New York City Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer

A spinal cord injury can occur for a variety of reasons, including a car accident, motorcycle accident, slip and fall accident, assault, a defective product, or even medical malpractice. Spinal cord injury cases are so common that up to 15,000 Americans suffer a new injury each year. While some cases are mild enough to only cause bruising, an injury to the spinal cord can also cause severe consequences such as quadriplegia, paraplegia, or even death. For these spinal cord injury victims or the loved ones left behind, life will never be the same again.

Raphaelson & Levine is an NYC personal injury law firm dedicated to fighting for the rights of the injured. If you feel that another party caused your catastrophic injury, New York law gives you three years from the date of the injury to file a personal injury lawsuit. This provides you with compensation to pay medical expenses, reimburses you for time missed from work, and potentially covers several other loss categories as well.

Our spinal cord injury attorneys in New York City have over three decades of experience fighting for fair compensation on behalf of clients. As a premier NYC personal injury law firm since 1992, we have earned a reputation as aggressive litigators while also showing compassion for our clients with spinal injury. We invite you to contact us to request a free consultation today at 212-268-3222.

You incur no out-of-pocket expenses for the case evaluation or our legal services should you decide to retain a spinal cord injury lawyer from Raphaelson & Levine. Our law firm only collects a percentage of your lawsuit proceeds when you win the case. While we can’t undo the damage from your spine injury, it’s our sincere hope that financial compensation from your personal injury lawsuit will at least improve your quality of life.

Understanding Types of Spinal Cord Injuries

The spinal cord sends signals throughout the body to complete actions such as walking and raising your arms. A mild injury to the area probably won’t result in lasting damage. However, a partial tear can cause the temporary loss of some body functions at or below the point of injury. When motor vehicle accidents or other causes result in spinal cord severing, the areas at and below the point of impact can suffer permanent loss of sensation. This is when you start to see serious situations such as paraplegia or quadriplegia.

The main classifications of spinal cord injuries include:

Spinal Contusion and/or Nerve Damage

As the most common types of spinal injury, contusions, and nerve damage usually heal quickly and don’t produce lasting damage. Unfortunately, it could still mean large medical expenses, physical therapy, and time missed from work. We always encourage clients to take advantage of our free consultation to determine if pursuing a personal injury lawsuit is in their best interest.

Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury

This term defines five separate categories of injury that result in the injured person retaining some degree of function and movement. The categories of spinal injury include anterior cord syndrome, brown sequard syndrome, central cord syndrome, cuada equine lesion, and posterior cord syndrome.

Complete Spinal Cord Injury

The most serious type of injury caused by motorcycle accidents, motor vehicle accidents, and other causes, an accident victim with a complete spinal cord injury becomes totally paralyzed. That means purposeful movement and sensation is no longer possible in addition to the loss of nerve and motor functions.

Typically, a point of impact higher on the spine results in more severe injuries than point of impact lower on the spine.No matter what degree of spinal cord damage you sustain, it can have an immediate impact on your quality of life. With severe injuries, you can no longer live an independent life.

When another person caused such devastating consequences through their negligence, we feel it’s only right that injured victims receive adequate financial compensation.

Unfortunately, insurance companies rarely see it this way. It's their job to offer as little as possible to settle your personal injury claim. That's why you need a law firm with the track record of Raphaelson & Levine on your side. If negotiations with the insurance company break down, we are fully prepared to argue your case in court. This includes producing evidence that proves the other party’s liability and arranging for the industry's best medical experts to testify when necessary.

The Human Spinal Column

To understand how such spinal injuries occur, it’s important to know the parts and functioning of the spinal cord. Your spinal column contains individual bones called vertebrae that typically are very flexible. Your neck has seven central vertebrae while your chest has 12 thoracic vertebrae and your back has five lumbar vertebrae. Additional parts of the spinal column include the sacrum, which contains five vertebrae located at the base of your lumbar vertebrae. These fuse together to form a solid body. The coccyx, also known as the tailbone, is the final piece of your spinal column. It consists of four or five bony segments fused together.

Vertebrae lie anterior to or in front of the spinal cord in the posterior position. They contain a neural bony arch located behind the spinal cord and on each side of it. Intervertebral disc structures hold the vertebrae together, which contains cartilage for additional cushioning and protection.

Your spinal column also includes a neural arch and an intravertebral disc. Each part of the spinal cord plays an important role in protecting you and providing freedom of movement. As an accident victim, you can sustain serious injuries to your spinal column regardless of the specific point of contact. It doesn’t have to cause paralysis to leave you with significant pain, as in the case of herniated discs. This issue often requires surgery.

Even if you’re not sure of the extent of your injuries or assume they’re not serious, we urge you to visit a doctor as soon as possible. This also lends credibility to your case should you decide to pursue a personal injury lawsuit within New York’s three-year statute of limitations

Typical Treatments & Consequences of Living With a Spinal Cord Injury

The medical care you receive for your spinal cord injury obviously depends on its severity. Those without serious injuries can often improve with medication, physical therapy, or both. Surgery may be necessary for severe injuries involving impact to any of the C1 to C8 vertebrae. The surgery could remove broken pieces of bone, drain fluid build-up, or stabilize vertebrae that have fractured. Bed rest and/or stabilizing the spine through traction and immobilization are also common treatments.

These are only the physical manifestations of living with a serious spinal cord injury. If you or a loved one have experienced this, you know how devastating it is on an emotional level as well. It’s a normal reaction to feel depressed or anxious when you suddenly don’t have the physical abilities you once had. Some people deal with post-traumatic stress disorder from the accident or whatever else caused their severe injuries on top of other emotional problems. The more serious your spinal cord injury, the more likely it is you will require physical and emotional support for the rest of your life.

Request a Case Review From Our Experienced NYC Spinal Cord Injury Attorneys Today

We at Raphaelson & Levine are sorry that you are facing such an enormous challenge in your life or that you have lost a loved one to spinal cord injury. Before contacting us for your free case evaluation, we invite you to read testimonials from previous clients and learn more about the amount of financial compensation we secured for them. We look forward to meeting with you to learn more about your spinal injury and to provide information on how we can help you get your life back on track as much as possible.

Please contact us at 212-268-3222 to request your free case evaluation with our law firm.

Successful Spinal Injury Case Results Include:

Since 1992 our clients have been awarded some of the largest injury settlement and verdict amounts in New York.

• $1.75M Staircase Trip & Fall Settlement: compensation for a client who was seriously injured when he fell down an entire flight of stairs.
• $1.5M Nassau County Auto Accident: compensation for a client with a history of spinal injuries, re-injured as a result of an auto accident.
• $2.8 Million Rear-End Car Accident Trial Verdict: compensation for a client who suffered from injuries to her cervical spine as a result of a rear-end car accident.
• $517K Supermarket Delivery Man Spinal Injury: A deliveryman for Poland Spring fell down a staircase behind an A&P supermarket, aggravating a previous spinal injury.

Read more Personal Injury Settlement & Verdicts here.