Brain Injury

Leading Virginia Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyers Serving Victims Throughout Virginia

Brain injuries, often referred to as traumatic brain injuries or TBI, affect an estimated 1.7 million Americans annually, according to CDC surveillance data. Traumatic brain injuries can occur following a variety of accidents, including car accidents, slip and falls, and construction accidents. The impact does not need to be severe — a traumatic brain injury can occur due to a routine medical procedure gone awry, a birth accident, or a simple fall. These serious injuries can lead to permanent disabilities, constant hospitalizations, and an inability to maintain employment, resulting in billions of dollars of medical expenses and financial losses each year.

If you or a loved one suffers from a brain injury that was caused by another’s negligence, the law is on your side. You have legal recourse via a personal injury claim. At The Stellute Law Firm, we know how traumatic a permanent injury can be, and we can help you get your affairs in order, investigate your claims, and advocate for your right to compensation in court. Over the past 60 years, The Stellute Law Firm has handled thousands of claims such as yours and is ready and eager to help you fight for justice.

For a free consultation, call The Stellute Law Firm today at 757-722-2815.

Brain Injury Symptoms

Often, due to shock, you may not realize that you have suffered a brain injury until it’s too late. Common signs of brain injury include:

  • Loss of Consciousness
  • Headache
  • Confusion
  • Dizziness
  • Nausea
  • Equilibrium Issues
  • Extreme Drowsiness
  • Blurred Vision
  • Memory Issues
  • Depression or Anxiety
  • Frequent Mood Swings
  • Seizures
  • Pupil Dilation
  • Clear fluid (cerebrospinal fluid) leaking from the nose or ears
  • Bleeding

Not all symptoms will necessarily be present, but if you experience any of the above following an accident, you need to see a medical doctor immediately.

Traumatic vs. Acquired Brain Injuries

Not every brain injury results from an external impact. A traumatic brain injury (TBI) results from a blow, jolt, or penetrating injury to the head, while an acquired brain injury can result from other causes, such as oxygen deprivation during a difficult birth or medical procedure, or a stroke caused by a delayed diagnosis. Both types can support a personal injury or medical malpractice claim when another party’s negligence caused the underlying event, though the legal theories and evidence involved can differ significantly depending on the cause.

Getting the Right Medical Care First

Before anything else, a suspected brain injury needs proper medical evaluation — not just for your health, but because prompt, consistent treatment creates the medical record a personal injury claim depends on. Gaps in treatment, or delays in seeking care after an accident, give insurance companies an opening to argue your injury wasn’t as serious as you say, or wasn’t caused by the accident at all. Following your doctor’s treatment plan and attending every recommended follow-up appointment protects both your recovery and your claim.

Types of Brain Injuries

The most common type of brain injury is the concussion. While serious, most individuals are able to fully recover from concussions with no adverse side effects. Concussions are usually caused by impact or fall-related accidents.

A contusion is a bruise on the brain caused by impact or fall-related accidents. When the force of the accident causes the brain to move, capillaries can burst, creating a contusion. Contusions often result in splitting headaches, dizziness, confusion, memory loss, and drowsiness.

Intra-cranial pressure is a common side effect of brain injury that occurs when the brain swells as part of the healing process — similar to how your face may swell if you’re hit in the face. However, your brain is confined within your skull, which doesn’t expand to make room for the swelling. Intra-cranial pressure can cause serious and long-lasting side effects and in some cases may be lethal.

Brain Injuries in Children

A brain injury in a child presents unique challenges because a developing brain can be more vulnerable to lasting harm, and the full effects sometimes don’t become clear until years later, as a child reaches developmental milestones that never quite catch up. Learning difficulties, behavioral changes, and delayed cognitive development can all trace back to a childhood brain injury, which is why claims involving children often require careful, long-term medical documentation rather than a quick early settlement.

Common Causes of Brain Injuries

Not all brain injuries are caused by personal injury accidents. However, if someone’s actions or failure to act caused the accident which resulted in your brain injury, that individual may be liable for damages. Brain injuries can occur in a wide variety of situations, including:

The Stellute Law Firm handles all types of personal injury claims and can help you pursue compensation for your brain injury.

Working With Medical and Financial Experts

Fully valuing a serious brain injury claim often requires more than a treating physician’s records. Neuropsychologists can assess cognitive impacts that don’t show up on imaging, life-care planners can project the cost of decades of future treatment, and vocational experts can assess how the injury affects your ability to work and earn a living. Bringing these experts in early, rather than waiting until litigation is underway, strengthens a claim from the start.

Why Medical Understanding Matters in These Cases

Brain injury cases are unlike most other personal injury claims because the injury itself is often invisible and its effects can be misunderstood or minimized by anyone who hasn’t dealt with a brain injury firsthand. An attorney who takes the time to understand the medical realities of your specific injury — working closely with your treating physicians, and where needed, bringing in independent medical experts — is far better equipped to counter an insurance company’s attempts to downplay what you’re going through.

More Severe Brain Injuries

Beyond concussions and contusions, more severe traumatic brain injuries can involve diffuse axonal injury, where the brain’s nerve fibers are torn by the rotational force of an impact, or penetrating injuries where an object breaches the skull. These more severe injuries often cause lasting cognitive, physical, and emotional impairment, and can require ongoing rehabilitation, personal care assistance, and home modifications for the rest of a person’s life. Properly valuing a claim involving this level of injury requires input from neurologists, life-care planners, and vocational experts who can project the true lifetime cost of care.

How Brain Injuries Are Diagnosed

A brain injury isn’t always obvious on standard imaging like a CT scan or X-ray, particularly for milder concussions, which is part of why so many go undiagnosed or underdiagnosed in the immediate aftermath of an accident. More sensitive imaging, such as an MRI, and formal neuropsychological testing can reveal damage or functional deficits that wouldn’t otherwise be visible. Because insurance companies sometimes seize on a normal CT scan to argue an injury isn’t serious, thorough follow-up testing is often essential to accurately documenting a brain injury claim.

Common Signs Family Members Notice

Sometimes it’s not the injured person but their family who first notices something is wrong — a spouse who seems more irritable, a parent who forgets things they never used to, a coworker who struggles to keep up with tasks that used to come easily. These observations from people who know you well can be valuable evidence in a brain injury claim, since they capture changes that a single doctor’s visit might miss.

The Long-Term Impact of a Brain Injury

Even a brain injury initially classified as “mild” can have effects that last months or years — difficulty concentrating, chronic headaches, sensitivity to light and noise, irritability, and trouble with memory or multitasking. These symptoms can affect a person’s ability to work, maintain relationships, and manage daily responsibilities long after the physical injury has technically healed. Insurance adjusters sometimes dismiss these lingering effects, particularly when imaging looks normal, which is why thorough documentation from treating physicians and, where appropriate, family members who’ve observed the changes firsthand is so important to a claim.

What Compensation May Cover

Depending on the severity of the injury, a brain injury claim may allow you to recover:

  • Past and future medical treatment, including rehabilitation and therapy
  • Lost wages and diminished future earning capacity
  • Cost of home modifications or personal care assistance, in severe cases
  • Pain and suffering

Statute of Limitations

Under Virginia Code § 8.01-243(A), most brain injury claims must be filed within two years of the injury — or, for a birth-related brain injury, within two years of when it should reasonably have been discovered, given how these injuries can take time to become apparent.

Schedule a Free Consultation with Our Virginia Brain Injury Lawyers Today

The last thing you want to worry about is how to pay your medical bills and provide for your family. With The Stellute Law Firm on your side, you will have the right tools to aggressively pursue your personal injury claim.

For a free consultation on your brain injury, call The Stellute Law Firm to schedule an appointment at our Hampton Roads office: 757-722-2815.

Frequently Asked Questions

How soon do brain injury symptoms appear?

Symptoms can appear immediately or take days to weeks to fully develop, which is why it’s important to seek medical evaluation after any significant blow to the head, even if you feel fine initially.

Can I get a brain injury from a mild concussion?

Yes. Even a diagnosed “mild” concussion is a form of traumatic brain injury and can cause lasting symptoms, particularly with repeat injuries.

What kind of evidence supports a brain injury claim?

Medical imaging, neuropsychological testing, statements from treating physicians, and testimony from family or coworkers about changes in cognition or behavior all help document a brain injury’s impact.

How long do I have to file a brain injury claim in Virginia?

Generally two years from the date of injury under Virginia Code § 8.01-243(A).

How much does hiring a brain injury attorney cost?

Nothing upfront. The Stellute Law Firm handles these cases on contingency — no fee unless we recover compensation for you.

If you or a loved one has suffered a brain injury, call The Stellute Law Firm today at 757-722-2815, or contact us online.

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