Learn about the factors that must be considered when building a personal injury case based on a sports brain injury.
In the wake of many high-profile stories about professional athletes suffering brain injuries due to repeated concussions, many personal injury cases involving injury to students or amateur athletes are also cropping up. Unfortunately, the specific type of brain injury involved, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, has not yet been widely studied such that we can really understand the long-term impact of this injury on the health and quality of life of victims. Still, we do know that this type of brain injury causes impaired cognition and motor skills plus changes in mood and behavior, and as such it deserves compensation. Here are some important factors to consider when preparing a possible sports brain injury case.
Statute of Limitations
Naturally one of the first things that must be considered is whether or not the statute of limitations has already expired on the injury. In general, personal injury victims have two years from the time they were injured to file a lawsuit. However, if the case involves a young person, such as a high school athlete, the statute of limitations is “tolled” until the minor turns 18. It does not matter when the injury occurred or was noticed—the two-year statute of limitations will be counted from the date of the minor’s 18th birthday.
Standard of Care
Another extremely important factor to address is the standard of care. It is necessary to prove that the sports organization knew of the danger of brain injury to the plaintiff and yet failed to warn that individual or take proper measures to protect them. This area can be a bit tricky right now, as the standard of care for responding to concussion injuries and other types of sports injuries has been evolving. For this reason, it is very important to retain an expert attorney with specific experience in these types of brain injuries.
Expert Witnesses
The testimony of a medical expert can be very beneficial in all kinds of personal injury cases. They can help establish that the defendant’s actions caused the injury as well as quantify the impact of that injury to arrive at a fair amount of compensation. However, in a sports brain injury case, it is often also necessary to have expert testimony about the standard of care that was in place at the sports organization at the time. This may require multiple experts.
Causation
If there was a significant time gap between the blow to the head that caused the brain injury and the diagnosis of the injury, this will provide room for the defense to argue that perhaps some other factor caused or contributed to the injury, thus lessening their own liability.
Rely on Fernando D. Vargas for Expert Representation
If you or a loved one has suffered a sports brain injury, Fernando D. Vargas can help. Contact him now at 909-982-0707 to request a free initial consultation. If your case has merit he will represent you at no cost until he wins you a settlement.
