Billings, MontanaBillings Spinal Cord Injury
Billings Spinal Cord Injury Lawyers: Paralysis, Paraplegia, Quadriplegia and Spinal Fracture Claims in Yellowstone County
Boland Aarab PLLP.
A spinal cord injury can mean paralysis and a lifetime of care that national data put in the millions of dollars. If a crash, fall or workplace accident caused by someone else injured your spine in Billings or Yellowstone County, Montana law allows recovery for the full lifetime harm. Most claims must be filed within 3 years.
Paralyzed or seriously hurt in a crash, fall or workplace accident? Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
What causes spinal cord injuries around Billings?
Nationally, vehicle crashes and falls cause most traumatic spinal cord injuries: 37.1% and 32.5% of injuries since 2015, according to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC, 2026). In Billings, both have a local shape.
- Rollovers and high-speed crashes. I-90 and I-94 meet in Lockwood, and trucks, commuters and travelers share the interstate through town. Outside the city, two-lane highways such as U.S. 87 north toward Roundup and Montana 3 toward Lavina carry fast traffic with little margin. Rollovers, where the roof crushes or an occupant is ejected, are a leading cause of neck and back injuries, and they raise questions about the vehicle’s roof strength, seat belts and airbags as well as the other driver.
- Heights and grades. Billings is a city built below cliffs. The Rimrocks rise along the north side of town, and rock falls from the Rims have closed city parks and prompted mitigation work near Zimmerman Trail. Falls from height, whether from a ledge, a roof, a ladder or a scaffold, are the other major cause of spinal injury.
- Construction. Highway work on the Billings Bypass, commercial building on the West End and residential growth in the Heights put workers on roofs, lifts and trench edges every season.
- Ice. A Billings winter can turn parking lots, sidewalks and steps into ice for weeks at a time. A hard fall on unsalted ice outside a business can fracture a vertebra, and the property owner’s duty of ordinary care still applies (§ 27-1-701, MCA).
What happens after a spinal cord injury in Billings?
Most people with an acute spinal cord injury in this region are treated at Billings Clinic or Intermountain Health St. Vincent Regional Hospital, both designated ACS Level 1 / Comprehensive Trauma Centers by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS). Early surgery, ICU care and inpatient rehabilitation may follow. Some patients go on to specialized spinal cord rehabilitation programs outside Montana.
While that care is happening, three things should happen on the legal side:
- Preserve the evidence. The vehicles, their event data recorders, the ladder or scaffold, the scene video and the site itself. A written preservation demand should go to every company involved.
- Get the reports. Crash reports from the Billings Police Department, the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office or the Montana Highway Patrol; OSHA’s file from its Billings Area Office if a work site was inspected.
- Do not settle early. NSCISC reports that less than 1% of people with a traumatic spinal cord injury had complete neurological recovery by hospital discharge. Early in recovery, no one knows the final outcome, and an early release can leave a family without resources it will need.
A lawsuit for an injury in Yellowstone County filed in state court goes to the Thirteenth Judicial District Court at the Yellowstone County Courthouse, 217 North 27th Street (§ 3-5-101, MCA). Claims against out-of-state trucking companies, vehicle manufacturers and contractors often end up in the Billings Division of the U.S. District Court, at the James F. Battin Federal Courthouse, 2601 2nd Avenue North (District of Montana).
What does a spinal cord injury cost?
NSCISC estimates lifetime costs, in 2025 dollars and before lost wages, of about $3.1 million for paraplegia and about $6.4 million for high tetraplegia for a person injured at age 25 (NSCISC Facts and Figures at a Glance, 2026). National averages are a starting point. In an actual case, we prove the costs for this person, living in Montana, with a life-care plan built from the treating doctors’ recommendations: equipment, home and vehicle changes, attendant care and the travel back to Billings for follow-up care that rural patients face for years.
Montana law that applies
- Full lifetime damages, including harm “certain to result in the future” (§§ 27-1-202, 27-1-203, MCA), with future medical costs measured by the reasonable cost of care (§ 27-1-308, MCA).
- Pre-existing conditions: a wrongdoer is responsible for the harm its conduct causes, including making a quiet condition disabling (§ 27-1-317, MCA).
- Defective products, such as roofs and seat belts that fail in rollovers (§ 27-1-719, MCA).
- Work injuries: a third party can be sued in addition to workers’ comp (§ 39-71-412, MCA).
- Deadline: 3 years for most claims (§ 27-2-204, MCA); comparative fault applies (§ 27-1-702, MCA).
Our Montana spinal cord injury page covers complete and incomplete injuries, life expectancy and herniated discs in more detail.
Why hire a Great Falls firm for a Billings case?
Because a spinal cord injury case has to be built for trial and valued for a lifetime, and both depend on the lawyers’ preparation, not their street address. We are based in Great Falls and handle these cases statewide. Our attorneys travel to Billings, to the hospital, the rehabilitation program or your home, and for depositions, hearings and trial. Our firm has tried jury trials in Yellowstone County. We do not have a Billings office.
The Boland Aarab Way
- We try cases. More than a dozen jury trials, in Cascade, Phillips, Meagher and Yellowstone Counties, and more than 4,000 hours in the courtroom.
- We protect verdicts. When a jury’s $168,500 verdict for our client was thrown out, the Montana Supreme Court reinstated it on our appeal (Voegel v. Salsbery, 2023 MT 137).
- We know federal court, where product and trucking cases often land: more than 40 cases in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana over nine years.
- We are part of the trial bar. Both attorneys are members of the American Association for Justice and the Montana Trial Lawyers Association.
Related Billings pages: catastrophic injury · motorcycle accidents · all Billings personal injury cases
Frequently Asked Questions
I fractured my spine falling on ice outside a Billings store. Do I have a claim? Possibly. Property owners must use ordinary care in managing their property (§ 27-1-701, MCA). Photos of the ice, the weather that day and the store’s snow-removal records matter.
My spinal cord injury happened in a rollover on I-90. Can the vehicle maker be responsible? It can, if a defect such as roof crush or seat-belt failure caused or worsened the injury (§ 27-1-719, MCA). Keep the vehicle and do not let it be salvaged.
Should I settle while I am still in rehab? Usually not. Outcomes after a spinal cord injury are uncertain early on, and a release ends the claim for good.
Where would my Billings spinal cord injury case be filed? For an injury in Yellowstone County, the Thirteenth Judicial District Court in Billings, or the federal court’s Billings Division if a defendant is from another state.
I was hurt falling from a scaffold on a Billings job site. Is workers’ comp my only option? No. Workers’ comp covers your employer, but a general contractor, another subcontractor or an equipment maker may be sued for full damages (§ 39-71-412, MCA).
Talk to a Billings Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer
Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
Our attorneys: Caitlin Boland Aarab · Samir F. Aarab
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
