Brain Injury Lawyer

I am often asked when I am hired "What is my case worth?" Although I have been representing clients with acquired brain injuries for well over 20 years, there is never a simple or easy answer to this question. Everybody is different and everybody's case is different. What effects a traumatic brain injury has on an individual and his or her family is clearly different. While there may be many similarities, certainly no two cases are alike.

The first thing to determine is what are the economic losses suffered by the person with acquired TBI and his/her family. There is no question, that in any case, economic losses, be they medical expenses or lost income will generate a higher recovery. That is why it is essential in most cases that a vocational economist and life care planner be retained.

Related to this, especially when representing a client with an acquired mild traumatic brain injury is whether or not that person is back to work or back to school. Because traumatic brain injury is a silent epidemic, juries have difficulty appreciating the significance of the injury where the person is back to work doing their everyday job or back in school and obtaining the same grades that they received before the trauma. While most of my clients in this situation tell me that although they are back to work or back to school, they have to work much harder and it takes more time to comprehend what used to come easy, these are nonetheless more difficult cases.

These claims are also more difficult and harder to understand for many plaintiff's attorneys who are not familiar and lack the experience in handling these type of personal injury claims. This lack of understanding often causes many clients to seek second opinions from me, as they complain "My lawyer doesn't understand my problems."

Thanks for this blog - I really appreciate the information, especially from an expert source.

After reading this post, I have a question. In 1997, the driver's side of my car was hit by a tractor-trailer diagonally from behind as we were slowing for a red light. The truck made contact with the entire driver's side of the car, from nose to tail. The result was TBI, PTSD, depression, etc. I had been a reporter and speechwriter in the past. My Neuropsych testing showed significant problems - in some areas it was drastic compared to what an average high functioning person would present with.

The truck was self-insured & bankrupt, so we had to go against my insurer, State Farm for the full 250k UIM coverage. (It took them almost 4 years to admit this was an uninsured motorist case.) At arbitration 4 years after the accident, their lawyers strenuously disagreed with the Neuropsych report & psychiatrist reports. They claimed that I was either always not very bright or that those reports were just wrong (standard, I know.) The arbitrators ruled for me, although not for the policy limit.

My question is this: it took 6 years for me to be able to return to work due to comprehension, memory & cognitive issues. What you said is true - it takes more time and more effort to do things. The learning curve alone can be mortifying and I'm still unable to read a novel or see a movie (reading "for fun" is work, and it's draining.)

At the time we settled, I was still having cognitive & memory difficulties and only began simple part-time work two years later, as I was unemployable prior to that. Because I settled this case without knowing about the difficulties that would become a part of ongoing daily functioning in terms of thinking, reading, understanding, etc., am I forever barred from raising this issue in conjunction with this accident and defendant?

Thank you.

Usually when a case is settled the case is over and cannot be reopened. When a cse is settled the plaintiff, ie the person making the claim, must sign a release which releases the defendant from all claims. I advise you to speak with an attorney who practices in your state, as the law could be different there than it is here in New Jersey.

609-895-7285

You have a very informative website; too bad your practice is not in California! As with Rachelle, I too had a similar arbitration debacle with State Farm just recently, nearly seven years after my rear-end auto accident by an uninsured motorist. In my case, my two neuropsyche doctors (one treating and one my expert) came to the same conclusions that I had a TBI. I also had ortho complaints requiring ongoing and continuing medical care, exceeding $100K.

State Farm hired a neuropsyche, Dr. Lees-Haley, to test me and he found the same extreme deficits (10-15% level) on executive functions but argued they were normal for me. All my other testing showed high functioning. (I graduated at the very top of my class in graduate school). Of course, I had never had any pre-accident testing except for IQ, but all the testing, both mine and the defense, showed a decrease in my verbal IQ as well. He further argued that my ortho complaints were somatic and hypochondriacal, although at arbitration he did state that my medical history showed no evidence of hypochondria.

State Farm also hired a second neuropsyche, Dr. David Fox, who never examined me. However, he wrote several reports and testified that his review of all the records pointed to no ortho or TBI injuries, following upon and elaborating on Dr. Lees-Haleys' opinions of somatic tendencies and hypochondria.

The arbitrator found, based on the testimony and reports of Dr. Fox and secondarily Dr. Lees-Haley, the only doctors he cites to any great extent, that I had not suffered a TBI and that my ortho injuries did not deserve any future medical, even though I am still seeing a pain management specialist and taking anti-neuralgia and pain meds and muscle relaxants. I am post 4 pain management denervation to my cervical spine. Of course my ortho and pain management doctors testified that I need continued care and future surgery, and my neuropsyches testified that I needed continuing care as well. My award was for past medical paid (all of which he determined to be reasonable and necessary), and a general damages award for pain and sufferring. He denied any future medical, and denied any lost earning capacity arguments as speculative.

My point here is that although I had a good and capable attorney, I may have faired better if my attorney had been a specialist in TBI. But, then again, based on my award and that of Rachelle, State Farm may have most of these arbitrators in their pocket.

I have not had to sign a release, but it may not be relevant in a binding arbitration. Nonetheless, I am still exploring any options I may still have.

Any thoughts?

Please see my post on June 10, 2005 for my response to Bob's comment above.

Link - http://www.braininjurylawblog.com/brain-injury-faqas-222-following-up-on-a-readers-comment.html

My son was involved in a car accident with me 13 years ago. He was 1 year 4 months old. Social Security disabled him when he was about 3 years old. In school, he has always been in Special Ed and his has a number of problems. In 1999 Social Security said he was no longer disabled and he stopped receiving his checks. I did not appeal that decision because they always told me his condition could get better. When they stopped his checks I thought that time had come and my son was no longer disabled. He was never a problem child so I refused to believe anything different. Now I've starting reading on this condition to try to understand my son's condition more and it seems to me that TBI is not something that will go away as I was lead to believe by some employees at SSA. In school, grades are being given to him and they pass him to the next grade every year even if he doesn't earn the grades. He will now be a 9th grader this year and I am very concerned with his future. Do you have any suggestions? He is now going to occupational therapy and I hope they can help him.

I was walking through a doorway at the shop I worked at in Texas, when my employer slammed a fast falling (broken support spring) 14 foot 400lb overhead paneled metal shop door on my head, and I was crushed between the door and the floor, crumbling to the floor. I became rapidly more and more concussed throughout the day. My neck was sore, and my right foot was tingling within 7 to 8 days following the injury. With court proceedings, as the carrier disputed compensability of the injury, my lumbar and drop foot was included in the injury. I was 48 at the time of the injury. I am disabled, with my spinal injury, which has caused me severe emotional, physical and psychological pain and problems. The positive thing I have experienced is the fact that my wife and children are very supportive and I had returned to school starting with one class and building up now to 4 classes, but with great difficulty. The down side is that I am constantly in pain with my lower back, my 2 cervical herniations and my headaches, dizziness and disoriented, drunk, lost feeling that I suffer with every day and my right drop foot. My personality has changed and my short term memory is poor. My college's ODS (Office of Disability Services0 has literally held my hand, and my positive self esteem have been huge with helping me cope with this unexpected tragedy in our families life. I have felt the key thing that has helped me cope is my positive attitude; however I suffer episodes of severe depression, anxiety, and the mood swings. No one can explain on the outside the way we feel on the inside, however my heart goes out to the folks here who suffer this sad state of disability. My workers comp attorney, I feel could be much more competent in helping, but I realize it is a slow process for them to process this. The federal government has deemed me as mentally and physically disabled, however the carrier continues to dispute. What a nightmare, but thanks to my wife, my children and my God for carrying me through the difficult journey. Thanks for your time and if you others feel like your all alone, you are not. Just try and somehow keep your head up, move forward and somehow stay positive and make the best of what little time you have left. And with the families of those that have suffered a TBI, please be supportive, as its difficult for all in the family involved. Thanks for your time and hang in there.
Respectfully,
John