Serious Brain Injury After a Crash? We Can Talk About Your Options

If you’re searching for a catastrophic brain injury attorney in Richmond, this page explains how these claims work under Virginia law. A catastrophic brain injury claim seeks to recover losses from a severe brain injury caused by someone else’s negligence, such as a car or commercial truck crash. Correll Law Firm handles these matters and serves Richmond and Henrico County from its Winchester and Harrisonburg locations. Below, you’ll find the basics, the deadlines that matter, and what the process usually looks like.

What a Catastrophic Brain Injury Claim Involves

A catastrophic brain injury claim is a personal injury claim for a severe brain injury that causes lasting change. That change can affect thinking, memory, behavior, movement, or independence. A traumatic brain injury (TBI) happens when an outside force damages the brain. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs notes that TBIs can be mild or severe. Concussions are generally considered mild TBIs. Catastrophic injuries sit at the severe end, and their effects can be long-term.

A brain injury can also change a person’s job, family role, and independence. Those changes often shape the claim.

This service is for two groups. The first is people hurt in car or commercial truck crashes who now face serious brain injuries. The second is families who lost a loved one to a brain injury caused by a crash. For a broader overview, read the traumatic brain injury guide.

How Crashes Cause Severe Brain Injuries

A severe brain injury in a crash usually happens when the head strikes something hard or when the brain moves violently inside the skull.

• Head impact: The head can hit the steering wheel, dashboard, window frame, or pavement.
• Rapid motion: Sudden stopping or spinning can injure brain tissue even without a direct blow.
• Multiple injuries: The VA notes that TBI may occur with broken bones, burns, or limb loss, a pattern called polytrauma.

Truck crashes often involve greater force because of the vehicle’s size and weight. Liability can also be more complex, since several parties may share responsibility.

Some brain injury symptoms do not show up right away. Get a medical evaluation after any head impact, even when early symptoms seem mild. Gaps in treatment can make it harder to connect symptoms to the crash.

If the crash also caused spinal damage, read about complete vs. incomplete spinal cord injury.

What a Virginia Brain Injury Claim Can Include

A claim can seek compensation for losses tied to the injury, such as medical care, lost work, and changes in daily life. The exact losses depend on the facts of each case.

For families of someone who died, Virginia law sets the damages. In plain terms, the approved rule reads:

Virginia wrongful death damages cover the family’s sorrow, mental anguish and loss of the decedent’s companionship, guidance and care; lost income and services; medical expenses from the injury; funeral expenses; and, for willful or wanton conduct, punitive damages (Va. Code § 8.01-52).

That is a separate type of claim.

Punitive damages follow a different rule:

Virginia allows punitive damages for actual malice, or for willful or wanton conduct or recklessness showing a conscious disregard for the safety of others, capped at $350,000 (Va. Code § 8.01-38.1).

The Filing Deadline and Early Steps After a Crash

Virginia generally allows two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit (Va. Code § 8.01-243(A)); the clock runs from the date of injury, not the date of discovery, with narrow exceptions. Some claims carry notice requirements that run out sooner.

A Virginia wrongful death action is filed by the decedent’s personal representative within two years of the death (Va. Code §§ 8.01-50(C), 8.01-244(B)), on behalf of the family members the statute protects.

Virginia requires a driver involved in a crash with injury or death to stop and report it to police immediately (Va. Code §§ 46.2-371, 46.2-894). The two-year period is the deadline to file a lawsuit (Va. Code § 8.01-243(A)), not the deadline to report a crash; the driver must report a crash with injury or death to a law-enforcement officer immediately (Va. Code §§ 46.2-371, 46.2-894).

Early steps matter for a brain injury:

• Get medical care promptly, and keep every appointment and treatment record.
• Keep copies of the police report and any letters from insurers.
• Write down symptoms, memory problems, and changes at work or home, with dates.
• Be careful about what you post online about the crash or your health.

What to Expect From the Legal Process

A brain injury claim usually moves through several stages, from gathering records to a demand to the insurer and, if needed, a lawsuit. The steps below show the typical order.

1. First conversation: You describe the crash, the injuries, and who was involved.
2. Records: Medical records, crash information, and proof of lost income are gathered.
3. Investigation: In a commercial truck case, this can include driver records.
4. Demand: A written demand goes to the insurer.
5. Lawsuit: If the claim does not resolve, a lawsuit may be filed.

Severe brain injury claims can take longer than other claims. The full effects of the injury may not be clear until treatment has progressed. Medical records show how the crash caused the injury and what care has followed.

Virginia follows contributory negligence: if you are found even partly at fault, you may be barred from recovering, with limited exceptions. Talk to a lawyer about your facts.

The injured person or the family decides whether to settle, with the firm’s guidance. A case may or may not resolve before trial.

Serving Richmond and Henrico County From Winchester and Harrisonburg

People in Richmond and Henrico County can work with a catastrophic brain injury attorney from Correll Law Firm, served from the firm’s Winchester and Harrisonburg locations. Richmond and Henrico County are served from those two offices, not from an office in either county.

Medical care, records, and crash reports for Richmond-area readers may be held close to home. Those records can be requested and reviewed as part of a claim, no matter where the firm’s offices are.

The firm focuses on car accidents, truck accidents, commercial vehicle accidents, catastrophic injuries, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and wrongful death. Readers whose crash also caused spinal damage can read about spinal cord injury from a car crash.

Common Questions About Brain Injury Claims