FREE Traumatic Brain Injury Case Evaluation
A traumatic brain injury claim is a legal case that seeks money from whoever caused a head or brain injury through carelessness or wrongdoing, the crash, the fall, the unsafe property, the impact that never should have happened. If someone else’s negligence led to the injury, there is very likely a claim to be made. It can cover far more than the hospital bills already piling up.
This article explains what makes a brain injury claim, how to determine whether you have a case, why brain injury claims differ from ordinary personal injury cases, how long you have to file, what your claim may be worth, who may be held responsible, and why you should carefully evaluate any early settlement offer from the insurance company before accepting it. At The Sterling Firm, we handle brain injury cases throughout California, and this article reflects the same guidance we provide to new clients during their initial consultation. For more information, please see Brain Injury Lawyer.
Do I actually have a brain injury claim?
You have a claim when three things line up: someone else acted carelessly, that carelessness injured you or someone you love, and the injury flows directly from what they did. California law puts it simply, everyone is responsible for harm caused by their lack of ordinary care (Cal. Civ. Code § 1714). That “ordinary care” standard is the backbone of nearly every injury case in the state.
dramatic car crash. It doesn’t. Falls are one of the largest drivers of serious brain injury in California. Across all ages, unintentional falls caused more hospitalizations than any other injury mechanism in a single year. And among older Californians, falls were the leading cause of TBI-related hospitalizations. A fall on an unsafe staircase, a wet floor with no warning, a crash, a workplace impact — any of these can support a claim if someone else’s carelessness set it up. The cause of the injury doesn’t disqualify you. The question is whether someone failed to use reasonable care.
The Sterling Firm helps injured people evaluate available coverage, document their damages, and pursue compensation after serious California motor vehicle accidents. Call or text (310) 498-2750 for a free personal injury case evaluation.
Why are brain injury claims different from a normal injury case?
Why? Because the injury often remains invisible, and the other side uses that invisibility against you. An X-ray clearly reveals a broken bone, and doctors can predict its healing timeline. However, a brain injury often leaves no trace on a scan while quietly changing how a person thinks, remembers, sleeps, controls their temper, or performs at work.
That gap between how someone looks and how they’re actually functioning is the central battleground in these cases. Symptoms can be delayed. A person walks away from a crash seeming fine, then over the following weeks struggles with focus, headaches, mood swings, or memory. Insurers seize on that. “You look fine” becomes their argument. So these claims don’t win on a single medical bill. They win on documentation, medical records that track the full picture, and testimony from specialists who can explain to a jury what a scan can’t show.
A serious brain injury claim requires more than a do-it-yourself negotiation. The value of your case depends on strong evidence about future losses, and building that evidence takes skill and careful preparation.
How long do I have to file a brain injury claim in California?
In most cases, two years from the date of the injury (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1). Miss that window and the claim is generally gone for good, no matter how strong it was. But two years is the default, and two exceptions matter enormously for brain injury cases.
- A government was involved? The clock is much shorter. If a city bus, a government vehicle, a public employee, or a dangerous condition on public property caused the injury, you generally must file a formal claim with that government entity within six months (Cal. Gov. Code § 911.2). This is a trap that catches people who assumed they had two years. Six months goes fast when someone is in recovery.
- The clock can pause for a minor or an incapacitated victim. If the injured person is under 18, or a brain injury has left them unable to manage their own affairs and make their own decisions, the deadline can be paused for that period (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 352). This comes up often with catastrophic TBIs — but don’t lean on it. This pause does not apply when the claim is against a government entity; there, the six-month deadline still applies.
The takeaway is simple: delaying action is the most common reason people lose strong claims. If you’re unsure which deadline applies to your situation, don’t wait for the uncertainty to disappear. Instead, have your case evaluated now so you can protect your rights before time runs out.
What is my brain injury claim worth?
There’s no honest flat number, it depends on the severity of the injury and how it reshapes a life. But the law is designed to make the at-fault party pay for the full harm, so you are “made whole” for what you lost (Cal. Civ. Code § 3333). For a brain injury, that “full harm” reaches well past the emergency room. Recoverable losses generally fall into three buckets:
- Medical costs — past and future. Not just the bills you’ve already received, but the surgeries, therapy, cognitive rehabilitation, and care a brain injury may require for years or a lifetime.
- Lost income and lost earning capacity. The wages missed during recovery, plus the bigger loss: if the injury means you can never again do the work you trained for, the difference over a career.
- The human losses. Pain, cognitive decline, personality change, the strain on relationships, the loss of the life you had before. These are real, compensable harms even though no invoice arrives for them.
Notice what dominates that list: future costs. A brain injury creates expenses that often last for years, yet insurance companies design fast settlement offers to overlook those long-term costs.
Who can I hold responsible?
Often more than one party, and the person who directly caused the injury isn’t always the only one, or the one who can actually pay. The starting point is whoever failed to use reasonable care (Cal. Civ. Code § 1714). But a serious case often involves several potentially responsible parties. California law lets a jury assign each one a share of the fault for the non-economic harm (Cal. Civ. Code § 1431.2). Identifying every source of responsibility is a core part of building the case.
One worry worth raising with an attorney rather than settling in your own head: whether something you did played a part in the injury. If you think you might have been partly at fault, don’t assume that quietly ends the matter. It’s a question to have someone evaluate against the full picture before you write off the claim.
Why is the insurance company's early offer a problem?
Insurers often make quick settlement offers before anyone understands the true, lifelong cost of a brain injury. Once you sign, you permanently close your case. They do this intentionally, hoping to settle while the injury still appears minor, before future medical and cognitive costs become clear, and before a specialist documents the injuries that initial scans may have missed.
Step back and see the matchup. On one side is a person recovering from a head injury, often for the first time in their life. On the other is a company that resolves these claims every single day and knows exactly how much a full brain injury case can be worth. That imbalance is the reason the early number is almost never the real number. It’s also the point at which most people decide they shouldn’t be doing this alone, and they’re right.
What does it cost to hire a brain injury attorney?
At The Sterling Firm, we handle personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis, so you pay nothing upfront and no attorney’s fees unless we recover compensation for you. The real question isn’t whether you can afford a lawyer, it’s whether you can afford to face a professional insurance company alone when the true value of your claim may not be immediately clear. Because you pay nothing unless we win, you can have your case evaluated with little financial risk. For more information, please see California Brain Injury Lawyer and other service areas like Los Angeles Brain Injury Lawyer, Santa Monica Brain Injury Lawyer etc.
What should I do right now?
Three steps, in order:
- Don’t sign anything or give a recorded statement to the other side’s insurer until you’ve spoken with an attorney. Both can lock you into a position before the injury’s full extent is known.
- Preserve everything — medical records, the accident report, names of witnesses, photos. And get a proper medical evaluation for the brain injury, even if you “feel fine.”
- Talk to an attorney before your deadline runs, especially if a government entity may be involved and that six-month clock is ticking.
From there, the work is exactly what this article describes: documenting an invisible injury, valuing a lifetime of future costs, identifying every responsible party, and refusing to let an early offer set the terms. That’s the work The Sterling Firm does. Founded by Justin Sterling, Esq., and based in Santa Monica, the firm focuses on plaintiff-side personal injury and catastrophic injury, including brain injury, and represents clients throughout California. Justin Sterling is recognized by Super Lawyers, holds a perfect 10.0 rating on Avvo and 5-star ratings on Google and Yelp, and the firm is available 24/7.
If you or a family member is dealing with a brain injury, call 310-498-2750 (toll-free (844) 4-GETLEGAL) or email justin@thesterlingfirm.com to discuss your situation, ideally before you respond to the insurance company.
