InjuryBrain and spinal cord injury
Brain and spinal cord injury claims in Arizona
If someone else's negligence caused a brain injury or spinal cord injury, you may have a claim, and it has to be built differently from an ordinary injury case. The question is not what the bills say but what the injury will require over a lifetime: rehabilitation, attendant care, equipment, and lost earning capacity, projected in a life-care plan by medical, vocational, and economic experts. Insurers often minimize a brain injury as a mild concussion; neuropsychological testing and imaging answer that. The Arizona Constitution (art. II, § 31) prohibits caps on these damages. The deadlines match other injury claims, two years under A.R.S. § 12-542 and 180 days for public entities, with the period paused for a child or a person who lacks capacity under A.R.S. § 12-502.
What Blueshoe does
The groundwork, in order, before you decide anything.
- 01
Document the injury fully
Imaging, neuropsychological testing, physiatry and neurology records, and the accounts of family and coworkers who see the change day to day, organized to answer the insurer's claim that the injury is mild or resolved.
- 02
Build the life-care plan
A certified life-care planner, treating physicians, and vocational and economic experts project the care, equipment, housing, and lost earning capacity the injury will require, so the claim is measured against a lifetime rather than the bills to date.
- 03
Find every responsible party and policy
The at-fault driver or owner, a trucking carrier, a product maker, a public entity, and every liability and UM/UIM policy that can respond. Under several liability each defendant pays only its share, so a party never named is a share never recovered.
- 04
An attorney can take it forward
A licensed Arizona attorney can review the file, arrange a guardian or conservator where the injured person cannot act, retain the experts, and negotiate or file, on terms stated in writing first, including how expert costs are handled.
What the law says
What the law says about brain and spinal cord injuries in Arizona
What has to be proven in a brain or spinal cord injury claim?
The same elements as any negligence claim: that someone owed you a duty, breached it, and caused the injury. What changes is the proof of harm. A catastrophic claim must establish the permanence of the injury and the lifetime of care it requires, which is expert work: neurology, physiatry, neuropsychology, life-care planning, and economics.
The insurer says my brain injury was a mild concussion. What does that mean for the claim?
It means the extent of the injury is contested, which is common. Many brain injuries do not appear on a standard CT scan, and symptoms such as memory loss, fatigue, and personality change are easy to dismiss on paper. Neuropsychological testing, further imaging where appropriate, and the observations of people who knew you before are how that argument is answered.
Does Arizona limit what a catastrophic injury claim can recover?
No. Article II, § 31 of the Arizona Constitution prohibits any law limiting the damages recoverable for injury or death, so future medical care, attendant care, lost earning capacity, and pain and loss of enjoyment of life are measured on the evidence. Under A.R.S. § 12-2505, the recovery is reduced by any share of fault assigned to you, not eliminated.
How long do we have to bring the claim?
Generally two years under A.R.S. § 12-542, or a notice of claim within 180 days and suit within one year under A.R.S. § 12-821.01 if a public entity is involved. Under A.R.S. § 12-502, the period does not begin to run for a child until age 18, or for a person of unsound mind until that disability is removed.
Whether a brain injury leaves someone of unsound mind for purposes of the statute is a fact-specific question, and a court-appointed guardian or conservator may be needed to act for an adult who cannot. Neither is a reason to wait; the evidence and the public-entity notice run on their own clocks.
What if the injury happened at work?
Workers' compensation is usually the exclusive remedy against your employer, but it does not bar a claim against a third party whose negligence caused the injury: a negligent driver, a subcontractor, an equipment maker, a property owner. Comp covers medical care and part of lost wages; a third-party claim can address what it does not.
What it costs
No fee unless you recover.
Asking costs nothing. If you engage Blueshoe on a contingency basis, the fee is a percentage of what is recovered, stated in a written engagement agreement, and nothing is owed if there is no recovery. Case costs, such as filing fees and records, are set out in the same agreement, including whether they come out before or after the fee is calculated.
- Free to ask
- Written assessment before any fee
- Engagement terms in writing
- No billable hours
Questions people ask
Often, yes. If the injured person lacks capacity, a court can appoint a guardian or conservator to act for them, and a spouse or parent is usually the natural choice. Any settlement for a person under a disability typically needs court approval. Those steps are routine, and they can be handled alongside the claim rather than before it.
More under Injury
- Car accidentsHurt in an Arizona crash? The two-year deadline, the 180-day notice for public entities, pure comparative fault, 25/50/15 minimum limits, and the UM/UIM coverage that often decides what a claim recovers.Read more
- Truck accidentsHit by a commercial truck on the I-10 or I-17? Federal safety rules, the evidence that disappears in weeks, several liability under A.R.S.Read more
- Birth injuryA delayed delivery, a missed sign on the fetal monitor, a shoulder dystocia handled badly.Read more
Legally reviewed by Catherine O’Grady, State Bar of Arizona No. 011647
Managing partner & chief compliance officer · 30+ years in practice · Reviewed 2026-10-08 · Full bio →