Tampa Back Injury Lawyers
You never really realize how much you rely on your back and spinal column until you sustain a serious back injury that makes even everyday activities more difficult than before. Your spinal cord transmits nerve messages between your brain and body. Your back supports you as you stand, sit, and move around. Suffering serious spinal injuries can leave you struggling to perform the activities in life that you once took for granted.
If you suffered serious spinal injuries in an accident due to another party’s negligence, you may recover significant financial compensation for your injuries. Contact Frank and Jennifer Fernandez, the Tampa back injury lawyers of The Fernandez Firm today to learn more about your right to compensation.
The Fernandez Firm: Helping Tampa Back Injury Victims Recover Compensation
At The Fernandez Firm, we have extensive experience as Tampa back injury lawyers helping victims recover the compensation they deserve. We want to win when it comes to all types of Tampa spinal cord injury lawsuits. Throughout our years of law practice, we have secured more than $100 million in jury verdicts and negotiated settlements.
Our past results include
- $850,000 awarded to a woman who suffered multiple injuries in a car accident, including a low back herniation injury
- $600,000 to a man who suffered injuries that led to an aggravation of an existing low back injury
- $136,000 awarded to a man who suffered serious low back injuries in two separate auto accidents
Of course, those successes cannot guarantee future outcomes. They do, however, demonstrate to our clients that The Fernandez Firm knows how to win back injury cases and that they can trust our personal injury lawyers to handle their cases with the skill and know-how necessary to get them the money they need to heal and move forward with their lives.
Trust a back injuries lawyer to evaluate the injuries you sustained in your spinal cord injury to determine the compensation you should receive.
If you suffered spinal cord injuries, your medical costs in the first year alone may total more than $1 million. Back injuries of any type, including herniated discs that require surgical fusion, may limit your mobility and prevent you from working. At The Fernandez Firm, we have years of experience investigating and evaluating the numerous ways that a back injury can impact your life and finances. We work closely with our clients to understand how their back injuries have affected their lives and wallets. We make sure that when we take legal action on their behalf, we will seek the maximum compensation available under Florida law.
We investigate your accident, collect evidence, and prepare your case.
Frank and Jennifer Fernandez understand the importance of evidence and attention to detail in winning Tampa back injury cases. We never take the facts at face value. Instead, we dig deeper, aiming to uncover information that will prove who owes damages for your back injuries. Once we have the evidence we need, we assemble it into a compelling argument that shows why you should win, and we present those arguments to defense lawyers, insurance companies, and Tampa courts.
We negotiate top-dollar settlements.
Insurance companies often prove tricky after back injuries. Because back injuries can have such a wide range of symptoms and limitations, it can prove more difficult to get an insurance company to offer you the full compensation you deserve, especially immediately after the accident. Some insurance companies will start negotiations by offering an insultingly low settlement for the injuries you sustained and the bills you may face. Others may try to argue that your injuries do not cause the limitations or pain you claim. At The Fernandez Firm, your spinal cord injury attorney will take over negotiations on your behalf, reducing stress and increasing the odds that the insurance company will take you seriously.
Our spinal cord injury lawyers can take the fight to court, if necessary.
Most Tampa back injury claims settle out of court. However, sometimes, you may need to take your claim to court to receive the compensation you really deserve for your injuries. Not every personal injury lawyer accepts cases related to traumatic spinal cord injuries. We have extensive experience and knowledge in this area and our clients call us when they need a spinal cord injury lawyer.
If our clients have to go to court, we work hard to ensure that the case gets presented in the best possible light and help maximize the compensation our clients may receive for those injuries.
Common Tampa Back Injuries
Tampa back injuries can occur in a variety of settings, from construction sites to auto accidents to slip and fall accidents. Injuries may include a variety of symptoms, depending on the location and severity of the injury.
Spinal Cord Injuries
Spinal cord injuries include some of the most serious back injuries. When you suffer spinal cord damage, cervical spine fractures, or lumbar spine dislocations, it can destroy mobility below the injury. Spinal cord injury victims may also lose feeling below the site of the injury. While full spinal cord injuries often result in complete paralysis, even incomplete spinal cord injuries are severe injuries that can cause a significant loss of mobility for the victim. Spinal cord injuries may also lead to decreased organ function below the injury, which can cause serious complications for the victim.
Herniated Discs
The rubbery cushions, or discs, between the individual vertebrae that make up the spinal cord serve a vital purpose: they help cushion the spine and prevent the bones from grinding together. Herniated discs occur when the soft center of the disc pushes through the tougher exterior, putting pressure on a nearby nerve. Herniated discs can cause pain that shoots from the back along the limb impacted by that nerve. Often, victims suffer serious pain when moving in the wrong direction or standing for too long. Herniated discs may also cause numbness or weakness in the affected limb, which can pose serious difficulties for many victims.
Nerve Compression
The lower back helps support your posture and aid in a variety of movements. Nerves run through the area and help control many of the sensations you feel. When the nerves in the lower back get compressed in an accident, it can result in severe, ongoing pain for the victim. Sometimes, pain may resolve when in specific positions. Other times, the victim may struggle to find a comfortable position, even when lying down.
Overuse Injuries
In addition to acute back and neck injuries, some people may suffer overuse injuries. They may note gradual symptoms that seem to increase over time, especially if they work in a profession that requires many repetitive movements. In some cases, patients with overuse back injuries may file a workers’ compensation claim, which can make it easier for them to handle medical expenses related to those injuries and, eventually, to recover from them.
Soft Tissue Injuries
The muscles around the spine provide a great deal of support as most people go about their daily activities. Muscle strains and sprains can cause immense pain and ongoing challenges for the victim, including reducing the level of activity they can engage in.
Recovering Compensation for Tampa Back Injuries
After sustaining a serious back injury in Tampa, you may worry about the compensation you can recover. You may lose your ability to work or have a hard time engaging in your usual leisure activities—not to mention the increasing medical expenses you may have related to your injuries. At The Fernandez Firm, Frank and Jennifer cannot guarantee the compensation that you will receive for the back injuries you sustained due to another party’s negligence. In general, however, compensation for serious back injuries breaks down into these categories.
Compensation for Your Medical Costs
You sustained serious back injuries, which means that you may have substantial medical costs to go along with them. Many back injury victims can require extensive treatment, including ongoing physical therapy or even surgery, for their injuries. Keep track of the medical expenses related to your back injuries so you can include them as part of your back injury claim.
Compensation for Lost Income
Back injuries often render the victim unable to work. You may have a hard time standing for a long time, or you may completely lack the ability to lift the items you usually move around the floor or the warehouse. If you usually sit for a long time at your job, it can exacerbate back pain, leaving you struggling to sit in your chair for long periods. As part of your back injury claim, you can include compensation for income lost because of your injuries. Do your back injuries prevent you from working in your former profession permanently? You may have the right to claim compensation for lost earning potential, too.
Compensation for Your Suffering
Back injuries can cause immense pain and substantial limitations in the victim’s life. You may find yourself struggling to engage in activities that you usually take for granted or suffering from ongoing pain every day that prevents you from enjoying life the way you once did. Talk to Frank and Jennifer of The Fernandez Firm to learn more about how to include pain and suffering as part of your Tampa back injury claim.
Workers’ Compensation Claims
Many back injuries occur at work, either as a result of immediate trauma or due to repetitive stress injuries that can pose an ongoing challenge, especially if you need to continue working while recovering. A workers’ compensation claim differs slightly from a traditional personal injury claim. When you suffer a workplace injury, you do not have to prove that your employer’s negligence caused the injury to claim workers’ comp. Workers’ compensation covers injury victims who suffer injuries at work regardless of who caused those injuries.
Through workers’ comp, you can seek compensation for:
- 66 percent (approximately) of your lost wages
- Coverage for your medical expenses
Sometimes, you can also see a payout for permanent disability as a result of a workplace accident. The Fernandez Firm can help you learn more about your rights when you file a workers’ compensation claim.
Who Bears Liability for Tampa Back Injuries?
To file a back injury claim in Tampa, you should work with a back injury attorney in Tampa to determine all parties that caused or contributed to your back injuries. In general, your attorney will ask several key questions about how your back injury occurred to establish whom you might need to file a claim against.
Who bore a duty of care to you at the time of the accident?
A duty of care implies that an individual or entity had some responsibility to you at the time of the accident. For example, if you suffered back injuries in a slip and fall at a store, that store might have had a duty of care to you, as the customer, to ensure that you had a safe shopping environment that did not put you at risk of serious injuries. If you suffered injuries in a car accident, you might find that all drivers on the road share a duty of care.
How did the liable party violate that duty of care?
In general, the violation of that duty of care implies that the liable party committed some act of negligence that led to your injuries. For example, a Tampa business owner who failed to maintain his stairs might have violated his duty of care to his patrons.
How did that violation lead to your back injuries?
To establish your right to a personal injury claim, you will need to establish that the liable party’s negligence led to your accident in some way. If you suffered no injuries, despite a clear violation, you have no grounds for a claim. On the other hand, if those negligent actions led to your back injuries, you might have grounds for a Tampa back injury claim.
Do You Need a Tampa Back Injury Attorney?
Did you suffer back injuries in a Tampa accident due to someone else’s negligence? Contact Frank and Jennifer Fernandez of The Fernandez Firm today at (813) 278-1032 for your free consultation. We look forward to listening to you and helping you decide whether seeking compensation for your back injury is in your best interests.
Client Testimonial
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I had an extraordinary experience at The Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys. They were so professional and kept me well informed about my case. I would highly recommend them.
-Laura V
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The Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys
2503 W Swann Ave #100
Tampa, FL 33609