Brain Injuries
Important Elements to Prove in a Brain Injury Claim
If you sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) because someone failed to act with reasonable care, you may have grounds for a claim — but being entitled to file one doesn't guarantee success. To recover funds for medical expenses, lost wages, and related costs, you'll generally need to establish three elements.
1. Liability
Most personal injury claims are founded on negligence — a breach of the duty of care — though some rest on intentional wrongdoing or strict liability instead. Regardless of the theory, you'll need to show how the opposing party was responsible for your TBI, often using some combination of an incident report, the official police report, photographs, eyewitness statements, surveillance footage, toxicology reports, and cell phone records.
2. Causation
Proving causation means connecting the opposing party's conduct directly to your specific injury — not just that they acted carelessly, but that their carelessness is what caused your TBI.
3. Damages
The third element is proving the extent of your losses. In New York, recoverable damages can include both monetary and non-monetary losses:
- Hospital bills and anticipated medical expenses
- Ongoing rehabilitation
- Lost income, benefits, and future earning capacity
- Property repairs and replacement services
- Home care, child care, and domestic help
- Home and vehicle modifications
- Mental anguish and loss of enjoyment of life
- Pain and suffering, and physical impairment
Your legal team will typically use hospital logs, medical records, diagnostic imaging, expert testimony, financial records, and even detailed journal entries and statements from family and colleagues to document how the injury has affected your life.
Hurt in a Brain Injury?
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