Today I’ll be presenting in Kansas City, Missouri for the Kansas Association for Justice. I was asked to speak on the challenges of convincing adjusters and juries in motor vehicle accident and traumatic brain injury cases. So I’m tackling the challenging “mild” traumatic brain injury case, primarily the one that most injury lawyers will see in a car accident. I’m also addressing the things that have helped people understand how these injuries occur and just how disabling and serious they can be.
“Car wreck” cases involving disputed medical claims of mild traumatic brain injury may present hurdles for many attorneys in our profession, but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth pursuing.
A mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) is simply a medical classification for a type of traumatic brain injury. But it’s important to remember that mild traumatic brain injury can be both a very serious and a disabling medical condition, and lawyers shouldn’t take it lightly. It certainly doesn’t mean the auto accident victim’s disabilities and impairments are also “mild.”
The American Congress of Rehabilitative Medicine defines mild traumatic brain injury by at least one of the following symptoms:
Any period of loss of consciousness;
Any loss of memory for events immediately before or after the accident;
Any alteration in mental state at the time of the car accident such as feeling dazed, disoriented or confused and;
Focal neurological deficits that may or may not be transient.
For more information, take a look at our frequently asked questions on mild traumatic brain injury.
MTBI is an important topic, and one that I’m happy to address (even if it means I have to fly to Kansas in December) because there are many injury attorneys who won’t take these cases. My talk will be tactical. I will review the challenges of the MTBI car wreck case – and give solutions and legal tips for lawyers who are willing to take them on.
But the most important thing about my talk isn’t legal or tactical, in my opinion. The most important part is that these accident victims deserve help and compassion in a world that often doesn’t understand what they’re experiencing. People with brain injury need to have effective and caring legal representation from dedicated lawyers who truly understand the challenges they face – in everyday life and in the court room.
