San Mateo Brain Injury Attorney Near You

A traumatic brain injury can fundamentally transform every aspect of your life. TBIs have the capacity to affect not just your physical abilities but your personality, cognitive function, and independence. When the brain — our body’s command center — sustains damage, the consequences often extend to all facets of daily living, from working and driving to communicating with loved ones and managing basic self-care.

At Carcione, Henderson & Markowitz, LLP, our San Mateo brain injury lawyers understand the devastating impact these injuries have on victims and their families. With over four decades of protecting the rights of the seriously injured throughout California, we have secured multimillion-dollar recoveries for our clients while fighting to hold negligent parties accountable.

Count on our professional, aggressive, and knowledgeable attorneys to stand by your side during this challenging time. Contact our brain injury law firm today for a free, no-obligation consultation to discuss your legal options. You pay nothing unless we recover compensation for your case.

What a San Mateo Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney Can Do for You

After suffering an injury involving head trauma, insurance companies often quickly offer settlements in the hope that the victim will accept the seemingly substantial amount without too much thought. However, these offers rarely account for the true lifetime costs of brain injuries. Without proper legal representation, people who have suffered TBIs can end up accepting far less than they deserve and require for their immediate and long-term care.

A San Mateo brain injury attorney can help maximize your potential compensation by providing the following:

• A Comprehensive Investigation – We can gather key evidence, including accident reports, medical records, witness statements, and surveillance footage, before it disappears.
• Expert Medical Consultation – We work with neurologists, neuropsychologists, and rehabilitation specialists who can document the full extent of your brain damage.
• An Accurate Valuation of Your Case – We know how to calculate the true lifetime costs of clients’ injuries, including future treatment needs and lost earning capacity.
• Skilled Negotiation – We will use our reputation and experience to negotiate effectively with insurance companies.

Although most cases end with a negotiated settlement, we build every brain injury case as if it will go to trial. This approach can strengthen your position during settlement talks because insurance companies prefer to avoid a potentially drawn-out court battle with a legal team as formidable as ours.

At CHM Law Firm, we take on a limited number of cases because we want to give each client the focused attention they deserve. This selective approach allows us to use our time and resources to build stronger cases and pursue maximum compensation for your injuries.

What Compensation Can I Pursue for a Traumatic Brain Injury?

A successful brain injury claim can provide substantial compensation for current and future needs. With CHM Law Firm on your side, you may be able to recover compensation for losses such as:

• Medical expenses, including emergency care, hospitalization, surgeries, medications, and rehabilitation
• Rehabilitation therapy, such as physical, occupational, speech, and cognitive therapy services
• Long-term care, including in-home nursing care, residential care facilities, and attendant care
• Lost income from missed time at work, as well as diminished future earning capacity
• Home and vehicle modifications to accommodate your condition
• Physical and emotional pain and suffering
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Loss of consortium if your TBI has hurt your relationship with your spouse or domestic partner

The amount of brain injury compensation you might recover will depend on factors including the severity of your injury, your pre-injury occupation, and your projected recovery timeline, as well as the strength of your legal team. At CHM Law Firm, our track record demonstrates that we understand how to maximize compensation for the victims of life-altering injuries.

How Long Do I Have to File a Traumatic Brain Injury Lawsuit in California?

In California, strict deadlines apply to injury claims. The statute of limitations generally gives you two years from the date of injury to file a brain injury lawsuit. However, if your case involves a government entity (such as a public bus or government facility), you must file a formal claim within six months. Medical malpractice cases have a one-year deadline from the discovery of the injury or three years from the date of injury, whichever occurs first.

These deadlines can be complicated by factors such as delayed symptom recognition, which is common with mild brain injury cases. That’s why it’s critical to consult with a brain injury lawyer in San Mateo as soon as possible after any head injury, even if symptoms seem minor initially.

What Are the Types of Traumatic Brain Injuries?

Understanding the types of brain injuries can help you understand both your treatment options and your legal strategy:

• Concussions constitute the most common form of TBI, occurring when the brain strikes the inside of the skull.
• Contusions involve the bruising of brain tissue, often requiring surgical intervention.
• Diffuse axonal injuries occur when nerve fibers are torn by rotation or violent shaking of the head.
• Penetrating injuries happen when foreign objects enter the brain, causing direct tissue damage.
• Anoxic brain injuries are the result of complete oxygen deprivation, while hypoxic brain injuries result from partial oxygen restriction.
• Coup-contrecoup injuries involve damage at both the impact site and the opposite side as the brain rebounds.
• Subdural hematomas form when blood collects between the brain and its covering, while epidural hematomas form when blood collects between the skull and the brain covering.
• Second impact syndrome is the catastrophic swelling of the brain from a second injury before the first has healed.

Each type of injury presents unique challenges requiring specialized medical care and a dedicated legal approach. Our attorneys work with medical experts to fully understand the specific nature of our clients’ injuries and their future implications.

What Are Common Causes of Brain Injuries in San Mateo?

Understanding the causes of brain injuries can help identify liable parties and demonstrate precisely why they are at fault for your losses. Some of the most common causes include the following:

Our firm has extensive experience handling brain injury cases arising from all these causes and can develop a strategy to optimize and maximize your case.

What Are Symptoms of a Traumatic Brain Injury?

Brain injury symptoms may appear immediately or develop days or weeks after the injury.

Physical symptoms include the following:

Cognitive symptoms may take the form of the following:

Emotional/behavioral symptoms may involve the following:

Never dismiss these symptoms after a head injury. Seek immediate medical attention, as early intervention can significantly improve outcomes.

What Are the Long-Term Impacts of a Brain Injury?

Brain injuries often have lifelong consequences that extend far beyond initial recovery. Some of the most consequential outcomes of a brain injury may include the following:

These long-term impacts underscore the importance of securing compensation that accounts for lifetime needs, not just immediate medical expenses.

What Treatment Is There for a Traumatic Brain Injury?

Brain injury treatment is typically intensive and multifaceted.

Acute Treatment

In the immediate aftermath of a TBI, medical interventions include the following:

Rehabilitation Phase

As you recover in the weeks and months following the injury, your treatment may involve the following:

• Physical therapy to restore movement and coordination
• Occupational therapy for daily living skills
• Speech therapy for communication and swallowing
• Cognitive rehabilitation for attention, memory, and executive function (planning, organizing, and managing your thoughts and behaviors)
• Psychological counseling for emotional adjustment
• Vocational rehabilitation for return-to-work planning

Long-Term Management

Because the effects of a TBI can be long-lasting, you may require the following:

Treatment costs can easily reach into the millions over a lifetime, highlighting the importance of skilled legal representation to secure adequate compensation.