Brain Injury Lawyer in Los Angeles

How is a brain injury claim proved?

Two mistaken ideas close more brain injury claims than any argument from the defense. The first is that a normal CT means no injury. The second is that without loss of consciousness there was no brain trauma. Most traumatic brain injuries happen without loss of consciousness.

These claims are won on records rather than pictures:

• Neuropsychological testing, which measures memory, attention and processing. Testing must be given in the person’s dominant language with instruments validated for it, because a test done in English on someone who thinks in Spanish measures the language, not the brain injury.
• Accounts of people who knew you before. In practice it is the family who notices the injury, not the patient.
• Employment and school records showing what changed.
• Treating clinicians’ notes over time, which show symptoms that persist.

Who is liable depends on how the injury happened, such as a driver, a property owner, an employer or a manufacturer. Where the other party broke a safety statute, Evidence Code section 669 can create a presumption of negligence. California applies pure comparative fault (Li v. Yellow Cab Co.), so being partly to blame reduces a recovery rather than ending it.

What insurance pays in a brain injury case?

A serious brain injury can cost far more than a single policy pays, so finding every source of coverage is part of the early work:

• The liability policy of the responsible person or business, and any umbrella policy above it.
• Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, when a collision caused the injury and the other driver had too little insurance. California’s minimum limits are $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident.
• Medical payments coverage on your own auto policy, which can pay early bills regardless of fault.
• Employer and commercial policies, when the person at fault was working.
• Health insurance, which pays treatment as it happens and may later claim reimbursement from a settlement.

What compensation can you recover for a brain injury?

• Medical expenses, past and future, including imaging, neurology, therapy and rehabilitation.
• Lost earnings and loss of future earning capacity, including an inability to hold a shift at work.
• Pain, suffering and emotional distress, and the loss of enjoyment of life.
• Punitive damages under Civil Code section 3294 where the conduct involved malice, oppression or fraud.
• Wrongful death damages for the family under Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 when an injury is fatal.

A case’s value cannot be known before the medical picture is clear. It turns on the injury, the care still to come, the insurance available and the strength of the evidence.

How long do you have to file a brain injury claim in California?

• Two years from the date of injury to file an injury lawsuit, under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1.
• Six months to present a written claim if a public entity is involved, under Government Code section 911.2. A claim for a dangerous condition of public property falls under Government Code section 835.

Because brain injury symptoms can appear or be recognized later, the two years can run from when the injury and its likely cause were, or should have been, discovered. Have your date confirmed at the start rather than assumed.

How much does a brain injury lawyer cost in Los Angeles?

No fee unless there is a recovery. Broukhim Legal PC takes brain injury cases on a contingency fee, so there is nothing to pay up front and the fee is paid out of what is recovered. If nothing is recovered, no fee is owed. The fee agreement is put in writing and signed before any work starts, as California law requires, and it also explains how the costs of running the case are handled. Your first conversation is free, confidential and carries no obligation.

Brain injury lawyers across Los Angeles County

Broukhim Legal PC represents injured people throughout Los Angeles County from its office at 550 S Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles. Each city page covers the local police or Sheriff report, the courthouse that hears the case and how a claim against that city is presented:

See all locations we serve, or tell us what happened for a free case review.

Meet your Los Angeles brain injury lawyer

Bejan Broukhim, Founder and Lead Attorney
State Bar of California, license number 183036

Bejan Broukhim brings years of California legal experience to injury and mass tort cases and personally reviews each one. He earned his J.D. at the University of West Los Angeles School of Law, served as a judicial extern in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and the Van Nuys Superior Court, and appeared in preliminary hearings as a certified law clerk with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Every case is prepared from day one as though it will go to trial.

Office: 550 S Hill Street, Suite 1390, Los Angeles, CA 90013, serving all of Los Angeles County and California. Get directions