Traumatic brain injuries and spinal injuries are often permanent, always life-changing, and affect the lives of both victims and their families. These injuries, whether involving permanent paralysis or not, are often caused by the fault of others, whether by surgical error, birth injury, subway or train accident, automobile, truck or motorcycle collisions, construction site mishaps, playground accidents, slip and fall accidents, chemical exposure, defective products or machinery failures.

More than a million Americans experience a brain injury each year, whether a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), closed head injury, skull fracture, depressed skull injury, or brain bleed, and 80,000 people have long-term disabilities as a result of their injury. In fact, according to the National Center for Injury Prevention, 1.5 million Americans each year sustain a brain injury. Of those, 50,000 die and over 1 million are treated in hospitals. Many of these victims are children, who are most at risk. Almost 500,000 children suffer serious brain injuries as a result of accidents each year. Additionally, many construction workers suffer brain injuries due to the nature of their work.

Brain trauma is usually the result of a direct blow to the head, which can bruise the brain and damage its internal tissues and blood vessels. The severity of a head or brain injury can range from a mild concussion to a severe injury that results in coma or even death. In a closed head or brain injury, there is no break in the skull and the brain is jarred against the sides of the skull, shearing (or tearing) the internal lining, nerves, tissues, and blood vessels, causing bleeding, bruising, or swelling. These types of injuries are often classified as subdural hematomas, sub-arachnoid bleeds and epidural bleeds. In a penetrating or open head injury, the skull is broken.

The sudden and profound injury the brain sustains at the time of the accident is called the primary brain injury. It can be followed by secondary brain injury, a cascade of cellular, chemical, tissue, or blood vessel changes that evolve in the hours to days after the accident. These changes can further destroy brain tissue.

Spinal cord injuries affect between four and five million Americans yearly, and 400,000 live with the continuing effects of these injuries. Injuries to the neck(the cervical spine) or to the back (the lumbar spine) can result in serious damage to the spinal cord causing permanent, and often catastrophic injuries.

An injury to the spinal cord, the central carrier of signals throughout the body, may be simply a bruise (or contusion), or a partial or complete tear. A mild contusion may cause the temporary loss of some function below the site of the injury. A complete transection, or severing of the spinal cord, causes a total and permanent loss of sensation and movement below the site of the injury.

The spinal column is a flexible, mobile assemblage of individual segments of bone which are called vertebrae. There are seven cervical vertebrae (the neck), twelve thoracic vertebrae (chest) and five lumbar vertebrae (the back) all of which move with the structures above and below. The sacrum (located at the base of the lumbar vertebrae) consists of five vertebrae, all of which are fused forming a solid body. The coccyx (tailbone) is made up of four to five bony segments which are fused together to form one bone, although mobile on the sacrum.

The vertebrae are made up of the vertebral body, lying in front of or anterior to the spinal cord, and the posterior portion, which consists of the neural bony arch which is located on each side of and behind the spinal cord. The bodies of the vertebrae are connected together by the intervertebral disc structures (the tough ring of annulus fibrosis and the sem-gelatinous nucleus pulposus). On its upper or superior, and lower or inferior surfaces each vertebral body is covered with a thin plate of cartilage.

The posterior neural arch is divided into anatomical parts. The arch is connected to the vertebra body on both sides by what is known as the pedicel. The vertebra moves with that above and below not solely through the vertebral bodies but also through bilateral joints called the facets. The facets are located on the posterior neural arches. The facet articulating with the vertebra above is called the superior facet; that with the vertebra below is the inferior facet continuing from the facets posteriorly are the laminate, which meet with each other at the midline. Completing the boney neural arch from the midpoint of the neural arch, posteriorly and projecting backward is the spinous process, to which ligaments and muscles are attached.

The Intra Vertebral discs are interposed between the adjacent structures of the vertebral bodies from the second cervical vertebrae to the sacrum forming strong bonds between the adjacent vertebrae. Each intervertebral disc has two parts, the annulus fibrosis and the nucleus pulposus. The annulus fibrosis is made up of laminae (layers) of fibrous tissue. They are arranged concentrically; the outermost of fibrous tissues, the other of fibrocartilage. The annulus fibrosis surrounds the nucleus pulposus and can be compared to a retaining sheath of fibrous tissue. The tension of the elastic annulus fibrosis keeps the nucleus under pressure. The nucleus pulposus has a pulpy or mucoid consistency. Basically, a disc herniation occurs when the nucleus herniates (protrudes) the annulus fibrosis. Depending on the extent and direction of the herniation (anterior or posterior) the nucleus pulposus can encroach upon the spinal nerve roots and subject them to pressure and/or resulting pain in the areas of the body enervated by the effected nerve roots. Herniated discs may be caused by trauma, such as car, truck and bus accidents, construction accidents and other types of accidents which cause severe trauma to the spinal column. A posterior herniation may cause the nucleus pulposus to encroach on the spinal nerve roots causing severe pain and resulting disability for which surgery may be required.

Where brain injury or spinal injury is the result of someone else's wrongful conduct, experienced attorneys are required. Your lawyer must be prepared to investigate, file suit, and prosecute your claim with intensity and passion. The New York brain and spinal cord injury attorneys at Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf have the experience, medical knowledge and courtroom track record necessary to make certain that you, or the loved one for whom you are responsible, obtain full compensation covering medical expense, rehabilitation cost, lost wages, supplies and equipment, loss of enjoyment of life and pain and suffering. Our lawyers have achieved outstanding results for our clients who suffer from quadriplegia, paralysis, or loss of brain function as a result of traumatic accidents.

The New York personal injury law firm of Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf is dedicated to the recovery of full and fair compensation for accident victims whose injuries include brain trauma or spinal cord damage. Our attorneys and staff have the skill and experience to obtain full and fair compensation for those who have sustained such injuries. Brain and spinal injured victims, as well as their families, need lawyers who understand the medical, physical, economic and psychological impacts of Traumatic Brain Injury(TBI) and Spinal Cord Injuries(SCI).

Quadriplegia, paraplegia and brain damage are catastrophic injuries involving damage to the Central Nervous System. Victims sustaining these types of injuries need attorneys who possess the extensive knowledge and experience necessary to secure proper and adequate compensation for those whose lives have been irreparably damaged. At Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf, our attorneys have extensive background and training in prosecuting cases in New York involving these and other types of injuries to the Central Nervous System. The brain and spinal cord, the two main components of the Central Nervous System, control neural function throughout the body. Knowledge of motor and sensory function is a key element in securing appropriate compensation for the victim of such an injury whether it be paralysis, paresis or brain injury. Not only do our attorneys have more experience in handling these types of injuries than other law firms, but we have obtained among the highest awards in the country for our clients. Indeed, our attorneys have such familiarity with these injuries that we are often called upon to teach and lecture to other attorneys at Continuing Legal Education (CLE) sponsored by educational associations throughout the United States.

At Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf, every case of this type is thoroughly prepared so that the present and future needs of the victim are accounted for both medically and financially. At the outset, we assemble a team of legal and medical experts chosen for their ability to analyze, document, and persuasively describe their findings with respect to every technical issue of liability and damages that will arise in your case. We consult nationally recognized experts in healthcare, medicine, and life care planning in order to ensure our clients receive full compensation. In cases involving paraplegia or quadriplegia, we work with established healthcare cost data that details known costs associated with current and future nursing care, medical equipment, and other needed medical care including the cost of wheelchairs and required changes to your home and your vehicle. A physical rehabilitative expert (a physiatrist) works with a life care planner to identify and address the physical, medical and day-to-day needs of the victim and individualized plans are prepared to insure that the victim can achieve some level of future independence and a meaningful quality of life. An economist is retained to analyze and quantify the medical costs associated with the life care plan and prepare a report that accounts for rising medical costs, interest and inflation. An experienced Trial Attorney is, in this way, equipped to present all of the damage issues to the jury in clear and understandable terms.

At Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf, we have obtained many of the largest awards in New York and the United States for clients who have sustained injuries to the Central Nervous System. This is due to our extensive knowledge and background in these types of cases, coupled with our meticulous preparation and attention to detail, which is well-known throughout New York. We pride ourselves in the work we have done for our clients who have suffered such life-altering injuries.

Our goal in all cases is to help you recover the money you will need to make the most of your life in the aftermath of a traumatic accident. For more information regarding our practice and how we can help you, contact a New York brain and spinal cord injury lawyer at Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf to schedule a free consultation.

Disclaimer: Please be advised that the results achieved in any given case depend upon the exact facts and circumstances of that case. Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf cannot guarantee a specific result in any legal matter. Any testimonial or case result listed on this site is based on an actual legal case and represents the results achieved in that particular case, and does not constitute a guarantee, warranty or prediction of the outcome of any other legal matter.

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