Paralysis

The attorneys at The Zinn Law Firm handle cases involving the most serious, life-altering injuries a person or family can suffer. There are few things that can happen to a person physically that are more devastating than losing the ability to use one’s legs or arms. We’ve been handling paralysis cases for over 15 years now, and they are never easy. We have helped clients suffering from both paraplegia (paralysis below the waist) and quadriplegia (paralysis of the arms and legs) due to spinal injury. Our clients had become paralyzed due to medical mistakes, bicycle accidents, car crashes, and a variety of other types of accidents.

Obtaining the Costs for Future Life Care

If you are injured by someone else’s mistake, under California law you are entitled to compensation to pay for your future medical needs that you will likely require. One of the most important issues our attorneys confront when representing victims of paralysis is calculating the full future medical costs our paralyzed clients will face in the future. These costs can include the money required to pay for assistance around the home to assist our clients in performing basic activities of daily living like:

• showering and hygiene
• going to the bathroom
• getting dressed, grooming
• cooking and household cleaning
• personal errands, shopping

Obtaining the services of skilled, trained home care professionals to assist a person suffering from paralysis is not cheap. We fight for our clients’ rights to obtain the full amount of what it will cost to hire well-trained, responsible professionals to provide these services for the rest of their lives.

Evaluating Impacts on Future Earnings

The attorneys at The Zinn Law Firm also work with vocational rehabilitation experts to determine if paralysis will reduce, or in some cases, completely eliminate our clients’ ability to support themselves and those who depend on them financially. Some paralyzed clients who work office jobs are able to return to work at full capacity. But other “white collar” workers, and certainly individuals in “blue collar” positions whose jobs required movement and strength – such as construction workers, police offers on patrol, or security guards – cannot return to the employment they held prior being injured. In either case, we will fight to recover the full amount of the earning losses caused by paralysis.

Other Medical Complications That can Result From Spinal Cord Injury

Patients suffering from paraplegia or quadriplegia are often more likely to suffer from other medical problems in the future, including bowel disorders, bladder control, circulatory disorders, sexual disorders, chronic pain, and depression, to name just a few. When the attorneys at The Zinn Law Firm advocate for our paralyzed clients, we retain skilled medical experts who, in many cases, are on the faculties of our local, world-class teaching hospitals such as Stanford Medical Center, and University of California at San Francisco Medical Center. These experts explain to juries that, in addition to the direct challenges of lacking the ability to move their limbs, paralyzed clients may suffer additional future medical costs and challenges beyond their inability to move.

Paralyzed Patients can Experience Shortened Life Expectancy

Paralyzed patients also often experience shortened life expectancies over fully-mobile individuals, which can be an important factor in advocating for increased jury awards for the future non-economic losses our clients will suffer. With a shortened life span, a paralyzed client would also have a shorted work-like expectancy, cutting into their life-time earning power and ability to support themselves and their family members. This is another factor that must be considered when our attorneys fight to recover the full measure of damages our paralyzed clients will require to provide for their important future needs.

Please see examples of cases we have resolved on behalf of our clients suffering from paralysis.

For victims of paralysis, you only have one chance to make sure you obtain the resources you need to live the life you want to live. You need attorneys who will fight tirelessly for you to the end. At The Zinn Law Firm, we understand this and will leave no stone unturned to fight for your right to be returned as best as possible to the life you deserve to have.

Please contact us to learn more and for a free consultation: 415-292-4100. If you or someone you know is paralyzed due to a car accident, bicycle accident, medical malpractice, or some other wrongful cause, we are here to help.