Brain Injuries in Bay Area
Bay Area Brain Injury Lawyer
Every year in the United Sates, more than three million people sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI). With the assistance of mental health professions, we understand the complex nature of TBI and can present the devastating consequences to insurance claims managers and to juries at trial to achieve successful results for our clients who suffer Bay Area head injury. We have obtained excellent results for children and adults who have suffered these catastrophic, life-altering injuries.
Providing lifetime care for a severely brain damaged person costs millions of dollars. The injured person usually cannot earn a living and loses their health care coverage. We are skilled in Bay Area brain injury settlement and effective at bringing a Bay Area injury lawsuit. We have the knowledge and expertise to help you recover sufficient funds to pay for the costs of rehabilitation and future care. We can help coordinate available public and private benefits to obtain a maximum recovery. We have worked with leading experts in the fields of neurology, neurosurgery, neuropsychology, physical medicine, rehabilitation and life care planning. If you or a loved one has suffered brain injury, contact us to speak to a Bay Area head injury attorney who is experienced, knowledgeable, and compassionate. At Van Blois & Associates, we can help you maximize your Bay Area brain injury settlement.
Bay Area Head Injury Law Firm
Traumatic brain injury to 21 year old woman -- $6,501,684 jury trial verdict
A mother traveling with her 21 year old daughter and grandchildren at night to her home in Brentwood, California on Interstate 5 after visiting Disneyland, swerved to avoid a big rig tractor-trailer stopped on the freeway and went off the road and overturned, causing the death of the mother and traumatic brain injury to the daughter. The accident occurred at the Button Willow exit near Bakersfield, California. When the police arrived, the big rig truck was stopped completely on the shoulder with all of its running lights activated. The investigating police prepared a report that blamed the mother for the accident. We undertook extensive investigation and located eyewitnesses who testified that before the accident the truck had made an emergency stop partially in the slow lane on the freeway and did not have its emergency flashers or running lights on. Prior to the arrival of the police, the truck driver moved the truck to the shoulder and activated its lights. We proved that the truck driver had not been properly trained and was inexperienced. He had hooked up the air brakes incorrectly which caused him to have to make the emergency stop on the freeway. A Stockton jury awarded the traumatically brain injured daughter $4,651,684 and $1,850,000 was obtained for the death of the mother.
Ladder causes fall resulting in brain injury -- $5,486,685
A construction foreman working on a 40' extension ladder on a skylight at Lockheed Missiles and Space in Sunnyvale, California fell when his extension ladder failed, resulting in traumatic brain injury (TBI). We proved there was a defectively designed locking mechanism in the 40 foot extension ladder manufactured by Cuprum S.A. de C.V. and supplied by Industrial Ladder Co., although the defendants strongly disputed any liability. The settlement funds allowed his wife to provide excellent quality care for her permanently injured husband.
Apartment heater asphyxiates student -- $3,500,000
After watching the Super Bowl on a cold January night, a University of California at Berkeley student was asphyxiated and became comatose when he was overcome by carbon monoxide from a faulty apartment heater in Oakland, California. The two front covers of the heater were defectively designed, allowing them to be easily reversed in placement which resulted in the release of deadly carbon monoxide. The student was the only child of parents who are able to care for their son with the funds obtained in the settlement.
Negligently Maintained Truck -- $3,500,000 settlement
A school yearbook photographer traveling on Highway 29 near Napa, California on his way to take school photographs of high school students received a severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) when a large truck turned left directly in front of him. The truck driver claimed there were no oncoming vehicles when he started his turn and that our client was speeding. We promptly investigated the case and were able to prove the truck was poorly maintained and had a dirty windshield that obscured the truck driver’s vision. The settlement funds have been used to help our client become self-sufficient and independent.
Boy injured in backseat -- $3,454,587 settlement
Farm workers in a Daihatsu vehicle making a left turn at dawn on their way to work were struck by a pick-up truck in rural San Joaquin County. The CHP officer investigating the accident determined that the collision was caused by the farm worker. The insurance company for the pick-up truck had limited insurance with Farmers Insurance, who refused to pay the drivers insurance policy limits because they were convinced that the Hispanic farm workers could not win at trial. Our accident reconstruction experts testified that the pick-up driver had been speeding, was inattentive and was a cause of the accident. Our client was an 18 year old passenger who received a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the collision. At trial we achieved a settlement of $3,454,587 which Farmers Insurance Company paid. The funds have been placed in an annuity with lifetime payments for medical and living expenses for our client.
Boy struck in crosswalk – $3,400,000
We represented an 8 year old boy struck by a car at a dangerous intersection in Oakland, California. After decorating the family’s Christmas tree, the boy went to a corner market at Foothill Boulevard and 36th Avenue to buy an ice cream cone and was struck by an uninsured motorist as he crossed the busy intersection. We discovered that there had been 26 accidents in the previous five years at the intersection and neighbors had been lobbying Oakland officials for a traffic signal. After the accident the City installed traffic signals and redesigned the curve at the intersection. The settlement provided lifetime payments for medical and living expenses for the injured victim.
Medical malpractice causes brain damage -- $3,144,642
A 42 year old single man underwent a septorhinoplasty in Santa Clara, California without complications. In an attempt to pass a nasogastric tube through his nose to empty his stomach of blood, the nasogastric tube entered the cranium, but was undetected. The patient responded to questions in the recovery room, but the next day he had altered consciousness with right hemiplegia. A CT scan showed air within the left frontal lobe and within the ventricular septum. He suffered severe brain damage. We represented hm against Kaiser and achieved a negotiated settlement. He is able to dress himself and is independent with his feeding, but is disoriented. The structured settlement will provide for his lifetime convalescent care.
