Traumatic brain injury lawyer

A traumatic brain injury claim usually has to be proven twice: once medically, because the injury frequently does not appear on routine imaging, and once causally, because the defense will attribute the symptoms to stress, age, a pre-existing condition or the litigation itself. The work is building a record that answers both. Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C. handles brain injury claims in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey and New York.

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What the imaging does and does not show

A CT scan performed in an emergency department is looking for bleeding and skull fracture — findings that require immediate intervention. It is not designed to detect the microscopic axonal damage that produces persistent cognitive symptoms after a mild traumatic brain injury, and a normal CT is entirely consistent with a serious and lasting injury. Standard MRI is more sensitive but still frequently normal. Advanced sequences and quantitative techniques are used in some cases, but their role is contested and their admissibility varies, so they supplement rather than replace clinical evidence.

The practical consequence is that the imaging report is rarely the center of a brain injury case. Neuropsychological testing, administered and interpreted by a qualified clinician, together with documented functional change, generally carries more weight.

Why the injury meets the legal threshold

The legal question is not whether a scan was abnormal. It is whether the person sustained an injury that has produced compensable harm. A documented loss of consciousness, post-traumatic amnesia, or a period of confusion at the scene supports the diagnosis, but none is required. What is required is evidence of a mechanism capable of causing the injury and evidence of a change in function that followed it and persisted.

Typical treatment course and prognosis

Most people who sustain a concussion recover within a defined period. A minority do not, and it is that group that generates litigation. The typical course involves emergency evaluation, primary care follow-up, referral to neurology, and where symptoms persist, neuropsychological assessment and rehabilitation — cognitive, vestibular, or vision therapy depending on the presentation. Prognosis is individual, and a treating physician’s opinion on whether the deficits are permanent is central to the value of the claim.

How insurance carriers attack this diagnosis

The arguments are consistent and worth anticipating. The imaging was normal. There was no loss of consciousness. The person did not complain of a head injury at the scene. There was a gap before treatment began. The symptoms overlap with depression, anxiety or sleep disturbance, all of which have other causes. The person has a prior history of headaches, or a prior concussion, or a psychiatric history. And, in nearly every case, that symptoms improved and then were re-reported once a claim was made.

Each is answerable. Emergency departments triage for life-threatening findings and routinely do not document cognitive complaints. People with a brain injury frequently cannot recognize or articulate what is wrong, which is precisely why third-party observation matters. A prior concussion increases vulnerability rather than excusing the current injury. But these answers have to be built into the record early, not asserted at deposition.

Proving the accident caused it

Causation is established by a chain: the mechanism, the immediate aftermath, the onset and persistence of symptoms, and a qualified clinical opinion linking them. Third-party evidence is disproportionately valuable here — an employer who can describe specific performance changes, a colleague who noticed the person losing track mid-task, a spouse who took over responsibilities the person previously handled. Specific examples with dates persuade; general statements that the person “has not been the same” do not.

Available insurance coverage

What can be recovered is limited by what coverage exists. The at-fault party’s policy is the starting point, but it is frequently not the only source: the injured person’s own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, household policies, employer coverage where a vehicle was used for work, umbrella and excess layers, and the coverage of any additional responsible party can all apply. Underinsured coverage typically requires notice and consent before any settlement with the at-fault party — settling first can forfeit it. Identifying every available layer is early work, not closing work.

How damages are categorised and proven

Damages are not a single number that gets negotiated. They are separate categories, each proven by different evidence. Past medical expense is proven by billing records and the reasonableness of the charges. Future medical expense requires a physician’s opinion that the care is reasonably certain to be needed. Lost income is proven by employment and tax records; lost earning capacity is a different and larger question requiring vocational and economic analysis. Non-economic loss — pain, limitation, and the effect on daily life — is proven through the medical record and through testimony from people who can describe specific changes rather than general decline. No one can responsibly tell you what a case is worth before that evidence exists, and any figure offered at the outset is a guess.

Filing deadlines

Every injury claim is governed by a statute of limitations, and the periods differ by state and by claim type. For personal injury actions the period is two years in Virginia under Va. Code § 8.01-243(A), accruing at the date of injury; three years in Maryland under Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-101; three years in the District of Columbia under D.C. Code § 12-301(8); two years in New Jersey under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2; and three years in New York under N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214(5). These are general periods. Discovery rules, tolling for minors and incapacity, claims against government entities — the District imposes a six-month notice-of-claim requirement for claims against the District government — and claim-specific statutes can shorten or extend them. Do not rely on a general period for your own case; have the deadline confirmed on your facts.

Frequently Asked Questions

My CT scan was normal. Do I still have a claim?

Possibly. A CT scan in an emergency department is looking for bleeding and fracture, not for the microscopic injury that produces persistent cognitive symptoms after a mild traumatic brain injury. A normal CT is consistent with a real and lasting injury. What matters more is documented functional change after a mechanism capable of causing it, supported by clinical assessment. The imaging result is one piece of evidence, not the test.

I never lost consciousness. Does that matter?

Loss of consciousness supports the diagnosis but is not required for it. Many brain injuries occur without any loss of consciousness at all, and a period of confusion, disorientation or gap in memory around the event is more common. Carriers rely heavily on the absence of documented unconsciousness, so it is worth establishing early what was actually recorded at the scene and in the emergency department, and what was not asked.

What is neuropsychological testing?

A structured battery of assessments administered by a clinician trained in the relationship between brain function and behavior, measuring memory, attention, processing speed, executive function and related domains against normative data. It produces objective measurements where imaging may show nothing. It also includes validity measures, which is why the testing should be performed by a qualified clinician rather than an examiner selected for the outcome.

My symptoms started weeks after the accident. Is that a problem?

It is a defense argument, and it is answerable. Delayed recognition is common: people return to routine tasks and only discover deficits when demands increase, and the symptoms of a brain injury frequently impair the very insight needed to recognize them. Contemporaneous evidence from work or family about when problems became apparent is more persuasive than a later recollection of onset.

Will a prior concussion hurt my case?

It complicates the record but does not defeat the claim. Prior injury generally increases vulnerability to a subsequent one, and an injured person is taken as found. The task is to establish the functional baseline immediately before this incident — through work records, activity, and the absence or presence of ongoing complaints — so the change attributable to this event can be separated from the prior history.

How long does a brain injury case take?

Longer than most injury cases, for a clinical reason: the claim should not be resolved until the extent of recovery is reasonably understood, and that can take a year or more. Settling early risks releasing a claim for permanent deficits that had not yet become apparent, and a release is final. Timeline also depends on the court’s docket and on whether the carrier disputes causation.

Who can testify about how I have changed?

People who knew you before and see you regularly now — an employer or supervisor, colleagues, family, close friends, teachers or coaches. The useful testimony is concrete and dated: a specific task you can no longer complete, a specific error that was out of character, a responsibility someone else has taken over. Courts discount general statements; they credit specific examples.

What should I do now?

Get evaluated if you have not been, and report all symptoms rather than only the most obvious. Keep a dated record of specific difficulties as they occur, since recall degrades. Do not give a recorded statement to the other party’s insurer. And have the filing deadline confirmed on your facts — it varies by state and by claim type, and it is not extended because a diagnosis came late.

About Mr. Sris

Mr. Sris is the owner and founder of Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C., which has practiced since 1997. He is a former prosecutor and is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey and New York. Of Counsel attorneys contract directly with the firm and handle matters alongside him. In 2019 Mr. Sris testified before the Virginia House Courts of Justice Committee on House Bill 635.

Speak with Mr. Sris

Injury claims are governed by filing deadlines that vary by state and by claim type, and evidence degrades quickly. Request a consultation. Reach our location at (888) 437-7747. Consultations are by appointment.

Last reviewed: August 22, 2026.

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