If you have recently sustained a brain injury, you’re likely panicking about the medical costs associated with your treatment, the days of work that you’ve missed so that you can recover, and a host of other challenges that you are now facing as a result of your traumatic brain injury (TBI). Know that you don’t have to navigate the legal and financial consequences of your injurious circumstances alone. An experienced personal injury attorney who handles brain injury cases can assist you with clarifying your legal rights and options.
If the circumstances that led to your brain injury were either totally or partially your fault—and occurred while you were engaged in work-related activities—you may be entitled to a significant workers’ compensation benefits settlement. Regardless of whether you were working at the time you were injured, if another’s negligence, recklessness, or intentionally harmful conduct contributed to the cause(s) of your TBI, you may have strong grounds upon which to file a personal injury lawsuit.
If You’ve Been Offered a Settlement
It is also possible that some time has passed since you sustained injury and those who are responsible for the harm that you’ve suffered have offered you a settlement. If this is the case, it is imperative that you have an attorney review your settlement offer immediately. As an experienced brain injury lawyer – including those who practice at the law firm of Barry P. Goldberg – can confirm, most settlement offers are only valid for a few days. If you don’t accept or reject the offer in question within that time period, the offer may be rescinded.
Having an attorney review the terms of any settlement offer is critical for two primary reasons. First, signing a settlement offer usually entails signing away one’s rights to sue the offending party at any time in the future. You don’t want to sign away such a powerful legal right without having an attorney review the terms of your offer first. Second, an attorney will be best placed to let you know whether the valuation of the offer is fair or not. You may be offered fair terms by an offending party who wishes to avoid litigation but not financial responsibility for their conduct. However, you may also be offered an unfair settlement amount by an offending party who hopes that you won’t be savvy enough to have an attorney review your offer before you sign it. Don’t risk the latter in hopes that you’re signing the former before speaking with an attorney.