Houston Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer
Decades of experience fighting for spine injury victims.
Legally reviewed by Greg Baumgartner in July, 2026
A spinal cord injury can change nearly every part of a person’s life in a matter of seconds. Daily tasks may require help. Work may become impossible. A family may suddenly face years of medical care, rehabilitation, equipment costs, and uncertainty about the future.
Houston spinal cord injury lawyer Greg Baumgartner has represented seriously injured Texans since 1985. We take a limited number of serious cases so Greg can remain directly involved. Our job is to identify every responsible party, preserve the evidence, document the full lifetime impact of the injury, and pursue the compensation our client will need—not just for today, but for the years ahead.
Call (281) 587-1111 or request a free case review. There is no fee unless we recover compensation for you.
Serving Texans since 1985 | Direct attorney involvement | $3M and $5M reported spine-injury results | No fee unless we win |
Why Families Choose Baumgartner Law Firm
More Than 40 Years Handling Serious Injury Claims
Spinal cord injury cases demand more than routine claim handling. The lawyer must understand complex medical records, future-care evidence, insurance coverage, corporate responsibility, and the way a permanent disability affects an entire family. Greg has focused on serious personal injury and wrongful death cases for more than four decades.
A Selective, Client-Focused Practice
We are not a high-volume settlement practice. We accept fewer cases so we can investigate them fully, work closely with our clients, and prepare for trial when an insurance company refuses to be fair. Clients are not treated like file numbers and shuffled between departments.
The Resources to Prove Lifetime Losses
A serious claim may require accident reconstruction, medical specialists, vocational experts, economists, and life-care planners. We advance approved litigation expenses and build the evidence needed to explain both the visible and less visible consequences of the injury.
Spinal Injury Results
Past results cannot guarantee the outcome of another case. Still, prior work can show whether a firm has experience with high-value injury claims. Examples currently published by Baumgartner Law Firm include:
- $5 million commercial-vehicle spinal injury settlement. A 55-year-old client suffered a serious spinal injury in a commercial-vehicle collision.
- $3 million Houston car-crash spinal injury recovery. A 42-year-old client required surgery after suffering a spinal injury in a Houston car accident.
Review additional personal injury case results. Each case depends on its own facts, available insurance, injuries, liability evidence, and applicable law.
What Is a Spinal Cord Injury?
A spinal cord injury occurs when trauma damages the spinal cord and interrupts communication between the brain and the body. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke explains that the resulting loss of movement, sensation, or body function depends on the location and severity of the damage.
A Spine Injury Is Not Always a Spinal Cord Injury
The spine includes the vertebrae, discs, joints, ligaments, and surrounding structures. A person may suffer a fractured vertebra, herniated disc, or compressed nerve root without damage to the spinal cord itself. Those injuries can still be painful and disabling, but they are medically different from an injury to the cord.
This distinction matters in a legal claim. The diagnosis, expected recovery, future treatment, and damages can differ greatly. We obtain the records and medical opinions needed to describe the actual injury accurately instead of using broad labels that an insurer can attack.
Complete and Incomplete Spinal Cord Injuries
A complete injury causes a total loss of motor and sensory function below the neurological level of injury. An incomplete injury leaves some movement, sensation, or nerve communication below that level. “Complete” does not necessarily mean the spinal cord was physically severed.
Incomplete injuries vary widely. One person may retain limited sensation, while another may regain meaningful movement after extensive treatment and rehabilitation. The medical team’s neurological testing helps classify the injury and guide the prognosis.
Spinal Cord Injury Levels and Possible Effects
Level | Location | Possible effects |
Cervical (C1-C8) | Neck | May affect the arms, hands, trunk, legs, breathing, bowel, and bladder; can cause tetraplegia. |
Thoracic (T1-T12) | Upper and mid-back | May affect the trunk, abdomen, legs, bowel, and bladder; can cause paraplegia. |
Lumbar (L1-L5) | Lower back | May affect the hips and legs and may impair bowel, bladder, and sexual function. |
Sacral (S1-S5) | Pelvis | May affect the hips, buttocks, pelvic organs, bowel, bladder, and sexual function. |
The level alone does not tell the whole story. Doctors also consider whether the injury is complete or incomplete, whether the person needs ventilator support, and what functional abilities remain.
Common Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries in Houston
The 2026 National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center data sheet reports that vehicle crashes and falls together account for almost 70% of recent traumatic spinal cord injuries in the United States. In Houston and Southeast Texas, our cases often arise from:
- Car accidents involving high-speed impacts, rollovers, or violent rear-end collisions.
- 18-wheeler and commercial-truck crashes involving extreme force, multiple defendants, and complex insurance issues.
- Motorcycle accidents in which the rider has little physical protection.
- Construction accidents involving falls, collapsing structures, falling objects, cranes, forklifts, or heavy equipment.
- Work injuries and third-party claims involving unsafe contractors, property owners, equipment companies, or non-subscriber employers.
- Defective products or safety equipment such as failed ladders, vehicle components, machinery, or fall-protection systems.
- Falls from unsafe premises, balconies, stairs, scaffolds, roofs, or elevated work areas.
Spinal cord trauma can also occur with a catastrophic brain injury. When injuries overlap, the claim must account for how they interact and increase the need for supervision, therapy, and long-term assistance.
Who May Be Liable for a Spinal Cord Injury?
The person who caused the immediate event may not be the only responsible party. A careful investigation may identify several sources of liability and insurance coverage.
- Negligent drivers. A driver may be responsible for speeding, distraction, impairment, unsafe lane changes, or another violation.
- Motor carriers and employers. A company may be responsible for its employee, unsafe hiring, inadequate training, poor supervision, maintenance failures, or pressure to violate safety rules.
- Property owners and contractors. Unsafe work areas, unprotected heights, defective stairs, poor lighting, or ignored hazards may support a premises or negligence claim.
- Manufacturers and sellers. A defective vehicle part, industrial machine, ladder, harness, or other product may contribute to the injury.
- Other companies in the chain of events. Brokers, subcontractors, maintenance companies, loading companies, and equipment owners may share responsibility.
Finding every responsible party matters because the cost of a severe spinal cord injury may exceed the insurance available from one defendant. We investigate corporate relationships, contracts, maintenance records, insurance policies, and the actions of everyone involved.
How We Build a Spinal Cord Injury Case
A strong case begins long before settlement talks. Evidence can disappear quickly, and the future effects of the injury may take time to understand. We tailor the investigation to the accident and the client’s medical condition.
- Preserve physical and electronic evidence. This may include vehicles, event data recorders, truck electronic-control data, surveillance video, photographs, defective equipment, and phone records.
- Investigate liability. We examine reports, witness accounts, company records, safety policies, training files, maintenance records, and regulatory evidence.
- Document the medical diagnosis. We collect emergency records, imaging, operative reports, neurological testing, rehabilitation notes, and treating-provider opinions.
- Measure future needs. A life-care planner may identify future therapy, medications, attendant care, equipment, home changes, transportation, and replacement costs.
- Calculate income loss. Vocational and economic experts may evaluate lost earning capacity, benefits, household services, and the long-term financial impact on the family.
- Show the human loss. We document how the injury affects mobility, sleep, relationships, parenting, recreation, privacy, independence, and quality of life.
- Prepare for trial. Insurers evaluate cases differently when they know the lawyer has developed the evidence and is ready to present it to a jury.
Medical Imaging and a Complete Diagnosis
No single test is right for every patient. X-rays can show fractures and other bone problems. A CT scan may provide more detailed images of bones and discs. An MRI can help doctors examine the spinal cord and identify conditions such as herniated discs, blood clots, or masses that may compress it. Mayo Clinic’s spinal cord injury diagnosis overview explains the different roles of these tests.
The medical team—not an insurance adjuster—should determine which tests and treatment are appropriate. From a legal standpoint, a person should understand the diagnosis, prognosis, and reasonably expected future care before signing a full release. Once a claim is finally settled, it usually cannot be reopened because the condition later proves worse than expected.
Compensation in a Houston Spinal Cord Injury Claim
No formula can value every case. Compensation depends on the injury, the person’s age and work history, the need for future care, available insurance and assets, liability evidence, and many other facts. A serious claim may include:
- Past and future medical expenses, including hospitalization, surgery, rehabilitation, therapy, medication, and specialist care.
- Attendant and personal-care services, whether provided professionally or by family members.
- Assistive technology and durable medical equipment, including wheelchairs, lifts, pressure-relief equipment, and communication or mobility devices.
- Home and vehicle modifications, such as ramps, widened doors, accessible bathrooms, lifts, and adapted transportation.
- Lost wages and reduced earning capacity, including lost employment benefits and retirement contributions when supported by the evidence.
- Physical pain, mental anguish, disfigurement, and physical impairment.
- Loss of household services and other legally recoverable family losses.
When the conduct was more than ordinary negligence, exemplary or punitive damages may be available under Texas law. These damages require additional proof and are not appropriate in every case.
The Lifetime Cost of a Spinal Cord Injury
The financial impact often continues for life. The 2026 National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center data sheet estimates the following direct lifetime costs for a person injured at age 25. The estimates do not include lost wages, lost benefits, or reduced productivity.
Severity of injury | Estimated direct lifetime cost at age 25 |
High tetraplegia (C1-C4), AIS A-C | $6,419,617 |
Low tetraplegia (C5-C8), AIS A-C | $4,690,573 |
Paraplegia, AIS A-C | $3,139,165 |
Motor functional at any level, AIS D | $2,144,693 |
These national estimates are not a case-value chart. An individual life-care plan should be based on the client’s actual diagnosis, age, function, living situation, medical recommendations, and expected replacement schedule for equipment and services.
Texas Deadlines and Shared-Fault Rules
The Statute of Limitations
In many Texas personal injury cases, Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.003 provides a two-year filing period. Important exceptions and shorter notice deadlines may apply, especially when a government entity is involved. Waiting can also allow video, electronic data, physical evidence, and witness memories to disappear.
What if the Injured Person Was Partly at Fault?
Texas uses proportionate responsibility. Under Section 33.001 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, a claimant generally cannot recover if the claimant’s responsibility is greater than 50%. When the claimant is 50% or less responsible, the recovery is generally reduced by that percentage.
Insurance companies often use blame as a negotiation tactic. We look at the physical evidence, witness testimony, company records, and applicable safety rules before accepting an adjuster’s version of what happened.
What to Do After a Suspected Spinal Cord Injury
- Seek emergency medical care. New weakness, numbness, loss of coordination, breathing trouble, or loss of bowel or bladder control can require immediate attention.
- Follow the treating team’s instructions. Attend recommended appointments and explain new or changing symptoms to your healthcare providers.
- Protect evidence. Save photographs, videos, damaged property, equipment, witness information, and documents related to the accident.
- Avoid discussing the incident on social media. Posts may be taken out of context and used to challenge the claim.
- Do not sign a broad release too early. First understand the diagnosis, likely recovery, future treatment, and available insurance coverage.
- Speak with an experienced lawyer promptly. Early investigation may be essential when commercial vehicles, construction companies, employers, or defective equipment are involved.
Houston Rehabilitation and Support Resources
Houston is home to major hospitals and rehabilitation resources for people living with spinal cord injuries. TIRR Memorial Hermann provides inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation services for people with spinal cord injuries and other complex conditions. The right rehabilitation program depends on the individual’s medical needs, insurance, and treating team’s recommendations.
We do not direct medical care, and a link to a public resource does not imply an affiliation. Our legal role is to make sure the claim reflects the treatment and support that qualified providers believe the client will reasonably need.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a spine injury and a spinal cord injury?
A spine injury may involve the vertebrae, discs, joints, ligaments, or nerve roots. A spinal cord injury damages the cord itself and can interrupt signals between the brain and body. Both can be serious, but they are not the same diagnosis.
How much is a Houston spinal cord injury case worth?
The value depends on the severity and completeness of the injury, future medical and attendant-care needs, lost earning capacity, pain and impairment, liability evidence, available insurance, and the client’s individual circumstances. A reliable evaluation requires medical records, a liability investigation, and an understanding of future needs.
How are future care costs calculated?
Future costs may be evaluated through treating-provider opinions and a life-care plan. Economists can then calculate the present value of expected expenses and income losses. The analysis should include replacement cycles for equipment and changes in care needs over time.
Can I bring a claim if I had a pre-existing back or neck condition?
Possibly. A prior condition does not automatically defeat a claim. The key questions are whether the accident caused a new injury or made an existing condition worse, and what evidence separates the person’s condition before and after the event.
Can I recover if I was partly at fault?
Texas law generally permits a recovery when the claimant is not more than 50% responsible, although the damages are reduced by the claimant’s percentage of responsibility. The specific evidence determines how fault should be divided.
How long does a spinal cord injury lawsuit take?
A complex case may take longer than a routine injury claim because the medical outlook, future-care needs, liability evidence, and insurance issues must be developed. Settling before those facts are known can place the cost of future problems on the injured person and family.
What does it cost to hire Baumgartner Law Firm?
There is no upfront attorney fee. We handle accepted cases on a contingency-fee basis and are paid only if we recover compensation. The written representation agreement explains the fee and case-expense terms.
Will I speak directly with Greg Baumgartner?
Greg personally oversees the serious cases the firm accepts. Baumgartner Law Firm limits its caseload so clients can receive direct attorney involvement rather than being passed through a high-volume system.
Talk to a Houston Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer
A spinal cord injury claim should be built around the person’s future—not an insurance company’s early estimate. If you or a family member suffered paralysis or another serious spinal cord injury in Houston or elsewhere in Texas, we are ready to listen, explain the next steps, and determine whether we can help.
Call (281) 587-1111 or contact Baumgartner Law Firm for a free consultation. There is no fee unless we recover compensation for you.
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