Traumatic brain injuries are often accompanied by expensive medical bills resulting from costly and complex treatments and surgeries. Unfortunately, you may be left with the stress of paying these medical bills out-of-pocket. However, if your brain injury was caused by the negligent or reckless behavior of another person, the individual at fault could be held financially responsible for your bills. At Hull & Zimmerman, P.C., our compassionate Northglenn traumatic brain injury lawyers are dedicated to fighting for the rights of people who have suffered catastrophic injuries and have not received the compensation they deserve.
We’ve helped numerous victims of car accidents, pedestrian accidents, work-related accidents, and faulty products and more get the damages they’re entitled to. You don’t have to fight this alone. Let our legal team defend you and your rights.
How We Help Traumatic Brain Injury Victims Recover Compensation
Our dedicated personal injury lawyers are ready to help you with the costs of a traumatic brain injury by working to get you the compensation you deserve and have successfully handled a variety of traumatic brain injuries, including:
In addition to the surgeries and treatments that are often required to heal the initial damage, a person who suffers a traumatic brain injury may also have to undergo lengthy therapy in order to recover.
At Hull & Zimmerman, P.C., our thoughtful personal injury attorneys understand how devastating these complicated injuries can be, and we are committed to helping our clients get the compensation they deserve. We believe that you should not be left to cope with these challenges alone, especially when someone else is responsible for your serious injury.
To discuss your needs with us in more detail, please contact the Northglenn traumatic brain injury attorneys at our firm.
What Counts as a Traumatic Brain Injury
A traumatic brain injury is a disruption of normal brain function caused by a blow, jolt or penetrating injury to the head. It ranges from a concussion that resolves in weeks to an injury that permanently changes what a person is able to do. In the claims we see in North Denver, the common causes are motor vehicle and truck collisions, falls, being struck by an object on a job site, pedestrian and bicycle crashes, and assaults.
The word “mild” in “mild TBI” describes the initial presentation, not the consequences. Mild TBI cases are the ones insurers fight hardest, because the injury is invisible.
Where a Northglenn Brain Injury Case Is Handled
Northglenn is in Adams County. A lawsuit filed by a Northglenn resident is generally filed in the Adams County District Court, part of Colorado’s 17th Judicial District, which sits in Brighton. That is a matter of venue and local procedure — scheduling practice, motions practice and how a case actually moves. A firm that files there routinely is not learning it on your case.
The Symptoms That Get Missed
An emergency room is built to rule out the thing that will kill you tonight. Once bleeding and fracture are excluded, patients are frequently discharged the same day. Several of the symptoms that matter most are invisible, and most of them appear days later.
- Cognitive fog and slowed processing. Losing the thread mid-sentence, re-reading the same paragraph, being unable to hold two tasks at once. A brief neurological exam checks orientation and gross motor function, not processing speed.
- Vestibular dysfunction. Vertigo, imbalance, a floating feeling when walking. It often emerges days later and is regularly mistaken for anxiety.
- Post-traumatic headache. Delayed onset, worsening over 48 to 72 hours, often with light and sound sensitivity, and capable of lasting months.
- Emotional dysregulation. Irritability, sudden tears, flatness. These trace to injury in the prefrontal and limbic regions and are routinely written off as a psychological reaction.
- Disrupted sleep architecture. Not simply insomnia — altered REM sleep, excessive daytime sleepiness, a shifted sleep-wake cycle. Poor sleep then slows cognitive recovery.
- Light and sound sensitivity. Photophobia and phonophobia typically appear 24 to 72 hours after the injury, which is after most people have already been discharged.
Proving the Injury When the Scans Look Normal
A normal scan does not mean you were not hurt. CT and MRI are structural images. They are very good at finding bleeding, swelling and skull fractures, and they are not designed to find the diffuse injury that causes most lasting concussion symptoms.
Testing that looks at function rather than structure can show what a standard scan does not: diffusion tensor imaging, functional MRI, PET, SPECT and quantitative EEG. Neuropsychological testing — batteries such as ImPACT, RBANS, the Trail Making Test and the Stroop Test — measures memory, attention, processing speed and executive function against normative data, and produces numbers a jury can weigh.
In a Colorado civil case the standard is a preponderance of the evidence: more likely than not. Imaging is one input. Treating physicians, a neuropsychologist who can explain why a normal MRI does not rule out injury, a documented symptom journal, employment records and statements from people who knew you before the injury are the rest of it.
More detail: traumatic brain injury claims across Colorado.
If the Injury Happened at Work
Colorado workers’ compensation is a no-fault system, so you do not have to show your employer was negligent. Two deadlines control the claim: report the injury to your employer in writing within four days, and file the Worker’s Claim for Compensation within two years. Benefits cover medical treatment, a portion of lost wages, and rehabilitation.
Workers’ compensation is often not the whole recovery. If a third party caused the injury — another driver, a subcontractor, a property owner, a defective piece of equipment — a separate claim can be brought against them for damages workers’ compensation does not pay, including pain and suffering.
Colorado Deadlines and the 50 Percent Rule
Two years for a negligence claim (C.R.S. 13-80-102). Three years when the claim arises from the use or operation of a motor vehicle (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)). Shorter notice deadlines apply if a government entity is involved.
Colorado also applies modified comparative negligence under C.R.S. 13-21-111. Your recovery is reduced by your share of fault and eliminated entirely at 50 percent. Insurers know this, which is why the fault argument starts early and why the scene, the vehicles and the witnesses need to be documented before they disappear.
Who Handles the Case
Hull & Zimmerman is a three-attorney firm. The attorney you meet is the attorney who works the file.
- Rick J. Hull — B.A., Duke University, 1983; J.D., University of Denver College of Law, 1986. Personal injury and workers’ compensation.
- Michael P. Zimmerman — B.A. and J.D., University of Denver, 1985. Practiced insurance defense before joining the firm in 1992. Adjunct professor of trial advocacy at the University of Denver College of Law.
- Alex Zimmerman — B.A., University of Northern Colorado, 2008; J.D., Washburn University School of Law, 2014. Clerked for the Honorable Barry Grissom at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas. CLEA Outstanding Student Award.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I have a brain injury if my CT scan was normal?
Yes. CT and MRI show structure. They are designed to find bleeding, swelling and fractures, and they frequently do not show the diffuse injury behind lasting concussion symptoms. Functional testing and neuropsychological testing are how that injury is documented.
How long do I have to file a brain injury claim in Colorado?
Generally two years from the injury under C.R.S. 13-80-102, and three years if it arose from the use or operation of a motor vehicle under C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n). Shorter notice deadlines apply when a government entity is involved, so do not wait to find out which rule applies to you.
What if I was partly at fault for the accident?
Colorado uses modified comparative negligence under C.R.S. 13-21-111. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, and you recover nothing if you are 50 percent or more at fault. Being partly at fault does not end a claim, but it does make early investigation important.
My brain injury happened at work. Do I have a workers’ compensation claim or a lawsuit?
Possibly both. Report the injury to your employer in writing within four days and file the Worker’s Claim for Compensation within two years. If someone other than your employer caused the injury, a separate third-party claim can be brought alongside the workers’ compensation claim.
Does my health insurance or auto policy pay for treatment in the meantime?
Often, yes. Colorado insurers are required to offer medical payments coverage of at least $5,000, and many people are carrying MedPay without knowing it. Underinsured motorist coverage on your own policy is frequently the more important source of recovery in a serious brain injury case.
How much does it cost to talk to a lawyer about a brain injury in Northglenn?
Nothing. Consultations at Hull & Zimmerman, P.C. are free. The firm has practiced from the same Northglenn office since 1990. Call (303) 423-1770.
