A spinal cord injury can mean a lifetime of physical, emotional, and financial challenges. Without the ability to move your limbs at will, you lose your independence. The psychological and emotional ramifications of this loss cannot be overstated: your whole life changes as a result of your injury. It’s expensive, too. Not only can a spinal cord injury compromise your ability to earn a living, you may also be faced with the costs of modifying your home to accommodate your new needs, hiring caregivers, and out-of-pocket expenses for physical therapy and other treatments.
When these injuries are caused by someone else’s negligence, the difficulty of getting the compensation you deserve only compounds the struggle. It doesn’t have to be this way. Norm Steiner, himself an amputee, knows firsthand what you’re going through—and he’s not about to let you suffer the injustice of inadequate compensation for what you’ve lost. If you’ve suffered a spinal cord injury, The Steiner Law Firm, PLLC, stands prepared to begin your case and help you recover the damages you’re entitled to.
What Is a Spinal Cord Injury?
Spinal cord injuries occur when trauma or damage disrupts the communication between the brain and the body. Depending on their severity, injuries to the spinal cord can lead to a partial or complete loss of sensation and motor control below the location of the injury along the spine. This can result in:
- Paraplegia: Loss of function in the lower body and legs
- Tetraplegia or Quadriplegia: Loss of function in three or four limbs
- Partial loss of motor or sensory function
The spine is a strong, flexible structure covering the spinal cord. Getting through this protective cage to harm the cord usually requires significant force, such as you might experience in:
- A motor vehicle accident
- A fall on a hard surface
- A workplace accident involving heavy equipment
- The careless execution of a medical procedure
- A gunshot or physical assault
These injuries aren’t rare. Roughly 300,000 individuals in the U.S. live with spinal cord injuries, and 17,000 new cases are reported annually.
Analyzing a Potential Settlement
Before pursuing damages against or settling with an at-fault party, the team at Steiner Law will examine all the factors in the incident and its aftermath—as will the insurance companies involved. They’ll investigate the cause and fault of the incident and factor in your additional expenses, such as your:
- Hospital bills
- Therapy and recovery expenses
- Lost wages
- Reduced earnings
- Mobility assistance or equipment
- Pain, suffering, and emotional distress
Every insurance company is going to try to minimize its payout as much as it can, which means the first settlement offer is unlikely to represent fair compensation for your injury. Norm Steiner knows this all too well, and knows how important it is to have someone in your corner, fighting to get you the settlement you deserve.
Contact a Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer in New York
The key to success in spinal cord injury cases comes down to understanding how insurance companies treat victim settlements and having firsthand knowledge of the process. Norm Steiner’s own experience of adjusting to life as an amputee makes him uniquely able to convey to adjudicators the reality of a spinal cord injury sufferer’s life, including the long recovery periods, personal and professional hardships, and all the critical nuances other lawyers would never even consider.
As a veteran, former competitive boxer, amputee, and, above all, distinguished trial lawyer, Norm knows what’s at stake for his clients and fights for them relentlessly. He has successfully litigated catastrophic injury and medical malpractice cases to trial and verdict and achieved outstanding results, with some settlements totaling well over $1,000,000. Contact The Steiner Law Firm, PLLC to schedule a free consultation today.