Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Claim – 4 Reasons You Need a Lawyer

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Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) often change victims’ lives forever. However, insurance companies try their hardest to avoid fully paying victims for the enormous costs and losses they suffer after an injury to the brain.

Thankfully, you don’t have to fight the insurance company alone if you’ve been injured. At Crosley Law, we handle complex TBI claims on behalf of our clients and demand fair compensation for their injuries. Keep reading to learn more about how an attorney may be able to help if you’ve been injured and why it’s critical to get advice from an attorney if you or someone you loved has suffered a TBI.

1. “Mild” Brain Injuries Can Change Your Life

When doctors categorize brain injuries, they look for signs of life-threatening injuries. Often, however, they don’t fully assess a TBI’s impact on a victim’s daily function. Rather than considering the severity of your headache, the ringing in your ears, or the extent of your personality changes, the doctors are focused on evaluating whether you need immediate surgery or other life-saving treatments.

For this reason, the diagnostic scales that doctors use to classify brain injuries focus on symptoms like loss of consciousness and your ability to respond to sounds and other stimulation. Doctors also take imaging studies like MRI and CT scans into account when grading a TBI, but they typically look for severe bleeding, swelling, and other obvious damage.

Unfortunately, much of the damage caused by a brain injury occurs on a near-microscopic level and may not be visible on imaging scans. This type of almost-invisible damage is known as microtrauma. Microtrauma can cause severe symptoms while failing to appear in diagnostic tests, which may lead to confusion about the severity of your injuries and disputes with the insurance companies.


“Unfortunately, much of the damage caused by a brain injury occurs on a near-microscopic level and may not be visible on imaging scans.”


RELATED VIDEO: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Classifications

Because of the complex and fragile nature of the brain, every brain injury needs to be taken seriously. Even a so-called “mild” brain injury can produce life-altering symptoms such as:

  • Blurred vision and other visual disturbances
  • Depression and anxiety
  • Headaches
  • Personality changes and mood swings
  • Problems with concentration, attention, and memory
  • Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
  • Fatigue or problems sleeping
  • Balance issues
  • Sensitivity to light and sound

For most TBI victims, these symptoms improve over time. However a “miserable minority” of victims (approximately 15-20% according to many studies) struggle with them for years. Unfortunately, insurance companies often emphasize the “mild” aspect of a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) diagnosis, arguing that your symptoms either aren’t real or aren’t related to your brain trauma.

The experienced TBI attorneys at Crosley Law understand the insurance companies’ tactics, and we’ve successfully fought for victims’ fair compensation in many past cases. We use sophisticated legal strategies to build the best possible cases for our clients and combat insurance company practices that try to delay or diminish their compensation.

RELATED EBOOK: 4 Signs You May Have an Undiagnosed Traumatic Brain Injury

2. After a TBI, Your Damages Can Be Hard to Establish

How do you calculate the monetary value of a reduced attention span or a relationship that was damaged by TBI symptoms? Without help from an experienced TBI lawyer, translating these types of harm into concrete damages can prove extremely difficult.

An experienced brain injury attorney will know how to calculate a wide range of damages in a TBI lawsuit, including:

  • Lost income and earning potential
  • Past and future medical treatment
  • Occupational therapy and other rehabilitation services
  • Pain and suffering
  • Loss of companionship or consortium
  • Punitive damages for grossly negligent or intentional conduct

Because every brain injury claim is unique and complex, you can’t use a simple online calculator to estimate the value of a claim. Instead, a skilled TBI lawyer should assess the circumstances surrounding the injury, the amount of insurance coverage that applies, and your losses.

Often, the process of valuing a TBI claim requires help from experts, including doctors, nurses, occupational therapists, and other specialists. These experts can establish how a brain injury can lead to a lifetime of medical care as well as reduced capacity for earnings, productivity, and enjoyment.

3. Many TBI Claims Require Extensive Medical Knowledge and Expert Testimony

At Crosley Law, we’ve seen firsthand how the right medical expert can change the course of a TBI injury claim. We represented a client who suffered a so-called “mild” TBI in a truck crash and struggled afterward with memory problems, dizziness, and dramatic personality changes. While the insurance company agreed to compensate him for his other physical injuries, they refused to acknowledge his brain trauma.

RELATED ARTICLE: Client with “Mild” Brain Injury Secures Settlement Against Trucking Company

To prove our client’s claim, the Crosley Law team consulted with some of the most respected and forward-thinking radiologists in the field. Using advanced imaging technologies, we identified brain damage caused by the wreck. After our investigation, the insurance company agreed to a fair settlement.


“To prove our client’s claim, the Crosley Law team consulted with some of the most respected and forward-thinking radiologists in the field. Using advanced imaging technologies, we identified brain damage caused by the wreck.”


While not every TBI claim requires this level of expert testimony, our attorneys work with a diverse team of experts to evaluate our clients’ claims when necessary. We frequently draw on the advice and testimony of medical experts such as physicians, rehabilitation specialists, engineers, and vocational experts.

4. Insurance Companies Try to Take Advantage of Unrepresented TBI Victims

Insurance companies rarely offer fair settlements to TBI victims and their families unless those victims have an experienced attorney advocating for them. Insurance adjusters and the corporations they work for aren’t on your side. The adjuster’s job is to protect the insurance company’s financial bottom line. To accomplish this goal, they scrutinize each claim and look for any reasons they can find to issue a denial.

RELATED ARTICLE: Fight These 4 Common Insurance Company Tricks After a Car Accident

If you try to handle a TBI claim on your own, the insurance company will never offer you a settlement that reflects the true value of your claim. Even if their sentiments seem genuine, the motive behind them is anything but: the insurance company wants to make your claim go away while paying you as little as possible. And if you agree to a settlement before you consult a lawyer, you’ll lose out on any chance for future compensation related to your TBI.

Before you respond to a settlement offer in a TBI case, you should always consult an experienced brain injury lawyer. At Crosley Law, we have years of experience handling complex TBI claims, and we offer free, no-risk consultations to help you understand your legal rights and options.

Crosley Law: San Antonio’s Traumatic Brain Injury Experts

Crosley Law has built a reputation as one of Texas’ premier TBI law firms. We use cutting-edge technology and strategies to fight for our clients and their families. If you’d like to learn more about our approach to TBI injury law and receive a free assessment of your case, complete our simple, easy online contact form or call us at 210-LAW-3000 | 210-529-3000.

The content provided here is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject.