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A spinal cord injury can change every aspect of a person’s life in an instant. Victims may face permanent paralysis, chronic pain, loss of independence, and the need for lifelong medical care and rehabilitation. When these catastrophic injuries are caused by someone else’s negligence, pursuing compensation often requires extensive medical evidence, expert testimony, and experienced trial counsel.
For 40 years, Langdon & Emison has represented victims of catastrophic injuries in Kansas City and throughout the country. Our attorneys have recovered $1 billion in verdicts and settlements, including multiple eight-figure results in spinal cord and brain injury cases. We have the experience and resources to take on negligent drivers, trucking companies, manufacturers, and other parties responsible for life-changing injuries.
If you or someone in your family has suffered a spinal cord injury, call (866) 931-2115 for a free consultation. A Kansas City spinal cord injury lawyer from our firm can look at how the injury happened and who may be responsible for it.
Langdon & Emison is a personal injury law firm that has handled catastrophic injury cases across the country for 40 years. The firm has recovered $1 billion in verdicts and settlements, much of it against vehicle and component manufacturers.
Eight of our attorneys were recognized in the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America, and Brett A. Emison was named Lawyer of the Year for Personal Injury Litigation for Plaintiffs. Six of the eight were also recognized in Product Liability Litigation for Plaintiffs, which is the work behind our largest spinal cord verdicts.
Paralysis cases usually turn on two questions: what failed, and what the injury will cost over a lifetime. We work with design engineers who can explain the failure to a jury and life care planners who can document what the next 40 years of care will require.
Results depend on the facts of each case and don’t predict what another claim will be worth. Among our results for clients with spinal cord and spine injuries:
“Langdon and Emison is such a reliable and greatly trusted law firm to have on your side. This firm holds nothing but true greatness when it comes to their lawyers, paralegals, and legal assistants. They are ALL absolutely amazing and are beyond genuine with the work they do for their clients.” —Lindsay B.
“Ever since my accident, I felt like I had lost a sense of control in my life, and Langdon & Emison helped me take it back and look forward to the future- which is priceless. Very personable and patient, they guided me through the process and were available with any answers I needed.” —Venus L.
Vehicle crashes and falls account for roughly 70% of traumatic spinal cord injuries, according to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center, which counts about 18,400 new injuries a year.
Common causes of spinal cord injuries include:
Some spinal cord injuries cause immediate paralysis, while others develop more gradually. Symptoms such as numbness, weakness, tingling, or persistent neck and back pain may worsen over time, making prompt medical evaluation and ongoing treatment essential after a serious accident.
What a person can still do depends on where the cord was damaged and whether any nerve signals still get through.
A complete injury means no useful movement or sensation below the level of the damage. That doesn’t necessarily mean the cord was severed, only that signals aren’t getting past it. An incomplete injury leaves some signal getting through, so a person may keep partial movement or feeling, and that picture can change during the first year of rehabilitation.
Paraplegia affects the legs and lower body and usually follows damage in the mid or lower back. Quadriplegia, also called tetraplegia, affects the arms and legs, usually follows a neck injury, and can affect breathing.
Not every serious spine injury causes paralysis. Other injuries include fractured vertebrae, herniated discs, and spinal instability, which often still require surgery and months away from work.
Learn more: What is a catastrophic injury?
More than most people expect, which is the biggest reason early settlement offers fall short. In 2024 dollars, average first-year expenses run roughly $687,000 for paraplegia and $1.4 million for high tetraplegia, with hundreds of thousands more each year after that. Estimated lifetime costs for someone injured at 25 range from about $2.1 million to $6.3 million, and those figures exclude lost wages. Only about 18% of people with a traumatic spinal cord injury are working a year later.
Recovering compensation that covers the long term means proving those future numbers, not just the bills already in hand. A spinal cord injury claim may seek payment for:
Related reading: Life after a spinal cord injury
The laws that apply to your spinal cord injury claim can have a significant impact on your ability to recover compensation. If your injury occurred in Missouri, your case will generally be governed by Missouri law, including the state’s deadlines for filing a lawsuit and rules regarding shared fault. If the injury occurred in another state, different laws may apply.
Two legal issues are especially important in spinal cord injury cases:
Because spinal cord injuries frequently involve substantial damages for lifelong medical care, lost earning capacity, and other long-term losses, defendants often invest significant resources into disputing liability. At Langdon & Emison, we thoroughly investigate every case, gather the necessary evidence, and work to minimize attempts to unfairly assign fault to our clients.
If you have questions about how Missouri law applies to your spinal cord injury claim, our attorneys can explain your legal rights and the options available based on the specific circumstances of your case.
Often more than one party can be held liable, and finding all of them matters because a single insurance policy rarely covers a lifetime of care.
A driver may be responsible for speeding, texting, or running a light. When that driver was working, the trucking or delivery company that employed them can be liable too, and its coverage is usually much more extensive.
Under premises liability law, property owners have to address hazards they know about or should have found, which is where broken stairs and untreated ice come in. On job sites, a general contractor or equipment operator may be liable even when workers’ compensation covers the injured worker, and that separate claim is often where the real recovery is.
A defective seat belt, airbag, tire, or roof can turn a survivable crash into paralysis. These claims require engineers and testing, and they’re where several of our largest verdicts came from.
A surgeon, hospital, or other provider may be responsible when careless medical care damages the cord or lets a treatable injury get worse.
You have to show that someone owed a duty of care, failed to meet it, and caused the injury. In spinal cord injury cases, the dispute is usually about causation rather than fault, because insurers commonly argue a degenerative back condition explains the symptoms.
Useful evidence includes police reports, scene photographs, imaging and medical records, the vehicle or product itself, company safety files, and proof of lost income. Prior medical records help rather than hurt here, since they show what you could do before.
Stay still and let EMS move you if there’s any chance the spine is involved, because moving someone with an unstable fracture can turn an incomplete injury into a complete one. From there:
It depends on the level of injury, the cost of future care, lost earning capacity, and how much insurance coverage exists. A case with a $6 million care projection and a $1 million policy behind it is a very different problem than one with a corporate defendant.
In most states, yes. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, though a number of states cut off recovery once your share reaches 50 or 51, and a few bar it if you’re at fault at all. Which rule applies depends on where the claim is filed, so it’s one of the first things we check.
That’s common, and it doesn’t sink the claim. Swelling can take days to produce numbness, weakness, or balance problems. Get medical care and tell the provider about the accident, because the gap between the incident and the first complaint is what an insurer will point to later.
Usually your own health insurance. The at-fault party’s insurer generally doesn’t pay medical bills as they arrive; it pays once, at settlement or verdict. Depending on the case, workers’ compensation or auto coverage such as no-fault or medical payments benefits may cover treatment in the meantime. Whoever pays along the way often has a right to be repaid out of any recovery, and negotiating those amounts down is part of the work.
Langdon & Emison has spent 40 years representing injured people across Kansas City, and we take these cases on a contingency fee basis, so you pay no attorney’s fees unless compensation is recovered.
Call (866) 931-2115 or reach out online for a free consultation with a spinal cord injury attorney. With decades of experience in Kansas City and Missouri’s specific laws, we’re ready to help you get the compensation you deserve.
When it matters, we'll be there.
