Is it a boo boo? Or is it a severe contusion? How do you know whether your injury is something manageable or a disruption to your daily life? If it’s the latter, is it worth filing a lawsuit? After all, lawsuits are time consuming, arduous, and very costly. Arguing with insurers is exhausting and demotivating by design. How do you know if that kind of energy is worth it?
When it’s a disruption to your life, when you’re getting jerked around by insurers, and when your ability to maintain an income is in jeopardy, that’s how you know your injury is serious enough to warrant a lawsuit. Insurers, employers, and other people in positions of authority will try and intimidate you not to pursue action. After reading this, you’ll feel more confident as to whether or not your injury is bad enough that it’s worth filing a personal injury lawsuit.
1. Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs)
Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs if you’re into the whole “brevity” thing) occur when a sudden trauma causes damage to the brain. Think football tackling, being struck on the head with a blunt object, slamming your head against the steering wheel because the bag didn’t deploy, and anything that involves boppin’ your noggin. These injuries range from mild concussions to keep an eye on to very serious brain injuries.
If you have a mild TBI, you would feel headaches, dizziness, and possibly confusion. If you got hit super hard while playing lacrosse and you feel a little woozy after? You might have a mild concussion. While you should absolutely take appropriate care and attention, legally speaking, it probably isn’t worth your time to file suit. If you’ve got justifiable, documentable expenses and proof of hardship, it could be worth your time. But I’d bet on ibuprofen and a lot of fluids as your best remedy.
Severe TBIs are another matter. They can lead to very serious long-term cognitive deficits such as memory loss, difficulty communicating, information processing, even executive functions. They can also lead to physical impairments that make daily life difficult. Not to mention the mountain of medical bills you could face. In these situations, you should probably talk to a Queens personal injury lawyer about filing a lawsuit. You very likely have a strong case.
2. Spinal Cord Injuries
You never want an injury to your spinal cord. These can occur from car accidents, falls, while playing a sport or strenuous activity, or even violence like a gunshot wound. They can be caused by either direct damage to the spinal cord or by damaging the surrounding tissue or bones. Even a small injury to your spine can lead to debilitating or permanent injuries.
If you’ve got a mild spine injury like a herniated disc, you might have to get surgery or have some physical therapy that takes up just enough of your time to be a burden. You might be able to get away with a small claim. A more serious injury, however? Like paraplegia, quadriplegia, even total paralysis is more than enough to warrant filing a lawsuit.
3. Fractures (Broken Bones)
This one’s pretty self explanatory. Most of us have broken a bone or two in our lifetimes (who didn’t want to have a cast signed by all their classmates?) and they typically heal without long-term consequences. Because they’re common enough and tend to heal well, it can be difficult to argue damages.
More severe fractures that involve breaking the skin or end up infected may be easier to argue suit. The more serious the fracture, the longer the recovery period and the higher the medical costs. If you’ve lost income and can point to another’s liability that leads to your injury, you may have a case.
4. Burns
We’re not talking about sunburns here. Your common summer burn is cute compared to how painful and traumatizing burns can be. Burns from heat, chemicals, electricity, or radiation are categorized in three degrees: first, second, and third.
First degree only affects the outer layer of skin and tend to heal without medical intervention and don’t leave scars. Chances are you won’t have a case for a suit there. A second degree burn is the most common type of burn. Anyone who cooks regularly has experienced a second degree burn (Whyyy did you touch that pan when it JUST came out of the oven?). Because these are so common and easy to treat, you probably won’t have much of a case here either. Third degree burns are serious. They penetrate deep skin layers causing serious tissue damage. These can involve skin grafts, extreme pain, trauma, even permanent scarring. If you’ve got a chance for suit from a burn, it’s from a third degree burn.
5. Soft Tissue Injuries
Soft tissue injuries are things like sprains, strains, and bruises. You know, the “cute” injuries. These heal easily and happen all the time. They’re not fun, but good luck convincing a judge to take on a lawsuit involving a sprained ankle. If they’re more serious, like a torn ligament or muscle damage that may require surgery, you might have a shot.
6. Whiplash
Anyone even remotely familiar with the work of a car accident lawyer has heard of whiplash, a common car accident injury due to rapid back-and-forth movement of the neck. The chronic pain and risk of long-term neck issues can certainly be enough to file a lawsuit. I mean, who wants to walk around wearing a cumbersome, silly neck brace, right?
7. Lacerations
Lacerations are the smart, professional way to describe a really, really bad cut. If you hear people say “he suffered lacerations to the head and face,” that means you were cut deeply and seriously. Think windshield glass after an accident. These are often superficial and may require stitches. But it’s unlikely this kind of injury qualifies for a lawsuit. If there’s significant scarring, like if you’re a fashion model and you make your living by not having scars, you may have a case.
8. Internal Injuries
What looks like a bruise could end up being far more serious. Internal injuries affect your organs from severe physical trauma and can be life-threatening. Even minor internal injuries can lead to later complications and unexpected medical expenses. These are particularly frightening injuries as you cannot see them. There is a good chance you can justify pursuing a lawsuit with internal injuries.
If It Impacts Your Daily Life, You May Have A Case
All of these injuries and whether or not they warrant filing a lawsuit comes down to the same things: they have a debilitating impact on daily life, painful and cumbersome recovery, loss of wages/income, and/or being jerked around by an insurer. If your injury is mild and easily healed at home, your chances at a lawsuit are nil.
Sometimes, however, your injury is right on the line of mild to serious and insurers will pressure an injured person not to pursue a lawsuit. By informing yourself of the potential consequences of your injury and its impact on your daily life and income, you can make an informed decision about whether or not filing a lawsuit is worth your time, energy, and money.
