A spinal cord injury (SCI) can result in complete or partial paralysis, altering how you live, work, and interact with your loved ones. Furthermore, spinal injuries can require expensive and ongoing medical treatment, while also preventing you from earning a living.
If your or a loved one suffered an SCI due to negligence, a Houston spinal cord injury lawyer with Domingo Garcia can help you seek compensation. We can hold the liable party financially responsible for your medical care, lost income, pain and suffering, and more.
First Things First: Understand the State’s Statute of Limitations
Before we explain your possible legal options, we want to explain the state’s statute of limitations. You generally have two years from the time of your injury or your loved one’s passing to file a lawsuit, according to Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003.
If the statute of limitations runs out, the court will likely dismiss your case. An expired time limit will also reduce your bargaining power with the liable insurance company. We encourage you to start your free case review at your earliest convenience. That way, we can prevent the statute of limitations from expiring.
Our Lawyers Extend a Helping Hand on a Contingency-Fee Basis
Domingo Garcia wants to minimize your financial worries in every way possible. For starters, we can take your case on a contingency-fee basis, meaning you pay us nothing upfront or out of pocket for our help. Our fees come from a percentage of your settlement or verdict.
Furthermore, we offer complimentary case reviews to those who have been injured in accidents in Houston and the surrounding area. A case review isn’t as intimidating as it sounds. Instead, it’s a risk-free conversation with our legal team about your case. You can ask us questions about our legal services, and we’ll ask questions about your situation.
There is no obligation to partner with us when you call.
We Advocate for People Who Have Suffered SCIs in These Situations
Since 1995, we’ve advocated for people injured in many situations. We pursue damages for people who have suffered SCIs due to:
Motor Vehicle Accidents
If you or a loved one suffered a spinal injury in a car accident on Gulf Freeway, Grand Parkway, Beaumont Highway, or anywhere else in Houston, don’t worry. Our Houston motor vehicle injury lawyers can manage your claim or lawsuit from start to finish.
Around 40 percent of SCIs result from motor vehicle collisions, including car, truck, and motorcycle accidents. According to the Texas Department of Transportation, there were nearly 67,000 motor vehicle accidents in Houston in 2021. These crashes caused around 16,000 suspected serious injuries and 327 fatalities.
Falls
Falls are a leading cause of injury in Texas, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). In addition, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that falls, slips, and trips are the leading causes of fatal occupational injuries in the state.
If you fell on another party’s property, you could hold the property owner liable for your losses. With our team’s help, we can prove that because the property owner didn’t maintain a safe area, you were hurt.
Sports Injuries
Sports accidents can cause neck fractures and injuries to the cervical spine.
According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), in 2018, U.S. emergency departments treated more than 3,000 neck fractures related to sports. The top sports that contribute to SCIs include:
- Diving
- Bicycling
- All-terrain vehicle and all-terrain cycle riding
- Football
- Snow skiing
- Horseback riding
Our injury lawyers can investigate your sports accident and determine if another party is liable for your damages.
We’re Ready to Pursue the Full Cost of Your SCI in Houston, TX
According to the World Journal of Orthopedics, treatment and rehabilitation for spinal cord injuries are expensive. Furthermore, SCIs often contribute to concurrent medical complications, including urinary tract infections, pulmonary and cardiovascular issues, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and pressure ulcers (bed sores).
The journal reports that the estimated cost of the first year of treatment for an SCI was more than $220,000 in 2009, which is more than $308,000 in 2022 dollars, according to the BLS. The average care cost per additional year of treatment was more than $6,800 in 2009 (more than $95,000 in 2022).
You don’t have to worry about bearing these financial burdens, however. With our team’s help, you can recoup compensation for a host of expenses, including:
Current and Ongoing Medical Costs
Individuals with severe and catastrophic SCIs will need a lifetime of medical treatment. We can seek reimbursement for your out-of-pocket medical expenses and future medical needs, including:
- Ambulance fees
- Emergency room treatment
- Doctor and hospital bills
- Physical therapy and rehabilitation
- Therapy aids
- Mobility aids
- Medical devices
- Mental health services
- Prescription drugs
- Other related healthcare expenses
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages compensate injury victims for intangible damages, such as:
- Depression
- Pain and suffering
- Anxiety
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Sleep disorders
These types of damages also account for reductions to your overall quality of life, including limited mobility and paralysis. We will evaluate your non-economic damages based on your situation, including your injury’s severity.
Lost Income
Severe SCIs are permanent and disabling. Our spinal injury lawyers can help you recover lost wages, benefits, and earnings. We can also pursue awards for your lost earning potential if your injuries reduce your working hours or cause you to stop working altogether.
Household Services
Your injuries may prevent you from contributing to your household. We can recover the cost of assistance with transportation, childcare, lawn care, cooking, cleaning, and other necessary tasks.
Home and Vehicle Renovations
A paralyzing injury may necessitate changes to your living environment, such as the addition of ramps, stairlifts, or widened doorways. We can help you recoup the cost of medically-necessary home and vehicle modifications.
In order to help you recover money, we work with specialized doctors called “life care planners” to put together a lifetime care plan to explain to the insurance company and jury all the costs associated with a spinal cord injury.
We Can Seek Damages and Justice for a Loved One’s Fatal SCI
Some SCIs can have fatal consequences. While mourning a loved one, you shouldn’t have to struggle with the claims process. You deserve to spend time with your family and grieve in peace.
When you partner with our injury team in Houston, we will seek recovery for:
- Medical bills
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Lost income and lost earning capacity
- Lost inheritance, including inheritance the deceased would have likely saved and left had they lived
- Surviving family members’ mental pain and suffering
- Loss of the deceased’s advice, services, support, and counsel
Depending on your situation, you could seek additional losses. If so, we’ll seek recovery for all of them.
How Can Our Injury Lawyers Secure Financial Recovery for You?
The most advantageous strategy for recovering damages will depend on factors unique to your case, such as the type of accident you suffered and the liable party. Consider the following:
- If you sustained injuries in a truck orcar accident, we could pursue your losses via an auto insurance claim or claim against the trucking company. The Texas Department of Insurance requires all motorists to carry liability insurance or have proof of financial responsibility. So, we could resolve your motor vehicle accident case through that avenue. Trucking companies are required to carry much higher insurance limits (insert links to Texas Transportation code minimum limits which is 500,000 and FMCSA minimum insurance limits which are $750,000
- If you suffered an SCI on a construction site, we will first evaluate the cause of your condition. For instance, we could file a case against the general contractor or other subcontractor for negligence in managing the job or failing to act in a safe manner. product liability claim with the maker of a faulty power tool. We could sue the property’s owner if they acted negligently.
We will mold your case’s legal strategy based on many factors unique to your situation. During your free consultation, you can learn more about how we plan to “win” your case.
Our Attorneys Will Support Your SCI Case in Houston from Start to Finish
Personal injury cases can be complex, especially those involving catastrophic and debilitating SCIs. Investigating your accident, establishing liability, and navigating the Texas legal system can be overwhelming in any situation. Managing your case with an SCI may feel unthinkable.
Our firm can stand by your side and put 35 years of experience to work for you. We will:
Obtain Supporting Evidence
A lot of time, effort, and legwork go into collecting evidence. Yet, you can leave the work to our legal team. We will find and use the following information to supplement your case:
- Eyewitness testimony
- Medical records
- Proof of your SCI-related expenses
- Testimony from your healthcare providers
- Photos and videos of the accident scene
We may also consult with field experts and use their testimony to support your case. Consultants may include vocational experts, economists, and physical therapists.
Prove Who Should Pay for Your Losses
Using your case’s evidence, we will determine liability for your injury-related losses. We may find that multiple parties bear liability, such as:
- A passenger vehicle driver
- A commercial vehicle driver
- A motorcyclist, bicyclist, or pedestrian
- An employer or coworker
- A company or corporation
- A job site supplier
- An equipment manufacturer
- A car maker or auto parts manufacturer
- A garage or maintenance company
- A private or government roadway or property owner
- A business owner
- A sports complex, gym, or health club
- A school, college, or institution
Establish the Other Party’s Negligence
Recovering compensation generally requires us to prove negligence, meaning that another party acted carelessly or recklessly. This involves showing:
- The party that caused your SCI owed you a legal duty of care. For example, in the case of a car accident, all drivers owe other motorists a legal duty of care. This means they must follow the speed limit, brake when appropriate, and refrain from road rage.
- The at-fault party breached their duty of care. This means that another party failed to act in a reasonably safe manner. For example, drivers breach their duty of care when they speed, drive drunk, or run stoplights. Why? Because these actions endanger other road users.
- You suffered a spinal cord injury due to the liable party’s actions. Next, we’ll show that because another party breached their duty of care, they caused your accident.
- You suffered physical, mental, emotional, and monetary damages. We will prove that your SCI resulted in financial losses and affected your quality of life.
Communicate With All Involved Parties on Your Behalf
We will handle all case-related paperwork, deadlines, and communications, including phone calls, emails, and meetings with insurance adjusters and opposing counsel. This frees you to focus on your health. It also prevents the other party from reaching you directly, causing undue stress.
Advocate for You and Your Family
We aggressively fight for our clients and their best interests. We will not let insurance companies or anyone else pressure you into accepting less than you deserve.
Our team will do everything in its power to recover the damages you need.
Keep You Updated
We know how important your case is to you, and we are here to address your worries and concerns. Our team will provide you with regular updates on your case’s progression, so you’re never confused about what’s going on.
The Attorneys at Domingo Garcia Have a History of Securing Favorable Outcomes for Our Clients
Our firm has earned recognition for securing results, including a spot in the Texas Top 50 Settlements for 2019. Some of our accomplishments include:
A $26.5 million verdict for a worker paralyzed when he fell due to a lack of fall protection training
- A $5.5 million settlement for paraplegia caused by a failure to cover a roof opening
- A $5.0 million settlement for paraplegia caused when unsafe scaffolding collapsed
- A $4.6 million settlement for paraplegia resulting from failure to construct scaffolding safely
- A $4.35 million settlement for a client who suffered paraplegia resulting from a fall
- A $3.75 million settlement for a client who suffered paraplegia due to improper guardrail maintenance
- A $1 million settlement for a commercial vehicle accident resulting in a non-paraplegic lumbar fracture
- A $1 million settlement for a back injury resulting from failure to guard/de-energize power lines
Every personal injury case is different. The exact value of your SCI case depends on various factors, including your age, the severity of your injury, the extent of your medical treatment, and other factors. Our spinal cord injury attorneys will identify and seek every penny you’re owed.
Awards and Accolades
In addition to our case results, Domingo Garcia’s Texas attorneys have achieved recognition from:
- The National Trial Lawyers Association Top 100 Trial Lawyers
- The Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum
- Best of the Best Attorneys Top 10
- Top 50 Texas
Let us put our award-winning legal service to work for you! We’re eager to start advocating for you and your family.
Satisfied Clients Have Shared Their Comments with Our Team
We love getting feedback from our clients. This allows us to constantly improve our practice and meet injured people’s needs. Some have left these online reviews:
- “I had an accident in 2019 and was helped greatly… I came back to see Domingo Garcia’s office and spoke to Amberly Medina. She was a great person because I came in worried about a recent accident and she expressed actual worry for me which made me feel like she cared about me and my case. She made me feel at ease and assured me that the people, lawyers and professionals all care. I’m looking forward to being a return client.” – Marlon G.
- “My husband and I hired this law firm after a terrible experience with another law firm. We were assigned Nzinga, Miguel and Crystal. They have been nothing less than professional from the start! The team is also very responsive to our requests and they also provide frequent updates so that we are always privy to what’s happening. I feel very assured that our case will be handled with honesty, great care and vigor!” – Tierney P.
What Should I Do After Suffering an SCI in Houston?
After suffering spinal cord trauma, we suggest that you:
Seek a Doctor’s Opinion
Even if you’re tempted to write off your injury as minor, don’t. You should seek medical attention as soon as possible. Using imaging scans, lab tests, and physical exams, they can diagnose your condition.
Mayo Clinic reports that spinal cord injuries typically do not heal on their own, and without medical attention, your condition could affect other parts of the body.
Document Your Losses
After suffering harm, you’ll likely come across documentation to support your case, such as:
- Imaging scans, including x-rays
- The names of prescription medications
- Photos of your injuries
- Information from your doctor (including follow-up appointment dates)
- Your employment records and pay stubs
- Communications between yourself and any involved party
If you don’t have this information, don’t worry. Your lawyer will gather these items for you. Having them on hand, however, could make the claims process go smoother. Your lawyer can also use this information to determine the cost of your pain and suffering.
Refer the Insurance Adjuster to Your Attorney
The insurance adjuster may offer a settlement after learning about your situation. However, the first offer likely will not account for your future losses – just the ones you have right now. Accepting the first settlement would waive your right to take legal action later. So, even if you incurred additional losses, after accepting compensation, you could not pursue them.
Limit What You Share With the Claims Adjuster
The claims adjuster may ask you for a recorded statement. However, this is a tactic designed to devalue your case. Even seemingly harmless questions, such as “How are you doing today?” could contest your claim later. Your lawyer will give the insurance company all necessary details to process your case.
These are just some considerations after suffering harm due to negligence. When you connect with our firm, we can explain other measures that could strengthen your injury case.
Commonly Asked Questions About SCIs in Houston, Texas
If you ever have questions about your SCI, you should consult your healthcare team. They can provide an in-depth explanation about your condition and what you can expect. Yet, in our years of service, our firm has learned a few things about SCIs.
Some clients have asked:
What Exactly Is an SCI?
A spinal cord injury involves damage to any part of the spine or the nerves at the end of the spinal canal (cauda equina). According to MedlinePlus, SCIs usually begin with a fracture (break) that dislocates your vertebrae (the bones that make up your spine).
However, most SCIs do not sever the spine but cause the vertebrae to tear into spinal cord tissue or press down on nerves that carry signals through the body.
What Are the Different Types of SCIs?
According to Mayo Clinic, doctors categorize SCIs based on their severity and location. Here’s what you should know:
- Complete SCIs result in a total loss of feeling and motor function below the injury site.
- Incomplete SCIs leave the sufferer with some motor and sensory function below the injury site, but the degree of function varies from case to case.
- Tetraplegia (or quadriplegia) refers to injuries that affect the trunk, arms, hands, legs, and pelvic organs.
- Paraplegia is the term used for injuries that affect all or part of the trunk, legs, and pelvic organs, but not the hands or arms.
How do I Know if I Suffered an SCI?
Even if you’re able to walk and stand, beneath the surface, you could have serious trauma. As noted, we urge you to seek medical care if you haven’t already. Symptoms of an SCI can include:
- Muscle spasms
- Exaggerated reflexes
- Loss of bowel and bladder control
- Pain or stinging due to nerve damage
- Difficulty breathing
- Difficulty coughing or clearing fluid from your lungs
- Changes in sexual function and sensation
- Infertility
Contact Domingo Garcia Today for a Free Case Review
SCIs can transform your quality of life. You may face permanent and life-altering changes in your daily living, relationships with loved ones, hobbies, activities, and mental well-being. You may also have countless accident-related damages.
The party who caused your accident should pay for your damages and compensate you for your pain and suffering. Domingo Garcia is ready to listen to your story and offer legal help. During your free case review, we’re eager to explain what our team in Houston can accomplish for you.
