Brain Injuries

Flynn & Gottlieb, P.A. represents individuals who have suffered brain injuries due to the negligent, reckless, intentional or otherwise tortious conduct of another person or entity.

Each year in the United States, approximately 270,000 people suffer a moderate to severe brain injury. In addition, roughly 70,000 of these individuals die as a result of their brain injury and 80,000 of the remaining survivors will suffer some significant and permanent disability. A brain injury is one of the most serious injuries that can result from an accident. Though they can be mild, such as some concussions or contusions, many are more serious, such as coma, brain damage, or death.

Victims and their families can face emotional trauma, overwhelming medical costs, and difficulty coping with the life-altering changes that accompany a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The vast majority of all brain injuries are classified as mild (MTBI).

By contrast to personal injury actions involving clients suffering from bone fractures or spinal injuries which are easily and objectively documented, proving the case and consequently obtaining sufficient compensation for a brain injury, TBI, or MTBI client can be much more complicated, and requires special medical knowledge and experience working with the myriad of experts that usually need to be involved to successfully handle these types of cases. The attorneys at Flynn & Gottlieb, P.A. understand these issues, and have handled them in many cases where their clients’ had brain injuries from a traumatic event such as a motor-vehicle collision, fall or being struck on the head by an object.

We know how the effects on the immediate family, friends, and co-workers are devastating as the personality of the injured person frequently changes after the injury. Sometimes, the spouse may feel like they are now married to a totally different person. Stresses and strains on marriages and relationships with significant others are strained and divorces frequently occur. Inspite of these effects on the client and his or her family, i n almost every traumatic brain injury case, plaintiffs face skeptical and disbelieving insurance adjusters, defendants and defense counsel. Occasionally, such skepticism and disbelief is based on the usual negative tests obtained from the most conventional diagnostic tests (i.e., x-rays, CT Scan, MRI and EEG). In addition, the individual medical disciplines typically fail or refuse to work in conjunction with each other. Rather, the TBI patient is often shuffled from one medical discipline and health care professional to another with no direction nor treatment plan, causing the insurance adjuster, defendants and defense counsel to view victims as malingers.

When a person comes to us after having suffered a brain injury because of another’s negligence, as can be the case in some motor vehicle accidents, falls, violence, recreational activities, and sports injuries, we understand the long-term consequences that need to be addressed. Treatment for brain injuries is expensive and the recovery process can be lengthy. Families and loved ones of people suffering TBI must make sure that they will be able to meet the enormous financial responsibilities, medical expenses, costs of future care and rehabilitation, amongst other costs that they now forced to pay. Thus, it is important for any brain injury victim to secure competent and aggressive legal representation.

Flynn & Gottlieb, P.A.’s trial lawyers understand the important aspects of proving brain injuries, such as brain anatomy and function, mechanics of traumatic brain injury, diagnostic techniques, post traumatic stress disorder, neuro physiological testing, imaging studies such as CAT scan, MRI, CT, TBI, sleep disorders, presenting traumatic brain injury cases at trial, special needs trusts, seizure disorders following traumatic brain injury, life care planning, etc. We know the mechanics of how brain injuries occur, and the anatomy well enough to explain these things to a jury. We know that it is not necessary to have a blow to the skull to cause a brain injury in acceleration/ deceleration such as in a car wreck, a fall, or even in a “shaken baby” syndrome where a baby is shaken and brain injury results, and that “loss of consciousness” is not necessary for a brain injury to occur. Frequently a client will not know that they have lost consciousness, because they were unconscious and have no memory of the event or of being unconscious. Sometimes they will report feeling dazed and confused after the injury and this is sometimes what people whom bystanders have seen lose consciousness report really happened. We understand the basic knowledge about the structures of the brain: such as, neurons, axons, dendrites, cerebellum, ventricles, cerebrum, as well as basic knowledge about anatomy of the brain as it relates to brain function, including loss of concentration, executive functions, sleep disturbances, word search problems, depression, inability to stay on task, distractability, auditory and visual memory, sequencing, etc. We are able to explain in general terms, MRI, CT (cat scanning), QEEG (brain mapping), PET scanning and how neuropsychological testing works. We will be able to prove to the insurance company, or a jury when necessary, the mechanics of a sheer/strain or rotational injury to the brain and an acceleration/ deceleration mechanism as well as excitotoxicity when a brain cell is subjected to trauma and chemical changes occur, which further damage the brain. Likewise, we can demonstrate basic knowledge about skull fractures, contusions to the grey matter, laceration, or tears of the brain, defuse injury of white matter of the brain, intracranial hemorrhages, increased intracranial pressure, epidural, subdural, and intracerebral hemorrhages, hydrocephalus, ischemic brain injury, hypoxia, anoxia, epilepsy, excitotoxicity injuries, tinnitus (permanent ringing or buzzing in the ears), etc. We will be able to show that many brain injured people have normal CT and MRI scans, because the injury to the brain tissues are on a microscopic level, and the lesions are too small to be demonstrated on an imaging study. PET Scanning which shows glucose metabolism in the brain may demonstrate injuries where MRI or CT fail. Finally, we know that a mild brain injury does not necessarily mean a mild deficit in function for those people who operate in careers which require peak mental performance. Many times a brain injury causes sleep disorders either from micro seizures or simply the healing process required when a brain is injured, and the fact that partial insomnia produces sleepiness, feeling stressed, irritability, less capability of meeting challenges, or experiencing pleasure, reduced concentration and memory, fuzzy thinking, reduced motivation, depressed mood, and slowed reaction time. These deficits may be proven by certain tests which we have secured for clients, such as the Halstead Reitan test battery or Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery (LMNB), or other such batteries used in a neuropsychological test battery. We work with neuropsychologist who obtain a detailed chronological history of our client’s injury, including information from the patient, significant others, and available medical records, and then administer and analyze relevant psychological tests. Eventually, the neuropsychologist offers opinions about the patient’s prognosis and long term cognitive, behavioral, and emotional difficulties, and makes recommendations about treatments that are needed such as: rehabilitation, psychiatric treatment, cognitive remediation, to improve the patient’s quality of life and to minimize the effects of the patient’s impairments upon his/her daily functioning. He may make referrals to medical doctors who can prescribe appropriate medications such as Tegretol, Phenobarbretol (for seizures), anti-depressants, etc.

Suffice it to say, Flynn & Gottlieb, P.A.’s trial attorneys are familiar with the inner workings and mechanisms of the brain, which enable them to effectively communicate with clients, experts, doctors, insurance adjusters, defense counsel, judges and juries. In addition, we understand the importance of retaining knowledgeable and experienced experts, such as neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuropsychologists, neuropsychiatrists, life-care planners, vocational rehabilitation experts, economists, and other appropriate experts, who will be needed to successfully prove the injury at trial, and to obtain “full-justice” for our clients’ treatment and rehabilitation needs.

Should you require assistance with a brain injury, please contact us immediately.