Head & Brain Injuries

• Blame it on the Trial Lawyers

  Ken Margolin | January 26, 2007 11:15 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  I was thinking the other day about the gripes of the anti-justice forces who would reserve the courts for corporations and the wealthy and who enhance political careers by bashing trial lawyers. If they long for an America of 100 years ago, they have a good reason for their animosity. Want your segregated schools back? Sorry. Brown v. Board of Education took care of that, using trial lawyer...

• The Vocational Expert

  Ken Margolin | January 16, 2007 12:45 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  Success in serious personal injury cases require the plaintiff's lawyer to put together many pieces in a way that makes the jury decide that justice requires a verdict in favor of the plaintiff. One of these pieces is testimony from a vocational expert. Testimony from a vocational expert is called for in any serious accident case in which the injuries permanently impair the plaintiff's ability...

• New Stroke Treatment to be Tested

  Ken Margolin | December 05, 2006 7:00 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  More than 700,000 people suffer strokes each year. Currently, there is only one drug on the market, TPA, approved in 1996 to treat and protect the brain from strokes. Subsequent efforts to introduce a better drug have failed--more than 100 times, in fact, since 1996. TPA's side-effects include brain hemorrhaging and it is only effective if administered within 3 hours of the onset of stroke....

• Major Construction Accident and Nursing Home Negligence Settlements Reported

  Ken Margolin | November 17, 2006 1:00 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  Three significant personal injury settlements were reported in this week's Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly newspaper. Two of the cases were construction accident cases. In one, a worker suffered a crushed foot when a jersey barrier tipped over on him while he was removing temporary wooden railings and installing jersey barriers alongside the highway. While the employer could not be sued because of...

• Significant Plaintiff Recoveries Continue in 2006

  Ken Margolin | January 17, 2007 7:00 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  This week's Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly contained a summary of significant plaintiffs' verdicts and settlements in Massachusetts in 2006. Fifteen jury verdicts equaling or exceeding $1 million were reported, as well as 88 seven figure settlements. A survey of these positive results gives an idea of the current thinking of juries and insurance claims personnel. I will start with the verdicts...

• Fall Down Cases Can Hurt

  Ken Margolin | January 09, 2007 8:40 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  People falling down has provided generations of comedians, from the Three Stooges to Chevy Chase, with material. In real life, there is nothing funny about falling down and being injured because of someone else's carelessness. These cases are typically known as "slip and fall cases." Fellow InjuryBoard lawyer, Benjamin Glass, of Northern Virginia, has written an excellent blog describing some...

• Traumatic Brain Injury Act

  Ken Margolin | January 08, 2007 8:30 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  A decade ago, Congress passed the Traumatic Brain Injury Act of 1996. The legislation reflected a recognition at the highest levels of national leadership that traumatic brain injury (TBI) was an under-recognized problem that affected millions of people. With the legislation, Congress appropriated funds to study the prevalence of TBI and to encourage innovative efforts to reduce the incidence of...

• Valuing a Car Accident Case

  Ken Margolin | January 04, 2007 7:00 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  For many clients injured in a car accident, the first question asked of the attorney after "is there cream for the coffee," is "how much is my case worth?" That question is always a fair one, but not always easily answered at the beginning of a case. In any personal injury case, value depends on both tangible and intangible elements, many of which, especially the intangible, will not be known...

• Fatal Work Injuries

  Ken Margolin | December 19, 2006 7:00 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  Every year, the United States Department of Labor publishes a census of occupational injuries. The census gives some insight into the types of jobs in which workers are most at risk. It is a starting point for analysis of work injuries, why they happen, and how to prevent them. In 2005, there were 5,702 fatal job-related injuries reported in the United States. This translated to a rate of 4.1...

• Bicycle-Car Crashes

  Ken Margolin | December 15, 2006 7:00 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  In a typical year, nearly 750 bicycle riders nationwide may die in car-bicycle crashes. Thousands more cyclists are injured, some with serious traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, or other life-threatening harm. Many drivers are hostile to cyclists, resentful if their ride is slowed down for a few moments by a bicycle in front of them, or if they have to move over a foot to give the...