A traumatic brain or spinal cord injury doesn't just change your life on the day it happens — it reshapes every year that follows. Permanent cognitive deficits, paralysis, 24-hour attendant care: these aren't outcomes a settlement can address with a quick payout covering a few doctor visits. That settlement has to carry the next 40 years — medical equipment, home modifications, lost earning capacity, and a quality of life that will never fully return. Undervalue the claim, and the client runs out of money before they run out of need.
Malekan Law Group handles these cases from our office at 9171 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 500, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, serving injured clients across Los Angeles County. We are committed to client-focused personal injury representation — No Fees Until We Win. You pay nothing unless we recover compensation — that's the only way we take cases, starting with a free consultation. Call +1-424-248-1318 to speak with our team.
Our two most significant catastrophic-injury outcomes illustrate what serious claims should actually recover. The first is a $250,000 policy-limit settlement for a client with a traumatic brain injury. "Policy-limit" means we forced the at-fault driver's insurer to pay the maximum their policy allowed — not the reduced offer carriers typically extend when they sense a claimant will settle early. Reaching the ceiling required documented neurocognitive testing, life-care planning, and a credible trial posture the insurer could not ignore.
The second is a $600,000 recovery in an elevator accident — the firm's largest single-case result to date. Elevator cases sit at the intersection of premises liability and serious injury law: when a property owner or maintenance company fails to inspect, repair, or safely operate vertical transportation equipment, the resulting spinal and orthopedic injuries can be catastrophic. Establishing liability required subpoenaing maintenance records and pinning negligence on the responsible party.
These results sit within a broader track record of 500+ cases successfully resolved and a 4.9-star rating on Google across 126+ client reviews. TBI and spinal claims are the firm's highest-value category because they demand the most rigorous case-building. If you're evaluating a serious injury claim, call +1-424-248-1318 for a free case review.
The firm handles the full range of neurological and spinal trauma, from injuries insurers dismiss to catastrophic paralysis cases. Concussions and mild TBI are a prime example of insurer undervaluation — they're routinely labeled "minor," yet post-concussion syndrome can produce lasting memory loss, mood changes, and light sensitivity. We counter that undervaluation with neuropsychological testing and treating-physician testimony. Moderate and severe TBI cases are a different matter entirely: injuries involving loss of consciousness, skull fractures, subdural hematomas, or diffuse axonal injury require hospitalization, neurosurgery, and long-term cognitive rehabilitation.
Herniated and bulging disc injuries from car crashes, truck collisions, and slip-and-falls compress nerve roots and produce radiating pain, numbness, or weakness in the cervical and lumbar spine. Spinal cord injuries with partial or complete paralysis represent the most catastrophic category, demanding lifetime attendant care, home modifications, and economic damages calculations that stretch across decades of lost earning capacity. Rear-end collisions frequently cause whiplash and cervical spine trauma — injuries insurers habitually undervalue until MRI-backed medical evidence forces a realistic number. Compression fractures and vertebral injuries, common in elevator failures, construction falls, and pedestrian knockdowns, are particularly deceptive: initial X-rays often understate the severity, and delayed imaging with orthopedic follow-up frequently reveals progression.
If your injury falls into any of these categories, our personal injury team can evaluate your claim during a free consultation.
Acting quickly after a catastrophic injury matters because critical evidence has a short shelf life. Surveillance footage from commercial properties can be overwritten within weeks, and electronic data from vehicles may not be preserved indefinitely after a crash. Within days of retention, we work to secure police reports, subpoena camera footage, preserve available electronic data, and document the scene before conditions change.
Medical documentation is central to every serious injury case. Coordinating with treating neurologists, spine surgeons, and neuropsychologists produces injury records that survive insurer scrutiny — including objective imaging, cognitive testing, and life-care plans projecting future treatment costs.
Identifying every liable party is equally critical. In a truck crash, that may include the driver, employer, and maintenance contractor. In premises liability cases like elevator failures, it extends to property owners and service companies. In dangerous-roadway cases, government entities may share fault under California's comparative negligence rules.
A complete demand package means quantifying future medical costs, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, and loss of consortium — the categories insurers underpay when claimants lack representation. Call +1-424-248-1318 to discuss how we would build your case.
A serious TBI or spinal claim typically involves two categories of recoverable damages: economic losses you can document with bills, records, and expert projections, and non-economic losses that reflect how the injury has changed your daily life.
Economic damages cover the tangible costs that pile up fast — current and future medical bills, surgical revisions, rehabilitation, in-home attendant care, wheelchairs and assistive devices, home and vehicle modifications, lost wages, and diminished future earning capacity. Life-care planners and vocational economists build these projections with numbers insurers cannot dismiss. For catastrophic injuries, those documented costs can be substantial over a lifetime.
Non-economic damages cover pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium for a spouse.
A policy-limit settlement, like the $250,000 TBI recovery discussed earlier, signals the at-fault carrier conceded maximum liability under the coverage available. When that ceiling falls short of the actual loss, we pursue every additional source: umbrella policies, employer liability, third-party defendants, and your own underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage — often the difference between a partial recovery and a full one. Our Santa Monica and Culver City clients frequently discover UIM coverage they didn't know they had.
California gives most TBI and spinal injury victims two years from the date of injury to file a lawsuit. Miss that deadline, and the claim is permanently barred — no matter how catastrophic the injury or how clear the defendant's negligence. Insurers know this, and they use delay tactics to push unrepresented claimants past the cutoff.
Two exceptions matter for brain and spinal cases. First, the discovery rule can toll the clock when the full extent of a TBI isn't immediately apparent — cognitive deficits, memory issues, or personality changes sometimes surface weeks or months after impact, and the two years may run from the date the injury was reasonably discovered. Second, if a government entity is involved — a city bus, a Metro vehicle, a hazardous roadway, or an injury on public property — California's Government Claims Act requires an administrative claim within six months. That shorter window catches victims off guard constantly.
Beyond deadlines, early action preserves the case itself. Witness memories fade, surveillance footage is overwritten, and corporate defendants routinely purge maintenance records. Contact our team promptly at +1-424-248-1318 or through our consultation request — the sooner we start, the more evidence survives.
The first 72 hours after a serious head or spinal trauma determine both your medical outcome and the strength of your future claim. Follow these four steps in order.
Step 1 — Accept emergency medical care immediately. TBI and spinal injuries can deteriorate within hours as swelling and bleeding progress. Never decline an ambulance at the scene, never skip ER imaging, and never let an adjuster's phone call talk you out of a CT scan or MRI.
Step 2 — Document everything you can. Photograph the scene, vehicles, elevator, or property defect involved. Collect witness names and phone numbers before anyone leaves. Start a daily symptom journal — headaches, memory lapses, mood changes, numbness, sleep disruption. That journal becomes powerful evidence of cognitive and emotional effects insurers otherwise dismiss.
Step 3 — Do not give a recorded statement to the opposing insurer. Adjusters are trained to lock in early descriptions that sound minor. A TBI victim on day three often underreports symptoms that surface fully six months into recovery.
Step 4 — Call Malekan Law Group before accepting any offer. Early settlement offers on catastrophic cases are almost always a fraction of true value. Reach our team at +1-424-248-1318 for a free consultation — no fees unless we win.
Catastrophic head and spinal injuries in Los Angeles arise across a range of environments, and understanding the common patterns helps clients recognize when their case involves risks insurers try to minimize.
Freeway corridors throughout Los Angeles generate high-speed collision TBIs. Impact forces in serious freeway crashes produce injury patterns that lower-speed surface street crashes rarely match.
Commercial districts and high-rises in Downtown LA, Century City, and along the Wilshire Corridor produce elevator failures, lobby slip-and-falls, and premises-liability head trauma — the same zone where our $600,000 elevator recovery originated.
Pedestrian-heavy neighborhoods including Hollywood, Koreatown, Westwood, and Santa Monica see driver-yield failures at crosswalks that produce combined TBI and spinal trauma when a body strikes pavement. These cases come up regularly for clients in West Hollywood, Westwood Village, and Beverly Hills.
Active construction zones across West Hollywood, Culver City, and the Metro expansion routes create falling-object head injuries and spinal compression risks for workers and bystanders alike. If your injury occurred in any of these zones, call +1-424-248-1318 for a free case evaluation.
Catastrophic injury cases require a firm built for depth, not volume — and the firm's credentials reflect that focus. Attorney Samuel Malekan is licensed and in good standing with the State Bar of California, an independently verifiable credential that reflects a career committed exclusively to personal injury litigation. That focus matters in TBI and spinal cases, where the difference between a competent settlement and a maximum recovery often comes down to whether counsel understands neuroimaging, life-care planning, and jury psychology.
The firm has resolved 500+ personal injury cases and holds a 4.9-star rating on Google across 126+ verified client reviews — a track record showing consistent outcomes across a high volume of cases, not occasional wins publicized to look impressive.
Access matters as much as expertise. The contingency fee model — no retainer, no hourly rate, no fees of any kind unless we win — removes the financial barrier that keeps many seriously injured clients from hiring experienced counsel when they need it most. Open Sunday through Thursday from 6 AM to 11:30 PM, Friday from 6 AM to 1 PM, closed on Saturday, our extended hours reflect the reality that brain and spinal emergencies don't happen on a business schedule. Call +1-424-248-1318 whenever you're ready.
Traumatic brain and spinal injuries rarely arrive in isolation — they arise out of the same accident types the firm handles across its full practice. Recognizing how each case category produces neurological trauma shapes the strategy from day one.
The consultation is 100% free and carries zero obligation. We review the medical records, accident facts, and insurance coverage available in your situation, answer your questions honestly, and outline your legal options — whether or not you decide to hire us. If we take the case, our contingency fee structure means no retainer, no hourly billing, and no legal costs of any kind unless we recover compensation for you.
Reach the firm two ways: call +1 (424) 248-1318 to speak with our team directly, or visit us at 9171 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 500, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. If travel is difficult after a serious head or spinal injury, we conduct consultations by phone and video — you don't need to leave home to get answers.
Waiting costs more than acting. California's two-year filing deadline is unforgiving, surveillance footage disappears within weeks, and every day an unrepresented claimant speaks with the opposing insurer is a day the case value drops. A single phone call preserves evidence, stops adjuster contact, and protects the full lifetime value of your claim. Call today, or request a consultation through our contact page — the review costs nothing and the deadline won't wait.
13 questions answered
Malekan Law Group handles TBI and spinal injury claims on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay nothing out of pocket unless the firm recovers compensation for you. There is no retainer, no hourly rate, and no legal fee of any kind if no compensation is recovered. Every case starts with a 100% free consultation where the team reviews the facts and explains your options at no cost.
The timeline for a TBI claim in California varies significantly based on injury severity, the number of liable parties, and how aggressively the insurer disputes the claim. Mild TBI cases may resolve in several months, while catastrophic spinal cord or severe TBI cases involving disputed liability and life-care planning projections can take one to two years or longer. Settling too quickly is one of the most common mistakes in serious injury claims because the full scope of long-term medical costs may not be clear until treatment stabilizes.
Mild TBI claims — often labeled 'concussions' by insurers — are frequently undervalued because symptoms like memory loss, mood changes, and light sensitivity are not visible on standard imaging. Severe TBI claims involving loss of consciousness, skull fractures, or diffuse axonal injury carry significantly higher compensation because they require documented neurosurgery, cognitive rehabilitation, and life-care plans projecting decades of future costs. The difference in settlement value between these two categories can be substantial, which is why objective neuropsychological testing is critical in mild TBI cases.
Malekan Law Group recovered a $250,000 policy-limit settlement for a client with a traumatic brain injury and a $600,000 settlement in an elevator accident case — the firm's largest single-case result to date. Reaching policy limits in the TBI case required documented neurocognitive testing, life-care planning, and a trial-ready posture the insurer could not ignore. These outcomes sit within a broader track record of more than 500 cases successfully resolved.
Catastrophic injury cases demand a different level of case-building than routine fender-bender claims — they require coordination with neurologists, spine surgeons, and neuropsychologists, as well as life-care planners who can project decades of future medical costs. Malekan Law Group focuses on serious injury claims including TBI and spinal cord injuries, and its documented results reflect that focus. A general practitioner handling high volumes of minor claims may not have the expert network or the trial posture needed to force an insurer to pay policy limits on a catastrophic case.
Yes — elevator accidents in Los Angeles fall under premises liability law, and property owners or maintenance companies can be held responsible for spinal and orthopedic injuries caused by negligent inspection, repair, or operation of elevator equipment. Malekan Law Group's $600,000 elevator accident recovery demonstrates the firm's experience building these cases, which often require subpoenaing maintenance records and establishing which party controlled the equipment at the time of injury. The underlying legal process — free consultation, contingency fee representation, and demand package to the insurer — is the same as in a vehicle accident case.
At the free initial consultation, the team will ask for basic facts about how the injury occurred, the identities of any at-fault parties, the insurance information available, and the medical treatment received so far. You do not need to have a complete medical record or a police report in hand before calling — the firm can help identify what evidence exists and guide you on what to gather. The earlier you make contact, the easier it is to preserve time-sensitive evidence like surveillance footage and electronic vehicle data.
The process begins with a free consultation at which the team evaluates the facts and advises on legal options. If the case moves forward, the firm immediately preserves evidence — police reports, camera footage, black-box data — before it is lost or overwritten. Medical documentation is then built in coordination with treating specialists, followed by identification of all liable parties and preparation of a demand package quantifying future medical costs, lost earning capacity, and pain and suffering. The goal throughout is to build enough documented evidence to pursue the maximum compensation available under all applicable policies.
An early insurance offer in a TBI or spinal injury case is almost never a full-value offer — carriers make low initial offers because they count on claimants settling before the long-term scope of neurological damage is fully documented. Accepting an early offer in a TBI case means waiving the right to future compensation even if symptoms worsen significantly. An attorney who can produce neurocognitive testing, life-care planning, and a credible trial threat gives the insurer reason to pay a figure that actually covers a lifetime of care.
California follows a pure comparative negligence rule, which means you can still recover compensation even if you were partially at fault for the accident — your award is simply reduced by your percentage of fault. In serious TBI and spinal cord cases, this is a critical point because insurers frequently argue shared fault to reduce the payout on high-value claims. An experienced attorney will counter those arguments with evidence to keep your assigned fault percentage as low as the facts support.
In commercial truck accidents causing spinal injuries, liability can extend to the driver, the trucking company, and even a third-party maintenance contractor depending on which party's negligence caused or contributed to the crash. Malekan Law Group investigates all potential defendants simultaneously and pursues each liable party's insurance coverage, which is especially important in catastrophic cases where a single policy may be insufficient to cover a lifetime of care. The firm also looks at government entities when dangerous road conditions played a role.
Lead attorney Samuel Malekan is licensed and in good standing with the State Bar of California (Bar #336832). The firm has resolved more than 500 personal injury cases and holds a 4.9-star rating on Google across more than 126 client reviews as of 2026. Specific results in the catastrophic injury category include a $250,000 policy-limit TBI settlement and a $600,000 elevator accident recovery.
You can reach Malekan Law Group by calling +1-424-248-1318 or visiting the office at 9171 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 500, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. Open Sunday through Thursday from 6 AM to 11:30 PM, Friday from 6 AM to 1 PM, closed on Saturday. Every TBI and spinal injury case begins with a free, no-obligation consultation, and the firm accepts all serious injury cases on a contingency fee basis with no fees owed unless compensation is recovered.
Me and my wife just finished wrapping up our case with Sam, if the six figure settlement wasn’t enough, the care and constant communication provided would be more than enough for me to recommend him. He turned our worst day into something that we can handle and recover from without any true loss. 5/5 and I’d give him 10/10 if I could.
Great experience working with this attorney. Very professional, responsive, and got us the most money possible for our case. Great work Sam
This is truly the most professional law firm there is. Ive dealt w lawyers before and I could never get any sort of response. Sam and his team literally answered me every time I called them and knew exactly what was going on. Not only that but they got me some very good money. Youre crazy if you get into an accident and dont hire these guys
Sam was very helpful. He was understanding of my Situation. He care! Always easy to contact made himself available to all my questions I would recommend him to anyone. When you’re dealing with someone in a time of hardship going through pain and trying to figure things out, it’s good to have someone on your team who actually care about what you’re experiencing. I was not just another file. I was treated like a person.
I am incredibly grateful for all the support and guidance I received from Sam Malekan throughout my personal injury case. From the very beginning, Sam was kind, caring, and consistently communicative, which helped me feel at ease during an otherwise stressful and difficult time. He alleviated the stress from the entire process and made sure I was informed, updated, and taken care of. Thanks to Sam's guidance and expertise, I was ultimately able to get the care I needed. I highly recommend Malekan Law Group to anyone looking for an attorney who is not only exceptionally skilled but also extremely supportive and reliable. Thank you so much again for everything!
Honored for excellence in our craft
Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars across 126+ client reviews on Google (as of July 2026). Live rating and reviews are synced automatically from the Google Business Profile.
View on g.pageSamuel Malekan, Esq. is licensed and in good standing with the State Bar of California (Bar #336832).
View on apps.calbar.ca.govThe firm's largest single-case recovery to date for a client injured in a serious auto accident.
Over 500 personal injury cases resolved with favorable outcomes for clients throughout California.
No upfront cost — you pay nothing unless we win
No Cost, No Obligation
Every case begins with a 100% free, no-obligation consultation. We will review the details of your situation, answer your questions, and provide honest guidance on your legal options — all at absolutely no cost to you.
You Pay Nothing Unless We Win
We handle personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. This means you pay absolutely nothing out of pocket — no retainer, no hourly rates, no legal fees of any kind unless we successfully recover compensation for you. Our fee is a percentage of the settlement or verdict we obtain on your behalf. If we don't win, you owe us nothing.
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