A spinal cord injury reorganizes an entire family’s life in a matter of seconds. Careers end. Homes need to be rebuilt around a wheelchair. A spouse becomes a caregiver. The costs run for decades.
These cases arise in Santa Clarita from high-energy crashes on I-5 and SR-14, canyon road collisions, falls from height on construction sites, falls at commercial properties, and recreational incidents in the surrounding hills. Djougourian Law Corp handles catastrophic injury cases with the depth of expert support they require.
Understanding Spinal Cord Injuries
The spinal cord carries every motor command and sensory signal between the brain and the body. Damage to it is permanent, because central nervous system tissue does not regenerate.
The National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center reports roughly 18,000 new traumatic spinal cord injuries in the United States each year, with several hundred thousand Americans living with the consequences. Vehicle crashes are the leading cause, followed by falls. NSCISC’s Facts and Figures at a Glance documents average first-year and annual costs that run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, with lifetime costs for high cervical injuries reaching several million dollars in current dollars, before accounting for lost wages and productivity.
Complete injury means total loss of motor and sensory function below the level of injury. Incomplete injury means some function is preserved, which offers a better functional prognosis but rarely a return to baseline. Cervical injuries (C1-C8) affect all four limbs. The highest levels can require ventilator support. Thoracic, lumbar and sacral injuries affect the trunk and lower extremities with severity depending on level.
Common Causes in the Santa Clarita Valley
Motor vehicle crashes on I-5, SR-14, Soledad Canyon Road, Bouquet Canyon Road and the canyon roads. Falls from height on construction sites throughout the valley. Motorcycle collisions on canyon and freeway routes. Falls at commercial and residential properties, particularly stairwell and parking structure falls. Diving and recreational incidents. Bicycle and pedestrian collisions.
What These Cases Actually Require
A spinal cord injury case is not a larger version of an ordinary injury case. It is a different discipline.
Life care planning. A certified life care planner builds a year-by-year projection of medical care, attendant care, durable medical equipment replacement cycles, home and vehicle modification, medication, and management of secondary complications such as pressure injuries, urinary tract infections, autonomic dysreflexia and chronic pain.
Medical expert testimony. Neurosurgeons, physiatrists and rehabilitation specialists establish the injury, the prognosis and the necessity of every element of care.
Vocational assessment. An expert evaluates residual work capacity, retraining potential and realistic labor market access.
Economic analysis. An economist reduces lifetime care costs and lost earning capacity to present value and accounts for medical inflation.
Insurance investigation. We identify every layer: primary policies, umbrella and excess coverage, commercial policies, employer coverage and underinsured motorist benefits. In catastrophic cases, available coverage often determines the ceiling on recovery, and finding an overlooked excess policy changes everything.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is recovery possible?
Rehabilitation maximizes remaining function and adaptive independence, and incomplete injuries sometimes improve meaningfully. A complete injury does not resolve. Anyone promising otherwise is not being straight with you.
What does lifetime care cost?
It varies enormously by level of injury, age at injury and pre-injury employment. NSCISC’s published estimates run from over a million dollars for incomplete injuries to well over five million for high tetraplegia, and those figures exclude lost wages and benefits.
What compensation is available?
All past and future medical and attendant care, home and vehicle modification, durable medical equipment, lost earnings and lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium for a spouse.
What if the injury happened at work?
Workers’ compensation alone will not cover a catastrophic spinal injury. Third-party claims against non-employer defendants provide full damages. See our construction accident page.
What if my family member cannot make decisions?
A conservatorship or guardian ad litem allows a family member to pursue the claim on their behalf. We handle that process.
How do we pay for care while the case is pending?
Health insurance, Medicare and Medi-Cal provide coverage, and many providers will treat on a lien. We help coordinate this and address lien resolution at the end of the case.
Generally two years from injury under Code of Civil Procedure Section 335.1, or six months for a claim against a public entity under Government Code Section 911.2.
Contact a Santa Clarita Spinal Cord Injury Attorney
You need a lawyer who will build this case for the next fifty years of your life, not the next six months. Call 818-530-0000 or contact us for a free consultation.
