Victims injured through another party’s negligence may qualify to file a brain injury lawsuit in California with help from a compassionate and experienced California brain injury lawyer at Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers.
Injuries that may qualify victims to file a brain injury lawsuit include TBIs, concussions, closed head injuries and other head traumas from car accidents, slip and falls, construction sites or defective products. It’s even possible for a claim to be valid without loss of consciousness or an immediate diagnosis. A California brain injury attorney can help you understand your potential legal options after a brain injury.
Call us today for a FREE consultation at (800) 718-4658 or contact us if you or a loved one has suffered a brain injury in California.
Key Takeaways for California Brain Injury Claims
- Individuals who have sustained a brain injury within the past two years may be eligible to pursue legal compensation. The deadline for suing a government entity is typically much shorter.
- Common qualifying incidents include car crashes, falls, construction accidents and defective products.
- Delayed or undiagnosed brain injuries could still support a valid claim under California’s discovery rule.
- Families may file a wrongful death claim when a loved one dies from a negligence related brain injury.
- Compensation depends on severity, documentation, comparative fault and long-term medical needs.
Why Brain Injury Victims Choose Our California Attorneys
- We operate on a contingency fee basis. You will owe us no legal fee unless and until we win your case. We also provide free consultations.
- Since 1990, our California traumatic brain injury lawyers have represented numerous challenging injury cases for clients who trusted us to handle their legal challenges on their behalf.
- We offer injury victims 24/7 availability and reliable communication at the time they need it most, while other firms may not have the capacity to handle your most complex legal needs.
- Our high-stakes litigation team has the personal injury experience and resources needed to handle even the most complex of brain injury lawsuits.
- We provide trial-ready representation in cases where a fair settlement can’t be agreed upon out of court.
- Our legal team has recovered over $750 million for injury victims, demonstrating our ability to successfully handle a range of complex personal injury cases and achieve meaningful results for our clients.
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. All cases are unique and results depend on cases’ specific facts.
Call our brain injury attorneys at (800) 718-4658 or fill out our contact form today for a FREE case evaluation if you suffered a brain injury in California.
Table of Contents
- What Is a Traumatic Brain Injury?
- Who Qualifies for a California Brain Injury Lawsuit?
- What Are Common Symptoms of a Traumatic Brain Injury?
- Types of Head Injuries
- What Are the Leading Causes of Brain Injuries in California?
- Can You File a Lawsuit if Your Brain Injury Was Not Immediately Diagnosed?
- What Compensation Is Available in a Brain Injury Case?
- What Is the Deadline to File a California Brain Injury Lawsuit?
- Find Out Whether You Have a Brain Injury Claim
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Is a Traumatic Brain Injury?
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is defined as any brain injury that was caused by some outside force. There is a range of severity for TBIs, from mild concussions to severe, life altering brain trauma. A TBI may involve primary damage caused at the moment of impact and secondary complications that develop afterward, such as swelling, bleeding or reduced oxygen flow.
TBI is a leading cause of death and disability in the United States. According to CDC data, about 68,663 TBI-related deaths were reported nationwide in 2023.
California law may allow an injured person to pursue compensation when another party’s negligence causes a brain injury. California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1 generally provides two years to file an injury lawsuit.
Who Qualifies for a California Brain Injury Lawsuit?
Brain injury victims hurt by another party’s negligence in a qualifying incident may have a valid claim. Some examples of potentially qualifying incidents include but are not limited to the following:
- Car and pedestrian accidents
- Swimming accidents
- Defective products injuries
- Slip and fall accidents or other premises accidents
- Construction accidents and workplace injuries
Liability in a brain injury case depends on proving negligence, not just proving the injury occurred, as stated in California Civil Code §1714(a).
Fault can rest with a driver, property owner or product manufacturer, depending on the facts and nature of your specific case. If you aren’t sure whether you qualify, contact our lawyers for a free case evaluation by calling (800) 718-4658.
What Are Common Symptoms of a Traumatic Brain Injury?
Symptoms of a brain injury can appear immediately or develop over hours or days after the incident. While there are many possible symptoms of traumatic brain injuries, some common examples include but are not limited to the following:
- Headache or light sensitivity
- Concentration issues or feeling foggy
- Sadness or feeling more emotional than usual
- Irritability, anger, or anxiety
- Sleeping more or less than usual or suffering from insomnia
- Balance issues or dizziness
Loss of consciousness is not necessarily required for a diagnosis or a valid legal claim. A brain injury claim is focused on proving negligence and damages, not on proving loss of consciousness.
Since symptoms may widely vary, victims should seek prompt medical evaluation for their own safety, to document the severity of their injury and to help support a potential legal case once they start working with a TBI attorney in California.
Types Of Head Injuries:
Concussion
A person does not need to lose consciousness to suffer a concussion. In many cases, victims appear fine immediately after an accident, only to experience symptoms hours or even days later.
Common concussion symptoms include headaches, dizziness, confusion, memory problems, sensitivity to light, nausea, and difficulty concentrating.
Anoxic Brain Injury
An anoxic brain injury occurs when the brain is deprived of oxygen. It may result from cardiac arrest, suffocation, drowning, carbon monoxide exposure or another event that interrupts the brain’s oxygen supply.
Skull Fracture
A skull fracture is a break in the bone that surrounds the brain. Often a skull fracture will heal on its own but if there is tissue damage below the fracture, surgery may be required.
Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI)
Diffuse axonal injury occurs with the rotation and disruption of the brain inside the skull which severs or shears the brain’s long connecting nerve fibers or axons.
This damage can be microscopic and difficult to measure. In cases involving “mild brain injury,” the effects of this may not be long term, but following more severe brain injury it can result in permanent disability, unconsciousness and coma. Unfortunately, there is no real treatment for a diffuse axonal injury. Recent studies indicate the damage to axons appears to progress over the first 12 to 24 hours after the injury. It is hoped that in the near future it may be possible to prevent the progression with specific treatments.
Epidural Hematoma
Epidural hematoma involves the formation of a blood clot between the skull and the top lining of the brain (dura). This clot causes pressure changes in the brain and can require emergency surgery.
Subdural Hematoma
A subdural hematoma is the formation of a blood clot between the brain tissue and the dura. If it occurs slowly over several weeks it is referred to as a subdural hematoma; if it occurs quickly it is referred to an acute subdural hematoma. Like other clots, this may require surgical correction.
If you have received a blow to the head and are suffering from a head or brain injury as a result of a car accident you should see a doctor and contact an attorney.
Common concussion symptoms include:
- Headache
- Confusion
- Imbalance
- Dizziness
- Double vision
- Blurry vision
- Memory loss
- Vomiting
- Nausea
- Problems concentrating
- Ringing in the ears
- Loss of taste or smell
- Sensitivity to light
- Problems falling asleep
What Are the Leading Causes of Brain Injuries in California?
According to the CDC, falls and motor vehicle crashes remain leading causes of TBI-related hospitalizations and deaths nationwide.
California’s dense freeway corridors, heavy pedestrian traffic and high bicycle traffic can all contribute to a high volume of crash-related brain injuries.
Premises liability failures, such as inadequate lighting or unsafe walking surfaces, cause preventable falls that also may lead to brain injuries. Even a strike from an object can cause a brain injury; so can defective products.
Can You File a Lawsuit if Your Brain Injury Was Not Immediately Diagnosed?
A delayed diagnosis does not automatically bar a valid brain injury claim; you may still be able to file a lawsuit.
Many brain injury symptoms surface hours or days after an accident when your adrenaline fades or swelling starts to develop. California’s discovery rule may extend filing deadlines when an injury is not immediately apparent.
If you suffer a brain injury, you should document all symptoms that appear, even if they seem minor at first. This documentation can help you determine if filing a lawsuit is appropriate with help from a California brain injury lawyer.
What Compensation Is Available in a Brain Injury Case?
Compensation for a brain injury case depends on injury severity, symptom and severity documentation and the victim’s long-term care needs.
Compensation may also differ depending on the scope of the injury. Limited cases, such as short-term concussion recovery, may be compensated differently when compared to complex, long-term cases, such as permanent disability or wrongful death.
California operates under a comparative fault system, which means that you may still be able to recover damages even if you were partially responsible for your injuries. Your compensation will be reduced by your percentage of fault in such cases.
Types of compensation a victim can receive may also vary and could be economic (monetary) or non-economic. Examples include but are not limited to:
- Medical bills: Brain injuries often lead to medical expenses such as doctor bills, hospital bills, prescription medications, physical therapy and more. You may be compensated for any medical bills connected with your brain injury that you are already facing, as well as any medical bills connected with your brain injury that you can be expected to face in the future.
- Lost wages: It is common for brain injury victims to miss time from work. They might be hurt too badly to work for a while. They might need to miss work in order to see doctors. You might be compensated for any time you missed from work due to your brain injury.
- Loss of earning capacity: It is common for brain injury victims to suffer a permanent disability. This disability may prevent you from ever working again. This disability may prevent you from ever working in the profession you used to work in again. You may qualify for compensation for any loss or reduction of your earning capacity related to your brain injury.
- Pain and suffering: Brain injuries can be physically painful and mentally devastating. You may be eligible for compensation for any physical pain and mental suffering you experience because of your brain injury.
- Loss of consortium: Your brain injury may have caused you to lose the benefits of a familial or intimate relationship. These benefits can include, love, companionship, emotional support and sexual intimacy. You may qualify for compensation for the loss of these benefits.
- Loss of enjoyment of life: You may be unable to enjoy activities or hobbies you once enjoyed before your brain injury, and you may be compensated for this loss.
- Wrongful death: Unfortunately, some people die from brain injuries. If you have lost a loved one to a brain injury, financial compensation can’t bring them back. However, it can help prevent you from going through financial hardship. You might qualify for compensation for your loved one’s pain and suffering, medical bills and lost wages. You might qualify for the loss of your loved one’s income, love, companionship and household services. You might be eligible for compensation for burial and funeral costs.
No two brain injury cases are alike. The value of any compensation received depends heavily on the victim’s medical documentation and long-term prognosis. A brain injury lawyer in California can help you or a loved one sort the facts of your case and explain your potential options for compensation in a potential lawsuit.
What Is the Deadline to File a California Brain Injury Lawsuit?
California generally allows two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 335.1. Claims against a government entity typically carry a much shorter filing window.
Special situations, such as cases involving minors or delayed injury discovery, may also have different timelines. Promptly speaking with a brain injury lawyer in California may help you avoid missing a filing deadline that is specific to your case.
Find Out Whether You Have a Brain Injury Claim
Contact our attorneys today if you’ve suffered a brain injury in California and are in need of legal advice. We can help you determine if your case qualifies for a personal injury lawsuit.
Victims of brain injuries who have been injured within the past two years, or children, spouses or domestic partners who are suffering from the consequences of a brain injury victim’s death, may be able to seek legal compensation.
Our experienced attorneys can help you or your loved one determine if your case may be viable and if you may qualify for an extended deadline if needed.
Call us today at (800) 718-4658 or fill out our contact form for a free case evaluation for your brain injury from our compassionate and dedicated legal team.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I File a Claim if I Did Not Lose Consciousness?
A brain injury claim is based on proving negligence and damages, not on proving that the victim lost consciousness. You may still be eligible to file a claim even if you did not lose consciousness, as consciousness does not determine the existence or severity of a brain injury.
What if My Symptoms Did Not Appear Until Days After the Accident?
It may take hours or even days for some brain injury symptoms to appear. Swelling may increase and adrenaline may decrease as time passes and other medical changes may also occur.
California’s discovery rule allows for the possibility of an extended filing deadline when a victim’s brain injury or its symptoms are not immediately apparent. The standard deadline for filing a suit is two years from the date of an injury, but a personal injury attorney may be able to help you determine what your deadline options are.
Can a Family Member File a Claim on Behalf of a Brain Injury Victim?
Under California Code of Civil Procedure § 377.60, surviving spouses, registered domestic partners and children may be eligible to file a wrongful death claim for a brain injury if the victim suffered a fatal injury.
Other individuals who have a connection to the deceased victim may also be eligible to file a claim in certain specific situations.
Do I Need to Prove Fault to Recover Compensation?
In order to file a personal injury lawsuit in a brain injury case, you will typically have to prove that the other party was at fault for your injuries. This is because California is an at-fault state. Evidence such as medical records, accident reports, witness statements and expert testimony may be used to establish liability and should be carefully kept to document the case.
California also operates under a comparative fault system, which means an injured person may still recover compensation even if they were partly responsible for the accident. Any award is reduced by their percentage of fault.
