Stark & Stark helps those who need it most. With over 21 years of experience in the area of head and brain injuries, nationally recognized attorney Bruce H. Stern devotes himself to obtaining the compensation his injured clients deserve and to providing them with personal guidance to coordinate and promote the healing process.

People suffering from traumatic brain injuries often have many questions about their injury and continuously seek out information on coping strategies, developments in legislation, funding programs and support groups which impact their lives. In July 2004, Stark & Stark launched the Traumatic Brain Injury Law Blog which serves its readership as a one-stop repository of news, legal developments and information important to brain injured individuals.

Frequently Asked Questions:

When hiring a personal injury attorney to represent a person who has suffered a traumatic brain injury, is it necessary that the attorney have specialized knowledge of brain injuries?

Yes. The attorney you hire should have specialized knowledge and experience in the field of neurolaw and in representing people with acquired traumatic brain injury. Just as a person with a brain injury would not be treated by a general medical practitioner, he or she should not be represented by a lawyer who is a general legal practitioner.

When you meet with a lawyer, inquire whether the attorney has handled brain injury cases and whether he or she has published or lectured in the field of traumatic brain injury. Most importantly, ask whether he or she understands the unique problems of a traumatic brain injury victim.

Determine the attorney's qualifications, such as whether the attorney is board certified by your state's bar or Supreme Court or by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and whether the attorney is listed in the National Directory of the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Services, published annually by the Brain Injury Association of America.

Is it common to meet with my attorney's legal assistants or associates in addition to my attorney?

When you begin working with an attorney, it is important to understand the course your litigation will take. Ask for a description of the work to be performed personally by your attorney and the work which will be delegated to others in the office. Litigation may take years, and there are many situations which occur which do not require the expertise of the attorney, but can easily be handled by the attorney's associate or legal assistant. Make your expectations known to your attorney so that he or she understands your needs. As a client you have many rights, including the right to be kept up to date on developments in your case, the right to review your file, and the right to speak with your attorney.

You must have confidence in your attorney. Your attorney is your advocate and the only person who will be fighting to obtain compensation for your injuries.

Can my insurance company and the defendant's insurance company obtain my past medical records, which I believe are personal and privileged?</p>

One of the most disturbing events for you, as the plaintiff in a personal injury action, is the intrusion into your privacy by attorneys and insurance adjusters. This intrusion is even more pronounced for the person with traumatic brain injury.

When you pursue a claim against the party that caused your brain injury, all attorneys involved in the case are entitled to "discovery." Discovery is the process by which attorneys try to find out information important to the case that is about you and your injuries.

If you bring a claim for traumatic brain injuries, your entire medical history, both physical and psychological, becomes subject to discovery and review by not only your attorney, but also by defense counsel and the insurance companies.

In defending personal injury cases, attorneys delve into a plaintiff's past to uncover information about any pre-existing injuries or complaints to which the plaintiff's present condition can be related.

You may be familiar with the concept that conversations between you and your doctor, including notes about your treatment, are confidential or "privileged." Under most state statutes, when a person brings a personal injury claim for injuries, that person waives the physician- patient privilege, allowing the defense access to all relevant medical records.

In addition to medical records, any records dealing with your emotional or psychological problems may be important to your claim. When a person asserts a mental or psychological problem as part or all of a personal injury claim, most courts have held that the psychotherapist-patient privilege is waived.

If your medical records contain prior medical, psychiatric or psychological information that you and your attorneys feel is not relevant to your claim, your attorney should make a motion with the court requesting that the court review the records to determine if they should be released.

The process by which the defense physically obtains your medical records is fairly straightforward. To obtain your records, defense counsel will issue subpoenas or forward requests for medical record release authorizations to you. Most states require that copies of these documents also be delivered to your attorney.

How much will a traumatic brain injury case cost me?

You have the option of hiring an attorney on an hourly basis or a contingency basis. If you elect to pay your attorney on an hourly basis, he or she will quote you an hourly rate and will keep track of the amount of time spent on your case.

Since the amount of hours spent by an attorney on a traumatic brain injury case may be significant, most plaintiffs elect to retain an attorney on a contingency basis. This means that the maximum legal fee paid to your attorney is based on a percentage of the award he or she recovers on your behalf.

Recent Experience

• Successfully represented a client who suffered a mild traumatic brain injury when her vehicle was struck on a major New Jersey highway.  After a mistrial and a hung jury, this case was settled for $975,000.00.  You can read more details about this case here.
  
• A female client was delivering newspapers during early morning hours when she was hit by a garbage truck while crossing the street. When retained, the plaintiff was living alone in her apartment receiving no medical care. Within a few months, we compelled the defendant's liability carrier to acknowledge its obligation to provide $250,000 of PIP coverage. These funds enabled the defendant to be admitted to a long term brain injury program in New Orleans. While the defendant had initially reserved the case at $1 million, the matter ultimately resolved for $3.8 million.
• A female client was on her way home from work when she was involved in a car accident and sustained a mild traumatic brain injury. At the time we were retained, prior counsel valued the case at approximately $300,000. Ultimately, we were able to settle the case for $1.5 million.
• A male client drowned while canoeing on a river in New Jersey. Two of his friends who were with him at the time sustained emotional damages as a result of seeing their friend die. To prepare the case, I retained liability experts from Tennessee, North Carolina and Colorado. Costs to prepare the case were more than $100,000. The case was settled for well in excess of $2 million.
• A female client was injured when she slipped on an unknown substance in her local grocery store. Six weeks before the trial was to begin, the demand made months earlier was $500,000 and the offer was $100,000. Three weeks after being retained, we were able to settle the case for $800,000.
• A male client had been totally disabled as the result of a fall years earlier. He was the involved in an auto accident with a tractor trailer. This accident aggravated his pre-existing neck and back condition. We were retained a week before the final pre-trial conference in this federal court case. The plaintiff's demand was $125,000 and the offer was $75,000. We received a 60 day extension of discovery which enabled us to retain eight new expert witnesses. As a result, defense counsel was forced to withdraw their expert neuropsychologist's report because we had discredited it. The court was about to bar the defendant's low-impact liability expert, when the case settled at mediation for $400,000.