Milwaukee Spinal Cord Injury Attorney
A spinal cord injury changes life in an instant — for the injured person and for everyone who loves them. If this has happened to your family because of someone else’s negligence, you are likely facing frightening questions about the future, including how you will ever afford the care your loved one now needs. Mingo & Yankala, S.C. represents people with catastrophic spinal cord injuries across Wisconsin. We understand both the medicine and the true lifetime cost of these injuries — and we know how to prove that cost and pursue the full compensation the law allows. Attorney Mark Mingo is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and has tried more than 100 cases to verdict. Call (414) 273-7400 for a free, confidential consultation.
The True Lifetime Cost Is Far Greater Than the First Hospital Bill
One of the most important things a family needs to understand — and one of the things insurance companies most hope you will overlook — is that the cost of a serious spinal cord injury is measured across a lifetime, not just the first hospital stay. The National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC), the nation’s leading authority on this data, estimates the lifetime costs directly attributable to a spinal cord injury. For a person injured at age 25, average estimated lifetime costs range from roughly $1.6 million for the least severe injuries to more than $5 million for the most severe (high-level quadriplegia). First-year costs alone commonly exceed $1 million for the most severe injuries. (Source: NSCISC Facts and Figures; figures represent averages, are expressed in recent-year dollars, and vary with age at injury.)
Two points make these numbers even more significant. First, they are AVERAGES — a complicated case can cost far more. Second, and critically, these figures cover health care and living expenses only. They do NOT include lost wages or lost earning capacity — the income a person can no longer earn — which is often added on top. When a young person can no longer work, that loss alone can be worth millions more.
This is why a serious spinal cord injury case is not an ordinary injury case. The full value lies in the future — in decades of care, equipment, and lost earning capacity — and proving that future is a specialized undertaking.
The Life Care Plan: Turning a Lifetime of Needs Into a Number
The single most important tool in a catastrophic spinal cord injury case is the life care plan. A life care plan is a detailed, expert-prepared projection of everything the injured person will need for the rest of
their life — and what it will cost. A trained life care planner (often a nurse or physician with specialized certification) works with the treating doctors to itemize every future need: surgeries and medical care, physical and occupational therapy, medications and supplies, wheelchairs and adaptive equipment (and their periodic replacement), in-home attendant or nursing care, and modifications to the home and vehicle. An economist then calculates what those decades of future costs are worth, reduced to present value — a single figure expressed in today’s dollars.
In a permanent-injury case, this future-care projection is frequently the LARGEST single element of the entire claim — larger than the medical bills already incurred. A firm that does not build a thorough life care plan, backed by credible experts, risks leaving the majority of a case’s value unclaimed. Building that plan, and being prepared to prove every line of it, is central to how we handle these cases.
Proving the Full Value of a Spinal Cord Injury Under Wisconsin Law
Wisconsin law allows an injured person to recover both the losses already suffered and the losses reasonably certain to occur in the future. In a spinal cord injury case, the future damages are usually the heart of the case, and Wisconsin has specific rules for proving them:
- Future medical and care expenses must be established through expert testimony — the life care planner’s projection of lifetime cost.
- Loss of earning capacity. Wisconsin compensates the loss of a person’s CAPACITY to earn — not merely lost wages. A vocational expert and an economist show what the person could have earned over a working lifetime but for the injury.
- Future pain, suffering, and disability are compensable as well, recognizing the lifelong impact of the injury.
- Present value. Future economic damages are generally reduced to present value. Notably, under Wisconsin law the defense must actually put on evidence of how to calculate present value to be entitled to that reduction — a detail an experienced trial lawyer uses to the client’s advantage.
- The collateral source rule. In Wisconsin, the fact that health insurance paid some of the bills generally does not reduce what the at-fault party owes — the injured person is entitled to the full value of their damages.
Understanding these rules — and having the experts and trial preparation to satisfy them — is what separates a full recovery from a settlement that falls short of a lifetime of need.
How Insurance Companies Try to Minimize Catastrophic Claims
When a case is worth millions, the insurance company has millions of reasons to minimize it. In spinal cord injury cases, we see the same tactics repeatedly: disputing which future treatments are truly necessary; hiring their own experts to project a cheaper, more optimistic future than the treating doctors support; arguing the injured person could still work in some capacity; and extending a quick early settlement before the full lifetime cost is understood — hoping a family under financial pressure will accept far less than the case is worth. We counter this by building the case thoroughly from the start: the right experts, a rigorous life care plan, and a demonstrated willingness to take the case to trial if the offer does not reflect a lifetime of need.
Why a Trial Lawyer Matters in a Catastrophic Case
Insurance companies know which lawyers try cases and which only settle. In a catastrophic spinal cord injury case — where the difference between an adequate and an inadequate result can be millions of dollars — that reputation matters. Attorney Mark Mingo is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, has tried more than 100 cases to verdict, and argued and won a case before the United States Supreme Court. When an insurer knows a firm is genuinely prepared to try the case and prove every dollar of a lifetime of loss, it changes the negotiation. Our clients get the benefit of that credibility whether the case settles or goes to trial.
More Than One Source of Recovery
In a catastrophic spinal cord injury case, the difference between an adequate result and a life-changing one often lies in identifying every possible source of recovery — not just the at-fault party’s insurance policy. In our serious spine and catastrophic-injury cases, we have obtained recovery from sources including full policy limits, the waiver of health-insurance liens (leaving more of the recovery in the client’s hands), a claim based on how an insurance policy was written or issued, and, in the right circumstances, a bad-faith claim against an insurer. Which of these apply depends entirely on the facts of the individual case — every case is different and stands on its own — but pursuing every available avenue is one of the most important things a lawyer does when a lifetime of care is at stake.
Results in Serious Spinal and Catastrophic Injury Cases
- $500,000 policy limits + additional recoveries — motorcyclist who suffered a severe spinal injury when a driver ran a stop sign; we also obtained waivers of the health insurers’ liens and recovered an additional $375,000 from another source.
- $1,375,000 — high-speed collision causing multi-level cervical (neck) spinal injuries requiring fusion surgery; we defeated the insurer’s argument that the injury was a pre-existing degenerative condition. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case. Every case depends on its own facts. Talk to a Lawyer Who Understands What a Lifetime of Care Costs If you or someone you love has suffered a spinal cord injury because of another’s negligence, call Mingo & Yankala, S.C. at (414) 273-7400 for a free, confidential consultation. There is no fee unless we win your case.
Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case. Every case depends on its own facts.
Talk to a Lawyer Who Understands What a Lifetime of Care Costs
If you or someone you love has suffered a spinal cord injury because of another’s negligence, call Mingo & Yankala, S.C. at (414) 273-7400 for a free, confidential consultation. There is no fee unless we win your case.
How much is a spinal cord injury case worth?
There is no single number, because it depends on the severity of the injury, the lifetime cost of care, lost earning capacity, and the available insurance and responsible parties. What we can say is that these cases are frequently worth far more than the initial medical bills suggest. National data (NSCISC) estimates lifetime costs ranging into the millions for serious injuries — and that figure does not even include lost income. The key is to have the full lifetime cost properly calculated rather than accepting an early estimate from an insurance company.
What is a life care plan, and why does it matter so much?
A life care plan is an expert-prepared roadmap of everything the injured person will need for the rest of their life — medical care, therapy, equipment, medication, in-home care, and home and vehicle modifications — with the projected cost of each. In a permanent spinal cord injury case it is often the largest part of the claim. Without a thorough life care plan, a family risks recovering only a fraction of what the injury will actually cost over a lifetime.
The insurance company already offered a large settlement. Should we take it?
Be very cautious. A large-sounding offer early in a spinal cord injury case is often far below the true lifetime cost — and once you accept and sign a release, you generally cannot go back for more, even if future needs turn out to be greater. A quick offer frequently means the insurer understands the case is serious and wants to resolve it before the full cost is documented. Have the offer evaluated against a real projection of lifetime need before deciding.
Can we still recover if my loved one might regain some function?
Yes. Many spinal cord injuries are “incomplete,” and some function may return — but that does not erase the harm, the cost of care, or the impact on the person’s life and ability to work. Compensation is based on the specific injury and its lasting effects. An honest, thorough medical and vocational assessment is what establishes the real, individualized picture.
How long do we have to file a spinal cord injury claim in Wisconsin?
Deadlines depend on the facts — including how the injury happened and who is responsible — and some deadlines are shorter than people expect. Because critical evidence can also be lost over time, it is important to speak with an attorney as soon as possible so no deadline is missed and the case is preserved.