Premises Liability - Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP attorney Robert J. Bellinson recently obtained a $1.7 million verdict in Manhattan Supreme Court on behalf of our client who sustained a closed head injury.
Our client, a 62 year old professional guitarist, was injured while visiting a veterinarian's office in March 2009. During an appointment to get his new puppy checked out, a metal ventilation grate feel from the ceiling and struck him in the head. Although there was no bleeding or loss of consciousness, in the days and weeks following the accident our client began to experience headaches, dizziness and various cognitive problems. Despite being treated by several doctors over the ensuing years, our client never recovered from his head trauma. Despite his prior law firm not wanting to proceed with his case, WRSMH thought that our client was believable and indeed suffering from Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. We matched our commitment to our client with the resources necessary to achieve victory in Court.
In a trial that lasted about four weeks and had sixteen witnesses including experts in Bio-Mechanics, Cognitive Neurology and headache disorders, Rob was able to show the Jury that Mild TBI is indeed a real injury, rarely diagnosed by MRI's or X Rays. Rob called as witnesses the client's wife and two professional guitarists who trained with our client and could tell the jury about the changes before and after the accident, thereby demonstrating to the Jury that our client was suffering from real cognitive deficits as a result of the accident.
The defendants tried to argue that the accident could not have caused these cognitive deficits, and contended that even if our client was suffering from cognitive problems, they were most likely as a result of the aging process. By precisely focusing on the actual results of our client's neuro-psychological testing, specifically the limited areas of cognition, memory and visio-spatial issues, Rob was able to prove to the Jury that our client's complaints were textbook Mild TBI symptoms, and that while most patients recover, a small minority of patients never recover. The Jury agreed that our client's injuries were real, serious and permanent, and the case resulted in a $1.7 million verdict for our client.