Southern Illinois Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyers

A concussion is the most common brain injury and is classified as a mild TBI, though the word “mild” can be misleading. A blow or jolt makes the brain move rapidly inside the skull, briefly disrupting how it works. Symptoms such as headache, fog, dizziness, and memory trouble can last days, weeks, or longer, and they sometimes do not appear until a day or two after the accident. Repeated concussions are especially dangerous, and a second one before the first has healed can cause lasting damage.

A contusion is a bruise on the brain, meaning bleeding and swelling in the tissue itself. Contusions often follow a direct, forceful impact to the head in a crash or a fall. Larger contusions can press on surrounding brain tissue and may require surgery to relieve the pressure. Because bleeding can worsen in the hours after an injury, a contusion that seems minor at first can become an emergency.

A coup-contrecoup injury is damage at two points: where the head was struck, and on the opposite side, where the brain rebounds against the skull. This pattern is common in high-impact collisions and serious falls. Because two regions of the brain are injured, these cases often involve more widespread symptoms and a longer, more complicated recovery.

Diffuse axonal injury happens when strong rotational or shaking forces tear the brain’s nerve fibers across many areas at once. It is one of the most serious brain injuries and frequently results from high-speed crashes. DAI often causes a prolonged loss of consciousness or coma, and survivors may face permanent cognitive and physical disability. This injury does not always show clearly on a standard CT scan, which makes the right imaging and expert review critical.

A penetrating injury occurs when an object pierces the skull and enters the brain, such as a bullet, shrapnel, or debris in a violent crash or industrial accident. These are life-threatening injuries that demand emergency surgery and intensive care. Survivors commonly need extensive rehabilitation and long-term medical support, and the location of the wound largely determines which abilities are affected.

Second impact syndrome is a rare but often catastrophic condition that occurs when a person suffers a second concussion before the first one has healed. The brain swells rapidly and dangerously. This risk is a major concern in youth and school sports, which is why return-to-play decisions should always be made carefully and by a medical professional. When a coach, school, or program ignores concussion protocols, the consequences can be devastating.

Not every serious brain injury comes from a blow to the head. A hypoxic injury results from reduced oxygen to the brain, and an anoxic injury from a total loss of oxygen. These injuries can follow a near-drowning, a cardiac event, or a medical error involving anesthesia, surgery, or childbirth. Brain cells begin to die within minutes without oxygen, so even a short delay in care can cause permanent harm. When the cause is a preventable medical mistake, the case may involve a medical malpractice claim.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head impacts over time, including the kind seen in contact sports. It is associated with memory loss, confusion, depression, impulse control problems, and progressive dementia. According to the Concussion Legacy Foundation, CTE can currently be confirmed only after death, which makes prevention and proper concussion management so important for athletes of every age.

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of serious brain injuries, especially among younger people. The violent forces in a wreck can throw the head against a window, steering wheel, or airbag, or shake the brain hard enough to tear nerve fibers, even without a direct strike. On high-speed roads like I-57, I-64, Route 13, and Route 15, the impact is often severe enough to require a life flight to a trauma center. Our Southern Illinois car accident lawyers handle the crash claim and the brain injury claim together.

Falls are the single most common cause of traumatic brain injury. A slip on an unmarked wet floor, a trip on a broken step, or a fall from a ladder, roof, or scaffold can all cause a head injury. When a property owner or business fails to fix a known hazard or warn about it, an injured visitor may have a premises liability claim. Older adults are especially vulnerable, because a fall that a younger person might shrug off can cause a life-altering brain injury.

Residents in long-term care are at high risk for head injuries, and too many of those falls trace back to understaffing, missed safety measures, or a failure to supervise residents known to be at risk. An unwitnessed fall, a delayed response, or a head injury that staff fail to flag for medical care can have tragic results. When a facility’s neglect causes a brain injury, our Southern Illinois nursing home abuse attorneys hold the facility accountable.

Brain injuries happen on the job in falls from heights, struck-by accidents, and machinery incidents, and construction work carries some of the highest risk. In most cases, Illinois workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy against your employer under the Workers’ Compensation Act (820 ILCS 305/5). But you may also have a separate third-party claim against another company, a property owner, or an equipment maker whose negligence contributed to the injury. We look at both paths so you do not leave money on the table.

Concussions and repeated head impacts are a real danger in football, soccer, wrestling, and other contact activities, particularly for young athletes whose brains are still developing. Most sports injuries are simply part of the game and create no claim. But when a school, league, coach, or facility ignores concussion safety rules, fails to remove an injured athlete from play, or hides a known hazard, that negligence may support a claim. Repeated, poorly managed concussions also raise the long-term risk of CTE.

A blow to the head during an assault can cause a severe brain injury. Beyond any claim against the attacker, the victim may have a claim against a third party whose negligence allowed the violence to happen, such as a bar or property owner that provided no reasonable security in a place where trouble was foreseeable. Where alcohol service to an intoxicated person played a role, an Illinois dram shop claim may also apply.

Some brain injuries are caused by preventable medical errors. Oxygen deprivation during a difficult delivery can cause a permanent birth injury to a newborn. Anesthesia mistakes, surgical errors, medication errors, and the failure to diagnose a stroke or brain bleed in time can all cause lasting harm. These cases follow special medical malpractice rules and deadlines, and they require qualified medical experts. We evaluate whether the care fell below the accepted standard and whether that failure caused the injury.

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Mt. Vernon Office
Olson & Reeves, Attorneys at Law
1015 Broadway
Mt. Vernon, IL 62864
Phone: (618) 316-7322

Centralia Office
Olson & Reeves, Attorneys at Law
217 S Locust St
Centralia, IL 62801

You may have a brain injury if you experience headache, dizziness, confusion, nausea, blurred vision, memory trouble, mood changes, or any loss of consciousness after a blow or jolt to the head. Symptoms can be delayed by hours or days, so see a doctor right away even if you feel okay at first.

Many people walk away from a crash or fall believing they are fine, only to develop serious symptoms later. A prompt medical evaluation protects your health and documents the injury at the time it happened, which matters a great deal if you later bring a claim. When in doubt, get checked out.

Yes. You can suffer a traumatic brain injury without ever blacking out. Most concussions involve no loss of consciousness at all. A TBI is about disrupted brain function, not just being knocked out, so dizziness, confusion, memory problems, or headaches after a head impact can all signal a real injury.

This is one of the biggest misunderstandings about brain injuries, and insurance companies use it against victims. Do not let anyone tell you the injury cannot be serious simply because you stayed awake. What matters is how your brain is working now compared to before the accident.

Do not accept the insurer’s opinion as the final word. Insurance companies routinely downplay concussions and brain injuries to pay less. The best response is to follow your doctor’s treatment plan, keep a record of your symptoms, and talk to a brain injury lawyer before you sign anything or accept an offer.

An adjuster’s goal is to close your claim cheaply, not to make sure you are fully compensated. Once you sign a release, you usually cannot reopen the claim, even if your symptoms get worse. A lawyer can bring in the medical proof that shows what your injury really means and what it will cost over time.

There is no average that fits every case. A brain injury claim’s value depends on the severity of the injury, the medical and rehabilitation costs, lost income and future earning capacity, the effect on daily life, and the available insurance. Severe, permanent injuries can be worth a great deal, and Illinois places no cap on injury damages.

Because brain injuries often carry lifelong costs, valuing one correctly means projecting future medical care and lost earnings, not just totaling past bills. Anyone who promises a specific dollar figure before reviewing your records is guessing. A proper valuation comes from the medical evidence and the right experts.

For a serious brain injury, yes. These are among the most complex and heavily disputed injury cases. They require medical experts, future-cost analysis, and proof that an injury you cannot see is real and lasting. People with experienced representation generally recover far more than those who handle a serious claim alone.

A minor bump that fully heals may not need a lawyer. But when symptoms linger, when the bills are large, or when the insurer is fighting you, the stakes are too high to go it alone. A free consultation costs you nothing and tells you where you stand.

Our brain injury lawyers work on a contingency fee, which means you pay no attorney fee up front and owe a fee only if we recover money for you. The fee is a percentage of the recovery, agreed on in writing before we start. If we do not win, you do not owe an attorney fee.

This arrangement lets anyone afford strong representation, regardless of their finances after an injury. It also keeps our interests aligned with yours, because we are paid only when you are. We will explain the fee in plain terms during your free consultation.

If you suffered a brain injury on the job, workers’ compensation is usually your exclusive remedy against your employer, and it can pay for medical care and lost wages regardless of fault. But you may also have a separate third-party claim against another at-fault company, property owner, or equipment maker.

Many workplace brain injuries, especially in construction, involve more than just the employer. A subcontractor, a property owner, or a defective piece of equipment may share the blame. A third-party claim can recover damages that workers’ compensation does not, such as full pain and suffering, so it is worth having both paths reviewed.

In most Illinois injury cases, a child’s two-year deadline does not begin until their 18th birthday, so the claim can generally be brought up to age 20. Medical malpractice claims involving minors follow stricter limits. Even so, it is far better to act early, while evidence and witnesses are still available.

Waiting can quietly weaken a strong case. Medical records get harder to gather, witnesses move or forget, and the proof a child needs to show a lasting injury becomes harder to assemble. A parent or guardian can bring the claim on the child’s behalf at any time, and usually should.

If a brain injury caused by someone else’s negligence proves fatal, the family can pursue a wrongful death and survival claim. This can recover funeral and medical expenses, the family’s loss of support and companionship, and the conscious pain and suffering the victim endured before passing.

A wrongful death claim is brought through the deceased person’s estate, which is why these cases often involve probate. We handle both the injury claim and the estate work in the same office, so a grieving family is not left coordinating between firms. A wrongful death claim generally must be filed within two years of the date of death.