Charlotte Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer

Legally Reviewed by Elizabeth VonCannon: June 10, 2026

Sustaining a spinal cord injury is almost always a devastating, life-altering experience. The physical, emotional, and financial tolls these injuries take on victims and their families are immeasurable. Those who suffered a spinal cord injury due to the negligence of another party have the right to seek compensation through personal injury litigation. Spinal injuries sustained at work generally entitle an employee to benefits through their employer’s workers’ compensation policy.

At Stewart Law Offices, we are well-versed in how to approach both personal injury lawsuits and workers’ compensation claims. Our team has been successfully* representing injury victims for over 30 years and has the experience, knowledge, and drive to deliver favorable outcomes. With millions recovered* for our clients, our results speak for themselves, and we are ready to put our firm’s extensive resources to work for you.

We are sensitive to the impacts these injuries are almost certainly having on every aspect of your life, and our legal professionals will make every effort to relieve your burden. This starts with coming to your home or the hospital where you are receiving treatment if you cannot come to us. One of our attorneys will walk you through your legal options and what the recovery process will look like. No matter the complexity of your case, we are prepared to aggressively fight for the maximum compensation you need to move forward.

Attorney Elizabeth VonCannon of Stewart Law Offices is licensed with the North Carolina State Bar and brings more than six years of hands-on legal experience handling spinal cord injury and personal injury cases. She understands the legal landscape unique to Charlotte and communities throughout Mecklenburg County, and she works closely with clients to ensure every detail of their case is handled with care, precision, and respect.

You will never feel like just another case file here. You can directly talk to your lawyer, ask questions, and feel confident knowing your case is being handled thoughtfully and thoroughly. Our Charlotte spinal cord injury lawyers can provide the support and advocacy you need to help you get the coverage your condition warrants.

How Common Are Spinal Cord Injuries in the United States?

Spinal cord injuries are far more prevalent than most people realize, and the statistics from official government and peer-reviewed medical sources reveal the true scope of this crisis.

According to the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), a division of the National Institutes of Health:

• There are approximately 18,000 new spinal cord injury cases in the United States every year.
• An estimated 255,000 to 390,000 people are currently living with a spinal cord injury in the United States.
• The majority of SCIs occur in young to middle-aged adults, with the average age at injury being approximately 43 years.

According to peer-reviewed data published in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, the leading causes of new spinal cord injuries in the United States are:

• Motor vehicle collisions: approximately 38% of all new SCI cases annually, the single leading cause
• Falls: approximately 30%, particularly common among older adults
• Violence (including gunshot wounds): approximately 13%
• Sports-related injuries: approximately 9%
• Medical or surgical complications: approximately 5%

Globally, between 250,000 and 500,000 people experience spinal cord injuries annually.

In Charlotte and throughout Mecklenburg County, motor vehicle accidents on high-speed corridors like I-77, I-85, I-485 (the outer belt), and NC-51 (Pineville-Matthews Road) are among the most common causes of traumatic spinal cord injuries our attorneys see. Construction-related falls at Charlotte’s many active development sites, from Uptown tower projects to South End residential construction, represent another significant source of these injuries.

North Carolina’s Contributory Negligence Rule and Your SCI Claim

North Carolina is one of only four states that still applies pure contributory negligence. Under this doctrine, if an injured person is found to have contributed even 1% to the accident that caused their spinal cord injury, they may be completely barred from recovering any compensation, regardless of how catastrophic the injury or how negligent the other party was.

This standard makes North Carolina one of the most difficult states for personal injury plaintiffs, and insurance companies exploit it aggressively in SCI cases. Defendants and their insurers will look for any opportunity to argue that you were speeding, not wearing a seatbelt, distracted, in an area you should not have been, or otherwise partially responsible for what happened.

Our attorneys counter these tactics from the very beginning of your case. We conduct independent investigations, preserve physical evidence and vehicle data, interview witnesses while their memories are fresh, and build a factual record that establishes the defendant’s negligence as the sole cause of your injury.

The “last clear chance” doctrine provides an important exception under North Carolina law. Even where a plaintiff was negligent, if the defendant had the final opportunity to avoid the collision or incident and failed to act on it, recovery may still be available. Our attorneys assess this doctrine in every SCI case.

Long-Term Health Consequences of Spinal Cord Injuries

Even a “minor” spinal cord injury can cause permanent, damaging consequences that will affect the victim’s quality of life. Spinal cord injuries frequently prevent victims from working, living independently, or even moving. Some symptoms can be mitigated or entirely resolved through the appropriate medical treatment, but many are incurable and could get worse as the victim grows older.

Adverse health consequences of spinal cord injuries may include:

Recovering Damages for Spinal Cord Injuries Through a North Carolina Personal Injury Claim

Did you sustain a spinal cord injury because of the negligence of another person or organization? You have the right to sue the responsible party and seek to recover economic and non-economic damages. You could have a case if you suffered spinal injuries in a car accident caused by another driver or a slip and fall that occurred due to a property owner’s negligence, for example. You will need to show the defendant owed you a legal duty of care and that their failure to honor that duty of care resulted in injury. Our Charlotte spinal cord injury attorneys understand how personal injury claims are adjudicated in North Carolina.

To recover damages, you must file a personal injury claim within three years of the date you suffered a spinal cord injury. If you wait too long, you will be barred from recovering anything, so do not wait to get in touch with our team at Stewart Law Offices.

If your spinal cord was not reasonably apparent when an act of negligence occurred, you have three years from the date you discovered the injury to take legal action. However, for cases involving medical malpractice, you cannot file a lawsuit after four years have passed from the date of the negligent act, no matter the strength of your case.

When our Charlotte personal injury lawyers represent you in a lawsuit, they will fight to get you just compensation for all losses, including:

If you sustained a spinal cord injury at work or in connection with your employment, you cannot sue your employer, even if they were negligent. You may be entitled to benefits through your employer’s workers’ compensation policy, which includes coverage for medical costs and some of your lost income. You may be able to get workers’ compensation benefits for a spinal cord injury if:

You do not have to prove fault to receive benefits, but getting the benefits you deserve can still be difficult, as insurers will often look for any excuse to limit coverage or deny your claim entirely.

Proving Negligence in a Charlotte SCI Case

To recover full compensation in a personal injury claim for a spinal cord injury, you must establish four elements of negligence:

• Duty of Care — The defendant owed you a legal obligation to act with reasonable care. Drivers owe this duty to other road users. Property owners owe it to lawful visitors. Employers owe it to workers.
• Breach of Duty — The defendant violated that duty through a negligent act or omission — running a red light, failing to maintain a safe property, and ignoring safety regulations.
• Causation — The breach of duty was the direct and proximate cause of your spinal cord injury.
• Damages — You suffered real, documented harm as a result.

Evidence our attorneys gather to establish these elements includes:

• Police and incident reports
• Surveillance footage from the crash or fall scene
• Vehicle black box (EDR) data in car accident cases
• Medical records and expert neurological testimony
• Maintenance records and inspection logs in premises cases
• OSHA records and safety violation documentation in workplace cases
• Expert accident reconstruction analysis
• Witness testimony
• Life care plans are prepared by certified life care planners that document every future medical and personal care expense

How Spinal Cord Injuries Happen In Charlotte

A spinal cord injury will be considered “traumatic” or “nontraumatic.” Someone sustains a traumatic spinal cord injury when a foreign object or dramatic force damages the vertebrae. Nontraumatic spinal cord injuries do not occur as a result of a single incident and may develop as a side effect of other conditions, such as a serious infection or cancer.

Spinal cord injuries are caused by: