Brain Injury Attorneys Serving Lexington, South Carolina
Justice for Life-Altering Trauma
Any injury can change your life, but few are more devastating than brain injuries. Depending on the nature of the injury, your family, career, and overall quality of life may be permanently affected. You may not be able to work and require extensive care and treatment. When these injuries result from negligence, lives are changed forever – and the responsible parties must be held accountable.
That’s where we come in. The South Carolina brain injury lawyers at Johnson + Johnson Attorneys at Law know what it takes to get justice for brain injury victims. Our attorneys – brothers Kevin and Steven Johnson – were born and raised in Lexington, and we take our community’s safety seriously. If you’ve been badly hurt, schedule your free consultation with an attorney who cares today.
How to know if you have a traumatic brain injury
You may associate traumatic brain injuries (TBI) with hitting your head and being “knocked out,” but the truth is, you don’t have to lose consciousness or even receive a direct blow to the head to have a TBI. Most brain injuries are “closed-head injuries,” which means they are caused by some form of blunt trauma to the brain. (The other, much less common type is a “penetrating head injury,” which involves an object such as a bullet or piece of metal piercing the skull.)
Most brain injuries are sustained in slip and fall or trip and fall accidents when the victim falls and hits their head. The second-most common cause – and the leading cause of TBI-related hospitalization – is motor vehicle accidents. In a car crash, you might hit your head on a window, door, seat, steering wheel, dashboard, or any other part of the vehicle, but again, you don’t actually have to hit your head on anything to damage the brain. Any sufficiently violent forward and backward movement of the head can cause the brain to strike the inside of the skull and become bruised.
Traumatic brain injuries can also occur due to sports injuries, violence, and explosive blasts. Regardless of the cause, the symptoms of a TBI may include:
- Headache
- Nausea or vomiting
- Fatigue, drowsiness, and changing sleep patterns
- Problems with speech
- Dizziness and loss of balance
- Difficulty remembering things
- Difficulty concentrating or reading
- Sensitivity to light or sound
- Mood changes and mood swings
- Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
Some of the symptoms of a brain injury may be more obvious to friends and family who know the injured person well, so it’s always important to listen to the people who know you best and take their concerns seriously if something seems “off.” Ultimately, though, the most important thing is to get medical attention as soon as possible after any accident, even if you think you’re fine. Traumatic brain injuries often cause delayed symptoms, and waiting to receive treatment can allow the situation to become worse, especially if you get a second concussion before the first has healed.
We understand the high costs of traumatic brain injuries
The most common type of brain injury is a concussion, which is a “mild” TBI – but no brain injury is truly minor. The brain is complex and in some ways poorly understood, and even a mild injury can reverberate through the victim’s life in unexpected ways.
The cost of a brain injury goes well beyond medical treatment. You may be out of work for an extended period, and your ability to spend time with your family and do the things you love may be affected. You may have significant pain. Your relationships are harmed. Those are all real losses that deserve real compensation, and that’s our job.
If your TBI was caused by someone else’s negligence, you have legal recourse, but the insurance company for the at-fault party won’t make it easy. They know that brain injuries lead to significant claims, and their goal is to protect their bottom line. Their best attorneys and adjusters will be working around the clock to pay you as little as possible, or nothing at all. We fight back.
What compensation can you recover after a TBI?
A traumatic brain injury claim can involve far more than the first round of medical bills. A serious TBI can affect your health, your income, your independence, and your family life for months or years. If someone else caused the injury, your claim should reflect the full impact, not just the easiest losses for an insurance company to measure.
Compensation in a South Carolina brain injury case may include:
- Medical expenses. Emergency care, hospital bills, follow-up visits, specialist treatment, therapy, rehabilitation, and medication.
- Future medical care. Ongoing treatment, long-term therapy, assistive care, and projected medical needs tied to the brain injury.
- Lost wages. Income lost while you were unable to work during recovery.
- Reduced earning ability. Losses tied to not being able to return to the same job, work the same hours, or earn the same living as before.
- Pain and suffering. The physical pain, mental strain, and overall hardship caused by the injury.
- Loss of enjoyment of life. The ways the injury has limited your independence, daily activities, hobbies, and quality of life.
- Impact on relationships. The strain a brain injury can put on marriage, parenting, and other close relationships.
The hard part is proving the full cost of the injury. Insurance companies often focus on the visible treatment and ignore the memory problems, mood changes, concentration issues, and long-term disruption that make brain injuries so serious. Johnson + Johnson knows how to build the full damages case and fight for compensation that reflects what this injury has really taken from you.
How do you prove a TBI claim in South Carolina?
Brain injury claims are rarely easy to prove because the injury does not always show up in a simple, obvious way. A person may look fine to an insurance adjuster and still be dealing with headaches, confusion, memory problems, sleep issues, or major changes in mood and focus. That is why a strong TBI claim usually has to be built from multiple angles.
Evidence in a South Carolina brain injury claim may include:
- Medical records. Emergency treatment, hospital records, follow-up care, and documented symptoms after the accident.
- Specialist opinions. Neurologists, neuropsychologists, therapists, and other providers who can explain the injury and its effects.
- Diagnostic testing. Imaging, cognitive testing, and other evaluations that help support the diagnosis.
- Treatment history. Proof of ongoing care, therapy, medication, and the day-to-day effort required to manage symptoms.
- Witness statements. Input from spouses, relatives, friends, coworkers, or others who saw how the injury changed your life.
- Work and daily life evidence. Proof that the injury has affected your job performance, routine, independence, or relationships.
- Expert testimony. In serious cases, expert witnesses who can explain long-term limitations and future losses.
That is where many people run into trouble. They know something is wrong, but the insurance company points to a normal scan, no loss of consciousness, or a gap in treatment, and tries to downplay the case. Johnson + Johnson knows how to connect the medical proof, the symptoms, and the day-to-day impact into a claim that is much harder to dismiss. Getting TBI compensation is difficult, but the process is much easier with the right law firm fighting for you from the start.
Get an experienced Lexington, SC brain injury attorney on your side today
When you contact us, we’ll listen to your story and explain your legal options. If you choose to move forward, our team will thoroughly investigate your accident and get to the bottom of what happened and why. We’ll also investigate to determine how the injury has affected your life and how much compensation you need to be made whole again. Often, we retain expert witnesses, such as medical professionals or economists, to help us quantify the long-term cost of a brain injury.
Often, we’re able to resolve brain injury cases through a negotiated settlement, but if that’s not possible, we are ready to take the next step. Throughout the process, we will keep you informed and deal with the day-to-day negotiations while you focus on healing. This can take a long time, but you can rest assured that you have excellent, dedicated representation every step of the way. South Carolina generally gives injured people three years to file a personal injury lawsuit, but waiting can still do real damage to a brain injury claim.
Don’t go it alone after a brain injury. Put experience and resources on your side and fight for the compensation you deserve under South Carolina law. Contact us today for your free consultation with a Lexington, SC brain injury attorney.
FAQs: Brain injury claims in South Carolina
What are the signs of a traumatic brain injury after an accident?
Common signs can include headaches, dizziness, nausea, memory problems, confusion, mood changes, sleep problems, and trouble concentrating. Symptoms do not always appear right away, which is one reason brain injuries are often missed at first.
Can you have a brain injury without losing consciousness?
Yes. A person does not have to be knocked out to suffer a concussion or other traumatic brain injury. That misunderstanding causes many people to delay treatment and gives insurance companies another excuse to minimize the claim.
Can a CT scan be normal, and you still have a concussion?
Yes. A concussion or mild traumatic brain injury does not always show up on imaging. That does not mean the injury is minor. It means the case often needs stronger medical and legal support to prove what the injured person is dealing with.
How long do I have to file a brain injury lawsuit in South Carolina?
In general, South Carolina gives injured people three years to file a personal injury lawsuit. Waiting can still hurt the claim because evidence gets harder to gather, and the insurance company gets more room to argue.
What is a TBI case worth?
That depends on the severity of the injury, the treatment required, the long-term impact on work and daily life, and how much the injury has changed the person’s future. Brain injury cases are often more valuable and more contested than insurers want people to believe. Johnson + Johnson can evaluate the case and help you understand what full compensation may look like.
