Traumatic brain injury (TBI) or brain injury is caused by a bump, blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain. The severity of brain injuries rang from mild—brief change in mental status or consciousness to severe—an extended period of unconsciousness or amnesia after the injury. Note, not every bump or blow to the head causes a brain injury. Your doctor will determine whether or not you are experiencing a brain injury based on your short and long-term symptoms.

The Center for Disease and Control reports that every year, at least 1.7 million TBIs occur either as an isolated injury or along with other injuries. Approximately 75 percent of TBIs that occur each year are mild forms of TBI. However, TBI is a contributing factor to a third of all injury related deaths in the US; that’s a whopping 30.5 percent.

If you or someone you know is experiencing TBI and you think that a third-party if liable for the TBI, the first thing you should do is speak with a qualified personal injury attorney. You should speak to an experienced personal injury attorney before negotiating with an insurance company, or the alleged liable party, and if you are considering filing a lawsuit. Brain injury cases raise a host of complex legal and medical issues, so it is imperative to speak to someone who is qualified and who has the expertise to protect your legal right to economic and noneconomic forms of compensation.

The consequences of a TBI have a severe impact on the injured party, family members, and our society. For this reason, it is important to acquire proper legal help, which to some extent will help ease the process of dealing with the effects of TBI for all parties by ensuring that victims are properly compensated.

Most TBI cases are based on a legal theory called negligence. A negligence claim requires that the person who filed suit, the plaintiff, to prove that the party they are bring suit against, the defendant, is legally responsible for the injuries sustained by the plaintiff. To succeed on a negligence case, your attorney and you will have to prove that:

The law required the defendant to be reasonably careful—also know as Duty of Care. For example, if you are driving in a residential neighborhood and you observe kids plan, you should be reasonably careful and not speed. The defendant failed to act with reasonable care toward the defendant. For instance, you can hold someone accountable reasonable care if they attempt to evade the crime scene. The defendant’s action or inaction was the cause of the plaintiff’s injuries. The plaintiff suffered losses that are measurable under the law such as—loss of employment or loss of finances.

Your attorney will piece together exactly what happened using medical records, witness testimony, and other forms of evidence and argue your case in the courtroom. He or she will protect your legal right to any form of compensation that you are legally entitled to.