When a severe accident results in a traumatic brain injury (TBI) or spinal cord damage, the victim is not the only one whose life is altered forever. Entire families are forced to deal with the new reality, becoming full-time caregivers while staring down millions of dollars in unexpected, lifelong medical expenses.
If your loved one has suffered a catastrophic injury due to someone else’s negligence in the Capital District, you cannot rely on a standard auto insurance settlement to cover their future. You are facing a lifetime of medical needs, and you only get one chance to secure the financial compensation required to meet them.
At Anderson, Moschetti & Taffany, PLLC, our trial attorneys possess over 100 years of combined legal experience. We have a proven, record-setting history of securing multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements for victims of catastrophic brain and spinal injuries across Upstate New York.
Why Catastrophic Injuries Demand Specialized Experience
A traumatic brain injury or spinal cord severing is fundamentally different from a broken bone or a soft-tissue injury. These cases require a law firm with the legal experience and financial resources to hire top-tier medical and economic experts.
Insurance companies will fight to minimize payouts on catastrophic claims because the damages are often in the millions. They will raise every defense conceivable to minimize or avoid liability, from blaming the injured person, to attempting to share liability with an uninsured party, to claiming that the plaintiff is able to return to work.
To maximize the injured person’s recovery, our attorneys collaborate with a network of experts to build a strong case:
- Neurologists and Neuropsychologists: To map the exact extent of cognitive decline, personality changes, and/or motor function loss.
- Life Care Planners: Medical professionals who project the future cost of a victim’s needs over their entire remaining life expectancy (including daily nursing care, wheelchair replacements, and home modifications).
- Vocational Rehabilitation Experts: To prove that the victim will never be able to return to their previous career or earn a comparable living.
- Forensic Economists: To calculate the present value of decades of lost wages, lost pension contributions, and inflation-adjusted future medical costs.
Common Causes of Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries in Albany
Because of the force required to cause TBI or spinal cord damage, these injuries often arise from severe, high-impact trauma. However, TBI’s can result from lower speed collisions, if all of the “wrong” factors combine at the moment of impact. Brain injury can also result from deprivation of oxygen to the brain for several minutes, as unfortunately sometimes occurs in birth injury cases. We have significant experience in litigating catastrophic injury cases arising from:
- Commercial Truck Accidents: collisions with 80,000-pound tractor-trailers on I-87 and I-90 frequently result in crushing injuries and spinal cord trauma.
- Construction Site Falls (NY Labor Law 240): Falls from scaffolding, roofs, or ladders on Capital District job sites often lead to catastrophic skull fractures and paralysis. Under New York’s “Scaffold Law,” general contractors can be held strictly liable for these injuries.
- Motorcycle and Pedestrian Accidents: motorcycle operators and passengers are particularly vulnerable, as are pedestrians, neither of whom have any protective structure surrounding them, as motorist do.
- Medical Malpractice & Birth Injuries: Surgical errors, anesthesia mistakes causing hypoxia (lack of oxygen to the brain), or negligence in deliveries resulting in infant cerebral palsy.
The Hidden Danger of “Mild” Traumatic Brain Injuries
Not all brain injuries involve a coma or a fractured skull. A severe concussion—often clinically categorized as a “Mild Traumatic Brain Injury” (mtbi)—can have devastating, permanent consequences.
The symptoms of an mtbi do not always show up on a standard CT scan or MRI in the emergency room. For weeks or months after an accident, a victim may struggle with:
- Chronic migraines and extreme light sensitivity.
- Memory loss and an inability to concentrate or read for long periods.
- Severe mood swings, sudden aggression, or deep depression.
- Vertigo and loss of balance.
Do not let an insurance adjuster tell you that a concussion is “just a bump on the head.” Our attorneys know how to utilize advanced imaging (like DTI or PET scans) and expert testimony to prove the invisible, yet debilitating, reality of your brain injury.
Aggressive Advocacy for a Lifetime of Care
When a family member suffers paralysis, quadriplegia, or permanent cognitive impairment, your only focus should be on their care and rehabilitation. Let us handle the legal war against the insurance companies and corporate defendants.
At Anderson, Moschetti & Taffany, PLLC, we handle all catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases on a strict contingent fee basis. We advance the substantial costs required to hire highly credentialed medical and economic experts, and you pay absolutely no legal fee unless we secure a verdict or settlement in your favor.Your family’s future is too important to leave to chance. Contact our offices