What Lowcountry TBI Families Often Miss
- A normal CT scan rules out bleeding, but standard imaging cannot always detect the damage from a concussion, so a clear scan does not mean there is no brain injury.
- Neuropsychological testing measures memory, attention, and processing speed, and its built-in validity checks give an objective answer when an adjuster suggests the symptoms are exaggerated.
- Severe head trauma in the Lowcountry is often treated at MUSC Health, which operates Level I trauma centers for adults and children, or at Trident Medical Center in North Charleston.
- Brain injuries from a fall on public property or a crash with a government vehicle fall under the Tort Claims Act, which limits recovery to $300,000 per person.
- When a husband or wife comes home from the hospital a different person, the uninjured spouse can bring a separate claim for loss of companionship under S.C. Code § 15-75-20.
Traumatic brain injury is often called the invisible injury. The CT scan comes back normal and you look fine, yet you can’t concentrate, the headaches won’t stop, your temper is shorter, and your family says you’re not yourself. The CDC reports more than 69,000 TBI-related deaths in the United States in 2021, and falls account for nearly half of TBI-related hospitalizations, with motor vehicle crashes among the other common causes. Insurers often approach these claims with a simple position: no visible injury, no claim.
A traumatic brain injury lawyer in North Charleston at Shelly Leeke Law Firm builds the proof that imaging can’t show. Our headquarters is at 6060 Rivers Ave, North Charleston, SC 29406, and we have represented injured South Carolinians since 2007. If you or someone in your family has had a head injury and things still aren’t right, schedule a free consultation so we can review the medical records and talk through what the claim needs.
The TBI Spectrum and Why “Mild” Is a Misnomer
Doctors grade brain injuries from mild to severe, often using the Glasgow Coma Scale at the scene and in the emergency department. Those labels describe how the injury looked at first, not how it will affect your life, and they can mislead adjusters and juries alike:
- Mild TBI (concussion). There may be no loss of consciousness or only a brief one, and imaging is often normal. Yet post-concussion syndrome can bring months of headaches, dizziness, memory trouble, light sensitivity, and mood changes.
- Moderate and severe TBI. These involve longer unconsciousness, damage visible on imaging, and lasting cognitive and physical impairment. They are catastrophic injuries with lifetime care needs.
- Delayed and evolving symptoms. Irritability and frustration often develop during recovery, and new signs can appear weeks after the injury. That is why a medical evaluation matters even when you “feel fine.”
Going back to work, sports, or heavy activity too soon carries its own danger. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, a second impact soon after a first concussion can lead to permanent damage or even death in some cases. The doctors who treat a brain injury, including neurologists, neuropsychologists, rehabilitation physicians and, for severe cases, a life-care planner, become both your care team and the source of the evidence in your claim.
Types of Brain Injury Found in TBI Claims
The medical name for an injury affects the treatment, the prognosis, and the experts a claim needs. The diagnoses that appear most often in the medical records we review include:
- Concussion: a rapid movement of the brain inside the skull, which can happen from a jolt or violent shaking without any direct blow to the head
- Contusion: bruising or swelling where small blood vessels bleed into brain tissue, sometimes under the point of impact and often on the opposite side of the brain (a coup-contrecoup injury)
- Hematoma: bleeding from a burst blood vessel that collects between the skull and the brain’s coverings (epidural) or beneath the outer covering (subdural)
- Diffuse axonal injury: widespread damage to the brain’s white matter, usually from rotational or sudden deceleration forces in a high-speed crash
- Penetrating injury: an object pierces the skull and enters the brain, usually damaging one region
Several of these injuries can occur together, and a contusion can become visible on a scan hours or a day after the first one was read as clear. A diagnosis made early and updated as symptoms change gives the claim a medical record that matches what you and your family are experiencing.
“Your Scan Was Normal” Is Not the End of Your Case
Standard imaging cannot always detect the damage from a mild, concussive injury, and a CT scan can miss subtle changes that an MRI picks up. A normal CT scan rules out bleeding; it does not rule out brain injury. Adjusters rarely explain that distinction, so we build the claim around evidence that measures how your brain works now:
- Neuropsychological testing: standardized, objective measurement of memory, attention, processing speed, and executive function, administered by a qualified neuropsychologist
- Before-and-after witnesses: your spouse, family, friends, and coworkers describing the change in you, which is often the most persuasive evidence in a TBI case
- Work and school records: performance reviews, grades, and attendance before and after the injury
- Consistent treating-provider documentation: every symptom reported at every visit, starting on day one
Expect the defense to argue three things: the symptoms are subjective, the problems were pre-existing, or you are exaggerating. Testing answers the first. The before-and-after record answers the second. Validity measures built into neuropsychological testing, together with a consistent medical history, answer the third, and we prepare the file with all three arguments in mind.
How TBIs Happen, and the Claims That Follow
The cause of a brain injury decides who is responsible and which rules apply. In the North Charleston area, the head injuries we see usually come from one of these situations:
- Vehicle crashes, including car accidents, truck collisions, motorcycle wrecks, pedestrian strikes, and bicycle crashes, where the head can be injured by the force of the collision even without striking anything
- Falls, the leading cause of TBI hospitalizations, which can support a premises liability claim against a property owner
- Workplace accidents, covered by workers’ compensation and sometimes by a third-party claim against someone other than your employer
- Medical negligence, including birth injuries, and falls caused by nursing home neglect
- Defective helmets, equipment, or vehicle parts, which can support a product liability claim
Severe TBIs in the metro are often treated at MUSC Health in Charleston, which operates Level I trauma centers for adults and for children, or at Trident Medical Center in North Charleston, which reports a Level II trauma designation. When the fall happened on government property or a government vehicle caused the crash, the South Carolina Tort Claims Act applies. Recovery is generally capped at $300,000 per person and $600,000 per occurrence (S.C. Code § 15-78-120), and the filing deadline is shorter.
Compensation You Can Pursue
A brain injury claim has to account for costs that may not appear until months or years later. Depending on the facts, compensation can include:
- Medical bills, including neuropsychological evaluation, cognitive rehabilitation, therapy, and future care
- Lost income and reduced earning capacity, because cognitive impairment often ends or changes a career
- Pain, suffering, and the psychological toll: depression, anxiety, isolation, and the loss of who you were
- For severe TBI, lifetime care, supervision, and home modifications, documented through a life-care plan
If the insurer blames you for the accident, South Carolina’s modified comparative negligence rule lets you recover if your share of fault is 50% or less, with your award reduced by that percentage (Nelson v. Concrete Supply Co., 303 S.C. 243, 399 S.E.2d 783 (1991)). Punitive damages require clear and convincing evidence of willful, wanton, or reckless conduct and are capped in most cases at the greater of three times compensatory damages or $500,000 (S.C. Code §§ 15-32-520, 15-32-530). For claims arising after January 1, 2026, Act No. 42 of 2025 provides that a defendant found less than 50% of the total fault pays only its own share of the damages (§ 15-38-15).
We work on a contingency fee basis, so you pay no attorney’s fees or case expenses unless we recover compensation for you. Our fee is calculated on the gross recovery before expenses are deducted. That arrangement includes the cost of neuropsychological evaluations and expert reports, which are often the most important expenses in a brain injury case.
What to Do After a Head Injury
The steps you take in the first weeks after a head injury protect both your recovery and your claim:
- Get evaluated now, even if you feel fine. Symptoms often develop later, and the first medical record anchors the claim.
- Report every symptom at every visit, including the headaches, the fog, and the irritability. Symptoms that never reach the chart are easy for an insurer to dispute.
- Follow the treatment plan and keep every appointment, because gaps in care become a defense exhibit.
- Keep a symptom journal, and ask family members to write down changes they notice.
- Do not return to work, sports, or heavy activity against medical advice.
- Do not give a recorded statement or accept an early offer, since a TBI reveals its real cost over months, not days.
How Long Do You Have to File?
Deadline warning: most South Carolina brain injury lawsuits must be filed within three years of the injury (S.C. Code § 15-3-530(5)). Time can be extended for a minor or a person legally incapacitated when the claim arose, but never beyond one year after that disability ends (§ 15-3-40). Medical negligence claims generally must be filed within three years of the treatment or its discovery, with an outside limit of six years (§ 15-3-545), and they require a notice of intent and expert affidavit before suit (§ 15-79-125). Claims against a government entity generally must be filed within two years (§ 15-78-110). The neuropsychological record is strongest when it starts early, so don’t wait to begin.
Shelly M. Leeke: A Psychology Background Applied to Brain Injury Claims
Brain injury cases turn on cognition, behavior, and testing, which is where Shelly M. Leeke began. Before law school she earned a B.S. in Psychology, along with a B.A. in Government, from Wofford College in 1999. She then graduated cum laude from Tulane University Law School in 2002 and served as a judicial law clerk at the Louisiana Supreme Court. That foundation helps her read a neuropsychological report closely and explain to an adjuster or jury why a normal scan does not end the analysis.
Her early practice at Blue Williams involved defending insurance companies in auto and workers’ compensation cases, so she knows how carriers question injuries they cannot see on film. She later moved to plaintiff work at Morris Bart and now leads the firm as managing partner from its North Charleston headquarters. Licensed in South Carolina and Louisiana, she is a Super Lawyers Rising Star, a 2017 Forty Under 40 honoree, and the author of The South Carolina Accident Book. She is a member of the South Carolina Bar, the South Carolina Association for Justice, and the American Association for Justice.
Areas We Serve
From our Rivers Avenue office, we represent brain injury survivors and their families across the Charleston metro, including North Charleston, Charleston, Goose Creek, Moncks Corner, Summerville, Hanahan, Ladson, James Island, West Ashley, Daniel Island, and the rest of Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester counties. When a head injury comes with other serious harm, our spinal cord injury and child injury pages explain those claims, and if a brain injury proved fatal, our wrongful death page covers the family’s rights. For other accidents, visit our North Charleston personal injury lawyer page.
Still Not Yourself After a Head Injury in North Charleston?
If a concussion or brain injury from a crash, fall, or workplace accident has changed how you think, sleep, or feel, the claim depends on documenting those changes early. Call our North Charleston office at (843) 604-3273 to discuss testing, treatment records, and the deadline that applies to your injury.
TBI FAQ
My CT scan was normal, but I’m still not right. Do I have a case?
Very possibly. Standard imaging often misses concussion damage. A mild TBI is usually proven through neuropsychological testing, consistent treatment records, and testimony from the people who knew you before the injury and see you now.
The insurer says I’m exaggerating my symptoms. What now?
That argument is common against injuries no scan shows. Neuropsychological testing includes built-in validity measures, and a consistent medical record from day one answers it. The accusation is a reason to get counsel, not to doubt yourself.
I didn’t hit my head. Can I still have a TBI?
Yes. A concussion can result from rapid movement of the brain inside the skull, such as a violent jolt in a rear-end crash. No direct blow to the head is required, so report every symptom to your doctor.
Should I accept the insurer’s lump-sum offer?
Not before the full course of your injury is known. Accepting a lump sum releases the claim, including problems the brain injury reveals later. TBI symptoms and costs often take months to become clear, so early offers are rarely complete.
My spouse’s personality changed after the accident. Does that count?
Yes. Cognitive and personality changes are compensable harm to the injured person. South Carolina law also lets the uninjured spouse sue for loss of companionship, aid, and society (S.C. Code § 15-75-20), and your observations are important evidence.
