California Spinal Cord Injury Lawyers

A spinal cord injury is a medical emergency, and medical care comes first. MedlinePlus, from the National Library of Medicine, has first aid guidance for a possible spinal injury. Once the person is being cared for, these steps help protect a claim:

• Photograph the scene and write down the names and contact details of witnesses.
• Keep the vehicle, helmet, ladder, or product that failed. Do not repair it or throw it away.
• Ask for a copy of the police report, and note the name of each hospital and doctor.
• Do not sign documents or give an insurer a recorded statement before talking with a lawyer.

Evidence can be lost over time, and deadlines generally start to run on the date of injury.

• Medical care (CACI No. 3903A): the reasonable cost of reasonably necessary medical care already received, and of the care the person is reasonably certain to need in the future.
• Lost earnings (CACI No. 3903C): the earnings lost to date, and the earnings the person will be reasonably certain to lose in the future because of the injury.
• Earning capacity (CACI No. 3903D): that it is reasonably certain the injury will cause the person to earn less in the future than they otherwise could have earned, and the reasonable value of that loss. A work history is not required.
• Household services (CACI No. 3903E): the reasonable value of the services the person would have been reasonably certain to provide to the household if the injury had not occurred.
• Non-economic damages (CACI No. 3905A): these include physical pain, mental suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, disfigurement, and physical impairment. There is no fixed standard for the amount. For future pain and suffering, the person must prove that they are reasonably certain to suffer that harm.
• A spouse's or registered domestic partner's claim (CACI No. 3920): compensation for the loss of the injured person's companionship, affection, and moral support, and of the enjoyment of sexual relations. The marriage or registered domestic partnership must have existed at the time of the injury, and the injured person must prove their own claim.

No single figure fits every person, but national averages give a sense of scale. The National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham collects data from 31 federally funded centers in the United States. Its 2026 data sheet gives these average yearly expenses, for health care and living expenses directly attributable to the injury, in 2025 dollars:

• High tetraplegia (injury at C1 to C4): $1,446,827 in the first year and $251,246 in each later year.
• Low tetraplegia (C5 to C8): $1,045,459 in the first year and $154,128 in each later year.
• Paraplegia: $705,131 in the first year and $93,409 in each later year.
• Injury with motor function, at any level: $472,190 in the first year and $57,353 in each later year.

The first three categories cover injuries graded A, B, or C on the AIS scale, which grades the severity of neurological impairment. The last covers grade D. For a person injured at age 25, NSCISC estimates lifetime costs of $3,139,165 with paraplegia and $6,419,617 with high tetraplegia. Those estimates are already reduced to present value, at a 2% discount rate.

Two cautions come with these figures:

• They leave out indirect costs. Lost wages, fringe benefits, and productivity averaged another $97,787 a year.
• They are historical averages. They come from a study published in 2011, and NSCISC says they vary greatly from one person to another. They do not say what a case is worth.

In a claim, averages are not enough. The injured person must prove the reasonable cost of the reasonably necessary medical care that person is reasonably certain to need (CACI No. 3903A). We may work with the person's doctors, a life-care planner, and an economist to document that cost year by year.

It depends on the level and severity of the injury. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) describes problems that can follow a spinal cord injury and that require treatment:

• Breathing: some people need temporary or permanent help with breathing.
• Skin: pressure sores, also called pressure ulcers, are areas of skin that break down under continuous pressure. People change position regularly, on their own or with help, to prevent them.
• Circulation: blood clots and unstable blood pressure. Autonomic dysreflexia is a life-threatening reflex, and its symptoms may include a sudden increase in blood pressure.
• Muscles: stiffness and spasticity, which is an increase in muscle tone.
• Pain: neurogenic pain, an intense burning or stinging sensation that may be constant or may come and go.
• Bladder and bowel: a person may need a catheter to empty the bladder and may need to learn new ways to empty the bowels.
• Mood: depression, which therapy and medicine can help treat.

NINDS also lists equipment a person may need depending on the injury, such as a wheelchair, braces, and computer adaptations. The MedlinePlus medical encyclopedia adds that the home will usually need to be modified.

Hospital stays can also recur. The National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC) follows people with traumatic spinal cord injuries in the United States. Its 2026 data sheet reports that, since 2015, about 29% of them are re-hospitalized at least once in any given year after the injury, and that the average stay is about 18 days.

A life-care plan gathers these needs one by one and puts a cost on each, so the claim covers more than the medical bills that have already arrived.

A claim is still possible. California's civil jury instructions address it in two rules:

• A condition made worse (CACI No. 3927): A person is not entitled to damages for a physical or emotional condition they had before the defendant's conduct. If the defendant's wrongful conduct made that condition worse, the jury must award damages that reasonably and fairly compensate for the effect on it.
• A person more susceptible to injury (CACI No. 3928): The jury must decide the full amount that reasonably and fairly compensates for all damages caused by the defendant's wrongful conduct. That holds even if the person was more susceptible to injury than a normally healthy person, and even if a healthy person would not have suffered a similar injury.

This matters for spinal cord injuries. According to the MedlinePlus medical encyclopedia, conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis or osteoporosis can weaken the spine that protects the cord. An injury can also occur when the spinal canal has become too narrow, which is called spinal stenosis. In those situations, even a minor injury can harm the cord. Low-impact spinal cord injuries, such as those from a slip and fall, mostly happen to older people who have spinal stenosis.

If an insurer says the injury was already there, medical records from before and after the accident help show what changed.

Yes. Each rule has its own starting point.

• Minors and people who lack the legal capacity to make decisions: The time that situation lasts is not counted in the two-year period, if the person was a minor or lacked that capacity when the claim arose (Code Civ. Proc. §352(a)). The section does not name paralysis: it names only minority and the lack of legal capacity to make decisions. The pause does not apply to a lawsuit against a public entity or a public employee when a claim must be presented first (§352(b)).
• Medical negligence: A lawsuit against a health care provider for professional negligence is due three years after the date of injury, or one year after the person discovers the injury or should have discovered it through reasonable diligence. Whichever comes first applies (Code Civ. Proc. §340.5). The three-year limit has few exceptions, and minors have their own rule. A surgical error on the spine is one example of this kind of case.