Spinal Injury Lawyers

When you want a spinal injury lawyer who will slow down, listen carefully, and translate your story into a clear legal plan, Calbom & Schwab Law Group, PLLC is here. We have served Central Washington for generations, and we take pride in meeting clients where they are, both literally and figuratively. We want to make the legal process feel human. Our team of spinal injury lawyers lives and works here in Central Washington. If you’re in Moses Lake, Wenatchee, or the Tri-Cities, we can travel to you, visit the crash site or job location, and schedule evening or weekend meetings when convenient. We’re qualified attorneys with good credentials, but more importantly, we’re your neighbors, and we’re here to help

Please don’t hesitate to contact our personal injury lawyers after suffering a catastrophic accident. To request a free consultation with experienced spinal injury lawyers near you, contact our Washington law offices today.

Understanding Spinal Injuries

A spinal injury covers several kinds of harm affecting the spine and spinal cord. These types of injuries can cause a major loss of function and mobility, not to mention pain and discomfort. Also, injuries to the spinal cord itself can cause permanent paralysis.

Examples of spinal injuries include:

• Fractured Vertebrae: This refers to fractures to the vertebrae themselves.
• Herniated Discs: This refers to trauma to the cushioning discs between the vertebrae.
• Spinal Nerve Compression: This refers to pinched nerves along the spinal column.
• Spinal Cord Damage: The most severe kinds of spinal injuries involve damage to the spinal cord itself, causing varying degrees of paralysis.

How Spinal Injuries Can Affect Your Life and Livelihood

Even relatively minor spine injuries can have a major effect on your ability to earn a living wage and overall quality of life. Common issues people experience after a spinal injury include:

• Changes in Mobility: Damage to the vertebrae or spinal cord can significantly affect mobility. A person might experience limited mobility, pain when twisting their body, or an inability to move parts of their body below the point of injury.
• Long-Term Physical Rehabilitation: Spine injury victims may need to undergo years of physical therapy and occupational therapy to maintain good health and achieve some level of acceptable function.
• Inability to Pursue Current Career: Major spine injuries could prevent someone from working their current job, especially in physically demanding professions. This may require job retraining to start a new career or leaving the workforce entirely.
• Living with a Permanent Disability: If the spine injury results in permanent paralysis or some other form of disability, the injury victim will need to adapt their lifestyle and their living situation. This includes home renovations for wheelchair accessibility and purchasing an adapted vehicle.
• Changes to Mental Health: Major injuries can cause victims to experience depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These changes in mood and mental health can also affect relationships, friendships, and social interactions.

Our Lawyers Never Ignore the Long-Term Effects

A settlement or verdict should fit not just the diagnosis but also your lived reality. At Calbom & Schwab Law Group, PLLC, we look at the long-term impacts of a spinal injury. We look beyond the immediate bills to the long arc of recovery, relapse, and adaptation.

Our spinal injury attorneys ask hard questions early:

• How much will care for your spinal injury cost in 10 years?
• How will chronic pain and limited mobility change your daily routines?
• What does work look like with permanent restrictions?
• Who will help at home, and what will that support cost?

The answers to those questions will shape the value of your case and how we’ll approach the negotiation and litigation process.

Common Causes of Spinal Injuries

Spinal injuries tend to be caused by severe physical trauma to the back or neck. These serious kinds of injuries are often associated with:

• Car Accidents: The force generated in a major crash can severely damage a person’s spine and spinal cord.
• Motorcycle Accidents: Motorcyclists are extremely vulnerable to catastrophic injuries of the neck, back, and spine.
• Semi-Truck Accidents: Large commercial trucks can cause major injuries during a collision due to their size and the force generated during impact.
• Construction Accidents: Construction workers could suffer a spinal injury during falls, crushing injuries, and other serious kinds of mishaps.
• Farming Accidents: Farmers may suffer major injuries to the neck, back, and spine while doing routine farm work.
• Slip, Trip, and Fall Accidents: A major slip, trip, or fall could cause a spinal cord injury. The risks are particularly high for elderly people.

How Long Do I Have to File a Spinal Cord Injury Claim in Washington?

For most injury claims in Washington, there is a three-year deadline to file a claim that starts on the date of the incident. Once that three-year statute of limitations has passed, you will no longer be able to file a lawsuit.

While three years is a fair amount of time, it’s best to speak with our Washington spinal injury attorneys as soon as possible. The team at Calbom & Schwab Law Group, PLLC can start investigating your claim and seeking the damages you need after a major accident.

Living with Paraplegia

Paraplegia refers to permanent paralysis that affects the lower half of the body, typically both legs. This type of life-changing injury occurs when the spinal cord is damaged from the lumbar spine (lower back) to the thoracic spine (mid-back).

Paraplegic clients have described weakness of their extremities below the point of injury and loss of sensation below the point of injury. These spinal cord injuries can also lead to struggles with bowel and bladder function. Many paraplegics also face risks of pressure sores, spasticity, and temperature regulation issues.

Paraplegics will require the use of a wheelchair for mobility for the rest of their lives. They may also require regular visits with medical specialists and at-home care assistants to help with daily activities. As noted earlier, paraplegics may experience low moods because of changes in overall quality of life, and may have to change careers due to their new reality.

Living with Quadriplegia (Tetraplegia)

Quadriplegia, also called tetraplegia, involves partial or total paralysis of all four limbs. This type of life-changing injury occurs when the spinal cord is damaged around the cervical spine (neck area). Injuries that are high up in the neck could affect a person’s ability to breathe.

Quadriplegics face significant challenges in day-to-day life. They will often need a family member to serve as a caregiver, and may also require a medical assistant to help with daily tasks and monitor their health needs. When a quadriplegic is unable to breathe on their own, they will require ventilatory support for the rest of their life. In many cases, quadriplegics will no longer be able to work.

Life as a quadriplegic can be extremely challenging, even with a strong support network and close loved ones. The 24/7 medical monitoring and changes in mood and quality of life can create new challenges every day. Our Central Washington spinal injury lawyers will make sure these difficulties are considered when assessing the true value of your legal claim.

The Costs Associated With Permanent Paralysis

Permanent paralysis can cause a host of medical problems, mental health issues, and difficulties in relationships. This includes changes in sleep patterns, sores due to lack of movement, extended bouts of depression, and strain within a family.

Financially, a household may lose its breadwinner or a source of income due to a major spinal cord injury. Paying medical bills becomes much harder when a family now struggles just to pay the rent.

Any settlement or verdict after a spinal cord injury must reflect these realities.

How We Calculate the Value of Your Spinal Injury Claim

Our Central Washington spinal injury lawyers will build a life-care plan that inventories equipment, medications, home modifications, and human help across your lifespan. We then tie those costs to credible sources. We will also add future medical inflation and wage-growth assumptions to avoid a result that looks adequate today but falls short in 15 years.

Non-economic damages matter just as much as the concrete, quantifiable losses. Your pain, lost independence, and reduced enjoyment of life do not appear on receipts, but they shape the events of each day. Washington law recognizes recovery for both economic and non-economic losses in injury suits. Calbom & Schwab Law Group, PLLC can build a strong case documenting both with clear evidence.

Workers’ Compensation, Third-Party Claims, and Disability Benefits

Some spinal injuries happen while a person is at work. These kinds of injuries may include falls from scaffolding, forklift accidents, or repetitive-strain injuries. There are multiple options for compensation in these situations.

• Workers’ Compensation Benefits: Washington’s workers’ compensation system covers approved medical care and wage replacement without regard to fault, whether your employer is insured through the state fund or self-insured.
• Third-Party Personal Injury Claim: Our Washington spinal injury lawyers will help you understand when a separate third-party negligence claim can be added to workers’ compensation if someone other than your employer caused the harm that led to your spinal injury.
• Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI): If the injury prevents a return to gainful work for at least a year, Social Security benefits may be available. Federal rules evaluate spinal cord disorders under specific criteria and consider both complete and incomplete loss of function. Our spinal injury lawyers will coordinate your injury case with potential SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) or SSI (Supplemental Security Income) claims to ensure that the medical record supports both.

We understand just how expensive and how challenging it can be to live with a major spinal cord injury. That’s why Calbom & Schwab Law Group, PLLC is here to offer guidance and help secure as much compensation and financial assistance for you as possible.

Contact Our Central Washington Spinal Injury Lawyers

We believe in the people of Central Washington. We grew up here, raised families here, and built our practice here. If you need a spinal injury lawyer who listens first and fights next, we are ready to help. To request a free consultation with trusted spinal injury lawyers near you, contact our Central Washington law offices today.