San Francisco Back and Neck Injury Lawyers
The San Francisco back and neck injury lawyers at The Hassell Law Group represent people who have suffered serious cervical, thoracic, or lumbar injuries because of another person’s negligence.
Back and neck injuries from an accident can turn into months or years of ongoing pain, medical treatment, lost work, and limitations on your everyday life. Our San Francisco back and neck personal Injury lawyers help you seek compensation while you recover from your injuries.
Some injuries may improve with conservative treatment. Others involve herniated discs, nerve compression, fractures, chronic pain, injections, or surgery. Insurance companies often try to minimize these claims, especially when an injury is not immediately visible on an X-ray or when imaging shows pre-existing degeneration.
Our legal team has more than 90 years of combined personal injury experience, the firm has an undefeated trial and arbitration record on behalf of its clients, and has obtained substantial results in cases involving serious back, spine, and neck injuries.
We understand how to prove not only what happened in the accident, but also how the injury has affected your ability to work, move, sleep, drive, exercise, care for your family, and live without pain. We seek to recover the maximum compensation you deserve for your injuries.
Contact The Hassell Law Group at (415) 334-4111 for a free consultation.
There is no attorney’s fee unless we recover compensation for you.
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Why Back and Neck Injury Claims Are Frequently Disputed By Insurance
Back and neck injuries are among the most common injuries insurance companies try to minimize.
An insurer may argue:
- The accident was too minor to cause the injury
- The pain is only temporary
- MRI findings are degenerative
- The claimant had prior back or neck problems
- Symptoms were not reported immediately
- There was a gap in medical treatment
- Surgery was unrelated to the accident
- The injured person should already have recovered
A strong claim requires more than simply producing medical bills. It requires the proper development of evidence by our skilled legal team.
Our attorneys counter these arguments by developing strong evidence to prove your case showing:
- The impact forces involved in the accident
- The physical condition of the client before the accident
- When symptoms began
- How symptoms progressed
- What doctors found on examination
- What diagnostic imaging showed
- Why treatment was medically necessary
- How the injury changed our client’s daily life
- Whether future treatment or surgery will be required
Back and Neck Injuries Are Not the Same as Spinal Cord Injuries
This distinction is important.
A person can suffer a serious injury to the spine without suffering damage to the spinal cord itself.
Back and neck injuries may involve:
- Intervertebral discs
- Vertebrae
- Facet joints
- Ligaments
- Muscles
- Nerve roots
- Other supporting structures of the spine
A spinal cord injury, by contrast, involves damage to the spinal cord and neurological impairment.
Our law firm maintains a separate page for people with neurological spinal cord trauma, paralysis, and other catastrophic SCI conditions:
San Francisco Spinal Cord Injury Lawyers
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Common Back and Neck Injuries After an Accident
Herniated Discs
The discs between the vertebrae act as cushions for the spine.
A herniated disc occurs when disc material pushes through a weakened portion of the disc and may irritate or compress nearby nerves.
The National Library of Medicine’s MedlinePlus explains that herniated discs can cause pain, numbness, weakness, and radiating symptoms depending on where the injury occurs.
A cervical disc injury may cause symptoms radiating into the shoulder, arm, or hand.
A lumbar disc injury may cause pain radiating into the buttock, hip, leg, or foot.
Bulging and Protruding Discs
Accident-related imaging may identify disc bulges, protrusions, or other abnormalities.
The legal issue is not simply whether an MRI uses the word “bulge” or “herniation.”
The important questions are:
- Did the accident cause or aggravate the condition?
- Does it correspond with the person’s symptoms?
- Is there nerve involvement?
- What treatment is medically necessary?
- Has the injury created lasting functional limitations?
Cervical Sprain and Whiplash
Whiplash commonly results from the impact which causes sudden acceleration and deceleration of the neck, which is particularly common in motor vehicle collisions.
Symptoms can include:
- Neck pain
- Neck stiffness
- Reduced range of motion when turning your head
- Headaches
- Shoulder pain
- Muscle spasms
- Upper-back pain
The National Library of Medicine describes whiplash-associated injury as a form of cervical sprain involving the soft tissues of the neck.
Importantly, serious symptoms can exist even when diagnostic imaging does not show a major structural abnormality.
Our blog article discusses this issue in more detail in its resource on neck and back pain after a Bay Area car accident.
Cervical and Lumbar Radiculopathy
When a spinal nerve root becomes irritated or compressed, symptoms can radiate away from the spine.
Cervical radiculopathy may cause:
- Neck pain
- Shoulder pain
- Arm pain
- Tingling
- Numbness
- Weakness in the arm or hand
Lumbar radiculopathy may cause:
- Low-back pain
- Buttock pain
- Leg pain
- Numbness
- Tingling
- Weakness in the leg
Sciatica is one common pattern of lumbar nerve pain.
Vertebral Fractures
High-impact crashes and serious falls can fracture vertebrae in the cervical, thoracic, or lumbar spine.
These injuries may require:
- Immobilization
- Hospitalization
- Bracing
- Rehabilitation
- Surgery
A fracture can be extremely serious even when the spinal cord itself remains intact.
Facet Joint and Ligament Injuries
The facet joints help stabilize the spine and permit controlled movement.
Trauma can injure these joints as well as the surrounding ligaments and muscles.
These injuries may cause persistent pain, stiffness, muscle guarding, and restricted movement.
Your Symptoms Should Be Taken Seriously
Back and neck injuries can produce:
- Localized pain
- Stiffness
- Muscle spasms
- Limited range of motion
- Headaches
- Radiating arm or leg pain
- Numbness
- Tingling
- Muscle weakness
- Difficulty sitting or standing
- Difficulty sleeping
- Pain with lifting or bending
Some symptoms begin immediately.
Other symptoms can become more prominent and noticeable after the initial stress and adrenaline of the accident subside.
Anyone experiencing significant pain, weakness, numbness, or neurological symptoms after trauma should obtain an immediate medical evaluation.
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Common Causes of Back and Neck Injuries
Car Accidents
Motor vehicle collisions are a major source of cervical and lumbar trauma.
Rear-end crashes are particularly associated with rapid acceleration-deceleration forces affecting the neck.
Our legal team handles these claims through its San Francisco Car Accident Lawyers practice.
For collisions involving impact from behind, see our dedicated San Francisco Rear-End Collision Lawyers page.
Truck Accidents
Commercial trucks with their substantial size and weight can create substantially greater impact forces in a collision.
Our firm’s $1.75 million serious spine injury case result involved a client rear-ended by a commercial truck.
Our San Francisco Truck Accident Lawyers investigate both injury damages and potential commercial liability.
Uber and Lyft Accidents
Rideshare collisions can cause the same cervical and lumbar injuries as other crashes while adding complex insurance questions to your case.
Our San Francisco Uber and Lyft Accident Lawyers handle serious rideshare injury claims.
Motorcycle Accidents
Motorcycle riders can suffer significant spinal, neck, and back trauma when thrown from a motorcycle or after being struck by another vehicle.
See our San Francisco Motorcycle Accident Lawyers page for motorcycle related questions.
Slip, Trip, and Fall Accidents
Uncontrolled falls can cause serious lumbar, thoracic, and cervical injuries, particularly when the person lands forcefully or twists during the fall.
We handle these claims through our San Francisco Slip and Fall & Trip and Fall Lawyers and Premises Liability Lawyers practices. Please see those pages for specific information related to fall injuries.
Construction Accidents
Falls from heights, floor openings, scaffolding accidents, falling objects, and equipment accidents can cause severe back trauma.
Our firm’s $890,000 construction accident site result involved a disputed liability case with serious back injury requiring surgery and spinal hardware.
Please see our San Francisco Construction Accident Lawyers page.
How Our Attorneys Build a Serious Back or Neck Injury Case
Establish How the Accident Happened
Depending on the case, we may obtain:
- Police reports
- Accident photographs
- Vehicle damage photographs
- Surveillance video footage
- Dash-camera footage
- Witness statements
- First responder statements
- Electronic vehicle data
- Commercial vehicle records
- Property inspection records
- Construction records
Document the Medical Timeline
Timing is often critical.
We examine:
- When symptoms began
- What was reported during initial medical treatment
- Changes in symptoms
- Imaging findings
- Specialist evaluations
- Physical therapy
- Injections
- Pain management reports
- Surgical recommendations
- Work restrictions
Correlate Imaging With Symptoms
MRI and CT findings do not exist in isolation.
A strong legal case may require medical evidence connecting the imaging findings to:
- The trauma from the accident
- The person’s ongoing symptoms
- Neurological findings
- Treatment
- Functional limitations
Thorough Documentation of Daily Limitations
Back and neck injuries often affect ordinary daily activities such as:
- Driving
- Sleeping
- Sitting at a desk
- Standing for long periods
- Lifting
- Exercising
- Caring for children
- Housework
- Travel
- Recreational activities
Those losses are part of the real impact of the injury. We include these in your damage’s calculation.
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What If the MRI Shows Degenerative Changes?
This is one of the most common insurance-company defenses in back and neck injury cases.
Many adults have some degree of age-related spinal degeneration before an accident.
That does not necessarily mean the accident did not cause an injury.
An accident may:
- Cause a new injury
- Aggravate a pre-existing condition
- Turn an asymptomatic condition into a painful one
- Make an existing condition substantially worse
The key question is not merely whether degeneration existed before the accident.
It is whether the accident caused or aggravated the symptoms and resulting disability
Medical history, prior symptoms, imaging, treating physician opinions, and the timing of the new symptoms can all become important.
What If the Vehicle Damage Looks Minor?
Insurers often argue that limited visible vehicle damage means a person could not have suffered a significant neck or back injury.
But injury causation should not be reduced to photographs of a bumper.
Our analysis may include:
- Direction of impact
- Vehicle weight
- Occupant position
- Vehicle movement
- Seat and head-rest position
- Prior medical history
- Symptoms after the crash
- Objective medical findings
- Treatment progression
The injury evidence must be evaluated as a whole.
What Treatment Might Be Involved?
Treatment depends on the diagnosis and severity of the back or neck injury and should always be determined by the appropriate medical professionals.
It may include:
- Medical evaluation
- Diagnostic imaging
- Physical therapy
- Chiropractic care
- Medication
- Specialist care
- Pain-management treatment
- Epidural or other injections
- Surgery
- Post-surgical rehabilitation
Herniated-disc treatment may also involve conservative care, physical therapy, injections, and, in some cases when needed, surgery.
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When Surgery Becomes Necessary
Some accident-related cervical and lumbar injuries require surgery when symptoms remain severe or neurological compression persists.
Potential procedures vary substantially depending on the diagnosis.
When surgery is involved, the legal claim should account not only for the procedure itself but also:
- Hospital costs
- Surgeon and specialist costs
- Follow-up care
- Rehabilitation costs
- Time away from work
- Lost wages
- Physical restrictions
- Future medical treatment which may be needed
- Potential additional procedures
Lost Earnings and Reduced Ability to Work
Back and neck injuries can be particularly disruptive for people whose jobs require:
- Lifting
- Bending
- Driving
- Standing
- Repetitive movement
- Construction work
- Nursing or caregiving
- Physical labor
They can also interfere with sedentary jobs when prolonged sitting becomes painful.
Damages may therefore include both:
- Past lost wages, and
- Loss of future earning capacity
Compensation Available in a Back or Neck Injury Claim
Depending on the circumstances, recoverable damages may include:
- Past medical expenses
- Future medical treatment
- Surgery
- Rehabilitation
- Lost wages
- Reduced earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Disability
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium in qualifying cases
Serious neck and back injury cases should be evaluated based on their long-term impact, not simply the medical bills accumulated during the first few months.
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What If You Were Partially at Fault for The Accident?
California follows comparative-fault principles.
An injured person can potentially recover compensation even if they share some responsibility for the accident.
Compensation may be reduced according to the percentage of fault assigned to the injured person. For example, if you are determined to be 20% at-fault, you can recover 80% of your damages.
Our experienced attorneys investigate liability rather than accepting an insurance carrier’s version of what happened.
What Should You Do After an Accident Causing Back or Neck Pain?
- Seek an immediate medical evaluation.
- Describe all symptoms to your healthcare provider.
- Follow all of your doctor’s treatment recommendations.
- Attend all scheduled appointments.
- Keep track of how the injury affects work and daily activities.
- Preserve accident photographs, videos and other evidence.
- Avoid minimizing your symptoms.
- Do not give recorded statements to insurers.
- Speak with an experienced personal injury attorney as soon as possible.
Treatment consistency and medical documentation are essential for your claim.
How Long Do You Have to File a Claim?
California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1 generally provides two years for many negligence-based personal injury lawsuits.
Claims involving a government entity have a much shorter deadline of six months.
Under California Government Code § 911.2, qualifying personal injury claims against public entities generally must be presented within six months from the date of the accident.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Back and Neck Injury Claims
Is whiplash considered a real injury if my X-ray is normal?
Yes. Whiplash commonly involves soft tissues of the cervical spine, and significant symptoms can exist even when ordinary diagnostic imaging does not identify a major structural abnormality.
Is a herniated disc the same as a spinal cord injury?
No. A herniated disc can irritate or compress nerve roots and cause serious symptoms without damaging the spinal cord itself.
What is radiculopathy?
Radiculopathy occurs when a spinal nerve root is irritated or compressed, causing symptoms such as pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness that radiate into an arm or leg.
What is sciatica?
Sciatica generally describes pain associated with irritation of the sciatic nerve or related lumbar nerve roots, often producing symptoms that extend from the lower back or buttock into the leg.
Can an accident aggravate an old back or neck condition?
Yes. A negligent defendant generally cannot avoid responsibility simply because the injured person had a pre-existing condition. The issue is whether the accident caused a new injury or worsened the pre-existing condition.
What if I had no symptoms before the accident but my MRI shows degeneration?
That situation is common. The medical and legal analysis should consider whether the condition was symptomatic before the accident and whether the trauma from the accident caused the new symptoms.
Can I recover damages if I need surgery?
Yes. Surgery can substantially affect damages because of the procedure itself, rehabilitation, lost work, physical restrictions, and possible future treatment.
What if the insurance company says the crash was too minor to injure me?
Vehicle damage is only one piece of evidence. Occupant location and body position, medical findings, symptoms, accident mechanics, treatment history, and other evidence should also be considered.
How much is a back or neck injury case worth?
Case value depends on factors including:
- Injury diagnosis
- Medical and chiropractic treatment received
- Physical therapy treatment received
- Surgery
- Future care
- Duration of symptoms
- Permanent limitations
- Lost wages
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Reduced earning capacity
- Liability
- Comparative fault
- Available insurance
There is no responsible way to calculate the value from the diagnosis alone. Your case value is determined by many different factors.
How much does it cost to hire The Hassell Law Group?
Our firm handles qualifying personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis.
There is no attorney’s fee unless we recover compensation for you.
Related Practice Areas and Resources
- San Francisco Spinal Cord Injury Lawyers
- San Francisco Car Accident Lawyers
- San Francisco Rear-End Collision Lawyers
- San Francisco Truck Accident Lawyers
- San Francisco Uber and Lyft Accident Lawyers
- San Francisco Motorcycle Accident Lawyers
- San Francisco Premises Liability Lawyers
- San Francisco Construction Accident Lawyers
- Neck and Back Pain After a Bay Area Car Accident
Contact Our San Francisco Back and Neck Injury Lawyers Today
A serious back or neck injury can affect nearly every aspect of your life. From working and driving to sleeping, exercising, lifting, and spending time with your family.
Insurance companies may try to dismiss these injuries as temporary, degenerative, or unrelated to the accident.
The San Francisco back and neck injury lawyers at The Hassell Law Group know how to develop the medical and legal evidence necessary to show what actually happened and how the injury has affected your life.
Our legal team has more than 90 years of combined personal injury experience, our firm has an undefeated trial and arbitration record, and we have obtained substantial results in serious back and spine injury cases.
Contact The Hassell Law Group today at (415) 334-4111 for a free consultation.
There is no fee unless we recover compensation for you.
The general information provided on this website should not be considered legal advice and does not constitute legal advice. For legal advice, you should consult directly with an attorney. If you contact us by telephone, email, letter, or by contact form submission through this website, please note that such communication does not create or constitute an attorney-client relationship. We cannot act as your attorney until we are hired as your attorney by a formal written agreement.