My career as a trial lawyer has been geared to serving the public. I began my career as an attorney serving the public as an assistant district attorney. I was an assistant district attorney in the narcotic bureau of the District Attorney's Office prosecuting cases involving the illegal sale of highly addictive narcotics. At the time I joined the District Attorney's Office in the Bronx, street sales of crack, cocaine and heroin were rampant throughout New York City. In the final years of my job at the District Attorney's Office, my principal duty was to prosecute street sales of crack, cocaine and heroin. It was our belief that in order to make the City a safer place for its residents, we needed to go after the drug dealers who peddled crack, cocaine and heroin on the streets of New York. After leaving the government sector, I became the senior trial attorney of a personal injury firm. There I encountered numerous plaintiffs plagued by Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) stemming from their accidents but not recognized as such by their physicians or attorneys.
I began to realize that treating physicians did not readily recognize brain injuries, and that the lawyers retained to represent people suffering from these problems never investigated such medical issues if not documented in the early phases of the case. I discovered that many brain injuries occur in situations where even without blunt force, such as in whiplash accidents, or no diagnosis of brain injury at all. As a result, the severe nature of these cases was often unappreciated and often viewed as small and consequently negotiated for inadequate settlement amounts.
Often, it is only the victim’s family members who can tell that their loved one has changed from the accident. Unfortunately, these family members are never given the chance to tell the story of who their loved one was and who their loved one has become since the accident. Symptoms such as memory deficits, increased irritability, chronic headaches, sleep problems, concentration difficulties, depression, and chronic dizziness are often not recognized or attributed to potential Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Taken collectively, the lack of understanding of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) by both the legal and medical community and the inability of the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) victim to effectively advocate his or her loss has inescapably led to inadequate recoveries in tort cases, as well as, the victim’s plight remaining undiscovered. In short, there is a lack of understanding of the neuropathology of Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs) not only in the legal arena but also more significantly within the medical field.
Throughout the years, I have represented numerous clients who suffered shearing brain injuries with substantial cognitive deficits as a result of trauma that were only correctly diagnosed after I have had them undergo further brain scans such as MRIs with DTI sequencing that revealed white matter damage. I have found purpose in dedicating my legal career to advocating for those who suffered accidents and sustain Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) injuries.