Skip to Main Content

No Fees Unless We Win

(608) 784-4370

No Fees Unless We Win

(608) 784-4370

Calculating the Full Value of a Spinal Cord Injury in Wisconsin


A spinal cord injury is devastating. When the spinal cord is bruised or nicked, a person can suffer impaired sensation, including difficulty with movements. When the cord is cut into two clean pieces, then all movement is lost below the site of impact. A spinal cord injury is catastrophic, leaving many people with massive medical bills. In this article, our Wisconsin spinal cord injury lawyers explain how we calculate the full value of this type of injury. Call Fitzpatrick, Skemp & Butler, LLC, for more information or to schedule a free consultation.

Add Up Medical Expenses

A serious injury to the spinal column requires immediate medical care:

  • Emergency transportation to the hospital;
  • Surgery to stabilize the spine and prevent deterioration;
  • Monitoring in the hospital or intensive care unit;
  • Physical rehabilitation to help with movement.

This care is expensive. Even one night in the hospital can cost more than $10,000—and spinal cord victims need to spend more than that. One study found that the first-year medical cost for high tetraplegia injury was more than $1,000,000. Subsequent years averaged $185,000.

An injury lower in the spinal cord, such as one leading to paraplegia, still costs more than $500,000 for the first year. An injury resulting in incomplete motor function costs around $350,000.

Other medical expenses include psychological counseling to help with the depression and anxiety which many people suffer. You might also need additional rehabilitation, including speech therapy and occupational therapy, as well as at-home care. Someone paralyzed from the neck down could be unable to do any daily activities for the rest of their life.

Include the Cost of Renovating a Home

Many people in wheelchairs need to renovate their home:

  • Add a wheelchair ramp so a person can get in and out easily.
  • Widen the hallways so that a wheelchair fits.
  • Renovate a kitchen so it is easier to navigate in a wheelchair.
  • Move a shower or bathroom to the first floor, where a person in a wheelchair is confined.

Our lawyers always remember to include the costs of a home renovation for our clients. This is the type of loss which we can directly attribute to the accident, so the defendant should pay.

Calculate Lost income or Wages

A person is unlikely to return to work any time soon after a spinal column injury. Even incomplete spinal cord injuries cause major disruption. You can feel numbness and weakness in limbs, even if you are not totally paralyzed.

Our clients deserve compensation for lost income or wages, even if they are self-employed or work a “gig” job. We can use your W-2 form or paystubs to calculate how much you have lost. You deserve compensation even if you take personal or vacation time at work to recover.

Estimate Future Expenses

Spinal cord injuries don’t heal rapidly. Instead, you can struggle with lingering disability and pain, even under the best of circumstances. Some people will need ongoing rehabilitation or physical therapy. Future surgeries are also common to ensure your spinal column does not degenerate and put pressure on your spinal cord.

In Wisconsin, accident victims can seek compensation for certain future losses if they can establish them with sufficient probability. These future losses cannot be speculative. Instead, our firm will work closely with your medical team and other experts to estimate the cost of future care.

You can also request damages for loss of earning capacity. Suppose you are paralyzed from the waist down. You need to use a wheelchair, so you can no longer work at a loading dock, which was your job before the accident. Instead, you might take a clerical job, which pays half as much.

You will suffer a reduction in your earning capacity due to your spinal cord injury. We can request compensation for this type of future economic loss.

Only hire a lawyer with experience with catastrophic injuries like spinal column injuries. A different lawyer won’t know that you can receive compensation for future losses like these.

Pain and Suffering

Medical care and lost income are types of “economic” loss. They are fairly easy to calculate because the market sets the cost of medical care. We can also use your past earnings to show how much you lost because you couldn’t work.

Pain and suffering damages are different. Being unable to move, or having impaired sensation, is very difficult to deal with. Your suffering is immense. How much should you receive in compensation?

This calculation is more subjective. Two people won’t value the ability to stand up and walk the same. One person might think you deserve a million dollars. A different person might think being able to walk is only worth $100,000.

In a personal injury case, a jury would use their personal experience to arrive at a number that fairly compensates a spinal cord victim or their injuries, including their paralysis. When negotiating a settlement, we consider how much people with similar spinal injuries received. That number provides a baseline for negotiation.

Emotional Distress

This is another category of damages, much like pain and suffering. (Some people consider emotional distress to be part of pain and suffering.) Someone who is paralyzed can struggle with:

  • Depression
  • Loss of self-esteem
  • Social isolation
  • Anxiety
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder
  • Irritability

How much can make up for this emotional distress? As with pain, the value is subjective. Let’s review your medical records and discuss how you are feeling emotionally after the accident.

Get the Legal Advice You Need

The purpose of a personal injury claim is to obtain the maximum compensation possible. Nonetheless, there are some factors which can limit what you receive. For example, your own negligence can reduce your damages, and the defendant might not have the resources to pay millions of dollars. Nonetheless, you need a lawyer who will fight to get as much as is realistically possible.

Call Fitzpatrick, Skemp & Butler, LLC. We offer a free consultation without risk to you. We can answer your questions, including how we charge for our services.