New Orleans
A spinal cord injury doesn’t completely reveal itself the day the injury happens.
Doctors often can’t say for months how much function a person will recover, if any, which means that settling too early can lock someone who is injured into a number based on a prognosis that later turns out to be wrong.
The Voorhies Law Firm knows how to protect your case while that picture is still coming into focus.
A spinal cord injury damages the bundle of nerves running through the spine that carries signals between the brain and the rest of the body.
Doctors classify these injuries using the ASIA Impairment Scale, which is a five-grade system:
The location of the injury along the spine matters as much as its completeness.
Cervical (neck) injuries tend to affect the arms, hands, and torso in addition to the legs, while thoracic, lumbar, or sacral injuries generally affect only the lower body.
There are two things that make spinal cord injury cases different from any other ordinary injury claims. With these cases, the medical picture is not a one stop, like a broken bone that just needs to heal, it keeps evolving. And the dollar figures involved with medical treatment and recovery are enormous.
Neurological recovery after a spinal cord injury can continue for six to twelve months or longer, and a person’s ASIA grade can shift as the nervous system stabilizes.
Settling a spinal cord injury claim before that classification stabilizes, risks accepting a number that is based on an inaccurate prognosis, which tends to either undersell a case that later shows real recovery, or worse, undervaluing one that turns out to be more severe than when the injury first occurred.
Louisiana places no general cap on damages for an ordinary spinal cord injury claim.
Given that lifetime care for a severe cervical injury can run into the millions of dollars, this matters enormously, and it’s exactly why a rushed settlement can be so costly to someone who is already suffering.
However, the same general timeline applies here, which is two years to file under article 3493.1 for incidents on or after July 1, 2024, and a 51% comparative fault bar under article 2323 for incidents on or after January 1, 2026.
STEP 1
Free consultation.
Tell us what happened. We’ll give you an honest, no-cost assessment.
STEP 2
STEP 3
Medical monitoring.
We track your neurological recovery and classification over time rather than rushing to a number.
STEP 4
Life care planning.
We work with medical and vocational experts once your prognosis has stabilized enough to plan around it.
STEP 5
Damage calculation.
We build the full financial picture: past and future medical care, lost earning capacity, and home and vehicle modifications.
STEP 6
Demand and negotiation.
We pursue full value once the medical picture supports it.
STEP 7
Filing suit, if needed.
We file before your deadline once your medical picture supports doing so.
STEP 8
Resolution.
Your case resolves, whether through settlement or a verdict.
We handle spinal cord injury claims arising from:
Behind every spinal cord injury case is someone whose medical picture is still developing while insurers push for a fast, and sometimes unfair, resolution.
We hold the line until that picture is clear enough to value fairly.
The Voorhies Law Firm’s client recoveries now top $100 million across every type of case we handle.
Results may vary enormously in spinal cord injury cases depending on the level and completeness of the injury.
Insurers benefit when a spinal cord injury case settles before the medical picture is clear.
Richard P. Voorhies III and the team at The Voorhies Law Firm are willing to wait for an accurate prognosis rather than take a rushed number.
You’ll always know exactly who’s handling your case and how to reach them, and there’s no cost unless we recover for you.
We handle spinal cord injury cases on contingency, so your energy can be put into recovery.
Because your neurological recovery may not be finished. Settling before your classification stabilizes, which can take six to twelve months or longer, risks locking you into a number based on a prognosis that later turns out to be wrong in either direction.
A complete injury (ASIA Grade A) means a total loss of motor and sensory function below the injury site. An incomplete injury (Grades B through D) means some function is preserved, which can range from significant impairment to a fairly mild deficit.
Significantly. Injuries higher up, in the neck, tend to affect more of the body, including the arms and hands, while injuries lower down generally affect only the legs and lower torso.
The general rule is two years from the date of the incident for claims on or after July 1, 2024, under Civil Code article 3493.1.
Nothing to start. Your consultation is free, and we’re only paid out of what we recover for you.
