A strong blow to the head or the body could change your life in countless ways. You may struggle to communicate or have difficulty with your short-term memory. Your sense of balance and motor control may be different after a blow to the head. Your loved ones may point out changes in your personality and mental health.
If you’ve suffered a concussion or another kind of traumatic brain injury (TBI), the Kansas City personal injury attorneys at CPY Law are here to help. We know how brain injuries can change your life and the lives of your loved ones. We want to seek compensation that covers your bills now and into the future.
Let us lead the fight forward while you focus on healing and the challenges ahead. For a free, no-obligation consultation with a trusted brain injury lawyer in Kansas City, MO, contact our law firm today.
What Is a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)?
A traumatic brain injury is any damage to the brain caused by a blow to the head or body, an object penetrating the skull, or other kinds of external physical force.
A TBI can potentially affect how a person thinks, speaks, moves, and processes sensory information. Our Kansas City brain injury attorneys can help seek compensation after you’ve experienced life-altering head trauma.
Types of Traumatic Brain Injuries
Some of the most common types of traumatic brain injuries include:
- Concussions: A concussion is when a sudden blow to the head or body causes the brain to move within a person’s skull.
- Contusions: A brain contusion is a bruise on the surface of the brain. This includes coup injury (contusion on the side of impact), contrecoup injury (contusion on the opposite side of impact, or coup-contrecoup injury (both the side and opposite side of impact).
- Brain Bleed (Intracranial Hemorrhage): A brain bleed is a type of stroke that occurs when a blood vessel bursts in or around the brain.
- Brain Swelling (Cerebral Edema): Sometimes called cytotoxic edema, brain swelling occurs when there is excessive fluid buildup in the brain tissue.
- Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI): DAI is when the brain shifts quickly within the skull, tearing nerve structures in the process and affecting chemical processes and communication in the brain.
- Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE): CTE is a degenerative condition that affects people who’ve suffered multiple TBIs.
- Open Head Injuries: Also known as penetrating head injuries, open head injuries are when objects pierce the skull and enter a person’s brain tissue.
Symptoms and Warning Signs of a Traumatic Brain Injury
Traumatic brain injuries affect different aspects of your life. Below are some of the most common warning signs people experience following a TBI.
Physical Symptoms of a Brain Injury
Some common physical signs of a brain injury include:
- Headache
- Dizziness
- Blurry or double vision
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Light sensitivity
- Noise sensitivity
- Problems with balance
- Sleep disturbances
- Fatigue
Cognitive Symptoms of a Brain Injury
Some common cognitive difficulties associated with a brain injury include:
- Mental fog
- Difficulty concentrating
- Inability to stay on task/focus
- Confusion or disorganized thinking
- Lapses in memory
- Problems finding the right word or phrase
Emotional Symptoms of a Brain Injury
Some common emotional issues associated with a brain injury include:
- Irritability
- Mood swings
- Low moods
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Lost interest in hobbies
Seek Medical Attention After Experiencing Head Trauma
The symptoms of a brain injury are not always immediately apparent. It can take days or weeks before some symptoms start appearing.
Even if you feel fine after sustaining head trauma, go get checked out by a doctor just in case. If you have suffered a TBI, this diagnosis will help establish that the injury followed a crash, fall, or other incident.
Seeing a doctor will also mean you can get treated for your injuries sooner rather than later, which can help reduce the risk of more serious health complications.
The Long-Term Effects of a Traumatic Brain Injury
Brain injuries can have a lasting effect on a person’s life, emotions, personality, and executive function.
- How Brain Injuries Affect Cognition: A serious brain injury can have lasting effects on a person’s short-term and long-term memory, concentration, ability to multitask, and other aspects of executive function.
- How Brain Injuries Affect Physical Health: TBIs can change someone’s sense of balance, coordination, muscle control, motor skills, and senses.
- How Brain Injuries Affect Emotions and Mental Health: Many people who’ve experienced a brain injury struggle with emotional regulation and mental health. Some may even have suicidal thoughts.
- How Brain Injuries Affect Relationships: When a TBI changes someone’s personality, it can change how family members and friends interact with them. The entire dynamic of a relationship could be changed forever.
Common Causes of Traumatic Brain Injuries in the Kansas City Area
These are some of the more common causes of TBIs in the Kansas City metropolitan area.
Head Trauma in Auto Collisions
The force in all kinds of motor vehicle collisions can cause serious head trauma and brain damage. This includes car crashes, motorcycle collisions (even if you are wearing a helmet), and crashes with large commercial trucks.
Slips, Trips, and Falls
Slips, trips, and falls throughout KCMO could cause you to suffer a TBI. This might mean a bad fall down some stairs at the T-Mobile Center or a slip on a wet floor at Cosentino’s Market. Our premises liability lawyers can help hold property owners accountable.
Workplace Incidents and On-the-Job Injuries
If you work in construction or at an industrial workplace, there’s a risk of suffering serious head injuries. Even with proper head protection, you could suffer a concussion or other type of traumatic brain injury while at work.
Defective or Malfunctioning Products
When products don’t work as intended, the makers of these products can be held liable. Our product liability lawyers can represent you following brain injuries caused by defective vehicles, malfunctioning appliances, dangerous power tools, and poorly designed or manufactured children’s products.
Contact/Combat Sports and Athletic Injuries
Brain injuries are a risk if you play contact such as football and hockey, sports in which hard impacts are possible such as soccer and basketball, or combat sports such as boxing or mixed martial arts (MMA).
Intentional Acts of Violence
Assaults and other intentional acts of violence can cause head trauma and brain damage. The perpetrators of these physical attacks can be held civilly liable for your injuries in addition to facing criminal charges.
Compensation in Traumatic Brain Injury Claims
Families affected by brain injuries can seek compensation for any losses caused by the incident. This includes economic damages (measurable financial losses) and non-economic damages (subjective and intangible losses).
- Medical Expenses and Future Care: This includes the cost of the ambulance, stabilizing care, and hospitalization. This also covers ongoing medical needs, such as physical rehabilitation, visits with neurological specialists, and occupational therapy.
- Damage to Property/Belongings: This includes the cost of repairing or replacing a vehicle, damaged valuables, and damage to any other personal belongings at the time of the incident.
- Lost Wages and Future Earnings: This includes any extended leave from your job to recover from your injuries as well as any loss of future earning capacity when a TBI affects the ability to maintain gainful employment.
- Pain and Suffering: This includes emotional distress, mental anguish, chronic pain from lingering injuries, and ongoing sleep disturbances following a serious brain injury.
- Lower Quality of Life: This includes a reduced sense of contentment or well-being, loss of enjoyment in your favorite hobbies, and any strain on your relationships after a TBI.
At CPY Law, our Kansas City brain injury lawyers will help you understand how much your TBI case is really worth.
Partial Responsibility: Missouri’s Pure Comparative Fault Law
Missouri follows a pure comparative fault rule (RSMo § 537.765). This means you can still seek compensation if you were partly or mostly at fault for the incident that caused your traumatic brain injury. Your compensation is reduced by your share of liability.
For example, say that you were in a serious fall at Crown Center that caused head trauma and you receive $100,000 in compensation. However, you were found 20% liable for the incident. Because of pure comparative fault, you’d still receive $80,000 in compensation.
How Long Do I Have to File a Brain Injury Lawsuit in Kansas City, MO?
In the state of Missouri, you typically have five years from the date of the incident to file a brain injury lawsuit (RSMo § 516.120).
There are exceptions to the five-year statute of limitations. If the brain injury involves a government entity, for example, you need to file a formal notice of claim within 90 days of the incident.
Even though you may have a few years to file a lawsuit, it’s best to contact a Kansas City brain injury lawyer as soon as possible. The attorneys at CPY Law can secure key evidence, build a strong case, and communicate with the insurance company to help you receive maximum compensation that truly considers your life after a TBI.
Why Choose CPY Law After a Brain Injury in Kansas City
People throughout Kansas City know they can trust CPY Law to hold negligent parties accountable for causing brain injuries and serious head trauma. We want TBI survivors and their families to focus on the day-to-day while we handle the legal fight.
Here’s why people throughout Jackson, Clay, Platte, and Cass counties trust CPY Law.
- Reliability and Legal Excellence: The team at CPY Law has decades of legal experience in Missouri. We work closely with TBI victims and their families to identify the best solutions for their cases.
- We Hold Ourselves Accountable to You: When you hire our brain injury attorneys, we will own the problem and lead the fight forward. We do what we say, and we ask the same of our staff and colleagues.
- Free and Confidential Case Reviews: Do not worry about upfront legal fees at CPY Law. Consultations are free, confidential, and no obligation. We want to hear what happened and give our honest opinion about your best options.
- Clients Pay Us Nothing Unless We Win: CPY Law works on a contingency fee basis. That means our attorneys only get paid after your traumatic brain injury case is successfully resolved. If we don’t win, you pay nothing.
Contact Our Kansas City Traumatic Brain Injury Attorneys Near You
After a brain injury, you need a law firm that will lead the fight so you can focus on recovery and whatever the future holds. That’s just what we do here at CPY Law. Our attorneys are committed to helping brain injury survivors and their families for the fight ahead. For a free consultation with an experienced brain injury lawyer near you, contact our Kansas City law firm today.
Frequently Asked Questions About Traumatic Brain Injuries in Kansas City
These are some of the most common questions we’ve received from brain injury survivors and their families.
How do attorneys prove mild or non-visible brain injuries in court?
Since brain injuries are not “visible” like other kinds of injuries, attorneys need to find evidence to make the full extent of an injury apparent. This will usually involve comparing life before and after a TBI.
When proving the severity of a brain injury, our TBI lawyers will consider:
- Your full medical history
- Professional evaluation of symptoms
- What life was like before and after a TBI
- Neuropsychological test results
- Testimony from expert witnesses
- Changes in work duties and productivity
- Personal statements from friends, family, and colleagues
How much compensation can I recover in a traumatic brain injury claim?
That depends on a variety of factors, including the severity of a TBI, the cost of past and future medical care needs, how the brain injury has affected your career goals and earning capacity, and the impact of a brain injury on your relationships.
At CPY Law, our Kansas City TBI attorneys can carefully review what happened to you, how it’s affected your life and livelihood, and help you understand the full value of your brain injury claim.
Can family members sue for the effects of a person’s brain injury?
Potentially, yes. In Missouri, a spouse can bring a separate loss of consortium claim. In these situations, a brain injury has affected their spouse’s behavior, resulting in a loss of intimacy, loss of companionship or affection, the inability to participate in the marriage or as a parent, and changes in the overall relationship.
When you meet with our attorneys, we can discuss all potential options for compensation based on the way a brain injury has affected your household.
Are there local resources for brain injury survivors in Kansas City, MO?
Yes, there are multiple hospitals and medical facilities in KCMO that can help people with brain injuries and their families. We want to highlight these particular resources for locals who’ve been affected by brain injuries.
- Brain Injury Association of Missouri (BIA-MO): The Brain Injury Association of Missouri has helped brain injury survivors, their families, and brain injury caregivers since 1982.
- The Whole Person: Based in Kansas City, The Whole Person is committed to advocacy and support for people with disabilities. The organization has a Brain Injury Peer Support Group for adults with brain injuries who want to connect with others who are going through the same experiences.
- NEURO RehabCare: NEURO RehabCare’s Kansas City location helps patients with brain injuries and other neurological conditions recover and regain their independence.
- Brain Injury Association of Kansas & Greater Kansas City (BIAKS-GKC): Serving the state of Kansas and the Greater Kansas City area, BIAKS-GKC is a non-profit focused on helping people affected by brain injuries, including family members and caregivers.
