Special Damages for Veterans in Personal Injury Cases

Military veterans faced numerous risks when they courageously chose to enlist in the armed forces. Whether they saw action firsthand, were stationed abroad, or performed the numerous duties required of their positions domestically, their service often came with tremendous sacrifices, as well as lasting physical or psychological consequences that followed them home. Those repercussions are nothing to take lightly, and they can be made worse when veterans suffer new injuries in preventable accidents as civilians.

At Biren Law Group, our personal injury lawyers are ardent supporters of the men and women who have served our country. Over the years, our involvement with The Military Veterans Appreciation Trust (MVAT) Foundation, now called Heroes Linked, and other organizations that support former service members have provided us with a keen understanding of the struggles and unique issues faced by U.S. veterans.

That insight has driven us to make our personal injury services widely available to veterans throughout Los Angeles and Southern California and allows us to address their unique needs in legal proceedings that all too often fail to consider how civilian accidents can exacerbate service-connected challenges they face.

If you are a military veteran who was recently injured in a preventable accident as a civilian and are struggling with challenges involving pre-existing, service-related injuries or psychological issues, place your trust in a firm that understands your situation and how it can be addressed in your personal injury case.

Call (310) 774-0078 or contact us online to request a FREE and confidential consultation.

How Do Personal Injury Cases Differ for Military Veterans?

Our work representing military veterans who have been injured in preventable accidents focuses on how the injuries they suffer as civilians can make service-related medical issues worse. Veterans who suffer from PTSD, traumatic brain injuries (TBI), or other physical or psychological conditions acquired as a result of their military service face many challenges when assimilating back into civilian life. Even as they find the solid footing to manage those issues, unexpected and serious injuries can shatter their hard work, make their conditions worse, and set them back further in their post-service lives and recoveries.

Our legal team can help vets who face new and compounded challenges caused by:

• Car Accidents & Truck Accidents
• Motorcycle Accidents
• Pedestrian or Bicycle Accidents
• Accidents on Another’s Property (Premises Liability)
• Defective Products (Product Liability)
• Dog Bites and Attacks
• Catastrophic Injuries (Including new brain injuries)
• Construction Accidents

For any individual, injuries caused by these accidents can create setbacks that profoundly impact their physical, financial, and emotional well-being. For military veterans with pre-existing conditions who are more vulnerable to new shock and trauma than most civilians, such accidents can completely alter their lives, exacerbate existing struggles, and create new challenges that compromise the work they’ve done to manage conditions and symptoms.

What Are Special Damages?

When we talk about “special damages,” we’re referring to damages most civilians don’t incur after suffering preventable injuries. Civilians and vets alike can all face medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, and emotional injuries following serious accidents (which are recoverable in a successful personal injury case), but veterans often have the distinct challenge of having to navigate additional setbacks and consequences.

As attorneys who have extensive experience representing injured veterans, and raising arguments before insurance companies, juries, and judges as to why our clients should be entitled to additional compensation for their losses, we know there are many ways veterans can be impacted by new accidents and injuries.

Examples include:

• Recurrence Caused by New Trauma – Veterans with PTSD or TBI acquired those conditions due to some type of traumatic event; the same type of trauma that can accompany sudden, forceful, and chaotic accidents like motor vehicle collisions. These new traumas can cause a relapse of those service-connected conditions and in some cases a recurrence of serious symptoms, including nightmares, depression, and flashbacks. They may also exacerbate, reintroduce, or even bring on new symptoms related to avoidance (of places, thoughts, events, or objects), reactivity and arousal (tenseness, difficulty sleeping, angry outbursts), or cognition and mood (memory problems, negative thoughts, distorted feelings such as guilt, and lost interest in activities that were once enjoyable).
• Aggravation of Service-Connected Injuries – In addition to PTSD or brain injuries, it is not uncommon for veterans with various pre-existing, service-connected injuries or conditions to find that those injuries are made worse when they’re involved in new accidents. While aggravation of pre-existing injuries is an issue that can affect both civilians and vets alike in their personal injury cases (such as when a car wreck re-aggravates an old back or shoulder injury), there can be additional issues faced by veterans, especially if those injuries stem from military combat or service. Injuries and memories don’t exist inside of an emotional vacuum; they can be strongly linked to the underlying traumatic event that caused them in the first place, as well as the pain, suffering, and emotional hurdles they created, and which veterans have worked to overcome. Addressing how re-aggravated service-connected injuries can have physical and psychological consequences is important to illustrate the unique impact they have on wounded warriors.
• Indirect Damages & Consequences – Apart from sparking a relapse or aggravation of service-connected PTSD, TBI, or other injuries, new accidents can also impact veterans by compromising all the work they have done to assimilate back into civilian life, especially amid challenges created by their condition. It is not uncommon for veterans who have worked diligently to better understand their condition and manage symptoms (often through regular, if not daily, self-treatment and care) to not only find that their issues become more severe or frequent after a new accident, but also that the skills, routines, and strategies they’ve developed to cope can take a hit. This may include injuries that prevent them from seeking regular treatment, or from engaging in the practices of self-care, healthy habits, hobbies, exercise routines, and other coping mechanisms that once allowed them to gain control of their symptoms and maintain stability in their lives. Even when new injuries suffered are seemingly unrelated to any pre-existing conditions, they can still have a marked and indirect impact on veterans’ lives.

Place Your Trust in a Proven team of Brentwood Injury Attorneys

Today, there is greater awareness of the struggles our military veterans endure when they return to civilian life, which makes insurers, juries, and judges involved in personal injury cases more receptive to arguments regarding the challenges they face after new accidents and injuries, and why they should be entitled to special damages. Still, proving and securing special damages is a difficult task that demands the insight of attorneys who have experience in this field, professional connections with experts, and the necessary resources to go above and beyond when helping injured veterans seek justice and full compensation for their injuries, and the help they need moving forward.

Biren Law Group is proud to serve military veterans and families throughout Southern California. If you have been injured as a result of another’s negligence, do not hesitate to place your trust in a proven team that understands your unique situation.

Contact us today for a free and confidential consultation.