INTRODUCTION

The healthy brain is a miracle. It controls everything we do. The 100 billion or so nerve cells in the three pounds of flesh we call the brain direct all of our thoughts, feelings, movements, vision, hearing and memories. Injuries to the brain, even "mild" injury, change who we are as a person. See "What is "Mild" Brain Injury?"  Our brains are what make us human.

Recovery, however, from brain injury, is not a miraculous process. Rehabilitation, to the extent possible, requires hard work and multi-disciplinary approaches which may involve the fields of neurology, neuropsychology, psychiatry, behavioral medicine, orthopaedics, family medicine, pediatrics, physical medicine and rehabilitation, vocational rehabilitation, speech and hearing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, education therapy, social work, case management and life care planning. In those cases in which brain injury is the responsibility of some third party, whether from an accident, malpractice, product defect, or otherwise, it is essential to involve a competent lawyer at an early date in order to maximize the recovery of monetary damages which will be necessary for rehabilitation and support of the survivor for the rest of his or her life. If the survivor has died, early retention of a lawyer is important to establish fault and preserve the evidence.

LAWYER KNOWLEDGE OF BRAIN INJURY

Traumatic brain injury results principally from vehicular accidents, falls, acts of violence and sports injuries, and is more than twice as likely in males. The estimated incident rate is 100 out of 100,000 persons with 52,000 annual deaths. It is estimated that there are 2.5 million to 6.5 million individuals suffering lifelong impairment of physical, cognitive and psychosocial functioning as a result of brain injury. Furthermore, mild traumatic brain injury is significantly under-diagnosed and the likely societal burden therefore is even greater. Although most people recover from mild traumatic brain injury, there is a "miserable minority" devastated by the effects of this injury. Each year approximately 70 thousand to 90 thousand individuals incur a traumatic brain injury resulting in long term, substantial loss of functioning. These statistics are set out in detail in a publication of the National Institute of Health, "Rehabilitation of Persons With Traumatic Brain Injury".

For the lawyer representing the brain injured survivor and his or her family it is essential to be knowledgeable about the brain and the problems associated with traumatic brain injury. This is a specialty that requires knowledge of the neurological, cognitive, behavioral and social consequences of mild, moderate and severe traumatic brain injury. This knowledge by your lawyer is critical in order to obtain full and complete damages from those whose negligence or wrongful conduct caused these injuries.

The lawyer must know the architecture of the brain so that he or she can clearly communicate the mechanism of the injury. The brain itself is divided into three basic units: the forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain. The forebrain consists primarily of the cerebrum and structures hidden beneath it. The cerebrum itself consists of pairs of frontal lobes, parietal lobes, temporal lobes and occipital lobes. The left hemisphere, appears in the logo at the top of the home page. You can see that the cerebrum is shaped like a boxing glove, the left brain looking like a right glove and vice versa. Interestingly, and for some unknown reason, nearly all of the signals from the brain to the body and back again cross over on their way to and from the brain. This means that the right cerebral hemisphere primarily controls the left side of the body and the left hemisphere primarily controls the right side. For more information about the brain, see Links.

The various parts of the brain also largely control different functions. Injury to frontal lobes affects executive skills of problem solving, abstract reasoning, insight, judgment, planning, information processing, and organization. The parietal lobes are the primary sensory areas of the brain, receiving information about temperature, taste, touch and movement from the rest of the body. Reading and arithmetic are also functions of the parietal lobes. The temporal lobes receive information from the ears thus controlling our appreciation of music and sound. The temporal lobes are also crucial in forming, retrieving and integrating memories and sensations of taste, sound, sight and touch. The occipital lobes process images from the eyes and link that information with images stored in memory. The inner brain, lying deep within the cerebrum, determines our emotional state and allows us to initiate movements we make without thinking about them. For more information about the brain, see Links.

There are various ways to diagnose brain injuries, such as Computerized Tomography (CT) scan and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Sometimes, however, brain injuries may not show up on imaging technology because the damage can be microscopic and other techniques, such as neuropsychological testing, are required. It is important for the lawyer representing you to have a thorough understanding of the various diagnostic techniques. In “mild” brain injury cases, the injuries may be devastating, changing the survivor's life forever, but not apparent to the casual observer. A juror listening to evidence of the injury must be educated by the lawyer to see that the apparently normal survivor can no longer function as before in certain fundamental ways. How this is communicated to the average person (read juror) can make the difference between a nominal recovery of damages and a multi-million dollar verdict necessary to fairly compensate the survivor and her or his family.

CONCLUSION

In some communities, such as San Diego, there are active groups and organizations assisting the brain injury survivor and family in understanding their crisis. The earlier diagnosis is achieved, the more hope there is for adjustment to these devastating injuries and the more completely your lawyer can prepare your case. Early diagnosis and retention of a lawyer is particularly an issue if the brain injuries are perceived as mild and therefore do not compel attention of the medical staff. The San Diego Brain Injury Foundation has prepared a pamphlet, "A Brain Injury Guide for Families". As stated in the publication, this information is the "start of your journey."

In the event that some third party is responsible for the injuries or death suffered by the brain injury victim and his or her family, maximizing financial resources is imperative to deal with your new reality. The earlier the decision is made to retain a competent lawyer, the more effective his or her legal representation can be. As such, interviewing and hiring a lawyer for the brain injury case should be one of the first priorities of the family. See "How to Interview and Hire a Lawyer for the Brain Injury Case".