Helping a Loved One After a Brain Injury

According to government statistics, approximately 5000 people per year suffer a brain injury. This type of personal injury is a life altering event, for both the recipients and their families.

When the injury and its ramifications are severe, the path to rehabilitation, recovery and potential compensation is more clear than in the case of more minor injuries.

Serious brain injuries in the Edmonton area will likely be first treated in hospital and then rehabilitated through the Glenrose Hospital. The journey towards recovery, or at least maximum self sufficiency, will largely be spelled out by the many medical professionals involved.



When brain injuries are more subtle (not requiring hospitalization), the journey can often be challenging in other ways. Although an injury may not be overtly obvious, the victim of a minor head injury may experiences emotional changes (being quicker to anger or to cry), word retrieval issues, poor attention or concentration, memory issues and many other subtle symptoms. These symptoms may or may not be picked up by a family doctor and may not be understood by family and friends. In many cases, they cause family problems and difficulty at work.

So, how do you help a loved one who has recently experienced a brain injury where someone else is at fault?

1. Protect him or her from the at-fault insurer. Help prevent contact between the insurer and the injured party. The at-fault insurer is ADVERSE in INTEREST from your loved one! Any offer of assistance is an offer to help the insurance company and their insured, not your loved one.
2. Hire a lawyer with experience in the subtleties of brain injuries. At Robinson LLP, we understand the appropriate experts to hire for diagnosis and quantification of the claim of a brain injured plaintiff.
3. Contact Robinson LLP early. We are a Contingency Fee law firm. That means we work for a percentage of the settlement or judgment. Retaining us early in the process allows us to effectively direct the claim and it doesn’t cost any more.
4. With future litigation in mind, keep notes of the changes experienced since the accident.
5. Tell us about those changes so we can help obtain appropriate diagnostics.
   

If you or a family member have suffered a brain injury as the result of an accident that is not the fault of the injured victim, be sure to look for good legal advice. Experienced lawyers, like those at Robinson LLP, will ask the right questions and help get you an appropriate diagnosis and evaluation. Understanding the problem goes a long way to helping both a victim and his or her family.

Rehabilitation after a brain injury is an arduous and challenging process. Take the stress of litigation out of the mix and let Robinson LLP worry about effective representation while you focus on maximum recovery.



Robinson LLP – on your side.