Did you know that many brain injuries are invisible on standard medical imaging? A brain injury lawsuit is one of the most challenging types of personal injury cases because brain injuries often cause symptoms that are either undetectable or highly subjective.
In fact, the CDC has reported that more than 2.5 million people in the US sustain traumatic brain injuries each year. Many of these injuries are categorized as ‘mild,’ but that doesn’t mean they aren’t life-altering.
In many cases, brain trauma does not show up on imaging, but it still impacts the cognitive ability of the victim. So, proving that these injuries occurred — and determining the appropriate settlement — is extremely difficult, especially when you’re up against a savvy insurance company.
Schneider Williamson recently successfully prosecuted a brain injury lawsuit that involved a Georgia man who suffered a mild brain injury. If you’re an attorney who’s serving such a client, or if you’re the victim of a brain injury due to no fault of your own, then this case may provide some insight into how these types of lawsuits play out and how you can win them with the help of an experienced team of Sandy Springs brain injury lawyers.
About Schneider Williamson
Schneider Williamson is a personal injury litigation firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. The firm handles litigation, discovery, and mediation for a wide variety of personal injury cases, including slip and fall accidents, car accidents, traumatic brain injury, and more.
The Accident
Keith* was a small business owner who also served as the president of a national retail association. He was a respected figure in his industry, known for his sharp mind and engaging presentations.
Keith was involved in a car accident that started with a collision between a tractor trailer and a passenger vehicle. This vehicle swerved across the highway and struck Keith’s car, causing it to tumble off the road and roll several times, and Keith suffered a mild traumatic brain injury.
*Note: Names have been changed to maintain confidentiality.
Life After TBI
Following the car accident, Keith suffered very debilitating symptoms that impacted his daily life and also his career.
Instead of leading meetings and giving presentations, he struggled to remember names and faces. Once a confident public speaker, Keith now stumbled over his words, losing his train of thought mid-sentence. He felt frustrated, embarrassed, and increasingly isolated.
He began to experience short-term memory issues, and he would occasionally “freeze up” when speaking, losing his focus and train of thought. As the president of a business association, he would frequently speak at conferences, but this became much more difficult due to his injuries.
‘Mild’ TBI is Anything But
MRIs can detect some brain injuries, but “mild” brain injuries cannot always be seen by imaging. So, despite the fact that Keith was suffering from life-altering symptoms, there was no visual proof that his injuries existed.
“There’s no rock-solid evidence mild traumatic brain injuries exist,” said Campbell Williamson, Co-Founder and Partner at Schneider Williamson. “What you look for is the symptomology, and, to be honest, some of the symptomology could seem like someone who’s faking an injury.”
For that reason, Keith could not secure fair compensation from the responsible insurance carriers.
Establishing the Facts
When the case came to Schneider Williamson, our Sandy Springs brain injury lawyers first had to establish the facts of the car accident. Our team discovered that the cause of the accident had been inaccurately reported.
“The accident report filed by the police officer blamed the tractor trailer,” Williamson said. “But once we dug into the case, we recognized the majority of fault was with the passenger vehicle’s driver for that collision with the tractor trailer, and then the subsequent collision with our client.”
With that knowledge in hand, the Schneider Williamson team started negotiations with the legal team representing the tractor trailer’s insurer. They were able to obtain the tractor-trailer’s dashcam video of the accident, which showed the other driver’s erratic driving.
By securing this crucial footage, Schneider Williamson’s trial team was able to build a stronger case for Keith and shift the focus to obtaining fair compensation from the appropriate parties.
Sandy Springs Brain Injury Lawyers Secure Favorable Venue
Schneider Williamson first settled with the tractor-trailer’s insurer and entered into a consent judgment. In simple terms, this means an agreement was reached that allowed the case to remain in a more favorable venue where Keith was more likely to be awarded a larger judgment.
An understanding of how different courts respond to these cases is vital for securing the compensation clients deserve. As Sandy Springs brain injury lawyers with experience in courtrooms throughout Georgia, the attorneys leveraged that knowledge to secure a favorable setting for our client’s case.
“Venue laws in Georgia provide that you have the right to be sued in the county in which you live or have your principal place of business,” said Jason Schneider, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Schneider Williamson. “The metro counties generally have higher verdicts and settlements than the more rural counties. So, the venue is very important in personal injury cases.”
In the settlement with the tractor-trailer company, the Schneider Williamson legal team negotiated compensation for Keith and an agreement to tender their expert and video evidence to increase the compensation from the passenger vehicle’s insurer. “This negotiation was typical of the ‘high-level lawyering’ we do at Schneider Williamson to maximize our clients’ recoveries,” Schneider said.
Proving an Invisible Injury
“How do you get a settlement for a client who has suffered a mild brain injury? To everyone else, he looks fine,” Schneider said. “The damages are hard to quantify, and insurance company representatives, who often try to minimize payouts anyway, are more likely to push back on claims in which the injuries aren’t readily visible.”
First, our Sandy Springs brain injury lawyer got expert testimony from the neurologist who had treated Keith in the months following the accident. “It’s important to have an early intervention by a neurologist, who can explain the problems that happen with short-term memory and cognitive functionality,” Williamson said. “Those are critical.”
The team also collected statements from people who had known Keith for a long time and had witnessed how he had changed following the accident. “You have to get evidence from someone other than the plaintiff,” Williamson said. “So we collected statements from his co-workers, family members, and people that interact with him on a daily basis, who know what he was like before the accident, and what he was like afterward.”
Settlement in the Brain Injury Lawsuit
A brain injury causes daily challenges for the victim, but it can also have dire, long-term health consequences.
The neurologist explained that since Keith still had symptoms two years after the wreck, his injuries were essentially permanent. Furthermore, he was at greater risk of developing severe neurological issues later in life, such as dementia, Alzheimer’s, or Parkinson’s disease. These lingering symptoms, the neurologist explained, could even shorten Keith’s life expectancy.
“The neurologist will tell you that there’s no such thing as a mild traumatic brain injury,” Williamson said. “It’s a clinical misnomer. ‘Mild’ is serious to the person experiencing it.”
Schneider Williamson was able to make a substantive case and secure a significant settlement for Keith using this evidence. “We recovered more than eight times the insurance coverage,” Williamson said. “It’s crucial to recognize that every brain injury case is unique and take the time to truly understand our clients’ struggles. We can only achieve the best possible outcome if we build a personalized legal strategy.”
While the settlement will not cure Keith’s injuries, it will help him pay for his ongoing medical expenses and ensure that he has the financial support to begin rebuilding his life.
Do you or a loved one need a Sandy Springs brain injury lawyer? Contact Schneider Williamson today and set up a free consultation, or learn about referring cases to us.
