Brain injuries are some of the hardest to bounce back from. The brain is so central to everything we do—eating, breathing, thinking, and moving—that any injury can dramatically change your life.
At Khan Law Firm, our brain injury lawyers in Kent seek the maximum compensation for our clients. The amount you can receive depends on many factors, which we review below.
Calculate Your Medical Expenses
You should receive compensation to cover the costs of treating your brain injury. Many patients need diagnostic tests, doctor’s visits, and time in the hospital to recover. There are also rehabilitation costs if the patient’s movement, speech, or behavior is impaired (which is likely when the brain injury is serious). You should also add in any prescriptions to treat symptoms (like sleeplessness) or assistive devices, like a wheelchair.
Add Up Lost Wages/Income
If your brain injury keeps you out of work, you should receive compensation for lost income. If you have a regular job, calculating your losses is easy. Just add up the number of weeks missed and multiply by your average weekly income. If you are self-employed, take a more intensive look at how much you usually make and consider any canceled contracts.
Estimate a Fair Amount for Pain and Suffering
This is trickier. A brain injury can cause intense headaches. Other victims are paralyzed or feel trapped in their homes because they cannot leave due to dizziness and confusion. “Pain and suffering” is the term used to cover a range of inconveniences and non-financial losses, like depression, emotional distress, disability, etc.
What’s a fair amount? That depends on who you ask. Khan Law has helped many personal injury victims, and we can use our experience to estimate a realistic amount you can receive based on your symptoms.
Analyze Fault and Contributory Fault
You can only receive compensation if someone else is at least partially at fault for your brain injury. If this is something you did to yourself, then no one must pay you compensation.
Washington also recognized contributory fault. The rule found at RCW 4.22.005 states that a victim’s financial recovery is reduced by their percentage of fault. For example, you might have suffered a brain injury while walking as a pedestrian. But if you were jaywalking at the time you were hit, then your negligence is a contributing factor in your injuries.
You might have suffered $80,000 in compensatory damages listed above. But if you were 50% at fault, then the most you can receive is $40,000. Similarly, if you were 75% to blame, then the most you can get is $20,000.
Identify How Many Assets the Defendant Has
You can have $100,000 in damages and be 0% at fault. But what if the person who injured you has no money? That sometimes happens, in which case you probably won’t receive any compensation—or not as much as you are entitled to.
Sometimes, a defendant has insurance, and you can make a claim on the policy to receive something. Of course, you will be limited to the maximum policy amount.
Contact Khan Law Firm today to review your brain injury case. We fight to get our clients the most compensation we can.
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