Everyone with a spinal cord injury remembers the day it happened. If you break an arm or burn yourself while cooking, the injury hurts but eventually heals. Unfortunately, few people fully recover from spinal cord injuries. Typically, some injury symptoms will plague you for the rest of your life. You may toss and turn due to back pain or have trouble getting up from a chair. While there is nothing we can do to prevent your injury, the Harrisburg spinal cord injury lawyers at Wapner Newman may be able to help you get the compensation you need to better recover from your injury or deal with the ongoing repercussions.
Common Accidents That Cause Spinal Cord Injuries
When You Might Need a Harrisburg Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer
Just because you suffered a spinal cord injury, that doesn’t necessarily mean you need a Harrisburg spinal cord injury attorney. You do need a lawyer when your injury was the result of another party’s negligence. The following are common situations in which you should consult with a spinal cord injury lawyer before making any decisions about how to proceed.
Slip and Fall Injuries
If you slip and fall in your kitchen because you spilled something on the tile floor, there is no one to blame but yourself. However, many slip and fall injuries involve another party’s negligence. If you weren’t responsible for whatever caused you to slip, there is a good chance that you can file an injury claim against the responsible party.
For example, imagine you enter a local dry cleaner to pick up your clothing and the entrance is wet because it is snowing and people have been tracking in snow and ice on their shoes. If you were to slip and hurt your spinal cord, the dry cleaner would be responsible. While snow and ice being tracked in is inevitable, the business has a responsibility to clean up the mess to prevent slip and fall injuries. By failing to fulfill that responsibility, it becomes liable for your injuries.
Car Accidents
One type of spinal cord injury is particularly common in car accidents — whiplash. This occurs when your vehicle comes to a sudden stop but your momentum still carries you forward. When this happens, your neck and head move forward until stopped by something (usually your seat belt). At this point, your neck and head then whip backward. The sudden strain causes an injury that may not be apparent at first and takes a long time to heal.
If the other driver was responsible for the car accident, they may also be responsible for compensating you for the injury. However, due to the tort system in PA, there may be obstacles to filing a lawsuit. You should consult with our Harrisburg spinal cord injury attorneys to determine what your legal options are based on your type of insurance and the severity of your injuries.
Car accident claims follow different rules than other types of claims due to the insurance tort system in PA. Our spinal cord injury attorneys can help you determine your legal options after a car accident.
Work Accidents
If you do physical labor as part of your work, you expect to get a workout. But as long as you aren’t intentionally violating safety rules, you shouldn’t get injured. If you suffer some kind of spinal cord injury at the workplace, it may be because your employer forced you to perform unsafe activities, didn’t train you appropriately, or didn’t provide appropriate personal protective equipment.
Our Harrisburg spinal cord injury attorneys will investigate the circumstances of your accident to determine what caused your injury. If your employer was negligent, we may be able to help you get compensation.
Why Choose Us?
Experienced Spinal Cord Injury Lawyers in Harrisburg
Wapner Newman is a civil litigation law firm where attorneys focus on details. When we take a spinal cord injury case, we gather as much information as possible before pursuing negotiations or legal action. At Wapner Newman, our spinal cord injury attorneys understand that even the slightest mistake could cost you thousands of dollars. However, you shouldn’t have to worry about this happening. We put in the hard work so you can put your entire focus on recovering from your injuries.
Does this approach work? Just ask our hundreds of satisfied clients. We have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for our clients during decades of serving Pennsylvania. If you or a loved one needs help, our legal team is always ready to talk to you during a free consultation.
Did you or a loved one suffer a serious spinal cord injury in Harrisburg? Recovering from this type of injury can be financially taxing. Contact our law firm at (215) 569-0900 to learn how we may be able to help you get compensation for your injuries.
What to Do After Suffering a Spinal Cord Injury in Harrisburg
If you suffer a spinal cord injury, the value of any compensation you receive will be partially based on what you do immediately after your injury.
Get Medical Attention Quickly
Spinal cord injuries are often tricky to diagnose. You might feel fine on the day you are injured and then be unable to walk a week later. It is important to get medically evaluated as soon as possible. Even if there are no symptoms shortly after the injury, you want evidence of that fact. That way, if symptoms appear, you can prove that you were following the advice of a doctor and weren’t responsible for aggravating the injury. Conversely, if you have symptoms, a doctor can start treating them immediately, and you have evidence of that.
Document Your Injury if Possible
If you are injured seriously, you will be in no shape to document the injury or the accident scene where you were injured. However, if you can record any of that, you should. Any evidence you collect immediately after an injury can be used by our spinal cord injury lawyers to pursue your case.
Contact Wapner Newman Immediately
The sooner you contact our law firm, the better we can represent you. Our legal team can only act swiftly if you give us a chance to. At times, some clients have waited years before contacting our law firm. In some cases, they have even waited long enough that the two-year statute of limitations has passed. While that is the worst-case scenario, even waiting a few days or weeks can significantly hinder your ability to collect evidence and get fair compensation.
Avoid Discussing Your Case With Anyone
Finally, there is one thing you shouldn’t do. You shouldn’t share the details of your injury with anyone other than your spinal cord injury attorney. Any information you reveal could potentially be used by the insurance company to devalue or deny your claim.
FAQ
Typically, when clients come in for a free consultation, they have lots of questions. While we can’t answer any questions about their specific case until we hear the details of it, we can provide answers to common general questions. This should make your free consultation easier and save you time.
Will I have to pay for a lawyer in advance?
No. At Wapner Newman, we charge on contingency. This means we take a portion of the money we recover for you after we get you a settlement or a jury verdict. We don’t charge you anything until the case is over.
Can I get compensation if I am partially at fault for my injury?
Yes. Pennsylvania uses contributory negligence to determine how much money a victim receives after suffering an injury. This means that if you are partially at fault, any compensation you receive will be reduced by a percentage equal to the percentage you are at fault for your injury.
Will I have to go to trial to get money after filing a personal injury claim?
Most personal injury claims never go to trial. Our experienced spinal cord injury lawyers in Harrisburg will use the evidence we gather to negotiate a fair settlement with the insurance company. If the insurance company agrees to a fair settlement, your case will never go to trial. Often, we don’t even file a lawsuit against the negligent party.
How long will my spinal cord injury claim take to complete?
That usually depends on the severity of your injuries. The more seriously you are injured, the more time we may take to document your expenses and losses. If you can’t afford to wait as long as the case will take, we’ll discuss options to speed up the process.
For questions that involve specific details of your case, ask our attorneys during your free consultation.
Contact Wapner Newman Immediately After a Spinal Cord Injury
Spinal cord injuries can potentially result in a lifetime of pain. Our law firm will help you get the compensation you need to cope with that pain.
Don’t wait after suffering a spinal cord injury in Harrisburg. Contact Wapner Newman as soon as possible at (215) 569-0900 to schedule a free consultation.