Racine Back Injury Lawyer

Did you suffer a back injury in an accident in Racine, WI?

At Hickey & Turim, S.C., we invite you to schedule a free consultation with a Racine, WI back injury lawyer trusted by clients since 1989.

If a collision, a fall, or a lifting task at work has damaged your spine, an attorney can help you recover the cost of treatment and the income you have lost as a result. Hickey & Turim, S.C. has handled these claims for injured Wisconsin residents since 1989. Our Racine, WI back injury lawyer with our firm can determine which claim applies to your injury, assemble the medical proof, and pursue payment from each responsible party. A free consultation is available, and no fee is charged unless we recover for you. Reach out when you are ready to begin.

Back Injury Lawyer Racine, WI

A back injury lawyer represents people whose spine, discs, or vertebrae were damaged by someone else’s negligence or by the demands of their job. The work involves two systems. Injuries caused by a careless driver or an unsafe property proceed as personal injury claims, injuries suffered on the job proceed through workers’ compensation, and some back injuries qualify under both.

Racine County recorded 973 injury crashes in 2024, and 1,383 people were hurt in them, according to WisDOT crash facts. Many of those injuries involve the neck and lower back, where damage is easy to dismiss and hard to live with. A Racine back injury attorney gathers MRI results, treating physician opinions, and written work restrictions so the insurer cannot reduce a disc injury to a strain.

Types of Back Injury Cases We Handle in Racine

The spine can be injured in a single violent moment or worn down over years of repetitive work. Our attorneys handle the back injury claims below for Racine, WI residents, and the source of the injury decides which insurer answers for it.

• Car accidents. Rear-end collisions on Washington Avenue and Green Bay Road drive the spine forward and back in a fraction of a second. Herniated discs and facet joint damage often follow. We connect the mechanics of the crash to the injury shown on imaging.
• Slip and falls. A fall onto a hard floor or down a stairway compresses the vertebrae and can fracture them outright. We identify the property owner responsible for the hazard and hold that owner’s insurer to the cost of treatment.
• Herniated and bulging discs. When the cushion between two vertebrae ruptures, it presses on nerves and produces pain that travels into the legs or arms. Insurers call these injuries degenerative. We use imaging and physician testimony to show what the accident changed.
• Spinal fractures. Compression and burst fractures require bracing, surgery, or months of restricted activity. We document the surgical plan and the recovery timeline so the claim reflects the full course of care rather than the first hospital bill.
• Spinal cord injuries. Partial or complete paralysis changes every part of a person’s life and carries lifetime costs. We work with life-care planners to value home modification, attendant care, and lost earning capacity.
• Whiplash and neck injuries. Cervical strain and ligament damage may not produce symptoms until days after a crash. We tie the delayed onset to the collision through prompt medical records and a consistent treatment history.
• Workplace back injuries. Warehouse, health care, and factory employees across Racine sustain back injuries from lifting, twisting, and repetitive strain. The state’s musculoskeletal disorder guidance lists lower back pain among the most common results.
• Aggravated pre-existing conditions. A prior back problem does not bar a claim. Wisconsin law permits recovery when an accident worsens a pre-existing condition. Our attorneys assemble the medical records from before and after the accident to prove that change.

Why Choose Hickey & Turim, S.C. as my Back Injury Lawyer in Racine, WI?

One Firm for the Injury Claim and the Work Claim

Hickey & Turim, S.C. has handled both personal injury and workers’ compensation cases since 1989. Our personal injury lawyer in Racine, WI can handle when a lifting injury at work also involves a negligent contractor, or when a crash happens on the clock. David Turim co-founded the firm and has practiced in both areas since his admission to the Wisconsin bar in 1985. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before earning his law degree at Marquette University Law School. He is also a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Association for Justice.

Thousands of Injured Clients Since 1989

Since 1989 the firm has represented thousands of injured clients and has obtained millions of dollars recovered through settlements and verdicts. Our attorneys have also been recognized by Super Lawyers. Back injury cases are taken on contingency. Attorney fees are paid only out of a recovery, and the first meeting carries no cost. The contingency arrangement allows an injured person with mounting medical bills to retain counsel immediately after the injury rather than months later, when records are harder to obtain and the insurer has already valued the claim.

Understanding Back Injury Cases

Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Back Injury Cases

Liability depends on how the injury happened. A crash or a fall requires proof that another party was negligent under the law, while a work injury requires no proof of fault at all. Compensation follows the injury’s cost, and back injuries tend to carry costs that continue for years.

• Emergency care, imaging, injections, surgery, and the physical therapy that follows.
• Future treatment a physician expects, including revision surgery or long-term pain management.
• Wages lost during recovery, plus reduced earning capacity when heavy work is no longer possible.
• Pain, sleep disruption, and the daily limits a damaged spine imposes.
• Wage replacement and permanent disability benefits when the injury occurred at work.

Wisconsin applies a comparative fault rule to negligence claims. Recovery drops by the injured person’s share of blame and disappears once that share exceeds the defendant’s, which is why insurers spend so much effort on how a crash or fall occurred.

What Are Important Aspects of a Back Injury Case?

Back injuries are contested more often than almost any other injury, because the insurer can cite the claimant’s age, prior complaints, or a gap in treatment and argue that the accident caused no new harm. The medical record must answer that argument.

• Imaging obtained soon after the injury and compared against any earlier studies, which establishes what is new.
• Consistent treatment with the same providers, which creates a timeline the adjuster cannot dispute.
• Work restrictions written by a physician rather than described by the patient, which carry weight in both the negligence and workers’ compensation systems.
• A clear account of the mechanism of injury, whether a rear-end impact or an improper lift, which connects the types of back injuries shown on imaging to the event that caused them.

What Is The Back Injury Case Timeline?

How long a back injury case takes depends on the injuries and on whether the responsible party is willing to accept responsibility. Straightforward claims can resolve in a few months. Cases involving serious injuries or contested liability often run a year or more. Most cases move through these stages.

• Treatment continues until a physician can state whether the injury is permanent.
• We collect imaging, surgical notes, and work restrictions and calculate future costs.
• A demand goes to the liability carrier, or a claim is filed with the workers’ compensation insurer.
• Negotiation follows, and many cases settle once the medical evidence is complete.
• If no fair offer arrives, we file suit through the Racine County courts or request a hearing before the state agency.

Negligence claims in Wisconsin generally carry a three-year filing deadline. A work injury claim is governed by separate deadlines under the workers’ compensation system. We confirm which deadlines apply at the first meeting.

What Should You Bring to Your Back Injury Consultation?

We can review the records, explain which claim or claims apply, and give you a direct answer about whether the case is worth pursuing. There is no charge for the meeting. A productive first consultation starts with the right materials. Bring what you have of the following:

1. Imaging reports, surgical records, and the names of every treating provider.
2. Written work restrictions and any note placing you off work.
3. The crash report, incident report, or the injury report filed with your employer.
4. Letters, denials, and benefit statements from any insurer involved.

Most Dangerous Locations for Back Injuries in Racine, WI

Serious back injuries in Racine come from two places above all others, the roads and the workplace. The locations below account for a large share of the cases our attorneys see.

High-risk roads and highways:

• Interstate 94 west of the city, where high speeds and heavy truck traffic produce the rear-end and rollover crashes most damaging to the spine.
• Highway 20 along Washington Avenue between downtown and the interstate, where closely spaced signals produce frequent rear-end impacts.
• Highway 31 along Green Bay Road on the city’s west side, where retail driveways and turning traffic create side-impact collisions.
• Durand Avenue and Taylor Avenue, where stop-and-go traffic leads to low-speed collisions that still injure the neck and lower back.

High-risk work settings:

• Manufacturing plants and machine shops, where lifting, twisting, and awkward postures wear down the lumbar spine over time.
• Distribution and warehouse operations near the interstate, where repetitive lifting and forklift incidents cause sudden injuries.
• Hospitals and long-term care facilities, where patient handling is a leading cause of back injury among nurses and aides.
• Construction and roofing sites, where falls from height produce compression fractures and spinal cord damage.

Reach Out to Hickey & Turim, S.C. to Schedule a Consultation

The right time to have a back injury reviewed is before the insurer decides what it is worth. No fee is due unless we recover for you, and we can let you know which claim applies and how we would pursue it. Contact us to schedule a free consultation with a Racine back injury lawyer.