Neck, Back, and Spine Injuries

Neck, Back, and Spinal Cord Injury Claims

If you or a family member suffered a serious neck, back, or spinal cord injury, and you are looking for legal help, your choice of law firms is critical. Choosing the right law firm when faced with such significant harm is vitally important. You place so much trust in the lawyer you hire because so much is dependent on getting the best possible legal help. We want the opportunity to earn your trust.

We have decades of experience protecting people who have experienced catastrophic injuries. While we are proud of the tens of millions we have recovered over the years for the catastrophically injured, we are equally proud of the role we humbly participate in when helping others through their darkest hour.

Schedule a free consultation to discuss your spinal injury, call (830) 264-6297.

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We Know the Stakes Trust Us To Make a Meaningful Difference

All of our clients have families of their own. They are decent, hardworking people, and come to us with complex business issues or because their lives have been changed by a catastrophic injury.

SEE HOW WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

$20 MILLION Oil and gas case involving significant economic harm
$19.4 MILLION Jury Verdict Wrongful Death of an elderly woman at Assisted Living facility.
$13.5 MILLION Jury Verdict Patient paralyzed after nurses failed to tell a doctor about a change in condition
$8 MILLION Young college student suffers brain injury from negligent conduct
$7.5 MILLION West texas woman becomes brain injured when basic safety rules were not followed
$6.2 MILLION Jury Verdict Marine veteran suffers catastrophic harm after a dangerous fall

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Catastrophic Accidents & Injuries

There are a lot of law firms out there, and a lot of lawyers trying to hustle your business. We approach our client relationship differently at the Kemmy Law Firm. It is a relationship built on trust. A relationship whose cornerstone is our commitment to stand in the fire with you until we crossed the other side.

At The Kemmy Law Firm, we know that people dealing with significant neck, back, or spinal trauma experience far more than just physical injury and pain. These injuries are compounded with medical debt, lost income, loss of companionship and the total disruption of one’s daily life. And in the midst of all this, an injured person or their family is trying to deal with uncooperative insurance companies and adjusters whose job it is to persuade injury victims to give up their rights and accept less compensation than they are entitled to.

You probably have lived your whole life playing by the rules and believing you would never need to be involved in a legal dispute. But when so much is on the line and the company or its insurer are working against you, you need an advocate on your side. We are here to hold negligent individuals and companies accountable so you can recover after a neck, back, or spinal injury.

We have over five decades of combined experience and have won tens of millions of dollars for our clients. Let us fight for you and your family. You owe us nothing unless we recover compensation.

Schedule a free consultation - no fees unless we win or settle your case at (830) 264-6297

Neck, Back, and Spinal injuries in Midland, Odessa TX and New Mexico — An Overview

If you’ve been involved in an accident and hurt your spine, back, or neck, it’s important that you get medical attention as soon as possible. These injuries are not always apparent after an accident, and you can make injuries worse by walking or moving too much. By getting medical attention promptly, a physician may notice something wrong that you do not and prevent further injury.

Many neck and back injuries are considered soft tissue injuries, such as whiplash. An insurance company may be unwilling to fairly compensate you for a soft tissue injury. These injuries can’t be documented through x-rays, CT scans or MRI’s so the company or your employer may suspect fraud. But just because an injury may not show up in traditional tests doesn’t mean it’s not there.

When dealing with an insurance company, you need to know your rights so you won’t allow it to pay you less than what you’re entitled to. The Kemmy Law Firm has handled thousands of insurance claims. We know insurance company policies, practices and procedures and how our clients can make the most of them. If we can’t work out a reasonable settlement for you, our experienced lawyers will take your case to court.

Reach out to one of our offices in San Antonio, Odessa, TX, or Hobbs, NM, so we can help you pursue compensation for your neck, back or spinal injury through an insurance claim or lawsuit.

"I wholeheartedly endorse Kemmy Law without reservation."
Working with Tom and Nick Kemmy on my case was a far better experience than I expected going in. They were thoughtful and listened to what I had to say. It was also gratifying that Kemmy Law Firm is truly a family affair with the Dad, Thomas, four sons and a daughter in law, Nick's wife, working together. If you're looking for legal representation, I wholeheartedly endorse Kemmy Law without reservation.

- Jerry G.
"You could not hire a better attorneys than the Kemmy's."

My husband was involved in an industrial accident & we hired the Kemmy law firm to represent him with that case. You could not hire a better attorneys than the Kemmy's. They went above & beyond to help him get what he deserved. If you are searching for a lawyer in Texas you need to hire them!!!

- Colleen B.
"What surprised me most was the immediate help and desire to help."
For my Hispanic compatriots, I would like to share my experience with the Kemmy Law Firm. What surprised me most was the immediate help and desire to help. They provided me with the steps that, as you will understand, are often complicated to achieve my goals.

- Carlos L.
"They made a difficult situation more at ease by treating us with dignity, grace and like family."

Our child was involved in a serious injury that was unexpected and devastating. Tom and Jac Kemmy were quick, professional and supportive throughout the whole process. They responded to all of our questions and helped in every way possible. They made a difficult situation more at ease by treating us with dignity, grace and like family.

- Harrison L.

Types of Neck, Back, and Spinal Injuries

Serious neck, back and spinal injuries include:

Falls and vehicle accidents are among the most common causes of neck, back and spinal injuries. This can include slip and falls that cause herniated discs, whiplash from a read end collision, or spinal damage from a violent head-on crash However, any accident where tremendous energy is released can result in serious trauma.

Herniated/slipped/ruptured disc:

A herniated disk is a problem with one of the rubbery cushions (discs) that are between the individual bones (vertebrae) that create the spine. A spinal disc has a soft, jellylike center (nucleus) encased in a tougher, rubbery exterior (annulus). Sometimes called a slipped disk or a ruptured disk, a herniated disk happens if some of the nucleus pushes out through a tear in the annulus. This can irritate a nearby nerve and cause pain, numbness or weakness in an arm or leg
Whiplash:

A neck injury caused by forceful, rapid back-and-forth movement of the neck. Whiplash most often occurs during a rear-end auto accident
Bulging disc:

If the outer portion of a disc weakens and loses its shape it can bulge into the spinal canal, press on nerves and cause pain, tingling and weakness that extend to the areas connected to those nerves, like the arms and legs.
Spinal stenosis:

A narrowing of the space within your spine, putting pressure on the nerves travelling through the spine. This occurs most often in the lower back and the neck. Symptoms include pain, tingling, numbness, and muscle weakness
Spinal cord damage:

The spinal cord has a critical role in many functions of your body, including moving limbs and the transmission of sensory and motor nerve impulses to and from the brain. Together with the brain, it is your central nervous system, which coordinates the functions of various organs of our body. The spinal cord is the pathway through which the brain sends and receives information from various parts of the body. Spinal cord damage can impact your physical sensations, functioning of organs and control of our muscles
Severed spinal cord:

Causes a complete spinal cord injury, stopping all communication between the brain and the body below the injury. All sensory, motor, and autonomic function below the point of injury stops and that’s where paralysis begins
Paraplegia:

Or partial paralysis, is a form of paralysis where function is substantially impeded from the waist down
Quadriplegia/tetraplegia:

Paralysis below the neck.

We Know the Stakes The Kemmy Experience

All of our clients have families of their own. They are decent, hardworking people, and come to uswith complex business issues or because their lives have been changed by a catastrophic injury.

Neck, Back, and Spinal Injury Settlements

When deciding how to handle negotiations, you need to think about all the harm done and what you are willing to accept for your current and future needs . You also need to consider the downsides of going to trial, including the risks your case may be dismissed or that your damage award may be less than expected. That lack of control and uncertainty are major reasons why both sides choose to settle.

Negotiations are based on the needs of the parties and the ability of both to establish trust and work together. Mistakes by either party that can hamper or end negotiations can be:

Not acting in good faith
Seeing negotiation as a test of wills or a game
Failing to fully understand the strengths and weaknesses of a case and factoring them into what to offer, demand or accept

Meet Jerry

Neck, Back and Spinal Injury Compensation

There are many damages you could seek through an insurance claim or lawsuit, depending the harm you suffered.

Economic damages: Past medical bills (for treatments such as cervical fusion or lumbar fusion) and payment for reasonably expected, future medical treatments; lost income since the accident and the income you may be expected to lose in the future due to your injuries; damage to, or the loss of, your vehicle and out-of-pocket expenses incurred because of the accident
Non-economic damages: Pain and suffering caused by the accident, injury and your recovery; the negative impact on your relationships; mental or emotional harm caused by the accident and injuries

These damages could be shown by:

Copies of bills and receipts
Establishing the market value of your automobile
Expert opinion as to what medical treatment will be needed in the future
Testimony from family members and a mental health professional on the emotional and psychiatric impact of the injury
Tax records could show past earnings while expert opinion could establish what you would’ve been expected to earn if there was no accident and what should be expected afterward

Proving Negligence in Neck, Back, and Spinal Injury Claims

Negligence is a legal theory used to establish liability in accident cases. The plaintiff (the injured party) has the burden of proving that the defendant (the party accused of being responsible) is, more likely than not, legally responsible for the harm done to the plaintiff. He or she needs to show the defendant,

Owed the plaintiff a legal duty or obligation (not to drive in a dangerous way in a reasonably safe vehicle; or have a reasonably safe surface for customers to walk on)
That duty or obligation was breached (the person drove while intoxicated, was distracted by a smart phone, drove through a red light; the floor was known to be slippery but not cleaned)
That breach is the factual and legal (or proximate) cause of the accident
The accident caused harm to the plaintiff
Under state law the defendant is obligated to compensate the plaintiff for the harm suffered

Often in accident cases both sides disagree on who’s at fault and by how much. In Texas there is a modified comparative fault rule that follows a 51% bar rule. The plaintiff can’t recover compensation if he or she is found to be 51% or more at fault for causing the accident.

If it’s shown the defendant is more at fault than the plaintiff, plaintiff’s recovery is cut by the share of his or her fault. If a jury decides a plaintiff is 40% at fault and there are $100,000 in damages, plaintiff’s recovery will be $60,000.

New Mexico follows a different system, pure comparative negligence. There’s no need to show the defendant was at greater fault than the plaintiff. He or she can recover from a defendant the defendant’s share of culpability, whatever it may be. If the defendant’s share of the blame for the accident is a third, the plaintiff can recover a third of his or her total damages.

Establishing damages is a critical part of the case. If that can’t be done, there will be no compensation and no point in filing a lawsuit. If a plaintiff has a pre-existing medical condition, the worsening of that condition caused by the accident can be compensable. It’s critical that all medical care be documented so the insurance company and a jury fully understand your past and current medical situation and what it’s expected to be in the future.

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Neck, Back, and Spinal Injury Lawsuits and Trial Preparation

If a lawsuit is filed, part of the litigation process is discovery, where both parties normally find the critical facts they haven’t uncovered to that point. Both sides ask each other questions in writing and under oath, exchange documents and information. Often the parties, after discovery, get a full picture of the important facts, understand the value of the case and reach an agreement.

During the investigation and litigation phase we often use experts. These are highly educated and experienced professionals who work on lawsuits and can give their opinions in court. We use accident reconstructionists to help us determine the cause of accidents and who is at fault. Medical experts can explain the nature and extent of injuries and how long limitations are expected to last.

This is all part of trial preparation, which starts when we’re retained by a client. Every step in the process is taken with the attention and seriousness needed to prove a client’s case in court. Our level of effort is the same, whether we’re negotiating with an insurance company or at trial.

Schedule a free consultation - no fees unless we win or settle your case at (830) 264-6297

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Let Our Family Protect Yours

When you work with us at Kemmy Law Firm, you are working with a family run firm with more than 50 years of combined experience.

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Odessa
101 N Jackson Ave
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