by the ability of the trial court to assess the risk to all parties based on an insurer’s calculation for potential jury awards by location. Insurers also evaluate the likelihood a jury will favor the injured party based on the jurisdiction’s history. In addition, an insurer evaluates how many attorneys have been willing to file litigation when they could not settle their case. An attorney who has belonged to a local bar association and has successfully tried cases in the same locale will send a strong message to the insurer that the case cannot be settled for anything less than it is worth.
Talk To Tatum & Atkinson Law Firm About Your North Carolina Brain Injury Claim
If you have been asking why is it important to hire a local North Carolina lawyer for brain injury accidents, the answer is clear: because the law is complicated, the evidence is fragile, the insurance defenses are aggressive, and the stakes, your health, your income, and your family’s future, are too high to navigate alone.
The professional legal team at Tatum & Atkinson Law Firm has helped injured people across North Carolina understand their rights, protect their claims, and pursue the full compensation they deserve after serious head trauma, concussions, and traumatic brain injuries.
The consultation is free. There is no attorney’s fee unless compensation is recovered for you. Call (800) 529-0804 today.
The sooner you call, the more we can do to protect your claim.
FAQ About North Carolina Brain Injury Accident Claims!
Can a brain injury exist even if CT scans or MRIs appear normal?Â
Symptoms from concussions and mild TBIs can persist even when standard imaging shows brain damage, as reported by neuropsychological testing and clinical records.
Can family members help document a brain injury?Â
The observations of those who’ve been injured will play important roles as evidence in any legal claim involving a person experiencing traumatic brain injury. Tracking memory lapses, mood swings, sleep problems, and changes in functional abilities provides real-world records of how an injured person actually functioned compared to what the person’s clinical records reveal.
What if I never lost consciousness after the accident?Â
A person does not have to lose consciousness to have a diagnosis of a brain injury, nor is there a need to have an applicable legal claim. A person who sustained an injury can remain conscious during an incident and continue to experience significant neurological deficits.
Can a TBI affect my future career and earning potential?Â
Yes, deficits in attention, memory, decision making, emotional regulation, and stamina can be used as evidence to prevent the victim from returning to the previous occupation or from having the opportunity for career advancement.
What happens if brain injury symptoms worsen months after the accident?
Get medical care and document the change. Worsening symptoms may affect your diagnosis, treatment, future care needs, and the value of your injury claim.
