After a serious accident or medical complication, you might experience persistent headaches, memory problems, or personality changes that weren’t there before. These symptoms could indicate a traumatic brain injury, but recognizing the injury is only the first step. The critical question many New Yorkers face is whether their brain injury case has legal merit and whether someone else can be held accountable for their losses.
Brain injury lawsuits involve complex medical evidence, sophisticated legal theories, and substantial financial stakes. Understanding whether you have a viable case requires knowledge of New York’s specific legal requirements, the types of evidence needed to prove your claim, and the timeline you’re working within. This page explains the essential elements of a brain injury case in New York and helps you evaluate whether pursuing legal action makes sense for your situation.
Key Takeaways
- Four elements required: To have a brain injury case, you must prove duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and measurable damages.
- Three-year deadline: New York’s statute of limitations gives you three years from the injury date to file a lawsuit under CPLR § 214.
- Comparative negligence applies: You can recover compensation even if partially at fault, though your award will be reduced proportionally.
- Expert witnesses essential: Brain injury cases require testimony from neurologists, neuropsychologists, life care planners, and vocational experts.
- Multiple damage types: You can seek compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and reduced quality of life.
What Defines a Valid Brain Injury Case in New York
Not every brain injury creates a legal case. To have a viable claim in New York, you must establish four essential elements of negligence. According to Nolo’s legal encyclopedia, these elements form the foundation of any personal injury lawsuit.
Duty of care means the defendant had a legal obligation to act as a reasonably careful person would under similar circumstances. Drivers have a duty to operate vehicles safely. Healthcare providers have a duty to meet accepted medical standards. Property owners have a duty to maintain safe premises. This duty must exist before you can hold someone accountable.
Breach of duty occurs when the defendant fails to meet the required standard of care. A surgeon who operates on the wrong patient breaches their duty. A driver who runs a red light breaches their duty. A property owner who ignores a dangerous condition breaches their duty. The law doesn’t require perfection, but it does require reasonable care.
Causation connects the breach directly to your injury. You must prove the defendant’s negligent actions caused your brain injury, not some unrelated factor. This element often requires expert testimony showing that the injury wouldn’t have occurred without the defendant’s negligence.
Measurable damages demonstrate actual losses you’ve suffered. Brain injuries typically generate substantial economic damages through medical bills, lost income, and ongoing care needs. They also create noneconomic damages like pain, suffering, and diminished quality of life. Without provable damages, even clear negligence won’t support a lawsuit.
Types of Brain Injuries That Lead to Lawsuits
Brain injuries fall into two primary categories, each with distinct causes and legal implications. Understanding which type of injury you’ve sustained helps frame your potential case.
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Traumatic brain injuries result from external physical force to the head. According to the CDC, over 69,000 Americans died from TBI-related injuries in 2021, approximately 190 deaths per day. TBIs range from mild concussions to severe injuries causing permanent disability.
Closed head injuries occur when the skull remains intact but the brain suffers damage from impact or rapid acceleration-deceleration. Motor vehicle accidents commonly cause closed head injuries when the brain strikes the inside of the skull. These injuries may not be immediately apparent, making diagnosis challenging.
Open brain injuries involve skull penetration by an external object. Construction accidents with falling objects, gunshot wounds, or severe vehicle crashes can cause open brain injuries. These typically require emergency surgery and carry high risks of infection and long-term complications.
Hypoxic and Anoxic Brain Injury
Hypoxic brain injuries occur when the brain receives insufficient oxygen, while anoxic injuries involve complete oxygen deprivation. Both types cause progressive brain cell death and can result from medical negligence during surgery, anesthesia errors, or failure to monitor a patient’s vital signs properly.
Birth injuries frequently involve oxygen deprivation during labor and delivery. When healthcare providers fail to recognize fetal distress or delay necessary interventions, infants can suffer permanent brain damage. These cases often involve both traumatic injuries from improper use of delivery instruments and hypoxic injuries from prolonged oxygen deprivation.
Common Causes of Brain Injury Cases in New York
Brain injury lawsuits arise from various scenarios where someone’s negligence causes harm. New York courts regularly handle cases involving these common causes.
Motor Vehicle Accidents
Car, truck, and motorcycle accidents represent a leading cause of traumatic brain injuries. Even when airbags deploy and seatbelts are fastened, the sudden deceleration can cause the brain to impact the skull’s interior. Rear-end collisions, T-bone crashes, and rollovers all carry high risks of brain injury.
Pedestrian and bicycle accidents often result in severe head trauma because victims have no protective barrier between their heads and the pavement. When drivers fail to yield, run red lights, or drive distracted, they create scenarios where brain injuries become tragically common.
Premises Liability Incidents
Falls account for nearly half of TBI-related hospitalizations, according to CDC data. Property owners who fail to maintain safe conditions can be held liable when falls cause brain injuries. Wet floors without warning signs, uneven sidewalks, inadequate lighting, and missing handrails all create dangerous conditions.
Retail stores, apartment buildings, nursing homes, and restaurants must address hazards promptly. When they don’t, and someone suffers a brain injury in a fall, the property owner may bear legal responsibility.
Medical Malpractice
Healthcare providers can cause brain injuries through various forms of negligence. Surgical errors that deprive the brain of oxygen, anesthesia mistakes that fail to maintain proper breathing, and delayed diagnoses of strokes or aneurysms all can result in preventable brain damage.
Birth injury cases involving brain damage often stem from failure to perform timely cesarean sections, improper use of forceps or vacuum extractors, or inadequate response to fetal distress. When medical professionals deviate from accepted standards of care, and a brain injury results, they can be held accountable.
Construction and Workplace Accidents
Construction sites present numerous hazards where brain injuries can occur. Falls from scaffolding, ladders, or elevated surfaces frequently cause head trauma. Falling objects striking workers’ heads can cause severe injuries even when hard hats are worn. Equipment malfunctions and electrocution accidents also can result in brain injuries.
New York’s Labor Law provides special protections for construction workers, sometimes allowing recovery even when the worker’s own negligence contributed to the accident. These cases often involve multiple potentially liable parties, including general contractors, property owners, and subcontractors.
Three-Year Statute of Limitations
New York law gives you three years from your injury date to file a brain injury lawsuit under CPLR § 214. Missing this deadline typically means losing your right to compensation entirely. However, if your brain injury causes cognitive incapacity, CPLR § 208(a) may toll the statute of limitations, extending your filing deadline. Consult an attorney promptly to protect your rights.
Medical Evidence Required to Prove Your Brain Injury
Strong medical evidence forms the backbone of any brain injury case. Courts and insurance companies demand objective proof that you’ve sustained a brain injury and that it causes the problems you describe.
Diagnostic Imaging
CT scans and MRIs provide crucial objective evidence of brain injury. CT scans excel at identifying acute injuries like skull fractures, brain bleeding (hemorrhage), contusions, and swelling. Emergency rooms typically order CT scans first because they’re fast and effective for detecting life-threatening injuries.
MRI scans offer greater sensitivity for detecting subtle brain changes. They can reveal diffuse axonal injury, small areas of brain damage, and injuries to brain structures that CT scans might miss. Many brain injury cases benefit from both imaging types to establish the full extent of injury.
Neurological Assessments
Healthcare providers use standardized tools to measure brain injury severity. The Glasgow Coma Scale assesses eye opening, verbal response, and motor response, producing scores from 3 to 15. Lower scores indicate more severe injuries. This scoring system provides baseline data and tracks recovery progress.
Neuropsychological testing evaluates cognitive function, memory, attention, processing speed, and executive function. These detailed assessments document deficits that imaging might not reveal. When you can’t remember conversations, struggle with formerly simple tasks, or experience personality changes, neuropsychological testing quantifies these problems.
Medical Records Documentation
Comprehensive medical records establish the timeline of your injury and treatment. Emergency room records document initial symptoms and immediate treatment. Hospital admission records show the severity of your condition. Ongoing treatment records demonstrate persistent problems requiring continued care.
Physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy records show how the brain injury affects your daily function. Mental health treatment records document emotional and psychological impacts. The more thorough your medical documentation, the stronger your case becomes.
Proving Someone Else Was at Fault
Demonstrating liability requires showing that the defendant’s actions fell below the applicable standard of care and directly caused your injury. Different types of cases involve different standards.
In negligence cases, you must prove the defendant acted unreasonably under the circumstances. A driver who texts while driving acts unreasonably. A property owner who ignores a known hazard acts unreasonably. The question is whether a reasonable person in the defendant’s position would have acted differently.
Medical malpractice cases require proving the healthcare provider deviated from accepted medical standards. Expert testimony becomes essential because jurors typically don’t know what proper medical care entails. Your expert must explain what the provider should have done and how the deviation caused harm.
Construction accident cases under New York Labor Law sometimes impose strict liability, meaning the property owner or general contractor can be held responsible regardless of fault. These cases still require proving your injuries resulted from the accident, but establishing liability often becomes more straightforward.
| Case Type | Who Can Be Liable | Standard of Proof |
|---|---|---|
| Motor Vehicle Accident | Drivers, vehicle owners, employers of drivers | Negligence – failure to exercise reasonable care |
| Premises Liability | Property owners, tenants, property managers | Negligence – knew or should have known of danger |
| Medical Malpractice | Doctors, nurses, hospitals, medical facilities | Deviation from accepted medical standards |
| Construction Accident | Property owners, general contractors, subcontractors | Labor Law strict liability or negligence |
| Product Defect | Manufacturers, distributors, retailers | Product defect caused injury |
How New York’s Comparative Negligence Law Affects Your Case
New York follows a pure comparative negligence system, which allows you to recover compensation even when you share some fault for your injury. However, your award is reduced by your percentage of responsibility.
If you’re found 20 percent at fault for an accident that caused your brain injury, you can still recover 80 percent of your damages. If you’re 40 percent at fault, you recover 60 percent. Unlike some states that bar recovery if you’re more than 50 percent at fault, New York allows recovery regardless of your fault percentage, though being primarily responsible substantially reduces your award.
Insurance companies aggressively assert comparative negligence to reduce what they must pay. They’ll argue you weren’t wearing a seatbelt, that you ignored warning signs, or that you didn’t follow medical advice. These arguments aim to shift blame and reduce their liability.
Your attorney must counter these arguments by demonstrating that the defendant’s negligence was the primary cause of your injury. Even if you made mistakes, the defendant’s actions created the dangerous situation that resulted in your brain injury. Strong evidence and expert testimony help establish the true allocation of fault.
Understanding the Glasgow Coma Scale
The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is a neurological assessment tool that measures consciousness level and brain injury severity. Healthcare providers evaluate three areas: eye opening response (1-4 points), verbal response (1-5 points), and motor response (1-6 points). Scores range from 3 (deep unconsciousness) to 15 (fully alert). Mild TBI typically scores 13-15, moderate TBI scores 9-12, and severe TBI scores 3-8. This standardized measurement helps establish injury severity in legal cases.
The Critical Role of Expert Witnesses in Brain Injury Cases
Brain injury litigation requires multiple expert witnesses to establish various aspects of your case. According to Nolo, these experts provide the technical and scientific foundation that jurors need to understand complex medical issues.
Medical Experts
Neurologists explain how the brain works, describe your specific injury, and connect the injury to your symptoms. Neurosurgeons who performed emergency procedures can testify about the severity of your injury and the interventions required. These physicians make brain injuries comprehensible to jurors who have no medical training.
Neuropsychologists conduct detailed testing and explain cognitive deficits that may not be visible on imaging. When you struggle with memory, concentration, or emotional regulation, neuropsychologists quantify these problems and explain how they affect your daily life and employability.
Life Care Planners
Life care planners assess your future medical needs and calculate the cost of lifetime care. They develop comprehensive plans covering future surgeries, medications, therapy, assistive devices, home modifications, and personal care assistance. These experts ensure your case accounts for all future expenses, not just what you’ve incurred to date.
Vocational Rehabilitation Experts
Vocational experts evaluate how your brain injury affects your ability to work. They analyze your education, work history, and transferable skills, then assess what jobs you can still perform given your limitations. When brain injury ends your career or forces you into lower-paying work, vocational experts calculate your lost earning capacity.
Economic Experts
Economists calculate the present value of future losses. They account for inflation, wage growth, and investment returns to determine what lump sum today would compensate for decades of future losses. These experts ensure your settlement or verdict provides sufficient resources for your lifetime needs.
Expert witnesses are expensive, often charging hundreds or thousands of dollars per hour. However, their testimony can make the difference between a modest settlement and full compensation. Most brain injury attorneys advance these costs and recover them from your settlement or verdict.
Damages You Can Recover in a Brain Injury Case
New York law allows recovery of both economic and noneconomic damages in brain injury cases. Understanding available damages helps you evaluate whether pursuing a lawsuit makes financial sense.
Economic Damages
Economic damages compensate for measurable financial losses with specific dollar amounts:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Rehabilitation costs
- Lost wages from missed work
- Reduced earning capacity
- Home modifications for accessibility
- Assistive devices and equipment
- In-home care or nursing services
- Transportation to medical appointments
Noneconomic Damages
Noneconomic damages compensate for intangible losses without specific price tags:
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional distress and mental anguish
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Disfigurement or scarring
- Loss of consortium (family relationships)
- Diminished quality of life
- Loss of independence
- Permanent disability
Some brain injury cases also involve punitive damages when the defendant’s conduct was particularly egregious. Drunk driving accidents, grossly negligent medical care, or knowing safety violations can justify punitive damages designed to punish the defendant and deter similar conduct.
According to Nolo, lifetime costs for TBI treatment range from $85,000 to $3 million depending on injury severity. These substantial costs underscore why pursuing compensation becomes essential for brain injury victims who face decades of ongoing needs.
Self-Assessment: Do You Have a Brain Injury Case?
Use this checklist to evaluate whether you likely have a viable brain injury claim. The more boxes you can check, the stronger your potential case becomes.
Medical Evidence
- CT scan or MRI shows brain injury
- Emergency room treatment documented head trauma
- Neurologist diagnosed brain injury
- Neuropsychological testing shows deficits
- Ongoing symptoms documented by physicians
- Treatment records show consistent care pattern
Liability Factors
- Someone else’s actions caused your injury
- Police report identifies at-fault party
- Witnesses saw what happened
- Photos or video captured the incident
- Defendant violated law or safety regulation
- Defendant had duty to protect you
Damage Elements
- Medical bills exceed $10,000
- Missed significant work time
- Cannot return to previous job
- Ongoing symptoms affect daily life
- Need future medical care
- Family relationships suffered
When You Don’t Have a Brain Injury Case
Certain situations prevent you from pursuing compensation even when you’ve sustained a brain injury. Understanding these barriers helps set realistic expectations.
Statute of limitations expired. If more than three years have passed since your injury (or since you should have discovered it), New York law typically bars your claim. Some exceptions exist for cognitive incapacity, but you cannot wait indefinitely to pursue your rights.
Cannot identify a liable party. If your brain injury resulted from a purely accidental cause with no negligent party, you lack someone to sue. Unavoidable accidents happen, and the law doesn’t require compensation when no one behaved negligently.
Cannot prove causation. If you had pre-existing brain damage or other factors could explain your symptoms, proving the defendant caused your current problems becomes difficult. The defendant must be the proximate cause of your injury, not just a contributing factor to pre-existing conditions.
Assumed the risk. If you voluntarily participated in a dangerous activity and signed a valid waiver, you may have assumed the risk of injury. While waivers don’t eliminate all liability, they can bar claims for inherent risks you knowingly accepted.
No measurable damages. If your brain injury resolved completely without ongoing symptoms or financial losses, you may lack sufficient damages to justify a lawsuit. Courts require actual losses, not merely potential future problems.
Evidence You Need to Build Your Brain Injury Case
Collecting comprehensive evidence strengthens your case and increases settlement value. Start gathering documentation immediately after your injury.
Accident Documentation
Police reports provide official accounts of motor vehicle accidents. Incident reports from property owners document slip and fall accidents. Accident reconstruction reports analyze how crashes occurred and establish fault. Photographs of accident scenes, vehicle damage, and hazardous conditions preserve perishable evidence.
Video footage from dashcams, security cameras, or traffic cameras can prove decisive. Eyewitness contact information allows your attorney to interview people who saw what happened. The sooner you preserve this evidence, the stronger your case becomes.
Medical Documentation
Keep copies of all medical records, including emergency room reports, hospital discharge summaries, physician notes, therapy records, and diagnostic imaging results. Document every medical appointment, medication, treatment, and expense. Even seemingly minor treatments matter when calculating total damages.
Follow all medical advice and attend all appointments. Insurance companies look for gaps in treatment to argue your injuries aren’t serious. Consistent medical care demonstrates ongoing problems and supports your damage claims.
Employment Records
Wage statements, tax returns, and employer letters document your income before the injury. If you’ve missed work, keep records of absences and lost wages. If your earning capacity decreased, employment records establish what you earned previously and what you can earn now.
Performance reviews showing excellent work history before the injury contrast with post-injury struggles, demonstrating how the brain injury affected your career. These comparisons help prove diminished earning capacity.
The Brain Injury Case Process in New York
Understanding the litigation timeline helps you prepare for the road ahead. Brain injury cases typically follow this sequence.
Initial consultation and case evaluation. Your attorney reviews medical records, accident reports, and other evidence to determine case viability. Most personal injury attorneys offer free consultations and work on contingency, meaning they only get paid if you recover compensation.
Investigation and evidence gathering. Your attorney obtains complete medical records, interviews witnesses, hires expert witnesses, and documents all damages. This phase can take several months as experts review extensive medical information.
Demand letter and negotiations. Your attorney sends a detailed demand letter to the responsible party’s insurance company, presenting evidence and demanding compensation. Many cases settle during this phase if the insurance company makes a reasonable offer.
Lawsuit filing and discovery. If settlement negotiations fail, your attorney files a lawsuit before the statute of limitations expires. Discovery involves exchanging documents, answering written questions (interrogatories), and sitting for depositions where attorneys question you under oath.
Mediation or arbitration. Courts often require alternative dispute resolution before trial. A neutral mediator facilitates settlement negotiations, or an arbitrator hears abbreviated evidence and issues a binding decision.
Trial. If your case doesn’t settle, it proceeds to trial where a jury (or sometimes a judge) hears evidence and decides liability and damages. Trials can last days or weeks depending on case complexity. Witnesses testify, experts present opinions, and both sides present evidence.
Appeal. Either party can appeal an unfavorable verdict. Appeals focus on legal errors, not factual disputes. The appeals process can add another year or more to case resolution.
Most brain injury cases settle before trial, but having an attorney prepared to try your case strengthens your negotiating position. Insurance companies pay more when they know you’re willing to go to trial.
Insurance Considerations in Brain Injury Cases
Understanding available insurance coverage helps assess your case’s potential value. Multiple insurance policies may provide compensation.
Auto insurance policies include bodily injury liability coverage that compensates injured parties when the policyholder causes an accident. New York requires minimum coverage of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident, but many policies carry higher limits. Underinsured motorist coverage protects you when the at-fault driver has insufficient insurance.
Homeowner’s and renter’s insurance provide premises liability coverage when accidents occur on the insured property. Commercial general liability policies cover businesses when customers or visitors sustain injuries.
Medical malpractice insurance covers healthcare providers and facilities when negligent care causes injuries. New York requires physicians to carry minimum coverage, but hospital policies often provide much higher limits.
Workers’ compensation insurance covers workplace injuries, but generally prohibits lawsuits against employers. However, you may have third-party claims against equipment manufacturers, subcontractors, or other parties whose negligence caused your workplace injury.
Your attorney investigates all potentially applicable insurance policies to maximize your recovery. Cases involving multiple defendants or high-limit policies generally result in larger settlements.
Workers’ Compensation and Third-Party Claims
If your brain injury occurred at work, you can typically file a workers’ compensation claim for medical expenses and partial wage replacement. However, workers’ comp doesn’t compensate pain and suffering, and you generally cannot sue your employer. You may still have third-party claims against parties other than your employer—such as negligent drivers, defective product manufacturers, or subcontractors—that provide full damages including pain and suffering. An attorney can help identify all available claims.
When to Contact a Brain Injury Lawyer
Timing matters when pursuing a brain injury claim. Contacting an attorney early protects your rights and strengthens your case.
As soon as you recognize symptoms. Early attorney involvement ensures evidence gets preserved before it disappears. Attorneys can send preservation letters requiring parties to maintain records, video footage, and physical evidence. Waiting allows critical evidence to be destroyed or lost.
Before giving recorded statements. Insurance adjusters often contact injury victims quickly, seeking recorded statements that later get used against you. Having an attorney handle these communications prevents damaging admissions and ensures your rights stay protected.
Before accepting settlement offers. Early settlement offers typically fall far short of fair compensation. Insurance companies know brain injury victims face mounting medical bills and may accept inadequate settlements out of desperation. Your attorney evaluates whether offers adequately cover your current and future losses.
While evidence is fresh. Witness memories fade over time. Physical evidence disappears. The sooner your attorney begins investigating, the stronger the evidence trail becomes. Waiting months to seek legal help can irreparably damage your case.
Before the statute of limitations expires. While you have three years in most cases, complex brain injury cases require extensive preparation. Starting the process early ensures your attorney has adequate time to build a strong case without rushing to meet the filing deadline.
Most personal injury attorneys offer free consultations and work on contingency fee arrangements. You pay nothing unless they recover compensation for you. This arrangement eliminates financial barriers to seeking legal advice and ensures your attorney has incentive to maximize your recovery.
Frequently Asked Questions About Brain Injury Cases in New York
How do I know if my brain injury is serious enough to justify a lawsuit?
Any brain injury that causes ongoing symptoms, requires medical treatment, results in lost work time, or affects your quality of life warrants legal evaluation. Severity isn’t measured only by imaging results. Even mild traumatic brain injuries can cause persistent cognitive deficits, emotional changes, and earning capacity loss. The question isn’t whether your injury seems serious to you, but whether someone else’s negligence caused measurable damages. Schedule a free consultation with a brain injury attorney to evaluate your specific situation. Attorneys assess medical evidence, accident circumstances, liability, and damages to determine case viability.
What if I didn’t realize I had a brain injury until weeks or months after the accident?
Many brain injury symptoms develop gradually or initially seem minor before worsening. New York’s discovery rule may extend your statute of limitations filing deadline. Under this rule, the three-year period begins when you discovered or reasonably should have discovered the injury. However, courts scrutinize delayed claims carefully. Seek medical evaluation immediately if you experience persistent headaches, memory problems, mood changes, or other symptoms after an accident. Document when symptoms began and consult an attorney promptly to protect your rights.
Can I still pursue a case if I was partially at fault for the accident that caused my brain injury?
Yes. New York’s pure comparative negligence system allows recovery even when you share fault. Your compensation is reduced by your percentage of responsibility. If you’re 30 percent at fault and your damages total $1 million, you can recover $700,000. Unlike some states that bar recovery if you’re more than 50 percent at fault, New York allows recovery regardless of your fault percentage. Insurance companies aggressively assert comparative negligence to reduce settlements, so having an attorney who can counter these arguments and properly allocate fault becomes essential.
How long does it take to resolve a brain injury case in New York?
Brain injury cases typically take 18 months to three years from initial consultation to resolution, though complex cases can take longer. Several factors affect timeline: injury severity and whether you’ve reached maximum medical improvement, number of defendants and insurance companies involved, whether the case settles or goes to trial, and court scheduling backlogs. Cases involving catastrophic injuries often take longer because attorneys must fully understand the long-term prognosis before settling. Rushing to settle before you’ve reached maximum medical improvement risks accepting inadequate compensation for future needs.
What happens if the person who caused my brain injury has no insurance or insufficient coverage?
Several options may still provide compensation. Your own underinsured motorist coverage compensates when the at-fault driver has insufficient insurance. Umbrella policies held by defendants can provide additional coverage beyond standard policy limits. Multiple liable parties may share responsibility, combining their insurance coverage. Workers’ compensation covers workplace injuries regardless of fault or insurance. Your health insurance may provide coverage subject to later reimbursement. An attorney identifies all potential sources of compensation and pursues every available avenue for recovery.
Do I need to go to court, or can my brain injury case settle without trial?
Most brain injury cases settle without trial through negotiations or mediation. According to legal data, approximately 95 percent of personal injury cases settle before trial. However, having an attorney prepared to try your case strengthens your negotiating position. Insurance companies pay more when they know you’re willing to go to court. Your attorney should thoroughly prepare your case for trial while simultaneously pursuing settlement. If your case does go to trial, your attorney will guide you through the process, prepare you for testimony, and advocate for maximum compensation before a jury.
How much does it cost to hire a brain injury lawyer in New York?
Most brain injury attorneys work on contingency fee arrangements, meaning you pay nothing upfront and the attorney only gets paid if they recover compensation for you. Typical contingency fees range from 33 to 40 percent of your recovery, depending on whether your case settles before trial or requires litigation. The attorney advances all case costs including expert witness fees, medical record retrieval, court filing fees, and investigation expenses. These costs are reimbursed from your settlement or verdict. This arrangement eliminates financial barriers to quality legal representation and aligns your attorney’s interests with yours. Schedule a free consultation to discuss fee arrangements and evaluate your case.
What if the brain injury happened to my child? Can I file a case on their behalf?
Yes, parents or legal guardians can file brain injury lawsuits on behalf of minor children. New York law provides special protections for children. The statute of limitations typically doesn’t begin running until the child turns 18, giving them until age 21 to file in most cases. However, waiting years to pursue a claim allows evidence to disappear and witnesses’ memories to fade. Additionally, medical costs accumulate immediately, and families need compensation to cover ongoing care. Most attorneys recommend pursuing cases promptly while evidence is fresh and to ensure families receive the resources children need for proper treatment and rehabilitation.
Get Legal Help for Your Brain Injury Case
If you or a loved one has suffered a brain injury due to someone else’s negligence, understanding whether you have a viable case requires professional legal evaluation. Brain injury claims involve complex medical evidence, sophisticated legal theories, and substantial financial stakes. The four elements of negligence, New York’s three-year statute of limitations, the comparative negligence system, and the need for multiple expert witnesses make these cases challenging to navigate alone.
Time matters in brain injury cases. Evidence disappears, witnesses’ memories fade, and the statute of limitations ticks away. Insurance companies begin building their defense immediately after accidents occur. Having experienced legal representation levels the playing field and ensures your rights stay protected throughout the process.
Most brain injury attorneys offer free consultations and work on contingency, eliminating financial barriers to seeking legal advice. During a consultation, an attorney reviews your medical records, evaluates accident circumstances, assesses liability and damages, and provides honest feedback about your case’s strengths and potential challenges.
Don’t let uncertainty about case viability prevent you from seeking evaluation. A qualified brain injury attorney can answer your questions, explain your options, and help you make informed decisions about pursuing compensation for your losses.
Schedule Your Free Brain Injury Case Evaluation
If you’ve suffered a brain injury and believe someone else’s negligence is responsible, contact our experienced legal team for a comprehensive case evaluation. We’ll review your medical evidence, assess liability, and explain your options for pursuing compensation.
