Los Angeles Brain Injury Lawyer

Why brain injury claims get undervalued

Insurers discount these cases for predictable reasons, and knowing them in advance changes how a claim is documented from day one.

There was no loss of consciousness. A concussion does not require blacking out. Adjusters treat a “no LOC” notation in the ambulance record as proof of a minor injury. It is not.

The CT scan was normal. Standard imaging in an emergency room is looking for bleeding and skull fracture. It is not designed to detect diffuse axonal injury, and a normal scan does not rule out a serious injury.

The symptoms started later. Headaches, light sensitivity, sleep disruption, irritability, and memory problems often surface days after the event, once the adrenaline is gone. A gap between the crash and the first complaint is the single most common argument used to discount these claims.

The injured person minimized it. People with head injuries are frequently poor reporters of their own condition. That is a symptom, not a credibility problem, and it is why statements from family and coworkers matter so much.

How these claims are proven

Because the injury is invisible, the proof is built from several directions at once.

• Contemporaneous medical records. Every symptom reported to every provider, from the first visit forward. Gaps in treatment are used against you.
• Neuropsychological testing. A formal battery that measures memory, processing speed, executive function, and attention against expected baselines. This is often the single most important piece of evidence in a TBI case.
• Advanced imaging where indicated, beyond the emergency room CT.
• Before and after witnesses. A spouse, a parent, a supervisor, or a longtime friend describing concretely what changed.
• Employment and academic records showing measurable decline in output, hours, grades, or responsibilities.
• Life care planning for injuries requiring ongoing treatment, supervision, or accommodation.

Who may be responsible

• A negligent driver, in a car, truck, motorcycle, bicycle, pedestrian, scooter, or rideshare collision
• A property owner whose unsafe condition caused a fall
• A public entity, where a dangerous condition of public property contributed. Government Code § 835 makes a public entity liable where the condition created a reasonably foreseeable risk of that kind of injury and the entity either created it or had actual or constructive notice with enough time to fix it.
• A product manufacturer, where a defective helmet, restraint, or component failed
• A commercial defendant, such as a trucking company responsible for its driver

What can be recovered

Economic damages are, in the language of Civil Code § 1431.2(b), “objectively verifiable monetary losses including medical expenses, loss of earnings, burial costs, loss of use of property, costs of repair or replacement, costs of obtaining substitute domestic services, loss of employment and loss of business or employment opportunities.” In a brain injury case this typically includes emergency and ongoing treatment, neuropsychological care, rehabilitation, medication, lost income, reduced future earning capacity, and the cost of help at home.

Non-economic damages are “subjective, non-monetary losses including, but not limited to, pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental suffering, emotional distress, loss of society and companionship, loss of consortium, injury to reputation and humiliation.”

There is a structural point worth understanding when more than one party is at fault. Under Civil Code § 1431.2(a), “the liability of each defendant for non-economic damages shall be several only and shall not be joint.” Each defendant is responsible only for its own percentage share of the non-economic damages, while economic damages are treated differently. In a multi-vehicle crash, or a case with both a driver and a property owner, the allocation of fault between defendants directly changes what is collectible, which is why identifying every responsible party early matters.

California also applies pure comparative negligence, so a share of fault reduces recovery proportionally rather than barring it.

Deadlines, and one that catches families out

The general deadline for a personal injury lawsuit in California is two years from the date of injury under Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1.

If a public entity may be responsible, for example where a road defect or an unsafe public property condition contributed, a written claim generally must be presented to that entity within six months under Government Code § 911.2. That is the deadline most often missed in serious injury cases, because the family is focused on treatment during exactly the window that matters.

For an injured child, Code of Civil Procedure § 352(a) provides that the period of minority does not count toward the limitations period. Note that § 352(b) excludes claims that require presentation of a government claim, so the six month rule is not extended by a child’s age.

Where the money comes from

• The at fault driver’s auto liability policy
• Your own underinsured motorist coverage, which frequently becomes the primary source once the at fault policy is exhausted, and brain injury claims exhaust minimum policies quickly
• A commercial policy, where a business or trucking company is involved
• A homeowner’s or commercial general liability policy in a premises case
• Health insurance for treatment, usually subject to a lien or reimbursement right that should be negotiated rather than paid at face value